Weisenheim am Berg
Encyclopedia
Weisenheim am Berg is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality
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 Bad Dürkheim
Bad Dürkheim (district)
Bad Dürkheim is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Kaiserslautern, Donnersbergkreis and Alzey-Worms, the city of Worms, the Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis, the city of Neustadt/Weinstraße, the districts of Südliche Weinstraße, the city of Landau , the district...

 district 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...

.

Location

The municipality lies on the edge of the Haardt range in the Palatinate. Woods cover 54.7% of the municipal area. Weisenheim am Berg belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Freinsheim
Freinsheim (Verbandsgemeinde)
Freinsheim is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district of Bad Dürkheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Freinsheim....

, whose seat is in the like-named town
Freinsheim
Freinsheim is a town in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With about 5,000 inhabitants, it is among the state’s smaller towns...

.

Neighbouring municipalities

Clockwise from the north, these are Bobenheim am Berg
Bobenheim am Berg
Bobenheim am Berg is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...

, Herxheim am Berg
Herxheim am Berg
Herxheim am Berg is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...

, Leistadt and Altleiningen
Altleiningen
Altleiningen is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...

.

Municipal council

The council is made up of 16 council members, who were elected 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  FDP
Free Democratic Party (Germany)
The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government...

 
Total
2009 6 9 1 16 seats
2004 6 9 1 16 seats

Coat of arms

The German blazon reads: Von Silber und Schwarz geteilt, oben die miteinander verschlungenen schwarzen Großbuchstaben WAB, unten ein sechsstrahliger goldener Stern, beseitet von je einer silbernen Rose mit goldenem Butzen.

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: Per fess argent the letters W, A and B in fess ligatured sable, and sable a mullet Or between two roses of the first seeded of the third.

The arms go back to a village seal from 1764. The charge
Charge (heraldry)
In heraldry, a charge is any emblem or device occupying the field of an escutcheon . This may be a geometric design or a symbolic representation of a person, animal, plant, object or other device...

s in the escutcheon’s lower half are unclear. They could be a reference to the old local court.

The arms have been borne since 4 April 1984.

Town partnerships

Weisenheim am Berg fosters partnerships with the following places: Plaus
Plaus
Plaus is a comune in South Tyrol in the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 70 km north of the city of Trento and about 30 km northwest of the city of Bolzano.-Geography:...

, South Tyrol
South Tyrol
South Tyrol , also known by its Italian name Alto Adige, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. It is one of the two autonomous provinces that make up the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province has an area of and a total population of more than 500,000 inhabitants...

, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 Saint-Gengoux-le-National
Saint-Gengoux-le-National
Saint-Gengoux-le-National is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France.It was formerly known as Saint-Gengoux-le-Royal.-History:In the 10th century, the church of Saint-Gengoux was given to the abbey of Cluny...

, Saône-et-Loire
Saône-et-Loire
Saône-et-Loire is a French department, named after the Saône and the Loire rivers between which it lies.-History:When it was formed during the French Revolution, as of March 4, 1790 in fulfillment of the law of December 22, 1789, the new department combined parts of the provinces of southern...

, France
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...

 Niederdorla
Niederdorla
Niederdorla is a municipality in the Unstrut-Hainich district of Thuringia, Germany. It is the geographical center of Germany. Its nearest main city is Erfurt, which is also t the capital city of Thuringia.- People from Niederdorla :...

, Unstrut-Hainich-Kreis, Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....


Natural monuments

The nearby Ungeheuersee (“Monster Lake”), surrounded by mixed forest, is protected as a natural monument.

Regular events

  • At the long weekend around Ascension Day, Weisenheim’s biggest regular event is held, the traditional Partnership, Wine and Homeland Festival.
  • Each year on the next to last weekend in August, the Kerwe, a wine festival, is held.
  • On the Sunday before Volkstrauertag
    Volkstrauertag
    Volkstrauertag is a day of remembrance observed annually in Germany on the second from last Sunday before the first day of Advent. It commemorates all those who died in armed conflicts or as the victims of violent oppression...

    , the Stutzenfest is held at which new citizens are initiated.

Transport

To the east runs Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...

271, which in the north leads to the Autobahn A 6
Bundesautobahn 6
, also known as Via Carolina is a 477 km long German autobahn. It starts at the French border near Saarbrücken in the west and end at the Czech border near Waidhaus in the east....

. In Herxheim am Berg is a railway station on the Pfälzische Nordbahn. From Bad Dürkheim
Bad Dürkheim
Bad Dürkheim is a spa town in the Rhine-Neckar urban agglomeration, and is the seat of the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...

 runs the Rhein-Haardtbahn to Ludwigshafen and Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....

. Public transport is integrated into the VRN
Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Neckar
Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Neckar is a public transport network covering parts of the German states of Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse in south-west Germany...

, whose fares therefore apply.

Education

Weisenheim has one kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...

 and one primary and regional school.

Sons and daughters of the town

  • Otto Georgens, auxiliary bishop in the Bishopric of Speyer
    Bishopric of Speyer
    The Bishopric of Speyer was a state, ruled by Prince-Bishops, in what is today the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It was secularized in 1803...


External links

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