Sohren
Encyclopedia
Sohren is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district
) in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kirchberg
, whose seat is in the like-named town
. Sohren is a state-recognized tourism resort (Fremdenverkehrsort) and is set out in state planning as a lower centre
.
and precisely in the centre of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. North of Sohren runs Bundesstraße
50, and 2 km northwest lies Frankfurt-Hahn Airport
. Sohren lies roughly 6 km west of Kirchberg. Eight kilometres to the southwest is the edge of the Idarwald. Through the village runs the Grundbach, also known as the Dillerbach and the Sohrbach along various stretches of its course.
in Sohren amounts to 764 mm, which falls into the middle third of the precipitation chart for all Germany. At 55% of the German Weather Service’s weather station
s, lower figures are recorded. The driest month is April. The most rainfall comes in June. In that month, precipitation is 1.4 times what it is in April. Precipitation varies only slightly. At fewer than 1% of the weather stations are lower seasonal swings are recorded.
times, as witnessed by many archaeological
finds from graves and remnants of Roman farms
. In 846, Sohren had its first documentary mention when the Sororo marca was donated to Saint Alban’s Abbey
in Mainz
by Count of the Nahegau
Adilbert.
In 1301, the Imperial
estate of Sohren, along with the villages of Hahn
, Bärenbach
, Büchenbeuren
, Lautzenhausen
, Niedersohren
, Niederweiler
and Wahlenau
, as well as the now vanished villages of Litzelsohren, Vockenrode and Niederhoven, were transferred with King Albrecht I’s
leave to Count Eberhard of Sponheim-Neef
and his wife Elisabeth. This ended the royal estate’s history as an autonomous entity.
In 1442, King Friedrich III
enfeoffed the Margrave of Baden
, Jakob I
and the Count of Veldenz as the heirs to the County of Sponheim
. After Jakob’s death, Emperor Friedrich III enfeoffed his successor, Margrave Karl I
and Count Palatine Friedrich of Veldenz with the Sohren landhold.
The alignment of the boundary of the Pflege (literally “care”, but in this context taken to mean “administrative area”) of Sohren was laid out precisely in 1476. This area comprised what are now the municipal areas of Sohren, Niedersohren, Niederweiler, Wahlenau, Büchenbeuren, Lautzenhausen, Bärenbach and Hahn. A 1599 court seal confirms that Sohren had its own court in the 15th century, on which sat a Schultheiß
and seven Schöffen (roughly “lay jurists”).
The Sponheimer Hof, the former royal estate of Sohren from Carolingian times, was renovated in 1607. A treaty
with regard to the partition of the “Further” County of Sponheim between Electoral Palatinate and Baden
was signed in 1707, thereby making the Pflege of Sohren part of the Badish Oberamt
of Kirchberg.
Beginning in 1794, Sohren lay under French
rule. Under the 1797 Treaty of Campo Formio
, the Rhine’s left bank passed to France. Sohren became the centre of a mairie (“mayoralty”) with the villages of Altlay
, Bärenbach, Belg
, Büchenbeuren, Lautzenhausen, Niedersohren, Niederweiler and Wahlenau with all together 2,407 inhabitants. After French times, the Sohren area passed in 1815 to the Prussia
n district of Zell. Sohren became the seat of a Bürgermeisterei (“mayoralty”) with 18 villages.
Building work on the Hunsrückquerbahn (railway) running the Simmern
-Sohren-Morbach
route was completed in 1902. Central water supply was introduced in 1912 and electricity came in 1920.
In 1928, the firm Felke Möbel
was founded, which in the 1950s, with 1,500 employees, was one of the region’s biggest employers. After the First World War, the village was for a time once again French. Since 1946, it has been part of the then newly founded state
of Rhineland-Palatinate
. In 1951, work began on NATO’s Hahn Airbase, now Frankfurt-Hahn Airport. Beginning in 1969 there was a Hauptschule
, which was later converted into a “regional school” (a type of school in some German states that integrates Hauptschule and Realschule
functions). The indoor swimming pool
and the sport stadium were opened in 1974. Nine years later, in 1983, the community centre opened.
