Neichen is an ''

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 ...

'' – 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

Vulkaneifel Vulkaneifel () is a district (''Kreis'') in the northwest of the state Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the least densely populated district in the state and the fourth most sparsely populated district in Germany. The administrative centre of ...

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 ...

. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Kelberg, whose seat is in the like-named municipality.

Geography

The municipality lies in the

, 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. Roughly 150 people live in Neichen.

History

The name “Neichen” derives from a 14th-century description of the place as the ''hof von den Eichen'' (“Estate of the Oaks”), from which arose the shorter form ''Neichen'' through faulty separation of the last two words. Until 1970, the municipality belonged to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Daun, when it, along with

Beinhausen Beinhausen is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Kelberg, who ...

, Boxberg,

Brück Brück is a town in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 29 km southwest of Potsdam, and 28 km southeast of Brandenburg. Parts of Brück are located in the High Fläming Nature Park. At Brück, there ...

, Hörschhausen and Katzwinkel, was annexed to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Kelberg.

Politics

Municipal council

The council is made up of 6 council members, who were elected by

majority vote A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-Webster

Coat of arms

The German blazon reads: ''In Gold ein grüner Schrägrechtsbalken, belegt mit goldenem Eichenblatt und gold-silbernen Früchten, begleitet oben und unten von je einem grünen Eichenblatt mit grün-silbernen Früchten.'' 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 branc ...

language be described thus: Or a bend vert charged with an oakleaf of the field fructed of two argent and between two oakleaves bendwise of the second likewise fructed. The oakleaves are

canting ' (IPA: , VOS Spelling: ''tjanting'', jv, ꦕꦤ꧀ꦛꦶꦁ, Tjanting) is a pen-like tool used to apply liquid hot wax ( jv, ) in the batik-making process in Indonesia, more precisely '' batik tulis'' (lit. "written batik"). Traditional ''T ...

for the municipality's name which, as mentioned above, derives from the

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 ...

word ''Eichen'' (“oaks”) prefixed with a faultily separated

dative In grammar, the dative case (abbreviated , or sometimes when it is a core argument) is a grammatical case used in some languages to indicate the recipient or beneficiary of an action, as in "Maria Jacobo potum dedit", Latin for "Maria gave Jacob a ...

plural The plural (sometimes abbreviated pl., pl, or ), in many languages, is one of the values of the grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than the default quantity represented by that noun. This de ...

definite article An article is any member of a class of dedicated words that are used with noun phrases to mark the identifiability of the referents of the noun phrases. The category of articles constitutes a part of speech. In English, both "the" and "a(n)" ar ...

ending.

Culture and sightseeing

In the village centre stands the small

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 ...

chapel from 1827 which is consecrated to

Saint Brigid Saint Brigid of Kildare or Brigid of Ireland ( ga, Naomh Bríd; la, Brigida; 525) is the patroness saint (or 'mother saint') of Ireland, and one of its three national saints along with Patrick and Columba. According to medieval Irish hagiogra ...

, patron saint not only of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

but also of, among other things,

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

. This once led to a yearly custom in which farmers would fetch water consecrated to Saint Brigid – ''Brigittenwasser'' – in little bottles from the church and take it home to put in sick livestock's fodder as needed. This was supposed to help the animals. This custom, however, is no longer practised. Neichen, kapel 2009-08-06 11

Buildings

branch church, Kapellenstraße, 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 ...

from 1826 (or 1827 according to the above source). * Hauptstraße 10 –

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 of a corner estate, mid 19th century. * Hauptstraße/corner of Im Backesgarten – wayside cross, beam cross from 1687. *

Saint Hubert Hubertus or Hubert ( 656 – 30 May 727 A.D.) was a Christian saint who became the first bishop of Liège in 708 A.D. He is the patron saint of hunters, mathematicians, opticians and metalworkers. Known as the "Apostle of the Ardennes", he was ...

’s Catholic Parish Church (''Pfarrkirche St. Hubertus''), Hauptstraße, so-called Hilgerath Church (''Kirche Hilgerath''),

mediaeval 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 a ...

west tower, aisleless church 1803, expanded in 1950; grave crosses in the outer wall, 17th and 18th centuries. * Wayside chapel, south of Saint Hubert's Catholic Parish Church,

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

brick building from 1907, Gothic Revival altar.

Natural monuments

The ''Drees'', a mineral

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...

, gushes forth from the ground at the village's outskirts. The water is sour and contains

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...

and carbonic acid. The spring is a product of the now mostly extinct

volcanic activity Volcanism, vulcanism or volcanicity is the phenomenon of eruption of molten rock (magma) onto the surface of the Earth or a solid-surface planet or moon, where lava, pyroclastics, and volcanic gases erupt through a break in the surface called a ...

that gives the

its name. The springwater is definitely an acquired taste, but its fanciers swear by their daily glass of ''Drees'' even today.Neichen’s history
/ref>

Economy and infrastructure

Since there is only one business in the village, a honey wholesaler's, most people work in the bigger places in the surrounding area, like

Daun Daun is a town in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the district seat and also the seat of the ' of Daun. Geography Location The town lies in the , a part of the Eifel known for its volcanic history, geogra ...

Mayen Mayen is a town in the Mayen-Koblenz District of the Rhineland-Palatinate Federal State of Germany, in the eastern part of the Volcanic Eifel Region. As well as the main town, additional settlements include Alzheim, Kürrenberg, Hausen-Betzing, ...

References

External links

Neichen in the collective municipality’s Web pages
{{authority control Municipalities in Rhineland-Palatinate Vulkaneifel