Altleiningen 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. Rhinelan ...

'', 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 Win ...

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 at an elevation of 300 m above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

in the northeast Palatinate Forest in the valley of the Eckbach, a 39 km-long brook that empties into the

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

. Altleiningen belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Leiningerland, whose seat is in

Grünstadt Grünstadt ( pfl, Grinnschdadt) is a town in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with roughly 13,200 inhabitants. It does not belong to any ''Verbandsgemeinde'' – a kind of collective municipality – but is nonetheless t ...

History

Name

Altleiningen, originally ''Leiningen'', had its first documentary mention in 780 when the 50 km-distant

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 ...

’s catalogue of holdings listed a woodland holding ''in linunga marca'' (

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 ...

for “in the Leiningen area”). The naming referred to the ''Leinbaum'', a name used locally at the time mostly for the

Norway Maple ''Acer platanoides'', commonly known as the Norway maple, is a species of maple native to eastern and central Europe and western Asia, from Spain east to Russia, north to southern Scandinavia and southeast to northern Iran. It was introduced to ...

, but sometimes also for the large-leaved linden. Since both trees were often found growing alongside the Eckbach, the brook at this time also went by the name ''Leinbach''. From the municipality's name also sprang the noble family Leiningen’s name. This family held the so-called ''Leiningerland'' for centuries.

Local administration

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 opposi ...

, the municipality belonged at first to the Frankenthal district, which in the course of administrative reform in Rhineland-Palatinate was abolished in 1969. Altleiningen then found itself in the newly created district of Bad Dürkheim. In 1972, Altleiningen also found itself in the likewise newly created ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Hettenleidelheim.

Religion

In 2007, 45.7% of the inhabitants were

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

and 30.1%

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 ...

. The rest belonged to other faiths or adhered to none.

Politics

Municipal council

The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:

Mayors

Coat of arms

The German blazon reads: ''In Rot ein schwebendes angetatztes goldenes Kreuz mit eingeschlagenen eichenblattartigen Verzierungen an den Balkenenden, bewinkelt von vier silbernen Adlern.'' The municipality's arms 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 bran ...

language be described thus: Gules a cross pattée couped with an oakleaf adornment at the end of each arm Or between four eagles displayed argent. The arms were approved by the now defunct ''

Regierungsbezirk A ' () means "governmental district" and is a type of administrative division in Germany. Four of sixteen ' ( states of Germany) are split into '. Beneath these are rural and urban districts. Saxony has ' (directorate districts) with more res ...

'' of Rheinhessen-Pfalz. It goes back to a seal from 1716. They match arms borne by the Counts of Leiningen-Westerburg, who had their ancestral seat at Castle Altleiningen.Karl Heinz Debus: ''Das große Wappenbuch der Pfalz''. Neustadt an der Weinstraße 1988,

Culture and sightseeing

Altleiningen Castle

Altleiningen Castle (''Burg Altleiningen'') was built on the summit of a hill, some 400 metres high, that rises above the left bank of the Eckbach. Within the castle are a

youth hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared ...

and – in the moat – a heated swimming pool. In the roofed ''Ehrenhalle'' – "Hall of Honour" – a room separated from the castle courtyard by arcades, the amateur theatre group, the Altleiningen Castle Players (''Burgspiele Altleiningen'') has been producing challenging plays – classical, modern, often also some with historical aspects – every year in the summer months since 1980.

Höningen Abbey and the Church of St. James

At Höningen, about 2 km to the south, are the Romanesque Church of St. James (''Kirche St. Jacob'') and the remnants of the canonical monastery of Höningen. The latter has a gateway arch at the north entrance, and the west gables of the convent buildings and monastery church are parallel to the modern high street. Saint James’ and the abbey were both built about 1120. Two letters patent, one each from Pope Innocent II and Emperor

Friedrich Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on ...

, underscore the monastery's importance at the time of its founding.

Höningen Latin School

Recalling the Höningen Latin School (''Höninger Lateinschule'', 1573–1630), in which the ''Leininger- Gymnasium'' in

has its roots, is a gatehouse at the way into the back alley.

20-Pipe Well

From the

20-Pipe Well The 20 Pipe WellEckbach Mill cycling and hiking path begins, which follows the river downstream to

Dirmstein Dirmstein ( pfl, Dermschdää) is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With its roughly 3,000 inhabitants, ...

Economy and infrastructure

Established businesses

The industrial location Drahtzug lies on the Eckbach 2 km northeast of the village and is named after the Drahtzug Stein GmbH + Co. KG, which has its production facility there. The business is the Bad Dürkheim district's biggest employer.

Transport

The Leiningen Valley Railway once ran from Altleiningen to Grünstadt. Passenger services were operated on the line from 1903 to 1969 and, until late 2005, the remaining section of railway still operated goods traffic on the Grünstadt–Drahtzug section to serve the factory. The bus service on the Grünstadt–Altleiningen route stops at Drahtzug.

Famous people

Sons and daughters of the town

Phil Jutzi Phil Jutzi (sometimes known as Piel Jutzi) (22 July 1896 – 1 May 1946) was a German cinematographer and film director. Born Philipp Jutzi in Altleiningen as the son of a tailor, Jutzi was self-educated. (He seems to have been generally known by ...

, film director * Winfried Storhas, professor of Bioreaction technology, University of Mannheim

Famous people associated with the municipality

Silvio Adzic Silvio Adzic (born 23 September 1980 in Grünstadt) is a retired German football player. He made his debut on the professional league level in the Bundesliga for 1. FC Kaiserslautern on 30 September 2000 when he came on as a substitute in the 6 ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

, grew up in Altleiningen

References

External links

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