Biebelsheim

Biebelsheim is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Bad Kreuznach, whose seat is in the like-named town, although this lies outside the ''Verbandsgemeinde''.

Geography

Location

Biebelsheim lies in Rhenish Hesse just east of the river Nahe some 6 km northeast of Bad Kreuznach, some 11 km south-southeast of Bingen am Rhein and 28 km southwest of Mainz. The municipality is characterized by agriculture and winegrowing.

Neighbouring municipalities

Clockwise from the north, Biebelsheim's neighbours are the municipality of Gensingen, the municipality of Welgesheim, the municipality of Zotzenheim, the municipality of Pfaffen-Schwabenheim and the town of Bad Kreuznach. Only the last two also lie within the Bad Kreuznach district, whereas all the others lie in the neighbouring Mainz-Bingen district.

History

Indirect proof of the village's early existence comes from the ''Binger Mauerbauordnung'' (“ Bingen Wall-Building Order”), which obliged, among many other places in the lower Nahe region, Biebelsheim to contribute to the Bingen town wall's upkeep. Biebelsheim, which from the latter half of the 13th century belonged exclusively to the Counts of Falkenstein and their heirs, was thereby annexed to the Habsburg hereditary domains. Biebelsheim was in this early time an exclave within the Falkenstein domains. Holding the title of Count at first were the Lords of Bolanden, with the Counts of Virneburg inheriting it in 1418. The county then went through a series of different landholders until it, along with Biebelsheim, eventually passed in 1667 to the Duke of Lorraine. With Duke of Lorraine Franz Stephan's marriage to Maria Theresa of Habsburg, Biebelsheim passed to Austria and was subject to the '' Oberamt'' of Winnweiler in Further Austria. Only the absorption of the village into French territory in the late 18th century and the attendant thorough change to the political map ended the more-than-500-year-old Falkenstein hegemony. In the 1560s – indeed no later than 1567 – Biebelsheim became Lutheran. Until the occupation of the region by the Spaniards early in the Thirty Years' War, only Protestant services were held at the church. However, it is unclear to what extent Catholics could use the church under Spanish military authority. During the tumultuous times of the 18th century and in the early 19th century, Biebelsheim shared the same fate as all the surrounding villages. It was occupied by French Revolutionary troops in 1792 and annexed under the terms of the Treaty of Campo Formio by France by reason of its once having been Austrian, and in 1814 the French forsook it, having been driven out in the last phase of the Napoleonic Wars. During French Revolutionary and Napoleonic times, Biebelsheim belonged to the Department of Mont-Tonnerre (or Donnersberg in German) and formed together with Ippesheim (now a constituent community of Bad Kreuznach) a ''mairie'' (“mayoralty”) that lasted until 1901. From 1814 to 1816, there was a joint Austrian- Bavarian administration in Kreuznach (later Worms). Then, in 1816, under the terms of the Congress of Vienna, Biebelsheim passed to the Grand Duchy of Hesse, where it was assigned to the newly created province of Rhenish Hesse. Details about events of any special meaning to Biebelsheim itself during this time are unknown. Biebelsheim's population development shows trends typical for the whole of Rhenish Hesse: in 1815 the village had 317 inhabitants. By 1846, the figure had risen by almost 120 to 435, and then by 1871 it had shrunk again to 384. In 1905, there was once again a higher figure, with 437 inhabitants. In the realm of social life, too, Biebelsheim did not distinguish itself from other places where it is known that from the mid 19th century there was lively club activity. In 1861, interested citizens got together in a singing club, although today this is no longer active. In 1883 came the gymnastic and sport club, while the volunteer fire brigade had been serving citizens at fires and other emergencies since 1891. Until 1901, the ''Bürgermeisterei'' (“Mayoralty”) of Biebelsheim-Ippesheim still existed, having been established during the French occupation. Biebelsheim then became a self-administering municipality for the first time. In 1911, the village received an electrical service from Worms. Watermains were installed along with sewerage in 1933. Since 1946, Biebelsheim has been part of the then newly founded state of Rhineland-Palatinate. But for a sudden growth in the population between the end of the Second World War and 1950, which saw the village's population swell to 514 with the arrival of ethnic Germans driven out of Germany's former eastern territories, Biebelsheim did not experience the quick rise in population that took place in other places nearby. From 1961 to 1970, the population even fell from 435 to 418.

Population development

Biebelsheim's population development since Napoleonic times is shown in the table below. The figures for the years from 1871 to 1987 are drawn from census data.Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz – Regionaldaten
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Religion

As at 31 July 2013, there are 666 full-time residents in Biebelsheim, and of those, 251 are Evangelical (37.688%), 211 are Catholic (31.682%), 2 (0.3%) belong to the Alzey Free Religion Community, 39 (5.856%) belong to other religious groups and 163 (24.474%) either have no religion or will not reveal their religious affiliation.

Politics

Municipal council

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

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