Schalkenmehren is an ''

Ortsgemeinde A Verbandsgemeinde (; plural Verbandsgemeinden) is a low-level administrative division, administrative unit in the Germany, German States of Germany, federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt. A Verbandsgemeinde is typically compose ...

'' – a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

belonging to a ''

Verbandsgemeinde A Verbandsgemeinde (; plural Verbandsgemeinden) is a low-level administrative unit in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt. A Verbandsgemeinde is typically composed of a small group of villages or towns. Rhineland- ...

'', a kind of collective municipality – in the

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

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

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

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

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

Geography

The municipality of Schalkenmehren lies in the

, a part of the

Eifel The Eifel (; lb, Äifel, ) is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Community of ...

known for its volcanic history, geographical and geological features, and even ongoing activity today, including gases that sometimes well up from the earth. It is roughly 4 km south-southeast of

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

as the crow flies __NOTOC__ The expression ''as the crow flies'' is an idiom for the most direct path between two points, rather similar to "in a beeline". This meaning is attested from the early 19th century, and appeared in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel '' Oliv ...

, at the northeast foot of the Hoher List, a

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and per ...

which is home to a former

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...

. Several volcanic lakes, like the

Schalkenmehrener Maar The Schalkenmehrener Maar is a maar roughly 3 kilometres southeast of the town of Daun in the Eifel in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is one of the Daun Maars (''Dauner Maare'') or Daun Maar Group and is a double maar, comprising a ...

, the

Weinfelder Maar __NOTOC__ The Weinfelder Maar, also called the Totenmaar, is a maar around two kilometres southeast of the town of Daun in the Eifel Mountains, in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Geography The maar lake was formed about 10,500 years a ...

and the

Gemündener Maar The Gemündener Maar is the northernmost of the three Daun Maars (''Dauner Maare''). It lies in the immediate vicinity of the village of Gemünden and ca. 1.5 km south of Daun in the Eifel and in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The ma ...

, lie within the municipality’s limits. The Schalkenmehrener Maar has a popular bathing area.

History

On 25 November 1287, Schalkenmehren had its first documentary mention in a document from

Himmerod Abbey Himmerod Abbey (Kloster Himmerod) is a Cistercian monastery in the community of Großlittgen in the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Manderscheid in the district of Bernkastel-Wittlich, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, located in the Eifel, in the valley ...

. Some mention of the now vanished village of Weinfeld must be made, for it is linked historically with Schalkenmehren. The only building from this forsaken village that still stands today is a small church which even now appears as a

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 Schalkenmehren’s

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

. It is consecrated to Saint Martin. Weinfeld lay east of this church, where a cross-country path to Mehren now leads. It had been a

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 ...

settlement that converted early on to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

, perhaps as early as Constantine’s time, but certainly after

Saint Boniface Boniface, OSB ( la, Bonifatius; 675 – 5 June 754) was an English Benedictines, Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire during the eighth century. He organised significant ...

’s works in Germany. The village’s name is variously interpreted as being derived from ''Weihefeld'' (roughly "Hallowed Field") or from ''Winefeld'', meaning "Friend’s Field" (this root also shows up in

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 ...

, in names such as "Baldwin"). Weinfeld was a parish quite early on. The Altburg (

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 ...

), built in 731, belonged to the parish of Weinfeld. The parish included Weinfeld, Schalkenmehren with the Altburg,

Saxler Saxler is an '' Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Daun, whose seat i ...

, Udler and three houses from Gemünden. The chapel in Schalkenmehren was considered a branch of the one in Weinfeld. Today, the Weinfeld chapel is a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

site. In the yard around the chapel, the dead of Schalkenmehren are still buried, as they have been for centuries. By 1562, though, Weinfeld had been forsaken. It was in this year that the last pastor left the now dead village and moved to Schalkenmehren. In 1522, the

Plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

had broken out in the German Emperor’s army. A chronicle from the Saarland reports: "At that time, warring peoples had brought a plaguelike sickness in, which in the Rhinelands wrought great devastation. The people died en masse and suddenly." Weinfeld was one of quite a few

villages that were wiped out in the

epidemic An epidemic (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics ...

