Westhofen
Encyclopedia
Westhofen is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Alzey-Worms
district in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
.
(roughly 12 km to the southeast), Mainz
and Alzey
in Rhenish Hesse and is the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde
.
area.
The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:
might be described thus: Argent six grapeleaves conjoined at the fess point in pale, bend and bend sinister, all vert, growing on which three bunches of grapes azure.
The motif displayed in the charge
s, of course, symbolizes Westhofen’s most important industry, winegrowing. Similar compositions can be seen in municipal seals dating back to the 15th century, although a coat of arms appearing in the Kaffee HAG
albums in the 1920s shows a somewhat different composition, although it is the same motif. That showed a full vine, not only leaves, and a small, fourth bunch with only three grapes.
Moreover, beginning in 1615, Westhofen was part of Electoral Palatinate and adopted the Palatine Lion as a charge in its arms. He held a bunch of grapes in his paw. That has not been retained in the modern arms.
The arms were granted in 1929.
fourth biggest winegrowing centre after Worms
(1 490 ha), Nierstein
(783 ha) and Alzey
(769 ha). The Morstein is the most renowned winery and is classified by the Verband Deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitätsweingüter
as a “First Winery”.
houses and monuments, but also the Evangelical
and Catholic church, under which a charnel house
was discovered on 3 October 1981.
ian remains from some ten million years ago have been found, in the prehistoric Rhine’s Deinotherium
Sands, whose name comes from this extinct proboscid’s
teeth and bone remnants, which are often yielded up by these deposits.
), the Westhofener Markt (market; on the third Sunday in August) and the Dreikönigsdreschen (on the first Sunday after Epiphany)
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 Alzey-Worms
Alzey-Worms
Alzey-Worms is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the district Groß-Gerau , the city of Worms and the districts of Bad Dürkheim, Donnersbergkreis, Bad Kreuznach and Mainz-Bingen.- History :...
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
Westhofen lies between WormsWorms, Germany
Worms is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River. At the end of 2004, it had 85,829 inhabitants.Established by the Celts, who called it Borbetomagus, Worms today remains embattled with the cities Trier and Cologne over the title of "Oldest City in Germany." Worms is the only...
(roughly 12 km to the southeast), 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...
and Alzey
Alzey
Alzey is a Verband-free town – one belonging to no Verbandsgemeinde – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the fourth-largest town in Rhenish Hesse, after Mainz, Worms, and Bingen....
in Rhenish Hesse and is the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde
Westhofen (Verbandsgemeinde)
Westhofen is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district Alzey-Worms, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Westhofen....
.
Hydrology
In Westhofen rises the Seebach, Rhenish Hesse’s strongest spring. It is also the only spring in the region that rises in a valley. It is fed by groundwater from the DonnersbergDonnersberg
For the Czech mountain, see MilešovkaThe Donnersberg is the highest peak of the Palatinate region of Germany. The mountain lies between the towns of Rockenhausen en Kirchheimbolanden, in the Donnersbergkreis district, which is named after the mountain. The highway A63 runs along the southern edge...
area.
History
Westhofen had its first documentary mention as far back as Carolingian times and was granted market rights in 1324. Westhofen’s importance in earlier times can be seen in the ring of defences around the village, which are still preserved, and which include a wall and several dykes.Municipal council
The council is made up of 20 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 | FWG Free Voters Free Voters is a German concept in which an association of persons participates in an election without having the status of a registered political party. Usually it is a locally organized group of voters in the form of a registered association . In most cases, Free Voters are active only at the... |
Total | |
| 2009 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 20 seats |
| 2004 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 20 seats |
Coat of arms
The municipality’s armsCoat 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 be described thus: Argent six grapeleaves conjoined at the fess point in pale, bend and bend sinister, all vert, growing on which three bunches of grapes azure.
