Maikammer ( pfl, Maikomma) is a municipality in the

Südliche Weinstraße Südliche Weinstraße ( pfl, Siedlischi Woischdrooß; en, "Southern Wine Route") is a district (''Kreis'') in the south of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from west clockwise) Südwestpfalz, Bad Dürkheim, the district-f ...

district, in

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is situated on the

German Wine Route The German Wine RouteScheunemann J., Stewart J., Walker N. and Williams C. (2011), ''Back Roads Germany'', Dorling Kindersley, London. . or Wine Road (german: Deutsche Weinstraße) is the oldest of Germany's tourist wine routes. Located in th ...

, approx. 5 km south of

Neustadt an der Weinstraße Neustadt an der Weinstraße (, formerly known as ; lb, Neustadt op der Wäistrooss ; pfl, Naischdadt) is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With 53,300 inhabitants , it is the largest town called ''Neustadt''. Geography Location T ...

. Maikammer is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Maikammer.

Geography

Location

Maikammer lies at elevations from 120 to 300 m at the foot of the Kalmit, the highest mountain in the Palatine Forest (673 m), in a landscape dominated by

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. Vineyards ...

s. Other high ground within the boundaries of the parish includes the north flank of the

Schafkopf Schafkopf (), also called Bavarian Schafkopf, is a popular German Trick-taking game, trick-taking card game of the Ace-Ten family for four players that evolved, towards the end of the 19th century, from German Schafkopf. It is still very popular i ...

(617 m), the Rotsohlberg (607 m), the north flank of the Stotz (603 m), the northeast flank of the Breitenberg (545 m), the Flachkopf (498 m) and the

Wetterkreuzberg The Wetterkreuzberg () is a hill in the Haardt range on the eastern edge of the Palatine Forest in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Location The Wetterkreuzberg, like the Breitenberg (545.2 m), the Taubenkopf (603.8 m) and ...

(401 m). Neighbouring municipalities are (clockwise):

, Kirrweiler (Pfalz),

Edenkoben Edenkoben () is a municipality in the Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It lies approximately halfway between Landau and Neustadt an der Weinstraße. Edenkoben is one of the towns situated along the German Wine R ...

, Sankt Martin (Pfalz), Edenkoben (exclave),

Gommersheim Gommersheim is a municipality in Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country ...

(exclave) and Kirrweiler (exclave).

Climate

Due to its mild climate, not only do grapes grow here but also exotic fruit such as

kiwi Kiwi most commonly refers to: * Kiwi (bird), a flightless bird native to New Zealand * Kiwi (nickname), a nickname for New Zealanders * Kiwifruit, an edible berry * Kiwi dollar or New Zealand dollar, a unit of currency Kiwi or KIWI may also refe ...

lemon The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China. The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culin ...

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genus ...

s and

sweet chestnut ''Castanea sativa'', the sweet chestnut, Spanish chestnut or just chestnut, is a species of tree in the family Fagaceae, native to Southern Europe and Asia Minor, and widely cultivated throughout the temperate world. A substantial, long-lived ...

Industry

Maikammer's local economy is predominantly supported by the wine industry. The area is well known for the vineyards of Alsterweiler, Kappellenberg, Kirchenstück, Immengarten and

Heiligenberg Heiligenberg is a municipality and a village in the Bodensee district in Baden-Württemberg, about seven kilometres north of Salem, in Germany. Location and climate Heiligenberg (literally: the Holy Mountain or the Mountain of Saints) is loca ...

, which produce

Müller-Thurgau Müller-Thurgau is a white grape variety (sp. ''Vitis vinifera'') which was created by Hermann Müller from the Swiss Canton of Thurgau in 1882 at the Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute in Germany. It is a crossing of Riesling with Madeleine R ...

and

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. Wine has played a significant part in Maikammer's history, both economically and culturally. Maikammer is also host to numerous villas built by the original wine families of the area, which now help to attract tourists to the area. During the 1850s,

Anton Ullrich Johannes Anton Ullrich (1826–1895) was a German industrialist, inventor, and co-founder of the "Gebrüder Ullrich" in the Rhineland-Palatinate. Life Anton Ullrich was born on the 30 August 1826 in the small village of Maikammer, Germany. H ...

and his brother

Franz Ullrich Franz Ullrich (1830–1891) was a German industrialist, and co-founder of the "Gebrüder Ullrich" in the Rhineland-Palatinate. Life Franz Ullrich was born on the 22 July 1830 in the small town of Maikammer, Germany. He was the youngest son of an ...

established an enameling factory in Maikammer producing enameled kitchenware. This factory was a major source of employment for the people of Maikammer, employing around 1,000 people at its peak. The products made in Maikammer were sold throughout

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

, distribution extended as far east as

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. The factory was closed in 1928 as a result of Germany's

hyperinflation In economics, hyperinflation is a very high and typically accelerating inflation. It quickly erodes the real value of the local currency, as the prices of all goods increase. This causes people to minimize their holdings in that currency as t ...

Spelling variations

The town of Maikammer has also been spelled in the following ways: Meinkeimere (1315), Meinkemer (1329), Menkemer (1335), Menkemere (1345), Meinkemeren (1346), Meinkemer (1348), Meinkeymer (1350, 1366), Meinkeimer (1370), Meinkemer (1391, 1419), Meynkeimere (1437), Meynkamere (1464), Meinkheimer (1468), Meyekeymere (1500), Mainkeimer (1542), Meynkammer (1560), Maycammer (1650), and since 1800 Maikammer.

Mayors

* Sebastian Frantz (1860–1904) * Eduard Wolf (1904–1920) * Dr. J.C. Wolf (1920–1933) * Gustav Buchenberger (1933–1942) * Otto Wingerter (1942–1945) * Dr. J.C. Wolf (1945–1946) * Alfred Wagner (1946–1947) * Rudolf Straub (1947–1948) * Hermann Ullrich (1948–1955, CDU) * Johannes Damm (1955–1973, CDU) * Rudolf Müller (1973–1974, CDU) * Dieter Ziegler (1974–1994, CDU)Maikammer: Ex-Minister Dieter Ziegler gestorben
''Die Rheinpfalz'', 5 March 2019. * Karl Schäfer (1994–incumbent, CDU)

Notable residents

* General Jakob Freiherr von Hartmann (1797–1873) *

(1830–1891), industrialist

References

* Südliche Weinstraße {{SüdlicheWeinstraße-geo-stub