Glanbrücken is an ''
Ortsgemeinde
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
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
Kusel
Kusel (; written ''Cusel'' until 1865) is a town in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the Kusel-Altenglan ''Verbandsgemeinde'' and is also the district seat.
The well-known operatic tenor Fritz Wunderlich was ...
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 ...
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 ...
. It belongs to the
''Verbandsgemeinde'' Lauterecken-Wolfstein.
Geography
Location
The municipality lies on the river
Glan in the Western
Palatinate. The municipal area measures 458 ha, of which 185 ha is wooded.
Hachenbach
The ''
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 ...
'' of Hachenbach lies at an elevation of 175 m above
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...
on the Glan's right bank at the lower end of the southward-running valley of the Horschbach, which here empties into the Glan. The community, which is built in the dale and also on the slope of the hill known as "Auf der Platte", lies mostly in a row along the road between
Horschbach and
Hundheim and the community core lies right at the old bridge across the river. The highest point in the outlying countryside is found on the high expanse in the cadastral area "Auf der Platte". This lies at 310 m above sea level.
Niedereisenbach
The ''Ortsteil'' of Niedereisenbach lies on the Glan's left bank, 172 m above sea level, at the mouth of the Eisenbach, which flows into the community from the west. The north side of the hollow abuts a foothill of the so-called Kipp, which borders the Glan valley all the way to
Offenbach in a broad bow. In the west, a ridge ends here that bounds the Glan valley from
Niederalben northwestwards. In the upper part of the community, the Bächelsgraben, running from the north, empties into the Eisenbach. The old community core lies at the lower end of the side dales that join together near Niedereisenbach. The newer part of the built-up area stands in a row along the main road running through the Glan valley. The highest point in the outlying countryside is found in the cadastral area "Auf Hardt", which has an elevation of 339 m above sea level.
Neighbouring municipalities
Glanbrücken borders in the north on the municipality of
Deimberg, in the east on the municipality of
Offenbach-Hundheim
Offenbach-Hundheim is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Lauterecken-Wol ...
, in the southeast on the municipalities of
Nerzweiler
Nerzweiler is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Lauterecken-Wolfstein.
...
and
Hinzweiler, in the south on the municipality of
Horschbach and in the west on the municipality of
Sankt Julian
Sankt Julian (often rendered St. Julian) is an '' Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgeme ...
.
Constituent communities
Glanbrücken'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 Hachenbach south of the Glan and Niedereisenbach on the north bank. There is no centre within the municipality named "Glanbrücken". This name was coined in 1969 for the then newly amalgamated municipality.
Municipality’s layout
Hachenbach
This community's appearance is characterized by its location on the river
Glan. The most important streets (Horschbacher Straße, Dorfstraße and Hirsauer Straße) run parallel to the Horschbach and the Glan. Horschbacher Straße leads straight to the bridge over the Glan. Even the street "An den Mühlen" ("At the Mills") beyond the bridge lies within the ''Ortsteil'' of Hachenbach. Before reaching the bridge, Dorfstraße ("Village Street") branches off eastwards from Horschbacher Straße, then crossing the Horschbach and turning southwards. Once over the Horschbach, Hirsauer Straße branches off Dorfstraße, then running, in stretches as a rural path, all the way to the well known ''Hirsauer Kirche'', an old 12th-century
aisleless church
An aisleless church (german: Saalkirche) is a single-nave church building that consists of a single hall-like room. While similar to the hall church, the aisleless church lacks aisles or passageways on either side of the nave and separated fr ...
that was once the hub of a regional parish, and to the neighbouring village of
Hundheim. The graveyard lies at the community's south end near where ''
Kreisstraße
A Kreisstraße (literally: "district road" or "county road") is a class of road in Germany. It carries traffic between the towns and villages within a '' Kreis'' or district or between two neighbouring districts. In importance, the ''Kreisstraße ...
'' 26 branches off Horschbacher Straße. Formerly, Hachenbach was almost purely a farming village. Today the community is purely residential, with villagers
commuting
Commuting is periodically recurring travel between one's place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. By extension, it can sometimes be any regul ...
to jobs, mainly in
Kaiserslautern. There are still two full-time
agricultural operations. Since 1744, 50 ha of woodland in Horschbach's municipal area in the area of the Herrmannsberg has belonged to the ''Ortsteil'' of Hachenbach along with a further 10 ha right in the former municipal area. The forest is nowadays administered by the Lauterecken Forestry Office. The 216-hectare municipal area is very hilly in places and usable for agriculture only with some difficulty. This is even reflected in some rural cadastral names such as "Hagendornbusch" ("
Hawthorn
Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to:
Plants
* '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family Rosaceae
* ''Rhaphiolepis'' (hawthorn), a genus of about 15 species of evergreen shrubs and small trees in the family Rosace ...
Bush"), "im Steinacker" ("in the Stone Field"), "in den Steinen" ("in the Stones") and "am Felsenrech" (the name refers to a cliff or crag). Among the few good plots of land are "Solch" and "Kappelfeld", which lie on the
heath
A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler a ...