In 1970, plans to merge the two municipalities of Büchenbeuren
and Sohren ended in failure. The hope had been to be able to forestall the dissolution of the Verbandsgemeinde of Büchenbeuren. However, when it could be foreseen that nothing could stop the dissolution, Sohren fought the proposed merger, which Büchenbeuren council had already approved.
Northeast of the village, near the Birkenhöhe (“Birch Heights”), Sohren’s Jewish
graveyard can be found. The newest grave dates from 1965. The graveyard was laid out most likely before 1850. The Sohren synagogue
was boarded up after Kristallnacht
(9-10 November 1938), and then later destroyed by a Nazi Rollkommando.
church is of pre-Reformation
origin; the oldest parts go back to the 15th century. Until 1907, it was a simultaneous church
, used by both Evangelicals and Catholics. Not coincidentally, the Catholic church in Sohren was built in 1907. There is also a congregation of the Evangelical Free Church in Sohren, called the Philadelphiagemeinde. The congregational facilities are on Laufersweiler Straße on the way out of the village.
at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:
). Mr. Michel, however, although a deputy, is not a member of the municipal council.
The municipality’s arms
might in English heraldic
language be described thus: Sable a fess abased countercompony azure and Or, above which a crown Or set with stones of the first and gules.
The arms are based on the court seal known to have been used in 1599 and later by the Pflege of Sohren. The seal’s composition showed a chequered fess (horizontal stripe) with a crown above it. The circumscription reads DES. GERICHTS. SORN. (“of the court of Sohren”).
-Slijpe, West Flanders, Belgium
since 1969
’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
, Frankfurt-Hahn Airport
. Sohren can be reached from the east over the Autobahn A 61
and Bundesstraße 50, and from the west over the Hunsrückhöhenstraße (“Hunsrück Heights Road”, a scenic road across the Hunsrück built originally as a military road on Hermann Göring
’s orders), also called Bundesstraße 327.
s, a primary school with about 400 pupils and a “regional school”, This Regionale Schule Sohren-Büchenbeuren has a branch location in Rhaunen
(Birkenfeld
district).
Municipalities of Germany
Municipalities are the lowest level of territorial division in Germany. This may be the fourth level of territorial division in Germany, apart from those states which include Regierungsbezirke , where municipalities then become the fifth level.-Overview:With more than 3,400,000 inhabitants, the...
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
Verbandsgemeinde
A Verbandsgemeinde is an administrative unit in the German Bundesländer of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt.-Rhineland-Palatinate:...
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district
Districts of Germany
The districts of Germany are known as , except in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein where they are known simply as ....
) in Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kirchberg
Kirchberg (Verbandsgemeinde)
Kirchberg is a Verbandsgemeinde in the Rhein-Hunsrück district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Its seat is in Kirchberg.The Verbandsgemeinde Kirchberg consists of the following Ortsgemeinden :...
, whose seat is in the like-named town
Kirchberg, Rhein-Hunsrück
-History:Archaeological finds make it clear that by 400 BC, the Treveri, a people of mixed Celtic and Germanic stock, from whom the Latin name for the city of Trier, Augusta Treverorum, is also derived, had settled here...
. Sohren is a state-recognized tourism resort (Fremdenverkehrsort) and is set out in state planning as a lower centre
Central Place Theory
Central place theory is a geographical theory that seeks to explain the number, size and location of human settlements in an urban system. The theory was created by the German geographer Walter Christaller, who asserted that settlements simply functioned as 'central places' providing services to...
.
