Birkenfeld
Birkenfeld () is a town and the district seat of the Birkenfeld district in southwest Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is also the seat of the like-named ''Verbandsgemeinde''. The town itself has approximately 7,000 inhabitants.
Geography
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The municipality lies on the Traunbach in the ''Schwarzwälder Hochwald'' (forest) in the
Hunsrück
The Hunsrück () is a long, triangular, pronounced upland in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the valleys of the Moselle-Saar (north-to-west), the Nahe (south), and the Rhine (east). It is continued by the Taunus mountains, past ...
near the boundary with the Saarland. The municipal area is 67.6% wooded.
Neighbouring municipalities
Ellweiler borders in the north on the municipality of Dambach, in the east on the municipality of Hoppstädten-Weiersbach ('' Ortsteil'' of Neubrücke) and in the south on the municipality of Nohfelden in the Saarland.
Constituent communities
Also belonging to Ellweiler are the outlying homesteads of Haumbach, Neubrücker Mühle and Steinautal.
The council is made up of 8 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-Websterarms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Per fess Or an elk's attire fesswise gules and sable issuant from base a demilion of the first armed, langued and crowned of the second.
The elk's attire (that is, antler) is a cantingcharge for the German word ''Elch'', meaning “(Eurasian) elk” (that is to say, “moose”), which is taken to be the source of the first syllable in the village's name (the ''Weiler'' part means “ hamlet”, but there is no canting charge for that). The lion is drawn from the arms formerly borne by the Duchy of Palatinate-Zweibrücken.
The arms have been borne since 1963.
Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern (; Palatinate German: ''Lautre'') is a city in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfur ...
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...
).
Uranium
From 1958 to 1967, uranium ore was mined by the ''Gewerkschaft Brunhilde'' (a limited company) in an open pit north of Ellweiler on the “Bühlskopf” ( – position of abandoned Ellweiler uranium open-pit mine). Smaller uranium deposits were also found 650 m northwest of the Bühlskopf on the northeast slope of “Der Stein” as well as in a couple of places near Nohfelden.H. Schmeltzer: ''Mineral-Fundstellen. Band 6: Rheinland-Pfalz und Saarland'', Ch. Weise Verlag, München 1977 Processing was done at the ''Uranerzaufbereitungsanlage Ellweiler'' (Ellweiler Uranium Ore Processing Facility).