.
Niedereisenbach
This community's appearance is characterized by three roads: ''
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, ''
Landesstraße
''Landesstraßen'' (singular: ''Landesstraße'') are roads in Germany and Austria that are, as a rule, the responsibility of the respective German or Austrian federal state. The term may therefore be translated as "state road". They are roads t ...
'' 373 and ''
Kreisstraße
A Kreisstraße (literally: "district road" or "county road") is a class of road in Germany. It carries traffic between the towns and villages within a '' Kreis'' or district or between two neighbouring districts. In importance, the ''Kreisstraße ...
'' 29. Formerly, the community's appearance was defined by the quarrying business. A manor house once belonging to the Barons of Kellenbach still exists as a ruin and is known from records to date back at least as far as 1629. The community core is formed by the 14th-century
Saint Valentine
Saint Valentine ( it, San Valentino; la, Valentinus) was a 3rd-century Roman saint, commemorated in Western Christianity on February 14 and in Eastern Orthodoxy on July 6. From the High Middle Ages, his Saints' Day has been associated with a ...
’s Church (''Valentinskirche''). After the
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 ...
-building work in 1904, several representative
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
buildings arose along Glantalstraße (Glan Valley Road). The shift from a farming village to a residential community with people in various occupations lasted until the 1960s; workers now commute to jobs in
Kaiserslautern,
Bad Kreuznach,
Kirchheimbolanden
Kirchheimbolanden (), the capital of Donnersbergkreis, is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, south-western Germany. It is situated approximately 25 km west of Worms, and 30 km north-east of Kaiserslautern. The first part of the name, ''Ki ...
and
Ludwigshafen. Since 1990, there have no longer been any agricultural operations. The Niedereisenbach municipal area has only a few fertile cropfields and meadows. Besides the floodplains in the valley, the landscape is made up of slopes and stony heights, as reflected in some rural cadastral names such as "Auf dem Klöppchen" ("On the Little Knocks"), "Hungergraben" ("Hunger Pits"), "Rosskopf" ("Horse’s Head"), "Weisselstein" (perhaps "Whitewashed Stone") and "Rauweide" ("Raw Grazing Land"). Niedereisenbach owns 120 ha of woodland, part of which has arisen from
coppicing
Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which exploits the capacity of many species of trees to put out new shoots from their stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, which is called a copse, young tree stems are repeate ...
former stands of tanning oak. It is administered by the Lauterecken Forestry Office.
History
Hachenbach
Middle Ages
In 1150, Hachenbach had its first documentary mention in a document according to which
Archbishop Heinrich of Mainz acknowledged the founding of a monastic cell in
Offenbach by the freeman Reinfried von Rüdesheim. The original of this document is still on hand at the
Departmental
''Departmental'' is a 1980 Australian TV movie based on a play by Mervyn Rutherford. It was part of the ABC's Australian Theatre Festival.Ed. Scott Murray, ''Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995'', Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p43 Reviews were poor ...
Archive in
Metz
Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...
. Hachenbach belonged then to the
County of Veldenz in the ''
Amt
Amt is a type of administrative division governing a group of municipalities, today only in Germany, but formerly also common in other countries of Northern Europe. Its size and functions differ by country and the term is roughly equivalent to ...
'' of Grumbach, whose seat was at
Nerzweiler
Nerzweiler is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Lauterecken-Wolfstein.
...
.
Modern times
In 1515, Hachenbach passed along with the other villages in the ''Eßweiler Tal'' (dale) into the lordship of the
Waldgrave
The noble family of the Waldgraves or Wildgraves (Latin: ''comites silvestres'') descended of a division of the House of the Counts of Nahegau in the year 1113.
When the (a countship named after the river Nahe) split into two parts in 1113 ...
s and Rhinegraves of Grumbach. In 1595, the ''Eßweiler Tal'', and thereby Hachenbach too, then passed to the
Duchy of Palatinate-Zweibrücken. Like many other villages in the region, Hachenbach, too, was utterly destroyed in 1677 in the
Franco-Dutch War (1672-1678) by
French King Louis XIV's troops. Even though a 1755 agreement between Palatinate-Zweibrücken and the Rhinegraves of Grumbach resulted in the
cession
The act of cession is the assignment of property to another entity. In international law it commonly refers to land transferred by treaty. Ballentine's Law Dictionary defines cession as "a surrender; a giving up; a relinquishment of jurisdictio ...
of five villages by the former back to the latter, Hachenbach remained with Zweibrücken and received a
customs station at the bridge across the
Glan, for Hachenbach had become a border village. This bridge, first built as a stone bridge in 1751/1752, was of special importance to the village. All postal and road traffic between
Meisenheim
Meisenheim () is a town in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the like-named ''Verbandsgemeinde'', and is also its seat. Meisenheim is a state-recognized recreational resort (''Erholungsort'') and it is s ...
and
Zweibrücken
Zweibrücken (; french: Deux-Ponts, ; Palatinate German: ''Zweebrigge'', ; literally translated as "Two Bridges") is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Schwarzbach river.
