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Rhaunen 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 Birkenfeld
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 ...
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 was the seat of the former ''Verbandsgemeinde''
Rhaunen Rhaunen is an '' Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It was the seat of the former ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Rhaune ...
.


Geography


Location

The municipality lies at the
Idar Forest The Idar Forest (German: ''Idarwald'', Celtic: ''"id ar"'' - hill forest above the land) is part of the Hunsrück low mountain range in the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography The Idar Forest lies in the distric ...
in the
Hunsrück The Hunsrück () is a long, triangular, pronounced upland in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the valleys of the Moselle-Saar (north-to-west), the Nahe (south), and the Rhine (east). It is continued by the Taunus mountains, past ...
in a sprawling, well watered hollow. The hollow separates the Idar Forest massif from the Soonwald massif. Within the village itself, the Lingenbach empties into the Rhaunelbach, which itself, along with the Näßbach, the Macherbach and the Büdenbach, empties into the Idarbach. The nearest major centres are
Idar-Oberstein Idar-Oberstein () is a town in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. As a ''Große kreisangehörige Stadt'' (large city belonging to a district), it assumes some of the responsibilities that for smaller municipalities in ...
,
Simmern Simmern (; officially Simmern/Hunsrück) is a town of roughly 7,600 inhabitants (2013) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, the district seat of the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis, and the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Simmern-Rheinböllen. In the Rhinelan ...
,
Morbach Morbach is a municipality that belongs to no ''Verbandsgemeinde'' – a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is also a state-recognized climatic resort (''Luftkurort''). G ...
and
Kirn Kirn is a town in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. It is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Kirner Land. Kirn is a middle centre serving an area on the Nahe and in the Hunsrück. Geography Location Kirn lies in a la ...
.


Constituent communities

Also belonging to Rhaunen are the outlying centre of Neuzenbrunnen and the homesteads of Hochwälderhof and Königstein.


Geology

The solid rock in Rhaunen, Hunsrück
slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
, comes down from the
Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, whe ...
. The hollow in which Rhaunen lies was formed by the many brooks that flow together here and that shaped various
alluvial fan An alluvial fan is an accumulation of sediments that fans outwards from a concentrated source of sediments, such as a narrow canyon emerging from an escarpment. They are characteristic of mountainous terrain in arid to semiarid climates, but a ...
s, which have very loamy subsoil. The Hunsrück slate can be found on the slopes overlooking the hollow, whereas the floodplains down in the dale are characterized by loaminess. While the slopes are mostly covered with
mixed forests Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest is a temperate climate terrestrial habitat type defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature, with broadleaf tree ecoregions, and with conifer and broadleaf tree mixed coniferous forest ecoregions. These fo ...
, meadowland is to be found in the dales, and on the higher-lying terraces and hills, cropraising. The slate was once intensively used as a building material, both for roofing and building walls. Even the many public buildings built in Rhaunen about the turn of the 20th century have unplastered walls made of slate quarrystone. Of the many slate quarries that were once to be found in the dales around Rhaunen, none is still in business. Here and there, though, tailing heaps can still be seen. The biggest operation in the slatemining business was the “Abenstern” quarry on the Wartenberg, going towards Hausen. It was quarrying slate until the late 1950s. The high ridges, of the Idar Forest massif for example, are formed of the most extremely weathering-resistant Taunus
quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tect ...
, whose effect on the land is to leave it rather useless for
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 to ...
, although not altogether unusable in
forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...
. This Taunus quartzite harbours
bog iron Bog iron is a form of impure iron deposit that develops in bogs or swamps by the chemical or biochemical oxidation of iron carried in solution. In general, bog ores consist primarily of iron oxyhydroxides, commonly goethite (FeO(OH)). Iron-bea ...
deposits, which until about the middle of the 19th century were mined and smelted. This was done at the ''Weitersbacher Hütte'' (ironworks) near Rhaunen.


