Relsberg 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
Kusel
Kusel (; written ''Cusel'' until 1865) is a town in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the Kusel-Altenglan ''Verbandsgemeinde'' and is also the district seat.
The well-known operatic tenor Fritz Wunderlich was ...
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'' Lauterecken-Wolfstein.
Geography
Location
Relsberg lies 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 ...
on a ridge between the
Lauter and Odenbach valleys at an elevation of some 360 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 standardise ...
in the headwaters of some small streams that run to the Odenbach. The elevations in the immediate vicinity reach beyond 400 m above sea level. Not quite reaching this height on the Ordnance Survey map are the Bauschüttberg (399 m) and the Kahlenberg (396 m). The municipal area measures 381 ha, of which roughly 10 ha is settled and 46 ha is wooded.
Neighbouring municipalities
Relsberg borders in the north on the municipality of
Reipoltskirchen, in the northeast on the municipality of
Hefersweiler, in the south on the municipality of
Niederkirchen, in the southwest on the town of
Wolfstein and in the west on the municipality of
Einöllen.
Municipality’s layout
The greater part of the village lies on the road that leads from
Wolfstein to
Hefersweiler, although there is a notable concentration of population on the way into the village from the southwest as one enters the built-up area. At the other end of the village in the northeast, another road branches off Hauptstraße (“Main Street”) going to the graveyard. The built-up area is made up mainly of old farmhouses and simple private houses. Even in this quiet village, though, institutions have located that one would normally expect to find only in towns. The village community centre stands at Hauptstraße 10. The village is today held to be a “rural residential community”.
History
Antiquity
From the
Stone
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
,
Bronze and
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...
s comes no direct information about
archaeological finds anywhere within Relsberg's limits. Nevertheless, the area around what is now Relsberg was home to people in
prehistoric times
Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...
. Unearthed within neighbouring
Einöllen’s limits, but near the limit with Relsberg, were 15
stone hatchets in the early 20th century. Furthermore, several
barrows, now nowhere to be seen, are believed to have once lain in this area.
Middle Ages
An exact time for Relsberg’s founding cannot be pinpointed, but it is likely that it did not arise until the
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended around AD 150 ...
, perhaps in the 12th century, around a
castle that had been built sometime earlier. However, nothing at all is known about this castle. There are no written records that mention it, and even
archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...
has yielded no knowledge of this mysterious building. In 1258, a knight, Godfried von Rulsberg, was named in a record. He was a ''
Burgmann
From the 12th century in central Europe, a ''Burgmann'' (plural: ''Burgmannen'' or modern term ''Burgmänner'', Latin: ''oppidanus'', ''castrensus'') was a knight ministeriales or member of the nobility who was obliged to guard and defend castles. ...
'' at
Castle Lichtenberg, and his name cropped up in a document from the
Count of Veldenz as a witness, or at least so wrote Father Michael Frey, a 19th-century
Palatinate historian, albeit without citing a source, so that it cannot be verified. Otherwise, the village’s history was always tightly bound with neighbouring
Reipoltskirchen’s (and consequently, readers should see the
History section in that article for more information), that community once having been the seat of a local lordship, to which Relsberg belonged. According to that lordly history, Relsberg belonged in the 14th century, along with, among other neighbouring villages,
Morbach, Niederkirchen and
Hefersweiler, to the Counts of Hohenfels, and in the 15th century to the Lordship of Hohenfels-Reipoltskirchen. According to old documents, the Otterberg Monastery held extensive rights in Relsberg. A document recording levies owed the Monastery (1432-1462) stated, in archaic
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 ...
, “''Item zu Reilsperge hän wir ein Dritteil am Zehenden''” (“Item: at Relsberg we have one third of the
tithe
A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...
s”). In an account issued about 1555, a man named Peter von Relspergck crops up, who for a stated amount of wax had to pay two ''albus''. At least one source cites this as Relsberg's first documentary mention.
Modern times
An important Lord of Reipoltskirchen in the 16th century was Johannes, who as a young knight for a time led
Franz von Sickingen’s army. His daughter-in-law Amalia wed Count Philipp I of Leiningen-Westerburg as her second husband, who introduced the
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
into all his holdings, and also into the Lordship of Reipoltskirchen. Amalia bequeathed the Lordship of Reipoltskirchen in 1603 to her brothers Sebastian (d. 1619) and Emich (d. 1628). In the time that followed, there were further subdivisions of the lordship, which often was subject to several lords at once but always remained a territorial unit. Among lords who can be named were the Lords of Löwenhaupt, the Lords of Manderscheid-Keil, the Baron of Hillesheim (d. 1748), the Count of Ellradt (d. 1767), and finally Caroline von Isenburg, a natural daughter of
Karl Theodor, the last Elector Palatine and Duke of
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 ...