Name
The name ''Zweibrücken'' means 'two bridges'; olde ...
went across this bridge in the area of the so-called ''Hohe Straße'' ("High Road"). The bridge had its first documentary mention in 1693, when it was newly built, although it was still only a wooden bridge then. The cost of this bridge, which was completed in May 1752 and which was thereby the earliest known crossing of the Glan, was 1,746 ''Gulden'', two thirds of which (1,164 ''Gulden'') was borne by the treasury of the Zweibrücken ''
Oberamt'' of Lichtenberg, and the other third of which (582 ''Gulden'') was borne by the administration of the Lordship of Kellenbach. In 1784, the bridge was heavily damaged in an ice run on the Glan, and thus
Duke Carl II August of Zweibrücken saw to it in 1789 that a great two-storey-high and 70-foot-long (actually the old German measure called a ''Schuh'', which literally means "shoe"; this was >20 m) wing wall was built onto the bridge on the Hachenbach (right) side, obliged as he felt to shield the bridge against any further such misfortunes. In 1794, the
French military broke the arch nearest the Hachenbach side. Until 1825, a wooden emergency bridge was used, until the stone bridge could be set right again. As before, the cost was split at a ratio of 2:1, between the rightful heirs to the lordships on each side of the Glan, but the total this time was only 850 ''Gulden''.
=Recent times
=
In 1798, Hachenbach passed within the German lands on the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
’s left bank that had been
annexed by
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
to the
Department of
Mont-Tonnerre (or Donnersberg 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 ...
), the
Arrondissement
An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands.
Europe
France
The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements ...
of Kaiserslautern, the
Canton of Lauterecken and the ''Mairie'' ("Mayoralty") of Hundheim. After 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 ...
, the village passed in 1816 to the district (at first ''Landcommissariat'' and then ''Bezirksamt'') of Kusel within the
Kingdom of Bavaria
The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German ...
. 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 ...
it passed to 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 ...
of
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 ...
. In the course of administrative restructuring in Rhineland-Palatinate in 1969, Hachenbach was merged with the neighbouring village of Niedereisenbach, which hitherto had belonged to the Birkenfeld district, to form the new municipality of Glanbrücken.
Niedereisenbach
Middle Ages
The earliest verifiable documentary mention, from 1246, is to be found in a not very accessible information book given to the
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
and
Cistercian orders. In another document from 23 June 1336, in which Niedereisenbach is named as ''INFERIORI YSENBACH'' (''nieder'' –
cognate with the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
word "nether" – 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 ...
and ''inferior'' in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
both mean "lower"), Werner, the archpriest of Kusel, witnessed the building of the
chapel
A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...
consecrated to
Saint Valentine
Saint Valentine ( it, San Valentino; la, Valentinus) was a 3rd-century Roman saint, commemorated in Western Christianity on February 14 and in Eastern Orthodoxy on July 6. From the High Middle Ages, his Saints' Day has been associated with a ...
at Eisenbach. In 1358, Clas von Kellenbach pledged the village of Eisenbach, which he held in fief, and the mill to Count Heinrich of
Veldenz
Veldenz is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the former main seat of the County of Veldenz, ...
for the sum of 180 pounds in
hellers. From the 13th century onwards, until
French Revolutionary troops marched in during the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...
, Niedereisenbach always belonged to the Barons of Kellenbach, who as early as 1289 donated the ''Hirsauer Kirche'' to
Saint Mary's Monastery of Offenbach.
Modern times
After the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...
, Philipp Heinrich von Kellenbach lived with his family in Niedereisenbach. The manor house stood above the Hofpfad (nowadays a street, although the name means "Estate Path") near the Klink property. It no longer stands, but parts of the back wall with bits of a chimney can still be seen. Philipp Heinrich's son Johan Ludwig von Kellenbach, born in 1680 in Niedereisenbach, was Chief Estate Master and Master Hunter at Count Ludwig von Nassau-Saarbrücken-Ottweiler's estate in
Ottweiler
Ottweiler () is a municipality, former seat of the district of Neunkirchen, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated on the river Blies
The Blies () is a right tributary of the Saar in southwestern Germany (Saarland) and northeastern France (Mosel ...
. In the Niedereisenbach church lie, supposedly, the baronial family's remains, although this can no longer be verified. After Johan Ludwig von Kellenbach's death on 21 September 1750, the house's heirs and the
Duchy of Palatinate-Zweibrücken became embroiled in a years-long court case that ended with the estate being
auction
An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...
ed off. The mill was left out of this process, and was still owned by the Kellenbachs’ heirs until 1875.
=Recent times
=
In 1798, Niedereisenbach was declared
French territory and passed within the German lands on the Rhine's left bank that had been annexed by France to the Department of
Sarre (whose seat was at
Trier
Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...