Climate

Yearly
precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...
in Rhaunen amounts to 744 mm, which falls into the middle third of the precipitation chart for all Germany. At 50% of the German Weather Service's
weather station A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasts and to study the weather and climate. The measurements taken include tempera ...
s lower figures are recorded. The driest month is April. The most rainfall comes in November. In that month, precipitation is 1.4 times what it is in April. Precipitation varies only slightly and is spread quite evenly throughout the year. Only at 1% of the weather stations are lower seasonal swings recorded.


History

Given the central location, the place now called Rhaunen was already settled in
Roman 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 letter ...
times, as witnessed by the
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
blocks in the
Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...
church's north wall, which were formerly walled up. ''Rhunanu'', first named in a record from Lorch Abbey (not to be confused with
Lorsch Abbey Lorsch Abbey, otherwise the Imperial Abbey of Lorsch (german: Reichsabtei Lorsch; la, Laureshamense Monasterium or ''Laurissa''), is a former Imperial abbey in Lorsch, Germany, about east of Worms. It was one of the most renowned monasteries o ...
) in the late 8th century, crops up again in 841 as ''Rhuna'' in a donation to
Fulda Abbey The Abbey of Fulda (German ''Kloster Fulda'', Latin ''Abbatia Fuldensis''), from 1221 the Princely Abbey of Fulda (''Fürstabtei Fulda'') and from 1752 the Prince-Bishopric of Fulda (''Fürstbistum Fulda''), was a Order of Saint Benedict, Benedicti ...
. Rhaunen became the seat of the like-named high court district. Until the 14th century, the
Waldgrave The noble family of the Waldgraves or Wildgraves (Latin: ''comites silvestres'') descended of a division of the House of the Counts of Nahegau in the year 1113. When the (a countship named after the river Nahe) split into two parts in 1113 ...
s were the unqualified owners of the court and the places that it governed. Besides Rhaunen itself, these were
Bollenbach Bollenbach is an '' Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Herrstein-Rhaune ...
,
Bruschied Bruschied 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 Verba ...
,
Bundenbach Bundenbach is an '' Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Herrstein-Rhau ...
, Gösenroth, Hausen,
Krummenau Krummenau is an '' Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Herrst ...
,
Laufersweiler Laufersweiler is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of ...
,
Lindenschied Lindenschied is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of K ...
,
Oberkirn Oberkirn is an '' Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Herrstein-Rhaunen, w ...
,
Schwerbach Schwerbach is an '' Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Herrstein-Rhaunen, ...
, Stipshausen, Sulzbach, Weitersbach and
Woppenroth Woppenroth is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Kir ...
. Also under the court's sway was the Schmidtburg. With this Waldgravial
castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
’s loss to Archbishop Baldwin of Trier in 1330, however, part of the court’s territory in the form of three villages also passed to the
Electorate of Trier The Electorate of Trier (german: Kurfürstentum Trier or ' or Trèves) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from the end of the 9th to the early 19th century. It was the temporal possession of the prince- ...
. Baldwin also managed at the same stroke to relieve the Waldgraves of one fourth of the high court. Territorial relations remained so until an end was put to the Old Empire in the late 18th century and the old
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 ...
governmental body, the court, was likewise swept away. In the course of the French occupation of the 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 the wake of the
Treaty of Lunéville The Treaty of Lunéville (or Peace of Lunéville) was signed in the Treaty House of Lunéville on 9 February 1801. The signatory parties were the French Republic and Emperor Francis II, who signed on his own behalf as ruler of the hereditary doma ...
, Rhaunen was grouped into the
Department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
of Sarre, 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 Birkenfeld and the canton of Rhaunen. After the French withdrew in 1814, Rhaunen found itself in
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 em ...
’s new
Rhine Province The Rhine Province (german: Rheinprovinz), also known as Rhenish Prussia () or synonymous with the Rhineland (), was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822 to 1946. It ...