.
Recent times
In 1793,
French Revolutionary troops took over the Lordship of Reipoltskirchen and thereby the village of Relsberg, too. The populace was made to pay contributions. In 1799,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
dissolved all the old lordships and thereby the Lordship of Reipoltskirchen, too. Within the
French First Republic, Relsberg now belonged to the ''Mairie'' (“Mayoralty”) of Hefersweiler, the
Canton of Wolfstein, the
Arrondissement
An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands.
Europe
France
The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements ...
of Kaiserslautern and 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 reconquest of the German lands on the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
’s left bank in 1814 by
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
n,
Austrian
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Austrian German dialect
* Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
and
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
troops, 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 ...
drew new boundaries yet again. After a transitional time, Relsberg was grouped into the ''bayerischer Rheinkreis'', later known as ''Rheinpfalz'' (“Rhenish Palatinate”), an exclave of 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 ...
in 1816. Relsberg then found itself in the canton of the ''Landcommissariat'' of Kusel and the ''Bürgermeisterei'' (“Mayoralty”) of Hefersweiler. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...
(NSDAP) became very popular in Relsberg. In the
1928 Reichstag elections, 61% of the local votes went to
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
’s party, but by the
1930 Reichstag elections, this had grown to 90%. By the time of the
1933 Reichstag elections, after Hitler had already
seized power, local support for the Nazis had swollen to a full 100%. This level of support was matched in very few other places in the area. Hitler's success in these elections paved the way for his
Enabling Act of 1933 (''Ermächtigungsgesetz''), thus starting the
Third Reich
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
in earnest. The village stayed with
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 ...
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 ...
, when it became part of the Federal Republic of Germany within the then newly founded
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
of
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 ...
. In the course of administrative restructuring in this state in 1968, Relsberg became 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 ...
'' within the
''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Wolfstein and the
Kusel
Kusel (; written ''Cusel'' until 1865) is a town in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the Kusel-Altenglan ''Verbandsgemeinde'' and is also the district seat.
The well-known operatic tenor Fritz Wunderlich was ...
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 1972.
Population development
Until the 20th century, the greater part of Relsberg's people earned their living at
agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...
. Nevertheless, Relsberg also yielded its share of ''Musikanten'', travelling musicians who travelled the world for their livelihoods (see the
Hinzweiler article for more about them, particularly the
''Musikanten'' and
Otto Schwarz sections). The greater part of Relsberg's workforce must nowadays
commute
Commute, commutation or commutative may refer to:
* Commuting, the process of travelling between a place of residence and a place of work
Mathematics
* Commutative property, a property of a mathematical operation whose result is insensitive to th ...
to jobs elsewhere, in, among other places,
Kaiserslautern,
Wolfstein and
Lauterecken
Lauterecken () is a town in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Lauterecken-Wolfstein, to which it also belongs. Lauterecken bears the nickname ''Veldenzstadt'', after the comital family ...
. Formerly, there were other job opportunities besides farming, albeit slight ones, within the village, namely in the craft occupations and at the stone quarries and mines in neighbouring areas. While a steady rise in population was to be noted throughout the 19th century, in the 20th, there was an at first gradual and then eventually a worsening loss in numbers. While there were some 300 inhabitants about 1900, the population is today nearer 200, about the same level as was seen at the onset of the 19th century.
The following table shows population development over the centuries for Relsberg, with some figures broken down by religious denomination:
Municipality’s name
Relsberg's name is a combination of the placename ending ''—berg'' or ''—burg'' and the prefix ''Regil'' or ''Ragilin'', which is to be interpreted as a personal name. The name ending was originally ''—burg'' (“castle”), referring to a now vanished
castle that must once have stood where the village now lies. It is thought that it still stood at the time of founding. However, nothing is known about this castle. Thus the name originally meant “Regil’s (or Ragilin’s) Castle”. The name had its first documentary mention in an original document now kept at the ''
Landesarchiv Speyer'' (State Archive) issued sometime between 1432 and 1462. Other names that the village has borne over time are ''Relsburg'' (before 1491), ''Relspergck'' (1555), ''Reylsberg'' (1560), ''Regelspurg'' or ''Regelsburg'' (1565) and ''Rölsberg'' (1824). Over time, the ending shifted to ''—berg'', an important distinction, for although these endings are often pronounced the same way by
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
speakers, their pronunciations are quite distinct 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 ...
, as are their meanings. ''Berg'' is German for “mountain”.