), the Arrondissement of Birkenfeld, the Canton of Grumbach and the ''Mairie'' ("Mayoralty") of Offenbach. In 1816, after the Congress of Vienna, Niedereisenbach passed to the
Principality of Lichtenberg
The Principality of Lichtenberg (german: Fürstentum Lichtenberg) on the Nahe River was an exclave of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld from 1816 to 1826 and the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1826 to 1834, when it was sold to the Kingdom o ...
(whose capital was
Sankt Wendel
Sankt Wendel is a town in northeastern Saarland. It is situated on the river Blies 36 km northeast of Saarbrücken, the capital of Saarland, and is named after Saint Wendelin of Trier. According to a survey by the German Association for Ho ...
), a newly created
exclave of the Duchy of
Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld () was one of the Saxon Duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin Dynasty. Established in 1699, the Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield line lasted until the reshuffle of the Ernestine territories that occurred following the extinct ...
, which as of 1826 became the Duchy of
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (german: Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha), or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (german: Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, links=no ), was an Ernestine, Thuringian duchy ruled by a branch of the House of Wettin, consisting of territories in the present- ...
. As part of this state, it passed by sale in 1834 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 ...
, which made this area into the Sankt Wendel district in the ''
Regierungsbezirk
A ' () means "governmental district" and is a type of administrative division in Germany. Four of sixteen ' ( states of Germany) are split into '. Beneath these are rural and urban districts.
Saxony has ' (directorate districts) with more res ...
'' of Trier, the ''
Amt
Amt is a type of administrative division governing a group of municipalities, today only in Germany, but formerly also common in other countries of Northern Europe. Its size and functions differ by country and the term is roughly equivalent to ...
'' of Grumbach and the
Rhine Province. Later, after the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
stipulated, among other things, that 26 of the Sankt Wendel district's 94 municipalities had to be ceded to the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
- and French-
occupied
' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October ...
Saar
Saar or SAAR has several meanings:
People Given name
*Saar Boubacar (born 1951), Senegalese professional football player
* Saar Ganor, Israeli archaeologist
*Saar Klein (born 1967), American film editor
Surname
* Ain Saar (born 1968), Est ...
. The remaining 68 municipalities then bore the designation "Restkreis St. Wendel-Baumholder", with the first syllable of ''Restkreis'' having the same meaning as in English, in the sense of "left over". Niedereisenbach belonged, as part of the ''Amt'' of Grumbach, to this district until 1937, when it was transferred to the newly formed
Birkenfeld district. After the Second World War, in 1946, Niedereisenbach found itself in 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 ...
of
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 ...
. In the course of administrative restructuring in Rhineland-Palatinate in 1969, Niedereisenbach was merged with the neighbouring village of Hachenbach to form the new municipality of Glanbrücken; it was also transferred, this time to the Kusel district, in which it remains today. It also became part of the
''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Lauterecken, and until 2000, when it was dissolved, Glanbrücken also lay in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of
Rheinhessen-Pfalz, whose seat was at
Neustadt an der Weinstraße.
Glanbrücken
On 7 June 1969, in the course of administrative restructuring 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 ...
, Hachenbach and Niedereisenbach (formerly in the Birkenfeld district) were merged to form the new municipality of Glanbrücken ("Glan Bridges") in the Kusel district.
Population development
Hachenbach
From the time when the village was first settled until the 16th century, no Hachenbach inhabitants’ names are known. The first known names appeared in a 1542 taxation roll from the
Waldgraviate-Rhinegraviate of the ''Eßweiler Tal''. Written there are ten names, likely householders’. A 1586 building directory names 14 ''Rauchhaber'' (literally "smoke havers", that is, people who have a hearth, and therefore a household) who had to pay contributions in kind. It can be assumed that in 1609, some 80 or 90 people lived in Hachenbach. A 1743 document is the oldest full directory of inhabitants that is still preserved. There were then 87 souls and 20 hearths in Hachenbach. Of the 307 inhabitants in Hachenbach in 1998, 30% were more than 70 years old.
The following table shows population development over the centuries for Hachenbach, with some figures broken down by religious denomination:
Niedereisenbach
Anyone who wanted to settle in Niedereisenbach back in
feudal times became a
serf of the Barons of Kellenbach. As in Hachenbach, no Niedereisenbach inhabitants’ names are known either, from any time between the village's founding and 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 ...
. The oldest document that names anyone, one from 1508, deals with the ''Kellenbacher Mühle'' (mill). Therein are named the mill's owner, Clas von Kellenbach, and a miller, presumably a
journeyman
A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that fie ...
, Peter, from
Welchweiler. Before the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...
, supposedly some 90 inhabitants were already living in Eisenbach (as it was customarily called at one time). In 1815, it was 208, and in 1860, it was 275. In 1900, the village had 298 inhabitants, and a peak was reached in 1925 when there were 431 inhabitants. In 1998, there were 378 people living in the community, of whom 20% were older than 60.
The following table shows population development over the centuries for Niedereisenbach:
Municipality’s names
Hachenbach
The name Hachenbach is made up of the common placename ending ''—bach'' ("brook" 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 ...