, also becoming the seat of a ''Bürgermeisterei'' (“mayoralty”) in the Bernkastel-Kues district. Parts of the old high court district, however – Bundenbach, for instance – now belonged to the Principality of Birkenfeld, an
exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...
of the
Grand Duchy of Oldenburg The Grand Duchy of Oldenburg (, also known as Holstein-Oldenburg) was a grand duchy within the German Confederation, North German Confederation and German Empire that consisted of three widely separated territories: Oldenburg, Eutin and Birke ...
, most of whose territory was in what is now northwest Germany, with a coastline on the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
. Even after 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 ...
, through the
Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...
and on through the time of 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 ...
, Rhaunen was the administrative seat for the surrounding villages. In the course of administrative restructuring in the 1960s, 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 Rhaunen became the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Rhaunen in the Birkenfeld district. This arrangement still stands. The
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
house at Otto-Conradt-Straße 5 (until 1978, Am Bach 5) was the Waldgravial ''Oberamtshaus'' (administrative centre of the '' Oberamt''), and later, through inheritance, it fulfilled the same function for the comital family of
Salm Salm may refer to People * Constance de Salm (1767–1845), poet and miscellaneous writer; through her second marriage, she became Princess of Salm-Dyck * Salm ibn Ziyad, an Umayyad governor of Khurasan and Sijistan * House of Salm, a European ...
. Under French rule, it was the ''Gendarmerie'' barracks. In Prussian times, it first became a
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 ...
rectory, and then until 1899 a court building. Today it is an
inn Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...
. The ''
Amtmann __NOTOC__ The ''Amtmann'' or ''Ammann'' (in Switzerland) was an official in German-speaking countries of Europe and in some of the Nordic countries from the time of the Middle Ages whose office was akin to that of a bailiff. He was the most seni ...
'' who oversaw the Electoral-Trier fourth of the Rhaunen high court sat at the Schmidtburg (near Bundenbach). The parish of Rhaunen comprised not only the like-named village but also Sulzbach, Weitersbach and, until 1504, Stipshausen. Rhaunen had a simultaneous church beginning in 1685, used by both Catholics and Evangelicals. This arrangement lasted more than two centuries, until 1887/1888, when the Catholic community built its own church on the way out of the village towards Sulzbach. Rhaunen was for centuries a judiciary, administrative and commercial hub. Its development peaked in Prussian times when it had the mayor's office, the ''Amt'' court and
prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...
on the way out of the village towards Hausen, the chief forester's house on Hauptstraße, a notary's office, the cadastral office – later a professional college – on Poststraße on the way out of the village towards Bundenbach, a
dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...
likewise there, Catholic and Evangelical churches, a
synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
on Salzengasse and a
hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...
on the way out of the village towards Stipshausen, although this last site has been occupied since the 1960s by the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' administration building. Over the last few decades, though, with the growth of regional centres, the village has gradually lost its functions as a centre. Still left, however, are the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' administration, the two churches and a ''Mittelpunktschule'' (“midpoint school”, a central school, designed to eliminate smaller outlying schools) on the road towards Weitersbach. The long timespan during which Rhaunen functioned as a centre for the other local villages has left its mark on the village's structure: Unlike the scattered settlement pattern seen in most of its neighbours, Rhaunen has a much more heavily concentrated built-up centre. The old neighbourhoods can still be made out in the three heavily built-up blocks bounded by Otto-Conradt-Straße (formerly called Am Bach, for its geographical location alongside the brook), Unterdorf, Hauptstraße, Straße am Wartenberg and Marktplatz (“Marketplace”). The church stands a short way outside this zone on a slope overlooking the village. This seemingly odd location is explained by the church's construction on top of an existing building – one of
Roman 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 letter ...
origin.


