Gau-Bickelheim 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

Gau-Bickelheim lies south of the Wißberg (mountain) in the ''Rheinhessisches Hügelland'' ( Rhenish-Hessian Uplands).

Politics

Municipal council

The council is made up of 16 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:

Mayor

Gau-Bickelheim's mayor is Jürgen Vollmer (WG Gau-Bickelheim).

Coat of arms

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 be described thus: Per fess abased argent three pickaxes palewise in fess, the middle one abased, gules, and gules a wheel spoked of six of the first. The pickaxes are a

canting ' (IPA: , VOS Spelling: ''tjanting'', jv, ꦕꦤ꧀ꦛꦶꦁ, Tjanting) is a pen-like tool used to apply liquid hot wax ( jv, ) in the batik-making process in Indonesia, more precisely '' batik tulis'' (lit. "written batik"). Traditional ''T ...

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 ...

: “Pickaxe” is ''Pickel'' 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 **Ge ...

, which sounds rather like the second and third syllables of the municipality's name, Gau-Bickelheim. The escutcheon's base contains the

Wheel of Mainz The Wheel of Mainz or ''Mainzer Rad'', in German, was the coat of arms of the Archbishopric of Mainz and thus also of the Electorate of Mainz (Kurmainz), in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It consists of a silver wheel with six spokes on a red bac ...

, an historical symbol of

Electoral Mainz The Electorate of Mainz (german: Kurfürstentum Mainz or ', la, Electoratus Moguntinus), previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In the ...

Town partnerships

Aiserey Aiserey () is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of eastern France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Aiseréens'' or ''Aiseréennes'' Geography Aiserey is located some 20 km south-ea ...

Côte-d'Or Côte-d'Or (; literally, "Golden Slope") is a département in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of Northeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 534,124.France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

*''Pfarrkirche St. Martin'' (“Saint Martin’s Parish Church”) *''Kreuzkapelle'' (“Cross Chapel”)

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

Running through the municipality is ''

Bundesstraße ''Bundesstraße'' (German for "federal highway"), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways. Germany Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km. German ''Bundesstraßen'' ...

'' 420. Running nearby from northwest to southeast is the

Autobahn The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...

A 61. The Gau-Bickelheim interchange (''Nr. 52'') is not right on ''Bundesstraße'' 420, but rather, it can be reached over ''Bundesstraße'' 50. The interchange itself is rather a sprawling one and looks somewhat like a half cloverleaf. This came about because the original plan called for there to be an interchange between the A 60 and the A 61 here. In the mid 1990s, an off-highway service centre was built nearby. Gau-Bickelheim has at its disposal a

railway station 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 ...

on the '' Rheinhessenbahn''.

Public institutions

*Gau-Bickelheim highway police stationPolizeiautobahnstation Gau-Bickelheim

Notable people

* The writer

Arno Schmidt Arno Schmidt (; 18 January 1914 – 3 June 1979) was a German author and translator. He is little known outside of German-speaking areas, in part because his works present a formidable challenge to translators. Although he is not one of the p ...

lived for a short while in Gau-Bickelheim 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 opposin ...

as an ''Umsiedler'' (member of a mass migration). The municipality is mentioned in passing at the beginning of the

narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller (ge ...

''Schwarze Spiegel'' (“Black Mirrors”). The narrative ''Die Umsiedler'' gives this time a literary treatment.

References

External links

Municipality’s official webpage

Gau-Bickelheim wine learning path
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaubickelheim Alzey-Worms