) prefixed to which is the name ''Hacho'', which is witnessed in documents many times in the time between 800 and 1050 as an old German given name and a forester's name. The name's current form appeared as early as the 1150 first documentary mention. Other forms of the name that the village (now constituent community) has borne over the ages are ''Hachinbach'' and ''Hachmach'' (14th century), ''Oberhachenbach'' and ''Niederhachenbach'', even ''Glan-Hachenbach'' to distinguish it from otherwise like-named places (
Sienhachenbach
Sienhachenbach is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Herrstein-Rhaun ...
,
Schmidthachenbach
Schmidthachenbach is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Herrstein-Rh ...
– each originally likewise
hyphen
The hyphen is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation. ''Son-in-law'' is an example of a hyphenated word. The hyphen is sometimes confused with dashes ( figure ...
ated).
Niedereisenbach
The name Niedereisenbach is made up of the common placename ending ''—bach'', as with Hachenbach, prefixed to which is the word ''Isen'', which unlike many local defining prefixes refers not to a personal name, but rather to the
Middle High German
Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. Hig ...
word ''Isen'', meaning "iron" (
Modern High German: ''Eisen'') or "ore", or even just generally, "metal". The further prefix ''Nieder—'', which is
cognate with the
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
word "nether", and bears the same meaning, distinguishes it from Obereisenbach, today a constituent community of
Sankt Julian
Sankt Julian (often rendered St. Julian) is an '' Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgeme ...
, which lies upstream. The village was first named in a 1246 document from the
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
order, whose content was reproduced in an 18th-century copy, as ''Isenbach''. Other forms of the name that the village (now constituent community) has borne over the ages are, among others, ''Inferiori Ysenbach'' (1336), ''Niedereyßenbach'' (1336) and ''Eißenbach'' (1605).
Glanbrücken
The name Glanbrücken, meaning "
Glan Bridges", is a modern coinage dating from the 1960s, although it is modelled on traditional placenames such as
Saarbrücken, and like that name, it is the local river's name combined with the ending ''—brücken''.
Religion
Hachenbach
From the time of its first documentary mention, Hachenbach belonged ecclesiastically, along with the other villages in the area, to the parish of Hirsau. Hirsau was the church seat of the Diocese of Mainz and mother church of the political entity known as the ''
Amt
Amt is a type of administrative division governing a group of municipalities, today only in Germany, but formerly also common in other countries of Northern Europe. Its size and functions differ by country and the term is roughly equivalent to ...
'' of ''Eßweiler Tal'', which in 1609, with the exception of
Eßweiler itself, still kept its graveyard in Hirsau. Hachenbach first had its own graveyard in 1843 in the cadastral area known as "Eichel" (whose name means "Acorn"). In 1623, Hachenbach passed to the parish of Hinzweiler, which at the time functioned as a branch of Hirsau. In 1820, it passed to the parish of Sankt Julian and has belonged thereto ever since. In 1998, the denominational breakdown was as follows:
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 ...
126;
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 ...
27; no answer 5; none 10.
Niedereisenbach
From 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 ...
onwards, Niedereisenbach belonged to the Church of Sankt Julian and then passed in 1805 to the parish of Offenbach. Niedereisenbach is an autonomous church community with its own presbytery. Besides the 283
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 ...
inhabitants (1998), 57
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
inhabitants live in the community. There are fortnightly Evangelical church services, children's church services and youth church group meetings. Since 1954, there has been a women's auxiliary. The community's mixed
choir
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...
participates in almost all church services at great festivals. The Catholic inhabitants belong to the church community of Sien and attend
Mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...
at the Catholic church in
Offenbach. For a while, there was a
simultaneum
A shared church (german: Simultankirche), simultaneum mixtum, a term first coined in 16th-century Germany, is a church in which public worship is conducted by adherents of two or more religious groups. Such churches became common in the German-s ...
at the church in Niedereisenbach, whereby both
Protestants and Catholics could each use the church for their own services, although very often, this privilege was forbidden by the family Kellenbach. At the graveyard "at the steep track" (a translation of the cadastral name "An der Steige"), both denominations buried their dead beginning in 1889. Formerly, they were buried at the churchyard. Even today, Glanbrücken's two constituent communities are ecclesiastically separate, in both the Evangelical and Catholic churches: Niedereisenbach's Evangelicals belong to the Rhenish State Church (''Rheinische Landeskirche'') in
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...
while its Catholics belong to the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Trier
The Diocese of Trier, in English historically also known as ''Treves'' ( IPA "tɾivz") from French ''Trèves'', is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic church in Germany.[Speyer
Speyer (, older spelling ''Speier'', French: ''Spire,'' historical English: ''Spires''; pfl, Schbaija) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer li ...]