Politics


Municipal council

The council is made up of 16 council members, who were elected at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman. The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:


Mayor

Rhaunen's mayor is Manfred Klingel, and his deputies are Sascha Diepmanns, Anneliese Hammes and Andreas Endres.


Coat of arms

The German blazon reads: 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: Per bend sable a wolf's head couped argent, and Or a lion rampant gules armed and langued azure. 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 ...
on the dexter (armsbearer's right, viewer's left) side, the wolf's head, was drawn from a 1711 seal used by the Rhaunen high court, while the one on the sinister (armsbearer's left, viewer's right) side, the lion, is a reference to the village's former allegiance to the
Waldgrave The noble family of the Waldgraves or Wildgraves (Latin: ''comites silvestres'') descended of a division of the House of the Counts of Nahegau in the year 1113. When the (a countship named after the river Nahe) split into two parts in 1113 ...
s and Rhinegraves.


Town partnerships

Rhaunen fosters partnerships with the following places: *
Drebach Drebach is a municipality in the district of Erzgebirgskreis, in Saxony, Germany. It consists of the ''Ortsteile'' (divisions) Drebach, Grießbach, Im Grund, Scharfenstein, Spinnerei, Venusberg, Wilischthal and Wiltzsch.Erzgebirgskreis Erzgebirgskreis is a district ('' Kreis'') in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is named after the Erzgebirge ("Ore Mountains"), a mountain range in the southern part of the district which forms part of the Germany–Czech Republic border. I ...
,
Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
* Saint-Valérien,
Yonne Yonne () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the river Yonne, which flows through it, in the country's north-central part. One of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté's eight constituent departments, it is lo ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...


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:Directory of Cultural Monuments in Birkenfeld district
/ref> *
Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...
parish church, Schustergasse 3 –
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 ...
, about 1700; Late Gothic three-sided
apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...
and west gable; north tower from the latter half of the 13th century, pointed spire about 1570; décor; organ 1723 by Johann Michael Stumm; characterizes village's appearance * Saint Martin's
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 ...
Parish Church (''Pfarrkirche St. Martin''), Kirchstraße – three-naved
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 ...
hall church A hall church is a church with a nave and aisles of approximately equal height, often united under a single immense roof. The term was invented in the mid-19th century by Wilhelm Lübke, a pioneering German art historian. In contrast to an archi ...
, 1887/1888, built to plans by the
Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
Paschalis (secularly: Theodor Gratze),
Warendorf Warendorf (, Westphalian: ''Warnduorp'') is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and capital of Warendorf District. The town is best known today for its well-preserved medieval town centre, for horse-riding, and the opportunities it prov ...
; characterizes village's appearance * Am Wartenberg 2 – corner house, partly
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 ...
(slated), early 18th century; characterizes village's appearance * Am Wartenberg 3 – blocky building with hipped roof, late 19th century * Hauptstraße 8 – town hall; building with half-hipped roof and council loggia, partly timber-frame (slated), belfry, marked 1723 * Hauptstraße 10 – former ''Amtshaus'' (''Amt'' administrative centre); Late Historicist
slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
quarrystone building,
Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...
, 1901 * Hauptstraße 43 – forester's office;
Swiss chalet style Swiss chalet style (german: Schweizerstil, no, Sveitserstil) is an architectural style of Late Historicism, originally inspired by rural chalets in Switzerland and the Alpine (mountainous) regions of Central Europe. The style refers to traditi ...
building, 1911 * Kirchstraße 3 – Catholic rectory; Late Classicist solid building, 1863 * Otto-Conrad-Straße 3 – former Waldgravial estate; plastered building with
mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The ...
, from the latter half of the 18th century * Poststraße 18 – former cadastral office; slightly asymmetrically grouped buildings with mansard roofs, 1911 * Pühlstraße 35/37 – former Royal ''Amt'' Court with prison and prison yard; castlelike
Baroque Revival The Baroque Revival, also known as Neo-Baroque (or Second Empire architecture in France and Wilhelminism in Germany), was an architectural style of the late 19th century. The term is used to describe architecture and architectural sculptu ...
slate quarrystone complex, 1899; equipment * Salzengasse 1 –
Gründerzeit (; "founders' period") was the economic phase in 19th-century Germany and Austria before the great stock market crash of 1873. In Central Europe, the age of industrialisation had been taking place since the 1840s. That period is not precisely ...
house with gable with exposed rafters, late 19th century * Salzengasse 3 – former Catholic
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 compuls ...
; blocky building with hipped roof,
Rundbogenstil (round-arch style) is a nineteenth-century historic revival style of architecture popular in the German-speaking lands and the German diaspora. It combines elements of Byzantine, Romanesque, and Renaissance architecture with particular ...
, 1862 * Schulstraße 9 – former new school; three-winged complex, 1928, architect Nicolaus Coenen, Bernkastel * Unterdorf 8 – stately house, partly timber-frame (plastered), mansard roof, about 1800 * Unterdorf 12 – house, partly timber-frame, partly slated, 18th century *
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
graveyard, east of the village in the woods (monumental zone) – 33 gravestones in two rows, earliest from 1893; front sides mainly in
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
, backs inscribed in
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
The organ at the Evangelical church is from 1723, making it the oldest preserved Stumm organ. Information about the various buildings of interest around the village is presented on historical plaques for visitors. At the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' administration building, visitors can see local Roman
archaeological 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 landscap ...
finds. Standing on a bridge over the ugly concrete channel through which the Rhaunelbach runs within the village – it is a flood-control measure – is a
bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
statue A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...
, a personification of the ''Bachspautzer'' (roughly “Brook Spitter”), a traditional nickname for people from Rhaunen.


