Esthal is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – 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

Bad Dürkheim Bad Dürkheim () is a spa town in the Rhine-Neckar urban agglomeration, and is the seat of the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location Bad Dürkheim lies at the edge of Palatinate Forest on the German Wine ...

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 ...

Geography

Location

The municipality lies on a plateau in the Palatinate Forest. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Lambrecht, whose seat is in the like-named town.

Constituent communities

Esthal's ''

Ortsteil A village is a clustered human settlement or Residential community, community, larger than a hamlet (place), hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population t ...

e'', or ''Annexen'', as they are known, are Esthal, Breitenstein, Erfenstein and Sattelmühle.

History

In 1380, Esthal had its first documentary mention as ''Estall''. It was held until 1794 by the Lords of Erfenstein, whose seat was at the nearby castle.

Religion

In 2007, 71% of the inhabitants were

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 ...

and 17%

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 ...

. The rest practised other faiths or none.

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:

Coat of arms

The German blazon reads: ''Unter silbernem Schildhaupt in Schwarz ein schwebendes kugelbesetztes goldenes Tatzenkreuz.'' 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: Under a chief argent sable a cross pattée couped, the lower arm longer than the others, and in each end a roundle Or. The arms were approved in 1954 by the Mainz Ministry of the Interior and they date from a 1772 court seal.Karl Heinz Debus: ''Das große Wappenbuch der Pfalz''. Neustadt an der Weinstraße 1988,

Culture and sightseeing

*On the village's outskirts is found Saint Mary's Convent (''Kloster St. Maria'') of the Niederbronn Sisters, which was built in 1951-1959, and which functions as a provincial mother house. The building was planned by the architect Hebgen (Ludwigshafen), and the church was consecrated on 7 March 1959. Worth mentioning as an unusual piece of decoration is a cross, now found in the church's chancel, that was acquired from a private owner in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and that holds importance for art history. The greater part of the rest of the décor was newly created in 1986 by Josef Henger. *In the village centre stands the

Saint Konrad's Church (''Kirche St. Konrad'' or sometimes ''Bruder-Konrad-Kirche'') built in 1933 and 1934, whose nave joins onto the former

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 ...

church (Saint Catherine's, or ''St. Katharina''). The church was built to plans by architects Schönwetter and Schaltenbrand (Neustadt), who in turn were influenced by Albert Boßlet. The consecration date is 23 September 1934. The windows and the chancel décor stem in the main from Günter Zeuner. In the Baroque part of the church is found a

Classicist Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

high altar by Bernhard Würschmitt from about 1825. *In the area around Esthal are several historic washing fountains. *Within Esthal's limits stands Erfenstein Castle (''Burg Erfenstein''), and across the dale, just inside

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

is Spangenberg Castle (''Burg Spangenberg''). *A further castle ruin is to be found in the outlying centre of Breitenstein. *Near the ruins of Erfenstein Castle, in the eponymous ''

'', there is a halt on the

Little Cuckoo Railway The Cuckoo Railway (german: Kuckucksbähnel, literally "Little Cuckoo Railway"), in its early days the Elmstein Valley Railway (''Elmsteiner Talbahn''), is a 12.97 kilometre long branch line A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminolo ...

(''Kuckucksbähnel''). This is a

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...

running between

and

Elmstein Elmstein is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a Municipalities of Germany, municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim (district), Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Ge ...

References

Sources

* Gemeinde Esthal (Hrsg.), Geschichte des Walddorfes Esthal, 1980 * Niederbronner Schwestern (Hrsg.), Provinz Pfalz 1951-2001, 2001

External links

Municipality’s official webpage
{{Authority control Palatinate Forest Bad Dürkheim (district)