(''Pfälzische Landeskirche Speyer'') while its Catholics belong to the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Speyer. The
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* C ...
in Niedereisenbach had its first documentary mention in 1336. Parts of the current church building actually go back to this time. Judging from the east tower's shape, which is atypical for a
Romanesque quire tower, it is likely that the belfry was only later built onto the quire, much like what was done at
Hinzweiler. It could also be that the nave only got a
ciborium for its
altar
An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...
sometime after 1500, along with a window from that time. There were renovations in 1754 and 1892. In 1964, a spiral staircase was built onto the quire tower, giving access to the belfry, which had now been converted into a sitting room. The church consists of a biaxial
aisleless room, joined onto which to the northeast is a reduced,
rib-vaulted rectangular quire. The subsequently reduced nave, whose west gable was renovated in 1754, has had work done on the gable side. The church's originally flat ceiling was replaced with the current stepped wooden ceiling in 1976-1978. The two
columns separate two side rooms from the main hall. Remnants of
baldachin
A baldachin, or baldaquin (from it, baldacchino), is a canopy of state typically placed over an altar or throne. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy, but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent architectural feature, particularly over hi ...
ribs and uprights in the
tracery
Tracery is an architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the stonework elements that support the ...
window that went with the baldachin show that when the ciborium was built in the nave's southeast corner, this window, too, was renovated. The year 1521 that was formerly to be seen on the church might have had something to do with this work. The other two tracery windows were added in 1892. The nave and sanctuary are separated by a tall
lancet arch
Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It ...
standing on rectangular columns. The sanctuary, which has windows on all three sides, has retained the
vault
Vault may refer to:
* Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards
Architecture
* Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space
* Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored
* Burial vault (enclosure ...
ing and tracery windows in their period shapes. Of the old furnishings, the
lavabo
A lavabo is a device used to provide water for the washing of hands. It consists normally of a ewer or container of some kind to pour water, and a bowl to catch the water as it falls off the hands. In ecclesiastical usage it refers to all of: the b ...
and the sacramental niche are preserved. In 1998, the denominational breakdown in Niedereisenbach was as follows:
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 ...
283;
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 ...
57; other 1; no answer 7; none 30.
Politics
Municipal council
The council is made up of 8 council members, who were elected by
majority vote at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
Mayor
Glanbrücken's mayor is Guido Hablitz.
[
]
Coat of arms
The German blazon reads: ''Von Blau und Schwarz durch einen silbernen von links verlaufenden Wellenbalken geteilt. Oben ein goldener zunehmender Mond unter einer schwebenden goldenen Brücke, unten ein rotbezungter goldener Löwe.''
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: A bend sinister wavy argent between azure in chief a bridge arched of three humetty and in dexter a moon increscent, both Or, and sable issuant from sinister base a demilion of the third armed and langued gules.
Before Hachenbach and Niedereisenbach were merged into the single municipality of Glanbrücken, each had its own coat of arms. Hachenbach's arms were azure a moon increscent Or (that is, a blue shield with the same gold moon 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 ...
now seen on the combined arms – including the face), while Niedereisenbach's arms were party per fess Or a church sinister gules and sable issuant from base a demilion of the first armed, langued and crowned gules. This is to say that the shield was divided horizontally, the upper half was gold and bore a single charge, namely a red church viewed from the side with the tower on the sinister (armsbearer's left, viewer's right) side. Meanwhile, the lower field was black with the same lion emerging from below, except that he was also wearing a red crown. No bridge charge appeared on either coat of arms, however.
Culture and sightseeing
Buildings
The following are listed buildings or sites 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 ...
’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
Hachenbach
* Bridge across the Glan – three-arched sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
-block bridge with flood dykes, 1751/1752, architect Chief Builder Euler, Zweibrücken
Zweibrücken (; french: Deux-Ponts, ; Palatinate German: ''Zweebrigge'', ; literally translated as "Two Bridges") is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Schwarzbach river.
Name
The name ''Zweibrücken'' means 'two bridges'; olde ...
, high wing wall 1789
Niedereisenbach
* 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 ...
church, Glanstraße 42 – mediaeval aisleless church
An aisleless church (german: Saalkirche) is a single-nave church building that consists of a single hall-like room. While similar to the hall church, the aisleless church lacks aisles or passageways on either side of the nave and separated fr ...
with quire tower, 1336, marked 1521 (possibly a conversion), west gable renovated in 1754; in the graveyard a warriors’ memorial 1914-1918
* An den Mühlen 10, 11 – former ''Kellbachsche Mühle'' (baronial mill); first mentioned in 1358, divided in 1823; no. 10 former oilmill, expanded with a dwelling wing, right-angled commercial wing, wooden waterwheel; no. 11 two-and-a-half-floor mill building, 1863, technical equipment from the 1920s and 1950s; stable-barn with three-halled stable, 1869; characterizes village's appearance
* At Friedhofstraße 4 – double coat of arms of the Barons of Kellenbach, marked 1629; from the old manor house two former corbel stones
* Glantalstraße 7/9 – former 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 prep ...
