Ortsgemeinde
A Verbandsgemeinde (; plural Verbandsgemeinden) is a low-level administrative division, administrative unit in the Germany, German States of Germany, federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt. A Verbandsgemeinde is typically compose ...
The municipality lies in the Vulkaneifel, a part of the
Eifel
The Eifel (; lb, Äifel, ) is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Community of ...
known for its volcanic history, geographical and geological features, and even ongoing activity today, including gases that sometimes well up from the earth.
History
Although Hinterweiler has never had the importance of some other centres, it can look back on a long history. Finds in the area called ''Im Gemeindewinkel'' (“In the Municipality’s Corner”) show that there must have been a
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
settlement there. Traces of settlement from Roman times found to the north of the village at the foot of the Ernstberg and about 500 m west of the village bear witness to the Ernstberg's having been used as a place of worship in those days. The unearthing of a Frankish grave in Hinterweiler furthermore shows that the Franks, who came after Rome's downfall, settled Hinterweiler in the latter half of the first millennium AD. It can also be concluded from the name of a rural cadastral area that there was once a monastery within Hinterweiler's current municipal limits.
Witnessed in documents is Hinterweiler's early name before the year 349, which was simply ''Whyler'', which meant “place” (its Modern High German descendant, ''Weiler'', means “ hamlet”), and it was also certain that the neighbouring place was also called ''Whyler''. Whether the modern name Hinterweiler was derived from ''hinter Whyler'' (“behind Whyler”) is unknown. This is presumed, but there is no proof.
Within the Roman ruin site “Im Kloster” (“In the Monastery”), it has also been confirmed that there is a drystone-masonry grave, although with no grave goods, which could be from Merovingian times. In
feudal
Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...
times the village belonged to 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 Daun in the
Archbishopric 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.Prussian times, Hinterweiler was a municipality in the ''Bürgermeisterei'' (“Mayoralty”) of Rockeskyll.
From the Middle Ages until about 1930, millstones were mined at the foot of the Ernstberg.
Even today, church records stand as a main reference source. According to them, Hinterweiler was home to three smaller churches in the Middle Ages, of which only one chapel – the current building dates from 1860 – remains today. At that time, a population figure of 356 souls was counted within the parish. Higher than today's figure, too, was the number of hearths – and this surely meant households – in the village.
Politics
Municipal council
The council is made up of 6 council members, who were elected at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
Mayor
Hinterweiler's mayor is Sebastian Koch.
Coat of arms
The German blazon reads: 'Ortsgemeinde Hinterweiler Ortsinformation
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 language be described thus: Per fess abased embowed, argent a demi-eagle sable armed and langued gules and vert a millstone of the first surmounted by three ears of wheat radiating from the hole Or.
The
parting
Parting may refer to:
* ''Parting'' (film), a 2016 Afghan-Iranian film
* Parting.com, a funeral home directory
*Parting tradition
* Cleavage (crystal)#Parting
*Side-parting, a common male hairstyle: see Regular haircut
* PartinG (gamer), a South K ...
is meant to represent a mountain, the nearly 700 m-high Ernstberg. The charge below the line of partition, the millstone, represents the former millstone quarry at the foot of this mountain. The three ears of wheat stand for what was for centuries the village's main livelihood: agriculture. The eagle is Saint John the Evangelist's attribute, thus representing the municipality's and the church's patron saint.
Culture and sightseeing
Buildings:
* Saint John's Catholic Church (branch church; ''Filialkirche St. Johannes''), Hauptstraße 38, triaxial
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 fro ...