Dierscheid is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a '' Verbandsgemeinde'', 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 in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

Geography

The municipality lies in the wooded

Meulenwald The Meulenwald, also called the Mühlenwald, is a bunter sandstone hill ridge, up to , in the southern part of the Eifel mountains in the counties of Trier-Saarburg and Bernkastel-Wittlich in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Geography ...

hill range, southwest of Wittlich at an elevation of some 400 m above sea level. Near Dierscheid lies the Kellerberg, at 448 m the highest mountain in the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Wittlich-Land, to which Dierscheid belongs, and whose seat is in Wittlich, although that town is itself not in the ''Verbandsgemeinde''.

History

Early settlement is witnessed by remnants of a Roman wall. Some of the finds to this effect are displayed in the local history museum. In 1150, Dierscheid had its first documentary mention in a document from

St. Maximin's Abbey St. Maximin's Abbey (german: Reichsabtei St. Maximin) was a Benedictine monastery in Trier in the Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. History The abbey, traditionally considered one of the oldest monasteries in western Europe, was held to have been fo ...

in Trier. In the 13th century, the village had the name ''Dyrseit''. The Lords of Bruch held the tithing rights in the parish of Heidweiler, to which the branch parish of Dierscheid also belonged. In January 1417, the name changed to ''Diescheit''. The spelling for the placename changed very often: ''Dierscheid, Dierschet, Dischet, Dirscheit, Dierscheydt, Dierscheit, Dyrseit'' and ''Derseit''. Dierscheid belonged to the lordship of Bruch, and therefore lay under Luxembourgish sovereignty. Beginning in 1794, Dierscheid lay under

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

rule. In 1814 it was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia at the Congress of Vienna. Since 1946, it has been part of the then newly founded state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Dierscheid was until the 1950s characterized by agriculture, forestry and gravel mining. The villagers are still known today well beyond the village by the name ''Dierscheider Kieselklopper'' (“Dierscheid Gravel Miners”).

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 language be described thus: Argent in base a mount of three gules surmounted by a stag's attire fesswise Or, on each of the mount's knolls a spruce tree vert, the middle one taller, and each surmounted by six cones of the third, one, two and three. These arms are held to be canting as they imply the placename and even the geographical location. The name Dierscheid means “Deer-Wild”While it is true that ''Rehwild'', the word in the original German Wikipedia article, can mean “roe deer”, that translation does not fit the context here. (the word ''Dier'' does not seem to be used anymore in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, ''Reh'' and ''Hirsch'' being the usual words, but it is an obvious

cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymology, etymological ancestor in a proto-language, common parent language. Because language c ...

with the still current English word), hence the antler (or “attire” in heraldic language) and the spruces. The three-knolled hill in the

escutcheon Escutcheon may refer to: * Escutcheon (heraldry), a shield or shield-shaped emblem, displaying a coat of arms * Escutcheon (furniture), a metal plate that surrounds a keyhole or lock cylinder on a door * (in medicine) the distribution of pubic ha ...

’s base symbolizes the municipality's location in mountain heights in the Voreifel. The tinctures argent and gules (silver and red) 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- ...

Culture and sightseeing

* Kellerberg, the highest elevation in the South Eifel. * Village archive and local history museum, housed in a former wheelwright's workshop from about 1900 * Saint Lawrence's Chapel (''Laurentiuskapelle'') from 1796, built on top of another chapel from 1745 that had burnt down

References

External links

Municipality’s official webpage

Dierscheid
{{Authority control Bernkastel-Wittlich