; block building, one-floor storage building with ramp, separate lavatory building, 1904; characterizes village's appearance
* Kirrweilerstraße 14 – ''Quereinhaus'' (a combination residential and commercial house divided for these two purposes down the middle, perpendicularly to the street) 1782, expansion 1786, stable-barn 1857
Regular events
The inhabitants of Glanbrücken have since 1992 been holding their kermis
Kermesse, or kermis, or kirmess, is a Dutch language term derived from 'kerk' (church) and 'mis' (mass) that became borrowed in English, French, Spanish and many other languages, originally denoting the mass said on the anniversary of the foundati ...
(church consecration festival, locally known as the ''Kerwe'') jointly on the first weekend in August. This has gone a long way to uniting the two constituent communities of Hachenbach and Niedereisenbach. There are also festivals staged by the many clubs.
Clubs
The following clubs are active in Glanbrücken:
*''Angelsportverein'' — angling
Angling is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook or "angle" (from Old English ''angol'') attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated via a fishing rod, although rodless techni ...
club
*''Feuerwehrförderverein'' — fire brigade
A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression se ...
promotional association
*''Freie Wählergruppe'' — Free Voters
Free Voters (german: Freie Wähler, FW or FWG) in Germany may belong to an association of people which participates in an election without having the status of a registered political party. Usually it involves a locally organized group of voters ...
group
*''Gesangverein'' — singing club
*''Heimatverein'' — promotes local tradition
*''Landfrauenverein'' — countrywomen's club
*''Reservistenkameradschaft'' — club for reservist
A reservist is a person who is a member of a military reserve force. They are otherwise civilians, and in peacetime have careers outside the military. Reservists usually go for training on an annual basis to refresh their skills. This person is ...
s
*''SPD-Ortsverein'' — SPD
The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany.
Saskia Esken has been t ...
local organization
*''Sportverein'' — sport club
A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports.
Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...
Glanbrücken has a village community centre, a former schoolhouse with a clubhouse, a fairground, a fire station and a grilling pavilion.
Economy and infrastructure
Economic structure
Of the four former mills in Glanbrücken, none is still running. Even into the 1960s, the agricultural structure was dominant, and farming was, but for the quarries and the few craft businesses, the only way to earn one's livelihood in these twin villages. Many workers earned a living at mining, but this was outside Glanbrücken, in the Saarland
The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...
. After the 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 ...
was built in 1904, the local economy quickly saw an upswing. The ''Steinbruch-Aktiengesellschaft Köln'' (a quarrying company from Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
) located down from the 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 prep ...
and built a stately administration building. At the ''Deimberger Bruch'' (the quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...
), the sought-after sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
was hewn from the ground and worked on site. For a while, the yield reached 3 200 m2 yearly. Sixty quarrymen and 20 auxiliary workers worked at the quarry, which lay 3 km from the villages. Meanwhile, 120 stonemasons and 15 of their apprentices were kept busy at the workplace in Niedereisenbach. Today there are a few service-sector businesses, two inn
Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...
s, an automotive-electric business, a roofing business and a building material dealership that also deals in land. The municipality of Glanbrücken has grown into a mostly commuter-oriented, residential community.
Education
Hachenbach
The first schoolteacher who can be identified in Hachenbach's history was one named Klein, who presumably taught in a rented makeshift schoolroom. He also taught in the winter in Niedereisenbach. In 1829, the municipality decided to build a new schoolhouse. It had one classroom and a small teacher's dwelling with a sitting room, a bedroom and a kitchen. Already by the mid 19th century, the school had become too small. In 1863, work was begun to build another classroom onto the school, and expand the teacher's dwelling. The school, which subsequently underwent other alterations, was used until 1962, when the old village school was dissolved. A February 1962 decision joined Hachenbach to the Sankt Julian school association. The schoolchildren went there, to the newly built ''Mittelpunktschule'' ("midpoint school", a central school, designed to eliminate smaller outlying schools). Today, there is still a primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
in Sankt Julian
Sankt Julian (often rendered St. Julian) is an '' Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgeme ...
. Older students attend the Hauptschule
A ''Hauptschule'' (, "general school") is a secondary school in Germany, starting after four years of elementary schooling (''Grundschule''), which offers Lower Secondary Education (Level 2) according to the International Standard Classification ...
in Lauterecken
Lauterecken () is a town in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Lauterecken-Wolfstein, to which it also belongs. Lauterecken bears the nickname ''Veldenzstadt'', after the comital family ...
or higher schools in Lauterecken and Kusel
Kusel (; written ''Cusel'' until 1865) is a town in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the Kusel-Altenglan ''Verbandsgemeinde'' and is also the district seat.
The well-known operatic tenor Fritz Wunderlich was ...
.