Location
The municipality lies in the central HunsrückHunsrück
The Hunsrück is a low mountain range in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the river valleys of the Moselle , the Nahe , and the Rhine . The Hunsrück is continued by the Taunus mountains on the eastern side of the Rhine. In the north behind the Moselle it is continued by the Eifel...
and precisely in the centre of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. North of Sohren runs Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
50, and 2 km northwest lies Frankfurt-Hahn Airport
Frankfurt-Hahn Airport
-Cargo airlines:-Other facilities:AirIT Services AG, a subsidiary of Fraport, has its head office in Building 663 at Hahn Airport.-References:*Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982 USAF Reference Series, Office of Air Force History, United States Air Force,...
. Sohren lies roughly 6 km west of Kirchberg. Eight kilometres to the southwest is the edge of the Idarwald. Through the village runs the Grundbach, also known as the Dillerbach and the Sohrbach along various stretches of its course.
Climate
Yearly precipitationPrecipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...
in Sohren amounts to 764 mm, which falls into the middle third of the precipitation chart for all Germany. At 55% of the German Weather Service’s weather station
Weather station
A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for observing atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasts and to study the weather and climate. The measurements taken include temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, wind speed, wind...
s, lower figures are recorded. The driest month is April. The most rainfall comes in June. In that month, precipitation is 1.4 times what it is in April. Precipitation varies only slightly. At fewer than 1% of the weather stations are lower seasonal swings are recorded.
History
The area around Sohren was settled no later than Celtic and RomanAncient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
times, as witnessed by many archaeological
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
finds from graves and remnants of Roman farms
Villa rustica
Villa rustica was the term used by the ancient Romans to denote a villa set in the open countryside, often as the hub of a large agricultural estate . The adjective rusticum was used to distinguish it from an urban or resort villa...
. In 846, Sohren had its first documentary mention when the Sororo marca was donated to Saint Alban’s Abbey
St. Alban's Abbey, Mainz
St. Alban's Abbey, Mainz originated as a Benedictine abbey, founded in 787 or 796 by Archbishop Richulf in honour of Saint Alban of Mainz, located to the south of Mainz on the hill later called the Albansberg. It was turned into a collegiate foundation in 1442...
in Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
by Count of the Nahegau
Nahegau
The Nahegau was in the Middle Ages a county, which covered the environs of the Nahe and large parts of present-day Rhenish Hesse, after a successful expansion of the narrow territory, which did not reach the Rhine, to the disadvantage of the Wormsgau...
Adilbert.
In 1301, the Imperial
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
estate of Sohren, along with the villages of Hahn
Hahn, Rhineland-Palatinate
-History:Within Hahn’s municipal limits are traces of Roman and Frankish settlement. The placename Hahn, originally written Hagene , and later also Haan, Han, Hane, and Hain, originally meant, according to the Rhenish toponym researcher Heinrich Dittmaier, “wattled fence”, then later “enclosed...
, Bärenbach
Bärenbach, Rhein-Hunsrück
Bärenbach is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, Büchenbeuren
Büchenbeuren
Büchenbeuren is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kirchberg, whose seat is in the like-named town...
, Lautzenhausen
Lautzenhausen
-History:Archaeological finds bear witness to a Roman presence in the area. In 1260, Lautzenhausen had its first documentary mention. Beginning in 1794, Lautzenhausen lay under French rule. In 1814 it was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia at the Congress of Vienna...
, Niedersohren
Niedersohren
Niedersohren is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kirchberg, whose seat is in the like-named town.-Location:The municipality lies...
, Niederweiler
Niederweiler
Niederweiler is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
and Wahlenau
Wahlenau
Wahlenau is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, as well as the now vanished villages of Litzelsohren, Vockenrode and Niederhoven, were transferred with King Albrecht I’s
Albert I of Germany
Albert I of Habsburg was King of the Romans and Duke of Austria, the eldest son of German King Rudolph I of Habsburg and his first wife Gertrude of Hohenburg.-Life:...
leave to Count Eberhard of Sponheim-Neef
County of Sponheim
The County of Sponheim was an independent territory in the Holy Roman Empire which lasted from the 11th century until the early 19th century...
and his wife Elisabeth. This ended the royal estate’s history as an autonomous entity.
