Lettweiler 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
Bad Kreuznach 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'' of Meisenheim, whose seat is in the
like-named town. Lettweiler is a
winegrowing
Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...
village.
Geography
Location
Lettweiler is a largely preserved
linear village
Linearity is the property of a mathematical relationship ('' function'') that can be graphically represented as a straight line. Linearity is closely related to '' proportionality''. Examples in physics include rectilinear motion, the linear ...
(by some definitions, a “thorpe”) lying in the
North Palatine Uplands
The North Palatine Uplands (german: Nordpfälzer Bergland), sometimes shortened to Palatine Uplands (''Pfälzer Bergland''), is a low mountain range and landscape unit in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate and belongs mainly to the Palat ...
in a mountain hollow, a side dale of the
Glan between
Obermoschel
Obermoschel is a town and municipality in the district Donnersbergkreis, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With around 1,000 residents, it is the smallest town in the Palatinate (''Pfalz''). It is part of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective munic ...
and
Odernheim am Glan
Odernheim am Glan is an '' Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Bad ...
. The municipal area measures 627 ha. Lettweiler preserves a rural character even today.
Neighbouring municipalities
Clockwise from the north, Lettweiler's neighbours are the municipalities of
Odernheim am Glan
Odernheim am Glan is an '' Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Bad ...
and
Duchroth
Duchroth is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Rüdesheim, w ...
, the town of
Obermoschel
Obermoschel is a town and municipality in the district Donnersbergkreis, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With around 1,000 residents, it is the smallest town in the Palatinate (''Pfalz''). It is part of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective munic ...
and the municipalities of
Unkenbach and
Rehborn
Rehborn is an '' Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Nahe-Glan.
Geo ...
. Obermoschel and Unkenbach both lie in the neighbouring
Donnersbergkreis
The Donnersbergkreis is a district (''Kreis'') in the middle of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are Bad Kreuznach, Alzey-Worms, Bad Dürkheim, Kaiserslautern, Kusel.
History
The district was created in 1969 by merging the dis ...
, whereas all the others likewise lie within the Bad Kreuznach district.
Constituent communities
Also belonging to Lettweiler are the outlying homesteads of Nachtweiderhof and Neudorferhof. The latter lies some three kilometres
as the crow flies
__NOTOC__
The expression ''as the crow flies'' is an idiom for the most direct path between two points, rather similar to "in a beeline". This meaning is attested from the early 19th century, and appeared in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel ''Oliver ...
from Lettweiler's main centre and was founded by
Mennonite
Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radi ...
s.
History
In 1190, Lettweiler had its first documentary mention under the name ''Litwilre'' in a directory of landholds in which a lord, Werner II of Bolanden, stated that he had been enfeoffed with the village by the
Archbishop of Mainz. In the centuries that followed, the local lordships changed several times.
[Wilhelm Fabricius: ''Die Herrschaften des unteren Nahegebietes: der Nahegau und seine Umgebung'', Bonn: Behrendt, 1914, S. 429]
dilibri.de
In 1603,
Nassau-Saarbrücken ceded
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 ...
the village to
Palatine Zweibrücken, with which it remained until the late 18th century.
From 1798 to 1814, the time of
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 ...
ary and
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
ic
French rule, Lettweiler belonged to the
Canton of Obermoschel in 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 ...
). 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 ...
, Lettweiler passed in 1816 to the ''Rheinkreis'' (a newly created
exclave in the
Palatinate) in 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 ...
, where it remained until the end of 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 ...
(although
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
had in the meantime ceased to be a kingdom). 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 ...
, Lettweiler was transferred in 1969 from the Rockenhausen district (which was itself dissolved) to the Bad Kreuznach district. Ecclesiastically, Lettweiler (pastorate of Odernheim/deaconry of Obermoschel) belongs to the
Evangelical Church of the Palatinate
Evangelical Church of the Palatinate (german: Evangelische Kirche der Pfalz (Protestantische Landeskirche)) is a United Protestant church in parts of the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, endorsing both Lutheran and Calvinist o ...
and the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Speyer.
Neudorferhof
At the Neudorferhof, where today one of the municipality's two riding stables is to be found, the
Romans
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 lette ...
long ago set up a way station where horses could be changed. In 1686, the Neudorferhof had its first documentary mention. The small settlement here was built by
Mennonite
Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radi ...
s, who also built a small
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 ...
.