Religion
Relsberg originally belonged to the Glan
chapter within the
Archbishopric of Mainz, and in terms of ecclesiastical organization was tied to Reipoltskirchen. That still held true after Philipp I of Westerburg-Leiningen introduced the
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
in the 16th century, at the latest. In those days, all the villagers were, under the principle of ''
cuius regio, eius religio
() is a Latin phrase which literally means "whose realm, their religion" – meaning that the religion of the ruler was to dictate the religion of those ruled. This legal principle marked a major development in the collective (if not individua ...
'', followers of
Martin Luther
Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...
’s teachings. 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 ...
,
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 ...
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...
and those of other denominations were once again allowed to settle in the village. Nevertheless, the overwhelming majority of the villagers kept to
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
, and only a few Catholics and
Calvinists. The parish seat for the Lutherans was
Nußbach. The Catholics belonged to the Reipoltskirchen church community. The Calvinists belonged to the community of
Dörrmoschel. The problem of division within the
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 ...
community into Lutherans and Calvinists was laid to rest in 1818 when the two denominations merged in the Protestant Union.
''Der Alte Friedhof''
Relsberg has never had a church, and thus never a churchyard where the dead could be buried. Instead, they had to be taken a long way to the mother church, which is why the villagers in earlier days often referred to their way to church as the ''Totenweg'' (“dead man’s way”). Until 1680, Relsberg took its dead by way of the old church path to
Reipoltskirchen. From 1680 to 1688, late
Protestants were buried in either
Niederkirchen or
Rathskirchen. Only beginning in 1688 could all Relsberg Lutherans be buried in Niederkirchen. On 18 September 1837, Niederkirchen council decided to put an end to burials at that village's churchyard, thus forcing each village to establish its own graveyard. In 1838 Relsberg did so, the one now known as ''Der Alte Friedhof'' – The Old Graveyard. The first villager to be buried in his own village was Heinrich Gödel. The last burial took place here in 1945. In 2005, the Relsberg Local History and Cultural Club leased the ground and set itself to work making The Old Graveyard publicly visitable.
About the graveyard, Karl-Werner Laub from Relsberg wrote in the 2008 village yearbook, ''Relsberg – kleine pfälzische Toscana'' (“Relsberg – Little Palatine Tuscany”):
He who once enters The Old Graveyard in the month of May ends up in a sweet-smelling lilac grove, over which a blossoming chestnut tree spreads its ancient boughs. Wild ivy
''Hedera'', commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern Africa and ...
grows over the overturned gravestones. Gilt names fade in the rubble overgrown with moss. He who gives himself over to thought under those May blossoms and young leaves on the graveyard bench encounters an original picture of Romanticism
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...
: mysteriously carefree, the colourful spring
Spring(s) may refer to:
Common uses
* Spring (season)
Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of ...
overgrows the transient idyll lying in the rubble. Long bygone death we receive like deep solace. It has lost its pain.
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
Relsberg's mayor is Jürgen Werner.
[
]
Coat of arms
The German blazon reads: ''Über silbernem Dreiberg in Grün zwei gekreuzte silberne Ähren.''
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 bran ...
language be described thus: Vert two ears of wheat slipped per saltire above, issuant from base, a mount of three, all argent.
The charge
Charge or charged may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* '' Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary
Music
* ''Charge'' (David Ford album)
* ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album)
* ''Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...
in base, the “mount of three”, known 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 ...
as a ''Dreiberg'', is meant to represent the rugged country in which Relsberg lies, while the other charge, the two crossed ears of wheat, stand for what was well into the 20th century the village's economic mainstay, agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...
.
Culture and sightseeing
Clubs
The following clubs are active in Relsberg:
*''Gesangverein'' — singing club
*''Landfrauenverein'' — countrywomen's club
*''Schützenverein'' — shooting
Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles ...
club
*''SPD-Ortsverein'' — Social Democratic Party of Germany local chapter
*''Heimat- und Kulturverein'' — local history and cultural club
Economy and infrastructure
Economic structure
In earlier times, Relsberg's inhabitants lived mainly on agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...
. Besides farming, there were also craft trades and the opportunity to work at the local mines. Within Relsberg's limits also lay a coalmine. Today, most workers must commute
Commute, commutation or commutative may refer to:
* Commuting, the process of travelling between a place of residence and a place of work
Mathematics
* Commutative property, a property of a mathematical operation whose result is insensitive to th ...
to jobs elsewhere.
Education
The earliest information about schooling in Relsberg comes from the late 18th century in connection with silkworm raising by a 50-year-old schoolteacher whose name is unknown. From Relsberg itself came some teachers who in the time that followed taught elsewhere. In the 19th century, a teacher named Johann Lehmann from Relsberg taught for decades in Nußbach. Another teacher named Jacob Lehmann, born in 1822, also came from Relsberg and taught in his home village. He passed his examination at teacher's college in 1846, became school administrator in Relsberg in 1846 and in 1848 became the regular schoolteacher. Jacob Lehmann must have been highly strict with his pupils, and more often than not, school inspections yielded complaints about mishandling children, for which Lehmann once had to pay a fine of 7 Rhenish guilder
The Rhenish ''gulden'' or Rhenish ''guilder'' (german: Rheinischer Gulden; la, florenus Rheni) was a gold, standard currency coin of the Rhineland in the 14th and 15th centuries. They weighed between 3.4 and 3.8 grams ().