In 1442, King Friedrich III
Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick the Peaceful KG was Duke of Austria as Frederick V from 1424, the successor of Albert II as German King as Frederick IV from 1440, and Holy Roman Emperor as Frederick III from 1452...
enfeoffed the Margrave of Baden
Baden
Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
, Jakob I
Jacob, Margrave of Baden-Baden
Jacob I of Baden , was Margrave of Baden-Baden from 1431 to 1453.He was the elder son of Bernard I, Margrave of Baden-Baden and Anna von Oettingen. Jacob I was a man of deep religious beliefs, well-known as a founder of churches...
and the Count of Veldenz as the heirs to the County of Sponheim
County of Sponheim
The County of Sponheim was an independent territory in the Holy Roman Empire which lasted from the 11th century until the early 19th century...
. After Jakob’s death, Emperor Friedrich III enfeoffed his successor, Margrave Karl I
Charles I, Margrave of Baden-Baden
Charles I of Baden was a Margrave of Baden-Baden during 1454-1475.Charles was the elder son of Jacob, Margrave of Baden-Baden and his wife Catherine, daughter of Charles II, Duke of Lorraine. In 1462 he began the Baden-Palatinate war with Elector Frederick I of the Rhine...
and Count Palatine Friedrich of Veldenz with the Sohren landhold.
The alignment of the boundary of the Pflege (literally “care”, but in this context taken to mean “administrative area”) of Sohren was laid out precisely in 1476. This area comprised what are now the municipal areas of Sohren, Niedersohren, Niederweiler, Wahlenau, Büchenbeuren, Lautzenhausen, Bärenbach and Hahn. A 1599 court seal confirms that Sohren had its own court in the 15th century, on which sat a Schultheiß
Schultheiß
In medieval Germany, the Schultheiß was the head of a municipality , a Vogt or an executive official of the ruler.As official it was...
and seven Schöffen (roughly “lay jurists”).
The Sponheimer Hof, the former royal estate of Sohren from Carolingian times, was renovated in 1607. A treaty
Treaty
A treaty is an express agreement under international law entered into by actors in international law, namely sovereign states and international organizations. A treaty may also be known as an agreement, protocol, covenant, convention or exchange of letters, among other terms...
with regard to the partition of the “Further” County of Sponheim between Electoral Palatinate and Baden
Baden
Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
was signed in 1707, thereby making the Pflege of Sohren part of the Badish Oberamt
AMT
-Aviation:*The ICAO code for ATA Airlines*Aircraft Maintenance Technician, a term used in the United States* Aviation Maintenance Technician, a United States Coast Guard rating-Businesses and business-related terms:...
of Kirchberg.
Beginning in 1794, Sohren lay under French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
rule. Under the 1797 Treaty of Campo Formio
Treaty of Campo Formio
The Treaty of Campo Formio was signed on 18 October 1797 by Napoleon Bonaparte and Count Philipp von Cobenzl as representatives of revolutionary France and the Austrian monarchy...
, the Rhine’s left bank passed to France. Sohren became the centre of a mairie (“mayoralty”) with the villages of Altlay
Altlay
Altlay is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, Bärenbach, Belg
Belg
Belg is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, Büchenbeuren, Lautzenhausen, Niedersohren, Niederweiler and Wahlenau with all together 2,407 inhabitants. After French times, the Sohren area passed in 1815 to the Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n district of Zell. Sohren became the seat of a Bürgermeisterei (“mayoralty”) with 18 villages.
Building work on the Hunsrückquerbahn (railway) running the Simmern
Simmern
Simmern is a town of 8,000 inhabitants in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, the district seat of the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis, and the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde...