Municipality’s name
Over the centuries, the village's name changed many times (''Littwiler'', ''Lirrewilre'', ''Lywilre'', ''Lettwiler'', ''Lytwyler''), until sometime in the earlier half of the 20th century, the village finally settled on “Lettweiler”, the name by which it is now known.
Population development
Lettweiler's population development since
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
ic times is shown in the table below. The figures for the years from 1871 to 1987 are drawn from census data:
[Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz – Regionaldaten](_blank)
/ref>
In 1675 – 27 years 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 ...
had ended – there were only four families living in Lettweiler. In 1770, there were 51 commoners and 5 ''Hintersassen'' (roughly, “dependent peasants”). Then the population grew, reaching 502 in 1866. Until 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 ...
broke out, this figure only changed slightly.
Religion
As at 31 October 2013, there are 216 full-time residents in Lettweiler, and of those, 145 are 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 ...
(67.13%), 29 are 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 ...
(13.426%), 2 (0.926%) belong to other religious groups and 40 (18.519%) either have no religion or will not reveal their religious affiliation.
Politics
Municipal council
The council is made up of 6 council members, who were elected by majority vote at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
Mayor
Lettweiler's mayor is Volker Wagner.[
]
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:
Lettweiler (main centre)
* Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
parish 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 ...
, Rehborner Straße 51 – Late Baroque 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 ...
, latter half of the 18th century
* Hauptstraße 1a – gym
A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational i ...
nasium, building with hip roof, marked 1925
* Hauptstraße 63 – Baroque timber-frame
Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...
house, plastered, earlier half of or mid 19th century
* Hauptstraße 65 – Baroque timber-frame house, possibly from the earlier half of the 18th century
* Hauptstraße 66 – estate complex; essentially Baroque timber-frame house, plastered, presumably from the 17th or 18th century
* Hintergasse 41 – estate complex along the street; small house, partly timber-frame, marked 1808
* Hintergasse 43 – former school
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes comp ...
; building with hip roof, mid 19th century
* Rehborner Straße 50 – former Protestant rectory estate; Baroque buildings with half-hip roofs, 18th century
* Schäferhügel 28 – Baroque timber-frame house, partly solid, earlier half of the 18th century
Neudorferhof
* Mennonite
Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radi ...
church, Neudorferhof 100 – Classicist
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
building with hip roof, marked 1885
* Neudorferhof 97 – three-sided estate; one-and-a-half-floor Late Classicist house, marked 1877, Wirtschaftsgebäude
* Neudorferhof 101 – estate complex; eingeschossiges Wohnhaus, marked 1831, commercial building
* Neudorferhof 97–102 (Neudorferhof monumental zone) – Mennonite settlement from 1789, church from 1885, estate complexes from the 19th century, big firepond; walled Mennonite graveyard
The 17th-century church was built to replace a 14th-century village 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 ...
after this had fallen into disrepair and had to be torn down.
Natural monuments
Lettweiler has one listed natural monument, the ''Dicke Eiche'' (“Fat Oak”; no. ND-7133-424). This stands east of the village in the rural cadastral area known as “Auf der Trift”.
Winegrowing
Lettweiler has a long tradition of winegrowing
Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...
. The vineyard
A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineya ...
s belong to the Nahe wine region. Even today, there is still one winemaker in the village, the Erwin Lamb winery.
Sport and leisure
Lettweiler has a sporting ground and a multipurpose hall.
Clubs
The following clubs are active in Lettweiler:Clubs
*''Förderverein Feuerwehr'' — 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
*''Gesangverein 1869 e.V. Lettweiler'' — singing club
*''Landfrauenverein'' — countrywomen's club
*''TuS Lettweiler'' — gymnastic
Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...
and 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 ...
*''Volksbildungswerk Odernheim/Lettweiler'' — “people’s education”
Economy and infrastructure
Transport
To the southeast runs ''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. Leading through the village itself is ''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 ...
'' 78, off which branches ''Kreisstraße'' 77 in the middle of the village. Serving Staudernheim is 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 prep ...
on the Nahe Valley Railway
The Nahe Valley Railway (german: Nahetalbahn) is a two-track, partially electrified main line railway in the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, which runs for almost 100 kilometres along the Nahe. It was built by the Rhine-Nahe R ...
( Bingen– Saarbrücken).
References
External links
Municipality’s official webpage
{{Authority control
Bad Kreuznach (district)