Niedereisenbach
Until 1822, the only school in Niedereisenbach was a winter school (a school geared towards an agricultural community's practical needs, held in the winter, when farm families had a bit more time to spare). There was no compulsory schooling, and there were many illiterates. It was only in that year that the Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld () was one of the Saxon Duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin Dynasty. Established in 1699, the Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield line lasted until the reshuffle of the Ernestine territories that occurred following the extinct ...
government hired the schoolteacher Karl Schaun, from Sien. He had to hold school the year round and he was also the sexton. Winter school was held at the "Schneeberg’sches Haus" and summer school at the village hall. In 1833, Schaun, and the school along with him, moved into the then newly built schoolhouse (which has since become a private house). In 1834, the number of pupils was 60 to 65; 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 ...
schoolchildren went to Offenbach. In the mid 19th century, the number of pupils shrank to 45 or 50 after several families had emigrated
Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...
to Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. In 1865, Schaun was succeeded in the local teaching post by Wilhelm Kullmann, who after Schaun's 43-year tenure only lasted three years, being followed in 1868 by a teacher named Bauer from Veldenz
Veldenz is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the former main seat of the County of Veldenz, ...
on the Moselle, who then died that same year. From 1869 to 1910, Jakob Hauch from Berglangenbach worked as schoolteacher. On the 50-year jubilee of his service, he was awarded the 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 ...
n House Order
A dynastic order, monarchical order, or house order is an order under royal patronage. Such an order is bestowed by, as a legitimate , a sovereign or the head of a once-sovereign ruling family. These are often considered part of the cultural pat ...
, and the municipality gave him an upholstered red armchair as a gift. This armchair was later thrown out a second-floor window at the Werner property during the French occupation
Occupation commonly refers to:
*Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment
*Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces
*Military occupation, th ...
of the Rhineland. Classes were held at the village school, which was built in 1882, until 23 August 1967. The one-room school
One-room schools, or schoolhouses, were commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries, including Prussia, Norway, Sweden, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Spain. In most rural and s ...
was then dissolved, and the pupils then attended the newly built ''Mittelpunktschule''. Today, primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
pupils attend school in Sankt Julian
Sankt Julian (often rendered St. Julian) is an '' Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgeme ...
, while Hauptschule
A ''Hauptschule'' (, "general school") is a secondary school in Germany, starting after four years of elementary schooling (''Grundschule''), which offers Lower Secondary Education (Level 2) according to the International Standard Classification ...
students go to the requisite schools in Lauterecken
Lauterecken () is a town in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Lauterecken-Wolfstein, to which it also belongs. Lauterecken bears the nickname ''Veldenzstadt'', after the comital family ...
. Higher schools can be found in Lauterecken and Kusel
Kusel (; written ''Cusel'' until 1865) is a town in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the Kusel-Altenglan ''Verbandsgemeinde'' and is also the district seat.
The well-known operatic tenor Fritz Wunderlich was ...
.
Transport
Running through the municipality are ''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 (Oppenheim
Oppenheim () is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The town is a well-known wine center, being the home of the German Winegrowing Museum, and is particularly known for the wines from the Oppenheimer Krötenbru ...
- Neunkirchen) and ''Landesstraße
''Landesstraßen'' (singular: ''Landesstraße'') are roads in Germany and Austria that are, as a rule, the responsibility of the respective German or Austrian federal state. The term may therefore be translated as "state road". They are roads t ...
'' 373 (Glanbrücken-Kappeln
Kappeln ( da, Kappel) is a town in the district of Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the north bank of the Schlei, approx. northeast of Schleswig, and southeast of Flensburg. For the eastern Angeln and the n ...
). Glanbrücken is linked to the neighbouring villages of Sankt Julian
Sankt Julian (often rendered St. Julian) is an '' Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgeme ...
and Horschbach by ''Kreisstraße
A Kreisstraße (literally: "district road" or "county road") is a class of road in Germany. It carries traffic between the towns and villages within a '' Kreis'' or district or between two neighbouring districts. In importance, the ''Kreisstraße ...
n''. The double-tracked
Double tracking or doubling is an audio recording technique in which a performer sings or plays along with their own prerecorded performance, usually to produce a stronger or bigger sound than can be obtained with a single voice or instrument. ...
Glan Valley Railway (''Glantalbahn''), running, by way of Glanbrücken, between Bad Münster am Stein and Saarbrücken- Scheidt, built as a "strategic railway line", was closed on 31 May 1985, after 81 years and one month in service. Lauterecken-Grumbach station
Lauterecken-Grumbach station is the station of the town of Lauterecken in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 6 station and has two platform tracks. The station is located in the network are ...
still operates on the Lauter Valley Railway (''Lautertalbahn'').Transport
/ref>
Famous people
Sons and daughters of the town
*Ludwig Mahler (b. 1896 in Hachenbach; d. 1968) — Chief Inspector in the government, compiler of the 1966 Hachenbach village chronicle.
*Johan Ludwig von Kellenbach (b. 1680 in Eisenbach; d. 1750 in Ottweiler
Ottweiler () is a municipality, former seat of the district of Neunkirchen, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated on the river Blies
The Blies () is a right tributary of the Saar in southwestern Germany (Saarland) and northeastern France (Mosel ...
) — Chief Estate Master and Master Hunter at Count Ludwig von Nassau-Saarbrücken-Ottweiler's estate in Ottweiler
References
External links
Municipality’s official webpage
Glanbrücken in the collective municipality’s webpages
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glanbrucken
Municipalities in Rhineland-Palatinate
Kusel (district)