The motif displayed in 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, of course, symbolizes Westhofen’s most important industry, winegrowing. Similar compositions can be seen in municipal seals dating back to the 15th century, although a coat of arms appearing in the Kaffee HAG
Café HAG
Café HAG is a worldwide brand of decaffeinated coffee owned by U.S. multinational Kraft Foods.The brand originated in Bremen in Germany in 1906 and took its name from the company title Kaffee Handels-Aktien-Gesellschaft, or Kaffee HAG for short....
albums in the 1920s shows a somewhat different composition, although it is the same motif. That showed a full vine, not only leaves, and a small, fourth bunch with only three grapes.
Moreover, beginning in 1615, Westhofen was part of Electoral Palatinate and adopted the Palatine Lion as a charge in its arms. He held a bunch of grapes in his paw. That has not been retained in the modern arms.
The arms were granted in 1929.
Economy and infrastructure
Westhofen is heavily by winegrowing, and with 764 ha of planted vineyards, of which 68.7% grows red wine varieties and 31.3% white, it is Rhenish Hesse’sRheinhessen (wine region)
Rheinhessen is the largest of 13 German wine regions for quality wines with under cultivation in 2008. Named for the traditional region of Rhenish Hesse, it lies on the left bank of the River Rhine between Worms and Bingen in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate...
fourth biggest winegrowing centre after Worms
Worms, Germany
Worms is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Rhine River. At the end of 2004, it had 85,829 inhabitants.Established by the Celts, who called it Borbetomagus, Worms today remains embattled with the cities Trier and Cologne over the title of "Oldest City in Germany." Worms is the only...
(1 490 ha), Nierstein
Nierstein
Nierstein is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
(783 ha) and Alzey
Alzey
Alzey is a Verband-free town – one belonging to no Verbandsgemeinde – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the fourth-largest town in Rhenish Hesse, after Mainz, Worms, and Bingen....
(769 ha). The Morstein is the most renowned winery and is classified by the Verband Deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitätsweingüter
Verband Deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitätsweingüter
Verband Deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitätsweingüter e.V. or the Association of German Prädikat Wine Estates, is an organisation where most of Germany's top wine producers are members. It is commonly known under its acronym VDP...
as a “First Winery”.
Buildings
On one of Rhenish Hesse’s loveliest marketplaces are found not only rows of timber-frameTimber framing
Timber 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...
houses and monuments, but also the Evangelical
Evangelical 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...
and Catholic church, under which a charnel house
Charnel house
A charnel house is a vault or building where human skeletal remains are stored. They are often built near churches for depositing bones that are unearthed while digging graves...
was discovered on 3 October 1981.
Natural monuments
Westhofen is one of the places in Rhenish Hesse where mammalMammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
ian remains from some ten million years ago have been found, in the prehistoric Rhine’s Deinotherium
Deinotherium
Deinotherium , also called the Hoe tusker, was a large prehistoric relative of modern-day elephants that appeared in the Middle Miocene and continued until the Early Pleistocene. During that time it changed very little...
Sands, whose name comes from this extinct proboscid’s
Proboscidea
Proboscidea is a taxonomic order containing one living family, Elephantidae, and several extinct families. This order was first described by J. Illiger in 1881 and encompasses the trunked mammals...
teeth and bone remnants, which are often yielded up by these deposits.
Regular events
Westhofen holds yearly festivals such as the Traubenblütenfest (“Grape Blossom Festival”, usually on the second weekend after WhitsunPentecost
Pentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...
), the Westhofener Markt (market; on the third Sunday in August) and the Dreikönigsdreschen (on the first Sunday after Epiphany)
Further reading
- Pfarrer J. Ebersmann: Geschichte von Westhofen, Monzernheim und Blödesheim (Westhofen 1909)
- Julius Grünewald / Heinrich Stroh, Chronik des Marktfleckens Westhofen (Westhofen 1974)
- Julius Grünewald: Von Westhofener Häusern und Leuten (Westhofen 1984)
- Julius Grünewald: Rundgang durch Westhofen (Westhofen 1999)
- Ernst Probst: Der Ur-Rhein. Rheinhessen vor zehn Millionen Jahren. GRIN, München 2009