-Sohren-Morbach
Morbach
Morbach is a municipality that belongs to no Verbandsgemeinde – a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
route was completed in 1902. Central water supply was introduced in 1912 and electricity came in 1920.
In 1928, the firm Felke Möbel
Felke Möbelwerke
The Felke-Möbelwerke company was a German furniture factory with its headquarters in Sohren in the Hunsrück region and branches all over the country. It was one of the largest employers in the Hunsrück and significantly increased the economic importance of the region.-History:The Felke-Möbelwerke...
was founded, which in the 1950s, with 1,500 employees, was one of the region’s biggest employers. After the First World War, the village was for a time once again French. Since 1946, it has been part of the then newly founded state
States of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...
of Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
. In 1951, work began on NATO’s Hahn Airbase, now Frankfurt-Hahn Airport. Beginning in 1969 there was a Hauptschule
Hauptschule
A Hauptschule is a secondary school in Germany and Austria, starting after 4 years of elementary schooling, which offers Lower Secondary Education according to the International Standard Classification of Education...
, which was later converted into a “regional school” (a type of school in some German states that integrates Hauptschule and Realschule
Realschule
The Realschule is a type of secondary school in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia , Denmark , Sweden , Hungary and in the Russian Empire .-History:The Realschule was an outgrowth of the rationalism and empiricism of the seventeenth and...
functions). The indoor swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
and the sport stadium were opened in 1974. Nine years later, in 1983, the community centre opened.
In 1970, plans to merge the two municipalities of Büchenbeuren
Büchenbeuren
Büchenbeuren is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kirchberg, whose seat is in the like-named town...
and Sohren ended in failure. The hope had been to be able to forestall the dissolution of the Verbandsgemeinde of Büchenbeuren. However, when it could be foreseen that nothing could stop the dissolution, Sohren fought the proposed merger, which Büchenbeuren council had already approved.
Northeast of the village, near the Birkenhöhe (“Birch Heights”), Sohren’s Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
graveyard can be found. The newest grave dates from 1965. The graveyard was laid out most likely before 1850. The Sohren synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
was boarded up after Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
(9-10 November 1938), and then later destroyed by a Nazi Rollkommando.
Religion
The EvangelicalEvangelical Church in Germany
The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...
church is of pre-Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
origin; the oldest parts go back to the 15th century. Until 1907, it was a simultaneous church
Simultaneum
A shared church, or Simultankirche, Simultaneum or, more fully, simultaneum mixtum, a term first coined in 16th century Germany, is a church in which public worship is conducted by adherents of two or more religious groups. Such churches became common in Europe in the wake of the Reformation...
, used by both Evangelicals and Catholics. Not coincidentally, the Catholic church in Sohren was built in 1907. There is also a congregation of the Evangelical Free Church in Sohren, called the Philadelphiagemeinde. The congregational facilities are on Laufersweiler Straße on the way out of the village.
Municipal council
The council is made up of 20 council members, who were elected by proportional representationProportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:
| SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany... |
CDU | WG Wüllenweber | other | Total | |
| 2009 | 7 | 8 | 5 | - | 20 seats |
| 2004 | 7 | 6 | - | 7 | 20 seats |
Mayor
Sohren’s mayor is Markus Bongard (CDU), and his deputies are Holger Michel (FWG), Gerd Endres (CDU) and Manfred Ussat (SPDSocial Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
). Mr. Michel, however, although a deputy, is not a member of the municipal council.
Coat of arms
The German blazon reads: In Schwarz ein von Blau und Gold in zwei Reihen geschachter Balken; darüber schwebend eine goldene Blätterkrone mit blauen und roten Besatzsteinen.The municipality’s arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
might in English heraldic
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
language be described thus: Sable a fess abased countercompony azure and Or, above which a crown Or set with stones of the first and gules.
The arms are based on the court seal known to have been used in 1599 and later by the Pflege of Sohren. The seal’s composition showed a chequered fess (horizontal stripe) with a crown above it. The circumscription reads DES. GERICHTS. SORN. (“of the court of Sohren”).