. The statues of the "

Plague Saints The Plague Saints were saints in Catholic and Orthodox Christian plague culture believed to protect against the plague. Numbering over 100, these saints included some whose renown was mostly local, such as the patron saints of Catholic towns like ...

Saint Sebastian Saint Sebastian (in Latin: ''Sebastianus''; Narbo, Gallia Narbonensis, Roman Empire c. AD 255 – Rome, Italia, Roman Empire c. AD 288) was an early Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Dioclet ...

and

Saint Roch Roch (lived c. 1348 – 15/16 August 1376/79 (traditionally c. 1295 – 16 August 1327, also called Rock in English, is a Catholic saint, a confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August and 9 September in Italy; he is especially invoked a ...

, recall this time. The survivors migrated away or moved to Schalkenmehren. However, Weinfeld remained a parish until 1803 – the onset of Napoleonic times – and the pastors still bore the title Parish Priest of Weinfeld, even though they lived in Schalkenmehren. In 1920, the young schoolteacher Anna Droste-Lehnert came to Schalkenmehren. It struck her that the Eifel farmers were very poor, and also that they could weave very pretty cloths, the so-called ''Maartuch'' ("

maar A maar is a broad, low-relief volcanic crater caused by a phreatomagmatic eruption (an explosion which occurs when groundwater comes into contact with hot lava or magma). A maar characteristically fills with water to form a relatively shallow ...

cloth"). With friends from the

Wandervogel ''Wandervogel'' (plural: ''Wandervögel''; English: "Wandering Bird") is the name adopted by a popular movement of German youth groups from 1896 to 1933, who protested against industrialization by going to hike in the country and commune with n ...

movement, she convinced the villagers to found, together with her, a coöperative. In 1926, nineteen Schalkenmehren citizens joined together to form the ''Heimweberei-Genossenschaft Schalkenmehren e.G.'' The farmers wove, the farmers’ wives did the cutting and sewing, and the coöperative marketed the products. Mrs. Droste-Lehnert also designed new patterns for the weavers. In the 1930s, the coöperative was very successful, and even in the difficult time just 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 ...

, it managed to keep itself going. In the 1970s, one episode of the German children’s television programme ''

Die Sendung mit der Maus ' (''The Show with the Mouse''), often simply ' (''The Mouse''), is a German children's television series, popular nation-wide for its educational content.Bernhard Borgeest"Von Mäusen und Machern"''Focus, official website. (March 12, 2001) Retr ...

'' featured the coöperative. When the village’s structure moved away from

farming 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 ...

and the numbers of active weavers declined, the coöperative was dissolved in 1983. Some active women citizens of the municipality of Schalkenmehren later founded the ''Heimweberei-Museum Schalkenmehren'' ("Schalkenmehren Home Weaving Museum"), which exhibits the history of the ''Heimweberei-Genossenschaft Schalkenmehren e.G.'' They run it as a volunteer operation. SchalkenmehrenOrtskern

Politics

Municipal council

The council is made up of 12 council members, who were elected by

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

Mayor

Schalkenmehren’s mayor is Peter Hartogh, and his deputies are Lothar Kaspers and Elfriede Geibel.

Coat of arms

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 be described thus: Per fess wavy, azure a chapel argent with roof sable and argent three fish of the first. The

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

shown in the upper part of the arms is the only building still standing from what was once the village of Weinfeld. The parish of Weinfeld was mentioned as early as the 14th century. The wavy line of partition, and the fish as well, are meant to refer to the

s that characterize the area and the municipality itself. Furthermore, the fish are supposed to represent the wealth of fish in these bodies of water.

Culture and sightseeing

Museums

Schalkenmehren has a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

dedicated to the

weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal th ...

industry that was once an important livelihood to many in the municipality.