Parks

The Wartenberg, a mountain that forms a semicircle around Rhaunen, has many trails and good views of the village below.


Natural monuments

The ancient
menhir A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be foun ...
standing at the way out of the village towards Stipshausen, a
quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tect ...
block known as the ''Königsstein'' (“King’s Stone”), is not a natural monument in the usual sense, but the slate plaque there identifies it as such. Genuine natural monuments amount to a few very old oaktrees and the ''Jakobstanne'' on the Wartenberg, a mighty
Douglas-fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three va ...
.


Sport

Rhaunen has a sport club, “TUS” Rhaunen, with various departments. Nationally known is the hike in the spring.


Regular events

* ''Rhauner Herbstmarkt'' (Autumn Market), first Saturday in October * ''Weihnachtsmarkt'' (
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
Market), December The event ''Päädscher Laafe'' (or in
High German The High German dialects (german: hochdeutsche Mundarten), or simply High German (); not to be confused with Standard High German which is commonly also called ''High German'', comprise the varieties of German spoken south of the Benrath and ...
, ''Pfade laufen'' – “Walk paths”) is a kind of “open house” day in the municipality, on which people can get a glimpse into places that are not otherwise open to the public. At the same time, it gives businesses and other institutions an opportunity to present themselves from a different angle.


Culinary specialities

These include ''Spießbraten'' (spit roast), ''Schaukelbraten'' (“swung” roast), ''Gefüllte Klöße'' (filled dumplings), ''Reibekuchen'' (potato pancake) and ''Schaales'' (another kind of potato pancake).


Economy and infrastructure


Service sector

Rhaunen offers the surrounding area many
services Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a p ...
, including
physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
s, authorities, churches, schools, workshops,
filling station A filling station, also known as a gas station () or petrol station (), is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold in the 2010s were gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Gasoli ...
s and shops for daily and occasional needs, which can all be found in the village. There are, however, no businesses in the
industrial sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in construction ...
.


Transport

Serving Rhaunen are bus routes 345, 351 and 352, run by ''Omnibusverkehr Rhein-Nahe'' (ORN). There are stops at Rhaunen Markt, the church, the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' administration building and the outdoor
swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...
. Route 345 runs from Idar-Oberstein
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 pre ...
by way of Tiefenstein (a constituent community of Idar-Oberstein), Asbach and Stipshausen to Rhaunen Markt. Routes 351 and 352 run as links to Frankfurt-Hahn Airport, with 351 coming from Idar-Oberstein station and 352 from Kirn station. Idar-Oberstein's
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 pre ...
, as a
Regional-Express In Germany, Luxembourg and Austria, the Regional-Express (RE, or in Austria: REX) is a type of regional train. It is similar to a semi-fast train, with average speed at about 70–90 km/h (top speed often 160 km/h) as it calls at f ...
and Regionalbahn stop, is linked by way of 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 (Rhine), Nahe. It was built by the ...
( Bingen
Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...
) to the
Saarland The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...
and the
Frankfurt Rhine Main Region The Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region, often simply referred to as Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main area or Rhine-Main area (German: ''Rhein-Main-Gebiet'' or ''Frankfurt/Rhein-Main'', abbreviated FRM), is the second-largest metropolitan re ...
. The ''Rhein-Nahe-Express'' running the
Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...
-Saarbrücken route serves the station hourly. Every other one of these trains goes through to the
main railway station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...
in
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
with a stop at
Frankfurt Airport Frankfurt Airport (; german: link=no, Flughafen Frankfurt Main , also known as ''Rhein-Main-Flughafen'') is a major international airport located in Frankfurt, the fifth-largest city of Germany and one of the world's leading financial centres ...
. Formerly, fast trains on the Frankfurt-
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
route had a stop at Idar-Oberstein. Kirn station, too, is on the Nahe Valley Railway.


