Dittelsheim-Heßloch (or ''Dittelsheim-Hessloch'') 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

Alzey-Worms Alzey-Worms () is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by (from the east and clockwise) the district Groß-Gerau (Hesse), the city of Worms and the districts of Bad Dürkheim, Donnersbergkreis, Bad Kreuznach and Mainz-Bingen. ...

district in

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

Location

The municipality lies in

Rhenish Hesse Rhenish Hesse or Rhine HesseDickinson, Robert E (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, p. 542. . (german: Rheinhessen) is a region and a former government district () in the German state of Rhineland- ...

, and is a

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

village in the

Wonnegau Wonnegau is a ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") in the district Alzey-Worms, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It takes its name from the larger historical area Wonnegau, which covers the southern part of Rhenish Hesse. The seat of the ...

. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Wonnegau, whose seat is in

Osthofen Osthofen () is a town in the middle of the Wonnegau in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Since 1 July 2014 it is part of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' (a kind of collective municipality) Wonnegau. Osthofen was raised to town on ...

History

Werner II of Bolanden was enfeoffed about 1190 with the village of Dittelsheim by the Counts of Katzenelnbogen. Bit by bit, the

Electorate of the Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of ...

acquired the parts formerly held by the Raugrafen noble family and the Old Bolanden line, and those held by the von Wachenheims and the von Dalbergs (15th to early 17th century). During 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 ...

, the Lords of Dalberg held the ''

Vogt During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...

ei''. The municipality of Dittelsheim-Heßloch came into being on 7 June 1969 through the merger of the two municipalities of Dittelsheim and Heßloch.

Politics

Municipal council

The council is made up of 16 council members, who were elected at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, with the honorary mayor as chairman. The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:Kommunalwahl Rheinland-Pfalz 2009, Gemeinderat
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Mayors

* Werner Spies - FWG (1970–1989) * Herbert Morch - SPD (1989–2004) * Rainer Fuhrmann - CDU (2004–2014) * Elisabeth Kolb-Noack - Greens (2014–present)

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

*Sarazenenturm (

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...

Tower): A tower at the

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

church in the constituent community of Dittelsheim, built about 1200, known locally as the ''Heidenturm'' (“Heathen Tower”). The church itself was torn down in 1729 and replaced with a

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

structure. Only the vestibule and the tower remain from earlier times. Reportedly,

Moorish The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or se ...

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

style influences can be made out in this Romanesque tower. It is often described as the loveliest of its kind in

. The spire with its 16-sided cupola top supposedly bears some relation to the

Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynasty ...

Rhinelands to the east and it belongs to a group of similar spires in Rhenish Hesse, such as

Alsheim Alsheim is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. History Alsheim is mentioned in the Wormser wall-building ...

Guntersblum Guntersblum is an ''Ortsgemeinde''– a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geogra ...

and Saint Paul’s Church in

Worms Worms may refer to: *Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs Places *Worms, Germany, a city **Worms (electoral district) *Worms, Nebraska, U.S. *Worms im Veltlintal, the German name for Bormio, Italy Arts and entertainme ...

. The names ''Heidenturm'' and ''Sarazenenturm'' go back to the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

who supposedly built the tower. *

Old Catholic The terms Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics, Old-Catholic churches or Old Catholic movement designate "any of the groups of Western Christians who believe themselves to maintain in complete loyalty the doctrine and traditions of the undivide ...

''Christuskirche'' in Heßloch.

Sport

*''TSG Dittelsheim'' (gymnastic and sport club) *''Kunstradfahrverein Dittelsheim'' (

artistic cycling Artistic cycling is a form of competitive indoor cycling in which athletes perform tricks (called exercises) for points on specialized, fixed-gear bikes in a format similar to ballet or gymnastics. The exercises are performed in front of judge ...

) *''TuS Hessloch'' (gymnastic and sport club)

Clubs

*''Kloppberggugger e.V.'' – the first

Guggenmusik Guggenmusik (also known as "Guggemoseg", "Guuggemusig" or "Chatzemusig") is a term widely used in the Alemannic German, Alemannic region of Switzerland, Austria and southern Germany to designate both a Carnival marching band and the type of music ...

from Rhenish Hesse *''Musikverein Hessloch'' (music club)

Economy and infrastructure

Winegrowing

Winegrowing Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

has a long tradition here. Dittelsheim-Heßloch covers an area of some 1 350 ha, of which 446 ha is planted with vineyards. Differences in elevation, various microclimatic conditions and highly differentiated soil compositions that range from heavy, loamy to light sandy earth are good preconditions for winegrowing, and thus many different varieties of vine thrive in Dittelsheim-Heßloch, making possible a broad palette of wines.

Transport

Dittelsheim-Heßloch was once served by the former Osthofen–Gau Odernheim

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line.

Famous people

Jakob Becker Jakob Becker (15 March 1810 – 22 December 1872) was a German artist noted mainly for his genre art, genre paintings of peasants. Biography He was born in Dittelsheim-Heßloch, Dittelsheim at Worms, Germany, Worms, and began his studies with ...

(b. 15 March 1810 in Dittelsheim; d. 22 December 1872 in Frankfurt am Main) painter, etcher and lithographer as well as art professor at

Städel The Städel, officially the ''Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie'', is an art museum in Frankfurt, with one of the most important collections in Germany. The Städel Museum owns 3,100 paintings, 660 sculptures, more than 4,600 ...

Anton Praetorius Anton Praetorius (1560 – 6 December 1613) was a German Calvinist pastor who spoke out against the persecution of witches (witchhunts, witchcraft trials) and against torture. Life and writings Praetorius was born in Lippstadt as the son o ...

was from 1592 to 1596 the first reformed clergyman in Dittelsheim. He wrote in 1595 the earliest description of the first Great Barrel at

Heidelberg Castle Heidelberg Castle (german: Heidelberger Schloss) is a ruin in Germany and landmark of Heidelberg. The castle ruins are among the most important Renaissance structures north of the Alps. The castle has only been partially rebuilt since its demoli ...

, in which he praised the barrel as a symbol for the

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

belief’s supremacy. He was later known as an active opponent of witch trials and torture. *Julia Metzler was the Rhenish-Hessian Wine Queen in 2006/2007 and German Wine Princess in 2007/2008.

References

External links

*
Brief portrait with film of Dittelsheim-Heßloch
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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dittelsheim-Hessloch Rhenish Hesse Alzey-Worms