Sosberg 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 Cochem-Zell

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 Zell, whose seat is in the municipality of Zell an der Mosel.

Geography

The municipality lies on a sloped edge 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 ...

between the rivers

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...

, Nahe and

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

on the one hand and the Idarwald and Soonwald (wooded areas of the Hunsrück) on the other. East of the village runs the Mörsdorfer Bach towards the Moselle.

History

In 1330, Sosberg had its first documentary mention under the name ''Soysbergh''. The village was until 1781 part of the “Three-Lord Territory”. As in the Beltheim court, the landlordship was shared among 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- ...

, the

County of Sponheim The County of Sponheim (german: Grafschaft Sponheim, former spelling: Spanheim, Spanheym) was an independent territory in the Holy Roman Empire that lasted from the 11th century until the early 19th century. The name comes from the municipality ...

and the House of Braunshorn (later Winneburg and Metternich). Beginning in 1794, Sosberg lay under

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

rule. In 1815 it was assigned to the Kingdom of

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 ...

at 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 ...

. Since 1946, it has been part of the then newly founded state of

. Under the ''Verwaltungsvereinfachungsgesetz'' (“Administration Simplification Law”) of 18 July 1970, with effect from 7 November 1970, the municipality was grouped into the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Zell.

Politics

Municipal council

The council is made up of 6 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 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: A pale vert charged with a pole-axe argent, the edge to sinister, between argent a cross gules surmounted by a bugle-horn of the second, the bell to sinister, and chequy of thirty-three of the second and third. The red cross on the dexter (armsbearer's right, viewer's left) side refers to the

and the horn stands for the

Imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texa ...

lordship of Beilstein. The axe is

Saint Matthias Matthias (Koine Greek: Μαθθίας, ''Maththías'' , from Hebrew מַתִּתְיָהוּ ''Mattiṯyāhū''; cop, ⲙⲁⲑⲓⲁⲥ; died c. AD 80) was, according to the Acts of the Apostles (written c. AD 63), chosen by the apostles to r ...

’s attribute, thus representing the church’s patron saint. The green field

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

on which this charge appears refers to the municipality’s

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

structure. The silver and red “chequy” pattern on the sinister (armsbearer's left, viewer's right) side is from the arms formerly borne by the “Hinder”

. The arms have been borne since 26 October 1971.

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

The following are listed buildings or sites in

’s Directory of Cultural Monuments: *

’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 ...

Church (branch church; ''Filialkirche St. Matthias''), An der Kirche –

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 ...

with

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

, marked 1769, expansion 1926, vestibule 1947 * Hauptstraße 13 – ''Quereinhaus'' (a combination residential and commercial house divided for these two purposes down the middle, perpendicularly to the street);

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 ...

building, partly solid, 19th century; barn * Hauptstraße 14 – ''Quereinhaus''; timber-frame building, partly solid or slated, 18th or 19th century * Kirchweg 8 – cast-iron cross,

Rheinböllen Rheinböllen is a town in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Simmern-Rheinböllen, whose seat is in Simmern. It was the seat of the former ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Rheinböl ...

foundry, late 19th century * Mastershausener Weg 1 – ''Quereinhaus''; timber-frame building, partly slated, marked 1889 * Steilweg 1 – timber-frame house, 19th century * Steilweg 3 – ''Quereinhaus''; timber-frame building, partly solid, 19th centuryDirectory of Cultural Monuments in Cochem-Zell district
/ref>

Regular events

* Traditional shooting festival held by the ''Schützenverein Sosberg'' (marksmen's club)

References

External links

Municipality’s official webpage

in the SWR programme ''Hierzuland'' {{Authority control Cochem-Zell