Public institutions

Rhaunen is seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' administration and also the ''Idarwald'' (Idar Forest) forester's office, whose area of responsibility has grown considerably in the wake of reform to forest administration. On the other hand, the notary's office, which had been in Rhaunen for more than a century, was moved to Morbach in the course of structural reform in 2007. There are, however, still consultations in Rhaunen. Also in the municipality are two clergymen, one Evangelical and one Catholic.


Education

Rhaunen has two
kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...
s, a
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 ...
, a branch location of the
Sohren Sohren is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Kirchb ...
regional school and a
folk high school Folk high schools (also ''Adult Education Center'', Danish: ''Folkehøjskole;'' Dutch: ''Volkshogeschool;'' Finnish: ''kansanopisto'' and ''työväenopisto'' or ''kansalaisopisto;'' German: ''Volkshochschule'' and (a few) ''Heimvolkshochschule;'' ...
.


Famous people


Sons and daughters of the town

*
Sigbert Josef Maria Ganser Sigbert Josef Maria Ganser (24 January 1853, Rhaunen, Rhine Province – 4 January 1931, Dresden, Saxony) was a German psychiatrist born in Rhaunen. He earned his medical doctorate in 1876 from the University of Munich. Afterwards he worke ...
(1853–1931), famous psychologist.
Ganser syndrome Ganser syndrome is a rare dissociative disorder characterized by nonsensical or wrong answers to questions and other dissociative symptoms such as fugue, amnesia or conversion disorder, often with visual pseudohallucinations and a decreased state ...
was named after him. * Albert Kahn (1869–1942), one of the most important industrial architects in modern times; emigrated to the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
* Walter Dix (1879–1965), plant cultivation scientist * Otto Conrad (1890–1968), teacher, photographer and local historian (“Vom Hunsrück zur Nahe”) * Gerd Heinz-Mohr (1913–1989), Evangelical theologian and writer, earned a doctorate in social studies of
Nicholas of Cusa Nicholas of Cusa (1401 – 11 August 1464), also referred to as Nicholas of Kues and Nicolaus Cusanus (), was a German Catholic cardinal, philosopher, theologian, jurist, mathematician, and astronomer. One of the first German proponents of Renai ...
(“Unitas Christiana”) * Erwin Echternacht (b. 7 September 1925 - 2012), lives in
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, sculptor, graphic artist, painter and writer, ''Staatliche Bildhauerschule'', ''Landeskunstschule Mainz'',
Academy of Fine Arts, Munich The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (german: Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, ...
, master's pupil with diploma, academic and competition prizes, exhibitions in Germany and abroad


Famous people associated with the municipality

* Julius Bellinger (1831–?), German politician of the German Centre Party and Member of the Reichstag, was from 1867 to 1869 a
justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...
in Rhaunen * Albin Edelhoff (1887–1974), painter and Friend of Nature * Peter Joseph Rottmann (1799–1881), important Hunsrück dialectal poet, married Wilhelmine Maull from Rhaunen


Further reading

* Wilhelm Fabricius: ''Das Hochgericht Rhaunen''. Erläuterungen zum Geschichtlichen Atlas der Rheinprovinz, dritter Band, Bonn 1901.


References


External links

* {{Authority control Birkenfeld (district) Naheland