Rodalben () is a municipality in the

Südwestpfalz Südwestpfalz is a district (''Kreis'' or more precise ''Landkreis'') in the south of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from west clockwise) Saarpfalz, the district-free city Zweibrücken, the districts Kaiserslautern and Ba ...

district, in

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

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

. It is situated in the Palatinate forest, approx. 5 km northeast of

Pirmasens Pirmasens (; pfl, Bärmesens (also ''Bermesens'' or ''Bärmasens'')) is an independent town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, near the border with France. It was famous for the manufacture of shoes. The surrounding rural district was called ''Lan ...

. Rodalben is the seat of the ''

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- ...

'' ("collective municipality") Rodalben. Having a population above 7000 it is the largest local authority district.

History

Rodalben was founded by a

Celt The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...

ic tribe. In 1237 Rodalben was first mentioned as a "Meyerhof". Over the centuries mainly farmers lived there. The origin of the name isn't clarified. The suffix "alb (alben)" is a Celtic word for rivers or brooks.

Modern era

Before the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

150 people lived in the ''Amt'' of Gräfenstein. by 1680, around 30 years after the war, the ''Amt'' had 30 families or inhabitants. Around 50 years later, in 1698, there were 50, of which 20 lived in Rodalben. The village grew steadily and was given greater importance by the transfer of the administration of the Gräfenstein ''Amt'' to Rodalben. Around 1720 Rodalben was given its first school. The ''Feine Häusel'', which had been transported from Münchweiler to Rodalben transportiert and, until then had been used as the vicarage, was converted into a school hall and teacher's residence. The house still exists and is used as a private dwelling. The advent of industrialization did not stop at Rodalben. For example, the former

shoemaker Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or cobblers (also known as '' cordwainers''). In the 18th century, dozens or even hundreds of masters, journeymen ...

's trade grew into a footwear industry that increasingly determined the image of Rodalben. A separate

tannery Tanning may refer to: *Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather *Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin **Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun **Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...

was established. After 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 opposin ...

, during the time of the

German economic miracle The ''Wirtschaftswunder'' (, "economic miracle"), also known as the Miracle on the Rhine, was the rapid reconstruction and development of the economies of West Germany and Austria after World War II (adopting an ordoliberalism-based social marke ...

, the shoe industry flourished. At times there were over 60 shoe factories in the town, including family businesses. With a population of nearly 6000 inhabitants, that meant one in a hundred was a shoemaker. In 1955,

Petersberg Petersberg may refer to: * The Hotel Petersberg near Bonn, the site of the ** Petersberg Agreement, 1949, regarding the international status of West Germany. ** Petersberg tasks, 1992 and 1997, regarding European security cooperation. Also known a ...

, which had hitherto been part of the parish of Rodalben, became independent. On 17 March 1963 the municipality of Rodalben was granted town rights. The opening up of global markets had a negative effect on the labour-intensive footwear industry, however, so that one shoe factory after another was forced to close. Nevertheless, the shoe remained a hallmark of the region, albeit now more through trade. On 7 June 1969 the Neuhof, part of the city of

, with 371 inhabitants, was incorporated into Rodalben.Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis 2006
, p. 194 (pdf; 2.6 MB)

Economy

The

German Shoe Road The German Shoe Road (german: Deutsche Schuhstraße) is one of several tourist-oriented, themed routes in southern Rheinhessen and in the West Palatinate in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is a circular route of more than 300 km la ...

, which still commemorates the German shoe industry, also runs through Rodalben. The economy of the town is mainly dominated today by

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

Gallery

Rodalben-Marienkirche-01-gje.jpg Rodalben-Marienkirche-Innenraum-02-gje.jpg Rodalben-Hauptstrasse 126-Alter Pfarrhof-1-gje.jpg Rodalben-Josefskirche-12-mit Pfarrhaus-gje.jpg Rodalben-Dr. Johann Peter Frank-Platz-11-Stephan Mueller-Medicinische Polizey-gje.jpg Rodalben-Hauptstrasse 118-Graefensteiner Oberforstamt-1-gje.jpg Rodalben-Hauptstrasse 68-Graefensteiner Zehntenscheune-3-2005-gje.jpg Rodalben-Schulhaus Schulstrasse 20-4-Hofseite Sued-gje.jpg

References

{{Authority control Towns in Rhineland-Palatinate Palatinate Forest Südwestpfalz Palatinate (region)