Town partnerships
Sohren fosters partnerships with the following places: MiddelkerkeMiddelkerke
Middelkerke is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders, on the North Sea, west of Ostend. The municipality comprises the towns of Leffinge, Lombardsijde, Mannekensvere, Middelkerke proper, Schore, Sint-Pieters-Kapelle, Slijpe, Westende and Wilskerke. On January 1, 2006...
-Slijpe, West Flanders, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
since 1969
Culture and sightseeing
Buildings
The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-PalatinateRhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
- EvangelicalEvangelical Church in GermanyThe Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...
church, Kirchstraße – BaroqueBaroque architectureBaroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
aisleless churchAisleless churchAn Aisleless church is a single-nave church building that consists of a single hall-like room. While similar to the hall church, the aisleless church lacks aisles or passageways either side of the nave separated from the nave by colonnades or arcades, a row of pillars or columns...
, 1761/1762 - Saint Michael’sMichael (archangel)Michael , Micha'el or Mîkhā'ēl; , Mikhaḗl; or Míchaël; , Mīkhā'īl) is an archangel in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic teachings. Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and Lutherans refer to him as Saint Michael the Archangel and also simply as Saint Michael...
Catholic Parish Church (Pfarrkirche St. Michael), Pfarrstraße – Gothic RevivalGothic Revival architectureThe Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
brick building, 1907, architect Eduard Endler, CologneCologneCologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the... - Bahnhofstraße 1 – former Hunsrückbahn railway station; many-winged building with half-hipped roof, partly quarrystone, plastered or slated, about 1907; goods loading station, timber-frameTimber framingTimber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
- Hauptstraße/corner of Denkmalstraße – warriors’ memorial; sandstoneSandstoneSandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
sculpture under octagonal structure; whole complex of buildings - Beside Turmstraße 2a – Hunsrückbahn watertower, about 1909
- JewishJudaismJudaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
graveyard (monumental zone) – founded before 1850 (?), 47 gravestones
Transport
The village lies roughly 2 km by road from Rhineland-Palatinate’s only international airportInternational airport
An international airport is any airport that can accommodate flights from other countries and are typically equipped with customs and immigration facilities to handle these flights to and from other countries...
, Frankfurt-Hahn Airport
Frankfurt-Hahn Airport
-Cargo airlines:-Other facilities:AirIT Services AG, a subsidiary of Fraport, has its head office in Building 663 at Hahn Airport.-References:*Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982 USAF Reference Series, Office of Air Force History, United States Air Force,...
. Sohren can be reached from the east over the Autobahn A 61
Bundesautobahn 61
is an autobahn in Germany that connects the border to the Netherlands near Venlo in the northwest to the interchange with A 6 near Hockenheim. In 1965, this required a re-design of the Hockenheimring....
and Bundesstraße 50, and from the west over the Hunsrückhöhenstraße (“Hunsrück Heights Road”, a scenic road across the Hunsrück built originally as a military road on Hermann Göring
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...
’s orders), also called Bundesstraße 327.
Education
Sohren has two schoolSchool
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
s, a primary school with about 400 pupils and a “regional school”, This Regionale Schule Sohren-Büchenbeuren has a branch location in Rhaunen
Rhaunen
Rhaunen is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde.-Location:...
(Birkenfeld
Birkenfeld (district)
Birkenfeld is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Sankt Wendel , Trier-Saarburg, Bernkastel-Wittlich, Rhein-Hunsrück, Bad Kreuznach and Kusel.- History :...
district).
Further reading
- Gustav Schellack, Willi Wagner: Sohren, Chronik einer Hunsrückgemeinde. 1983
- Barbara Müller: Chronik Büchenbeuren. Herausgegeben von der Ortsgemeinde Büchenbeuren 1993, ISBN 3-929866-00-5