Altrich is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

belonging to a ''

Verbandsgemeinde A Verbandsgemeinde (; plural Verbandsgemeinden) is a low-level administrative unit in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt. A Verbandsgemeinde is typically composed of a small group of villages or towns. Rhineland- ...

'', a kind of collective municipality – in the

Bernkastel-Wittlich Bernkastel-Wittlich (German: ''Landkreis Bernkastel-Wittlich'') is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Vulkaneifel, Cochem-Zell, Rhein-Hunsrück, Birkenfeld, Trier-Saarbur ...

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Geography

Altrich lies some 4 km south of the district seat,

Wittlich The town of Wittlich (; Moselle Franconian: ''Wittlech'') is the seat of the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Its historic town centre and the beauty of the surrounding countryside make the town a centre for tourism in ...

. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Wittlich-Land, whose seat is in

, although that town is itself not in the ''Verbandsgemeinde''.

History

The parish church is consecrated to

Saint Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Peter ...

. In 952, Altrich had its first documentary mention – even earlier than the neighbouring town of

. The first mention in writing came as early as 636 in which it was named as ''Alta Regia''.

Politics

Municipal council

The council is made up of 16 council members, who were elected by

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

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:Kommunalwahl Rheinland-Pfalz 2009, Gemeinderat
/ref>

Coat of arms

The German blazon reads: ''Schild Rot und Weiß gespalten, vorne ein weißes Andreaskreuz, hinten 2 (2:1) rote Kugeln''. The municipality's

arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

might in English

heraldic Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branc ...

language be described thus: Per pale gules a saltire couped argent, and argent three roundels of the first. The

saltire A saltire, also called Saint Andrew's Cross or the crux decussata, is a heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross, like the shape of the letter X in Roman type. The word comes from the Middle French ''sautoir'', Medieval Latin ''saltator ...

(X-shaped cross) on the dexter (armsbearer's right, viewer's left) side stands for

, the local church's patron saint who was depicted in the old court seal from 1764. The three roundels on the sinister (armsbearer's left, viewer's right) side refer to a knightly family that named itself after Altrich and whose existence in the 14th century is witnessed. The

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

s gules and argent (red and silver) are a reference to the village's former allegiance to the

Electorate of Trier The Electorate of Trier (german: Kurfürstentum Trier or ' or Trèves) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from the end of the 9th to the early 19th century. It was the temporal possession of the prince- ...

Altrich was granted the right to bear its own arms in 1971.

Culture and sightseeing

* Remains of a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

wall near the Neuenhof (outside Altrich towards Klausen) * The “

Cusanus Nicholas of Cusa (1401 – 11 August 1464), also referred to as Nicholas of Kues and Nicolaus Cusanus (), was a German Catholic cardinal, philosopher, theologian, jurist, mathematician, and astronomer. One of the first German proponents of Re ...

Columns” from the former parish church, now in the parish garden at Andreasstraße 31 * The “Fat Oak” (''dicke Eiche'') – a roughly 300-year-old natural monument in the village's southwest (on the Schneidkaul road extension)

Economy and infrastructure

The municipality has a

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

, a single-stream

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

and a multipurpose area with a

gym A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational ins ...

nasium.

Pictures

File:KircheA4.jpg, Saint Andrew's Parish Church File:KircheA7.jpg, Saint Andrew's Parish Church File:Nikolausvonkues.jpg, Saint Andrew's Parish Church File:Cusanus-Säulen2.jpg, Cusanus Columns File:DickeEiche1.jpg, ''Alte Eiche'' (“Fat Oak”) File:Dickeeiche3.JPG, ''Alte Eiche'' (“Fat Oak”) File:Altrichumland.jpg, Lands around Altrich File:Altrich_Umland_(2).JPG, Lands around Altrich

References

External links

Alternativ: ''St. Andreas Altrich'' parish with information summary about the municipality

Municipality’s official webpage
{{Authority control Bernkastel-Wittlich