Elmstein 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
Bad Dürkheim
Bad Dürkheim () is a spa town in the Rhine-Neckar urban agglomeration, and is the seat of the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Geography
Location
Bad Dürkheim lies at the edge of Palatinate Forest on the German Win ...
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
Elmstein lies in the
Palatinate Forest. The municipality belongs to the
''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Lambrecht, whose seat is in the
like-named town.
Constituent communities
Elmstein's ''
Ortsteil
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
e'' are, besides the namesake one, Appenthal, Erlenbach, Harzofen, Helmbach, Iggelbach, Mückenwiese, Röderthal, Schafhof, Schwabenbach, Schwarzbach, Stilles Tal,
Speyerbrunn and Wolfsgrube.
Neighbouring municipalities
Clockwise from the northwest, these are
Waldleiningen
Waldleiningen is a municipality in the district of Kaiserslautern, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous countr ...
,
Weidenthal
Weidenthal is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Geography
Location
The municipality lies in the mi ...
,
Esthal
Esthal is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Geography
Location
The municipality lies on a plateau ...
, an exclave of
Kirrweiler
Kirrweiler is a municipality in the Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in E ...
, an exclave of
Venningen, an exclave of
Rhodt unter Rietburg
Rhodt unter Rietburg is a municipality in Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany. Rietburg
The Rietburg is a ruined hillside castle on the edge of the Palatinate Forest above the village of Rhodt in the coun ...
, an exclave of
Edesheim
Edesheim is a municipality in the Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Euro ...
, an exclave of
Landau in der Pfalz,
Wilgartswiesen,
Trippstadt and
Kaiserslautern.
History
Elmstein arose from the Castle ''Elmstein'', which itself was built in the 12th century by the
Counts Palatine of the Rhine
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
. The outlying centres arose later, mostly as extension settlements for lumberjacks, as a location of a sawmill or, like Röderthal, as a mining settlement.
On 1 January 1976, a centre with 207 inhabitants was transferred from the municipality of Wilgartswiesen to Elmstein.
Religion
In 2007, 51.5% of the inhabitants were
Evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...
and 30.3% were
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. One peculiarity is the Free Religious Community founded in 1921, which with a roughly 5% share of the population stands as the
Palatinate’s second biggest Free Religious Community. The rest practised other faiths or none.
Politics
Municipal council
The council is made up of 20 council members, who were elected at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:
Coat of arms
The German blazon reads: ''In Silber zwei gekreuzte rote Doppelhaken, bewinkelt von vier sechsstrahligen goldenen Sternen.''
The municipality's
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 bran ...
language be described thus: Argent two cramps per cross gules, the one per fess surmounting the one per pale, between four mullets Or.
The arms were approved by the
Reich
''Reich'' (; ) is a German noun whose meaning is analogous to the meaning of the English word "realm"; this is not to be confused with the German adjective "reich" which means "rich". The terms ' (literally the "realm of an emperor") and ' (lit ...
governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
in Bavaria (of which the Palatinate was an outlying part until after the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
) and date from a 1772 seal. The “forest hooks” refer to Elmstein's location in the middle of the forest (this
charge
Charge or charged may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* '' Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary
Music
* ''Charge'' (David Ford album)
* ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album)
* ''Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...
is generally known as a “cramp” or “crampoon” in English
heraldry, and is held to be a kind of brace for strengthening a building). It is unknown, however, what the mullets (stars) mean.
Description and explanation of Elmstein’s arms
/ref>
Culture and sightseeing
Museums
* ''Waldarbeitsmuseum Elmstein'' (Collection about the history of logging)
Buildings
* ''Wappenschmiede Elmstein'' (historic, water-powered smithy)
* Water-powered sawmill in the Elmsteiner valley
* Geisskopf estate ruins near the Geisswiese (meadow, near Helmbach)
* Electoral 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 ...
hunting lodge (Elmstein's oldest house) with:
* Wine cellar building from 1754 (the ''Verbandsgemeinde’s'' oldest such building)
* ''Katholische Kirche Herz Mariä'' (“Catholic Church of Mary’s Heart”) in Elmstein (architect Albert Boßlet, built 1950–52)
* ''Katholische Kirche Mariä Heimsuchung'' (“Catholic Church of the Visitation, built 1765) with historical Schlimbach organ (1887)
* Elmstein Protestant Church
* Elmstein Castle ruins
* Appenthal churchtower ruins, once part of the Pilgrimage Church of Mary, built in 1488.
* ''Katholische Kirche St. Wendelinus und St. Hubertus'' (“Saint Wendelin’s and Saint Hubertus
Hubertus or Hubert ( 656 – 30 May 727 A.D.) was a Christian saint who became the first bishop of Liège in 708 A.D. He is the patron saint of hunters, mathematicians, opticians and metalworkers. Known as the "Apostle of the Ardennes", he w ...
’s Catholic Church”) in Speyerbrunn, built in 1931/1932
* Historical timber rafting
Timber rafting is a method of transporting felled tree trunks by tying them together to make rafts, which are then drifted or pulled downriver, or across a lake or other body of water. It is arguably, after log driving, the second cheapest mean ...
sites near Erlenbach and in the Legelbach valley between Mückenwiese and Elmstein
* Belltower in Iggelbach, built in 1889
* Belltower in Appenthal with historical set of bells
Economy and infrastructure
Transport
Running from Neustadt an der Weinstraße to Elmstein is the heritage railway known as the ''Kuckucksbähnel'' ( Little Cuckoo Railway).
The municipality can be reached on ''Landesstraße'' (State Road) 499 from either Johanniskreuz or Frankeneck
Frankeneck is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Geography
Location
The municipality lies in the P ...
Moreover, there is a bus link with route 517 ( Neustadt an der Weinstraße to Iggelbach). The travel time on the bus is roughly an hour.
Owing to the many motorcycle accidents in the past, the road through the Elmstein valley (Johanniskreuz–Elmstein–Lambrecht) is closed to motorcycles on weekends from April to October; only residents – not even other locals – may drive motorcycles on this stretch of highway at these times.
Famous people
Sons and daughters of the town
* Rudolf Kühner (1952– ), politician
References
Sources
* Elmsteiner Heimatschriften Nr.1 Februar 2000
* Elmsteiner Heimatschriften Nr.2 Juni 2000
External links
Municipality’s official webpage
Homepage of the ''Wappenschmiede Elmstein''
{{Authority control
Palatinate Forest
Bad Dürkheim (district)