Bongard is an ''

Ortsgemeinde A Verbandsgemeinde (; plural Verbandsgemeinden) is a low-level administrative division, administrative unit in the Germany, German States of Germany, federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt. A Verbandsgemeinde is typically compose ...

'' – 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 Vulkaneifel

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 ...

. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Kelberg, whose seat is in the like-named municipality.

Geography

The municipality lies in the Vulkaneifel, a part of the

Eifel The Eifel (; lb, Äifel, ) is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Community of ...

known for its volcanic history, geographical and geological features, and even ongoing activity today, including gases that sometimes well up from the earth.

History

The first known dwellers of the lands in and around what is now Bongard were the

Celts The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...

(about 500 BC). They lived on and at the Barsberg (mountain), and even today, the once roughly 60 m-long and perhaps 7 m-high protective wall can still be made out. From the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

until the late 18th century, Bongard belonged 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- ...

Politics

Municipal council

The council is made up of 6 council members, who were elected by

majority vote A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-Webster 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: Argent on a mount vert a falcon surgerant gules armed Or, the dexter leg raised, in a chief of the third a pair of tongs fesswise of the first. According to information from the Koblenz Main State Archive, the noble family “von dem Bongart gen Dumegin” bore a charge in their seal much like the falcon in these arms. The seal was localized for Bongard by Kelberg and showed “''einen auffliegenen Falken mit erhobenem rechten Fuß''” or “a falcon surgerant (or rising, that is, getting ready to fly as shown by the position of the wings) with raised dexter (that is, right) foot”. This old noble armorial bearing now appears on Bongard’s municipal arms below the

chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

. Bongard has long revered Saint Agatha as the church’s and the village’s patron saint. One of her attributes, the tongs, appears as a charge in the chief. The field

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) refer to the village’s former allegiance to the

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

* Saint Agatha’s Catholic Church, Blankenheimer Straße,

Baroque Revival The Baroque Revival, also known as Neo-Baroque (or Second Empire architecture in France and Wilhelminism in Germany), was an architectural style of the late 19th century. The term is used to describe architecture and architectural sculptur ...

quarrystone

aisleless church An aisleless church (german: Saalkirche) 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 on either side of the nave and separated fro ...

, whole complex surrounded by churchyard, itself surrounded by a quarrystone wall * Blankenheimer Straße 4 –

timber-frame Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

house, partly solid, early or mid 19th century * Blankenheimer Straße 21 – timber-frame estate along street, 18th century * Blankenheimer Straße 26 – timber-frame house, partly solid, plastered, possibly essentially from the 18th century, perhaps older * Blankenheimer Straße 27 (nearby) – stately barn, quarrystone and timber-frame, earlier half of 19th century * Blankenheimer Straße 30 – sprawling estate complex, former plastered timber-frame house, partly solid, current house a six-axis plastered house, latter half of the 19th century, bakehouse and other commercial buildingsDirectory of Cultural Monuments in Vulkaneifel district
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Religion

The citizens of Bongard are roughly 90%

Roman Catholic 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 lette ...

. Bongard belongs to the parish of Bodenbach. People from Bongard also like to visit the Heyerbergkapelle (chapel) with its Way of the Cross in the forest.

References

External links

Municipality’s official webpage

Bongard in the collective municipality’s Web pages

at

SWR Fernsehen SWR Fernsehen is a German regional television channel targeting the states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. It is produced by Südwestrundfunk (SWR) and is one of eight regional "third channels" broadcast by the ARD members. Hist ...

{{Authority control Vulkaneifel