Graach an der Mosel 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

Bernkastel-Wittlich Bernkastel-Wittlich (German: ''Landkreis Bernkastel-Wittlich'') is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Vulkaneifel, Cochem-Zell, Rhein-Hunsrück, Birkenfeld, Trier-Saarbur ...

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 counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

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

The municipality belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Bernkastel-Kues, whose seat is in the like-named town. While Graach's main centre, also called Graach, lies in the

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...

valley, the outlying centre of Schäferei lies above the vineyards at an elevation of some 300 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 standardised g ...

Constituent communities

Graach's ''

Ortsteil A village is a clustered human settlement or Residential community, community, larger than a hamlet (place), hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population t ...

e'' are Graach and Graach-Schäferei.

History

In 975, Graach had its first documentary mention as ''Gracha''.

Politics

The municipal council is made up of 12 council members, who were elected by

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

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:Kommunalwahl Rheinland-Pfalz 2009, Gemeinderat
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Winegrowing

The municipality's appearance is characterized by wineries, mostly built of quarried stone, and wine estates. Some 90% of Graach's vineyard area is in the form of steep-slope vineyards, and 95% of it is given over to raising

Riesling Riesling (, ; ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling wh ...

grapes. One peculiarity is the cluster of ecclesiastical names borne by many of the local winemaking locations, such as Himmelreich (“Kingdom of Heaven”), Domprobst (“Cathedral Provost”) and Abtsberg (“Abbot’s Mountain”), which bear lasting witness to the ecclesiastical princes’ and monasteries’ ancient predilection for Graach's wine slopes. Over a road used mainly by winegrowers, Graach is linked to

Bernkastel-Kues Bernkastel-Kues () is a town on the Middle Moselle in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a well-known winegrowing centre. The town is a state-recognized health resort (''Erholungsort''), seat of the ''Ver ...

, where the gate through which the road passes into town is called the

Graach Gate The Graach Gate (German language, German: ''Graacher Tor'') is the last remaining town gate of the Germany, German town of Bernkastel-Kues. The name ''Graach'' refers to the neighbouring village of Graach an der Mosel, Graach connected by a narrow ...

(''Graacher Tor'' 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 **Ger ...

References

External links

* Bernkastel-Wittlich {{BernkastelWittlich-geo-stub