Sport and leisure

Schalkenmehren also has a small airfield for both motorized aircraft and gliders.

Observatory

The municipality was also home to an

astronomical Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxies ...

which belonged to the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...

, the

Hoher List Observatory Hoher List Observatorium is an Observatory located on the Hoher List mountain (549 m ASL) about 60 km south-west of the city of Bonn, close to the town of Daun in the Eifel region (Rhineland-Palatinate) History The observatory of Bonn was fo ...

. It stands on the mountain of the same name.

Buildings

* 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''), Mehrener Straße 3 –

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 ...

aisleless church An aisleless church (german: Saalkirche) is a single-nave church building that consists of a single hall-like room. While similar to the hall church, the aisleless church lacks aisles or passageways on either side of the nave and separated fro ...

, 1840-1844; tomb from 1891; warriors’ memorial 1914-1918, round temple. * Mehrener Straße 5 – former school, hipped roof, Reform architecture, from 1913-1914. * Mehrener Straße 27 – former

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 ...

, standard design, half-hipped roof,

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 ...

goods shed, from about 1909. * Mehrener Straße/corner of Auf Koop – wayside chapel, plastered building, 19th century. * Udlerstraße –

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 ...

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) ...

''Heiligenhäuschen'' (a small, shrinelike structure consecrated to a saint or saints), 18th century. * Udlerstraße 5/7 – plastered building with high saddle roof, may have been remodelled in the 19th century. * Udlerstraße 9 – timber-frame barn, partly solid, earlier half of 19th century (baselessly said to be from 1502). * Uscherberg 9 – timber-frame house, partly solid, date unclear. * Uscherberg 11 – so-called ''Haus Hinners'' timber-frame house, partly solid, later marked with year 1742. * Zum Scheid 2 – timber-frame house, partly solid, 18th century, but marked 1832 (or perhaps 1852). * Zur Sternwarte 1 – timber-frame house, partly solid, 18th century, oven porch. * At Zur Sternwarte 1 –

wayside cross Wayside may refer to: * Wayobjects, trackside objects *Wayside (band), an early version of As Friends Rust * ''Wayside'' (TV series), a television show based on the children's book ''Sideways Stories from Wayside School'' *A rest area Places ; ...

shaft cross A shaft cross (german: Schaftkreuz) is a specific type of Latin or High cross, named after its method of construction. The majority of these external monuments consist of the cross or crucifix itself. The cross or crucifix is usually made of stone ...

, early 18th century. * At Zur Sternwarte 1 – Artesian well, latter half of 19th century. * Zur Sternwarte 2 – timber-frame house, partly solid, 18th century. * ''Dronketurm'', northwest of the village – lookout tower, 1900-1902. * ''Heiligenhäuschen'', northwest of the village, east of the Weinfelder Maar – brick, sandstone relief, 18th century (?). * ''Heiligenhäuschen'', west of the village on ''Landesstraße'' (State Road) 64 – brick, sandstone relief, 18th/19th century. * ''Heiligenhäuschen'', northwest of the village on the road to

– round enclosed brick housing, 18th/19th century. * ''Weinfelder Kirche'' (church), northeast of the village up from the Weinfelder Maar – former Saint Martin’s Parish Church in the vanished village of Weinfeld; biaxial

, 1723, west tower and quire

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

, possibly 14th century.Directory of Cultural Monuments in Vulkaneifel district
/ref>

Economy and infrastructure

On 1 December 1909, Schalkenmehren was linked to the

railway 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 ...

network with the opening of the ''Maare-Mosel-Bahn'', but since 29 May 1988, it has no longer been possible to reach Schalkenmehren by rail. Today, the former railway track is a cycle path, the ''Maare-Mosel-Radweg''.

References

External links

*
Municipality’s official webpage

Schalkenmehren Home Weaving Museum
{{Authority control Municipalities in Rhineland-Palatinate Vulkaneifel