History
The Rhenish ...
s and 28 Kreuzer
The Kreuzer (), in English usually kreutzer ( ), was a coin and unit of currency in the southern German states prior to the introduction of the German gold mark in 1871/73, and in Austria and Switzerland. After 1760 it was made of copper. In s ...
. In 1870, Lehmann sought to have himself pensioned off because of a rheumatic
Rheumatology (Greek ''ῥεῦμα'', ''rheûma'', flowing current) is a branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis and management of disorders whose common feature is inflammation in the bones, muscles, joints, and internal organs. Rheumatolog ...
complaint in his right leg. At first, all he got was an assistant, whom he was expected to pay out of his own pocket, since he was rather well off and could afford it. Nonetheless, this did not suit Lehmann and he fought the decision. The assistant's name was Karl Hauber, from Wolfstein. In 1881, Otto Lehmann came to teach for a short time from Niederkirchen. Jacob Lehmann died in 1882. Following him into the classroom was now Wilhelm Schuhmacher from 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 ...
, who stayed in Relsberg until 1884. He was followed by Wolfgang Menhorn from Mönchsroth near Dinkelsbühl
Dinkelsbühl () is a historic town in Central Franconia, a region of Germany that is now part of the state of Bavaria, in southern Germany. Dinkelsbühl is a former free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire. In local government terms, Dinkelsb ...
, who without announcing his intention left Relsberg in 1885 to seek more lucrative posts in Dessau and Neisse
The Lusatian Neisse (german: Lausitzer Neiße; pl, Nysa Łużycka; cs, Lužická Nisa; Upper Sorbian: ''Łužiska Nysa''; Lower Sorbian: ''Łužyska Nysa''), or Western Neisse, is a river in northern Central Europe.[Feuchtwangen
Feuchtwangen is a city in Ansbach district in the administrative region of Middle Franconia in Bavaria, Germany with around 12,000 citizens and 137km² of landmass making it the biggest city in the Ansbach district by Population and Landmass. In t ...]
area. Only after the wedding was he installed as the permanent teacher. He was nevertheless transferred in 1887 to Maßweiler. In 1888, the new schoolteacher was Philipp Honig from Roth, born in 1864 as that village's mayor's son. He completed teacher training in Schwabach
Schwabach () is a German city of about 40,000 inhabitants near Nuremberg in the centre of the region of Franconia in the north of Bavaria. The city is an autonomous administrative district (''kreisfreie Stadt''). Schwabach is also the name of th ...
and could present very good credentials. Honig introduced “work teaching”, then a very progressive teaching method that was only conditionally accepted by the school authorities. He believed that with his teaching, pupils would be trained for a life that would allow them to forgo travelling the world as ''Musikanten'', as the region's professional travelling musicians were known. From him came this lament:
Sadly it is too true a fact that right in this local area quite a significant percentage of pupils leaving weekday school prefer a roving musician’s life to the stressful and earnest work of a handicraft.
In 1891, Honig became a teacher at a school in Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
. Up to the outbreak of 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 ...
, a whole series of schoolteachers, none of whom stayed on very long, taught in the village. Today, primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
pupils and Hauptschule
A ''Hauptschule'' (, "general school") is a secondary school in Germany, starting after four years of elementary schooling (''Grundschule''), which offers Lower Secondary Education (Level 2) according to the International Standard Classification ...
students attend their respective schools in Wolfstein. One family in Relsberg itself cares for children in need.
Transport
Relsberg lies on ''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 ...
'' 43, which branches off ''Landesstraße
''Landesstraßen'' (singular: ''Landesstraße'') are roads in Germany and Austria that are, as a rule, the responsibility of the respective German or Austrian federal state. The term may therefore be translated as "state road". They are roads t ...
'' 384 ( Wolfstein— Hefersweiler) and also links with Hefersweiler by way of Relsberg. To the west 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'' ...
'' 270. Serving Wolfstein 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 ''Lautertalbahn
The Lauter Valley Railway (german: Lautertalbahn) is a branch line in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It runs from Kaiserslautern along the Lauter river to Lauterecken. The railway, which was opened in 1883, has only regional importan ...
''.Transport
/ref>
References
External links
Relsberg in the collective municipality’s webpages
{{Authority control
Municipalities in Rhineland-Palatinate
Kusel (district)