Dodenburg 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. Rhinelan ...

'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich

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 county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

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

The municipality lies in the Eifel some 16 km west of Wittlich in the middle of broad mixed forests. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Wittlich-Land, whose seat is in

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 i ...

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

History

In 1231, the Archbishop of Trier Theoderich documented and confirmed an accord from

Himmerod Abbey Himmerod Abbey (Kloster Himmerod) is a Cistercian monastery in the community of Großlittgen in the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Manderscheid in the district of Bernkastel-Wittlich, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, located in the Eifel, in the valley ...

with the knight Werner von der Pforte zu Bruch dealing with plots of land in Rodenerde (a long vanished village) "not far from Dodenburg and monastery" (

Heckenmünster Heckenmünster is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography The municipality lies on the Me ...

). Werner von der Pforte was Theoderich von Bruch’s liegeman. The Dodenburg itself – a castle (''Burg'' is

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 **Ge ...

for "castle") – had its first documentary mention in Trier documents from 1279 under the name ''Dudenburg''. This moated castle gave the place its name. It was converted between 1791 and 1794 in the Baroque style by the Counts of Kesselstatt. The two-winged building with the round corner towers, which still recall the former moated castle, is likewise today under private ownership. The park complex with its avenues still exists in its original form. Beginning in 1794, Dodenburg lay under French rule. In 1814 it was assigned to the Kingdom of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

at the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

. Since 1946, it has been part of the then newly founded

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Politics

Municipal council

The council is made up of 6 council members, who were elected by majority vote at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.

Coat of arms

The German blazon reads: ''Der Schild ist von links oben nach rechts unten geteilt. In der rechten oberen Hälfte oben in Silber ein roter Drache, in der linken unteren Hälfte 9 mal in Silber und Blau quer geteiltes Feld.'' The municipality’s arms 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 bran ...

language be described thus: Per bend sinister, argent a dragon rampant sans forelegs wings displayed gules, and barry of ten argent and azure. The numbers referring to the sinister (armsbearer’s left, viewer’s right) side ("9" and "ten") do not match because English heraldry counts the number of bars, whereas German heraldry counts the number of divisions.Scroll down for entry on heraldic term "barry".
/ref> The red dragon on a silver field is the arms once borne by the House of Kesselstatt. Dodenburg’s history was shaped considerably by the Imperial Counts (''Reichsgrafen'') of Kesselstatt. The Dodenburg castle, a former moated castle, was through a shared inheritance bequeathed in 1790 to Kasimir Friedrich von Kesselstatt. In the mid 18th century, he had been enfeoffed with it. The

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

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 (blue and silver) symbolize the village’s former allegiance to the Duchy of Luxembourg. The arms have been borne since 1981.

References

External links

Municipality’s official webpage

at SWR Fernsehen {{authority control Bernkastel-Wittlich