Hochstetten-Dhaun

Hochstetten-Dhaun 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'' Kirner Land, whose seat is in the town of Kirn. Hochstetten-Dhaun is a state-recognized recreational community.Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz – Regionaldaten
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Geography

Location

Hochstetten-Dhaun lies in the Nahe valley between the Hunsrück to the north and the Palatinate to the south. By both land area and population, Hochstetten-Dhaun is the second biggest ''Ortsgemeinde'' in Kirn-Land.

Neighbouring municipalities

Clockwise from the north, Hochstetten-Dhaun's neighbours are the municipalities of Brauweiler, Simmertal, Merxheim and Meckenbach, the town of Kirn and the municipalities of Oberhausen bei Kirn and Heinzenberg, all of which likewise lie within the Bad Kreuznach district.

Constituent communities

Hochstetten-Dhaun's ''Ortsteile'' are Hochstetten (north of the Nahe) with the outlying hamlets and homesteads of Karlshof, St. Johannisberg, Waldeck and Waldhof (the Karlshof is one of the last of the old Dhaun estates on the heights north of the Nahe), Hochstädten (south of the Nahe), which until the late 18th century formed a single unit together with Hochstetten (the names are pronounced alike) and Schloss Dhaun, a castle and a hamlet, with the outlying homestead of Heinzenberger Gesellschaftsmühle.

History

The great many barrows within Hochstetten-Dhaun's limits bear witness to settlers in the area even in prehistoric times. About 1100, Hochstetten/Hochstädten had its first documentary mention in a document from the Archbishopric of Mainz to Disibodenberg Abbey, which named a ''Ludovicus de Hosteden'' (“Ludwig/Louis of Hochstetten”), who donated holdings to the Abbey that he owned in Merxheim. The name prefix ''Hoch—'' seen in both “Hochstetten” and “Hochstädten” has nothing to do with those constituent communities’ geographical locations (''hoch'' means “high” in German) for both Hochstetten and Hochstädten lie on rather low land down near the River Nahe. Far likelier is that the name is a corruption of what would be rendered ''Hofstätte'' in modern German, something with a perfectly transparent meaning, namely “estate place”. Clearly, this would describe a place where a landowner once held an estate. Nowadays, the two names Hochstetten and Hochstädten are pronounced alike, meaning that a distinction must be made in speech between them (to say nothing of Hochstätten, a self-administering municipality some 23 km to the east, also in the Bad Kreuznach district, and also with a name pronounced the same way). They did, however, once have official names that allowed easy distinction between the two. Hochstetten on the Nahe's left bank was known as ''Nächsthochstetten'', whereas Hochstädten over on the right bank was known as ''Überhochstetten''. These usages lasted centuries, and referred to the two centres’ positions relative to Castle Dhaun. ''Nächsthochstetten'' lay nearer the castle (its prefix means “next” or “nearest”), while ''Überhochstetten'' lay beyond it, across the river (its prefix means “across”, “over” or perhaps even “the one after the next”). Both villages were part of the Waldgravial-Rhinegravial '' Amt'' of Dhaun and formed the court district (''Gericht'') or '' Schultheißerei'' of Hochstetten. After the so-called “Dhaun Feud” (''Dhauner Fehde'') between Waldgrave Johann von Dhaun and Prince-Archbishop-Elector Baldwin of Trier had ended in defeat for the former, he had to cede his village in 1342 to the Electorate of Trier, whereupon Baldwin then enfeoffed the Waldgraves with the very holding that they had just forsaken, thus ensuring the Waldgraves’ allegiance to their former foe. The Counts of Veldenz, too, had certain landholds and rights that they had granted to vassals. In 1426, the ''Vogt'' Johann von Simmern held a half share in the village and court at Überhochstetten (Hochstädten) as a fief from the Waldgraves of Dhaun. In 1515, the Waldgravial ''Amt'' of Dhaun was made up of the castle, the village and the ''Vogtei'' of Simmern unter Dhaun, the villages of Nächsthochstetten and Überhochstetten and the Dhaun shares of Kirn, Bergen, Rhaunen and Hausen. In 1794, during the War of the First Coalition, French Revolutionary troops overran and occupied the German lands on the Rhine’s left bank, whereafter, in 1798, the region was administratively reorganized by the Directory according to the French Revolutionary model. The Nahe formed the boundary between two departments. The villages of Nächsthochstetten (Hochstetten) and Dhaun were grouped into the ''Mairie'' (“Mayoralty”) of Kirn, the Canton of Kirn, the Arrondissement of Simmern and the Department of Rhin-et-Moselle, whereas Überhochstetten – whose name was at this time changed to Hochstädten – belonged to the ''Mairie'' of Merxheim, the Canton of Meisenheim, the Arrondissement of Birkenfeld and the Department of Sarre. The Protestant parish of St. Johannisberg lost its autonomy and was made subject to the parish of Meckenbach. Once French rule had ended in the Rhineland in 1814, the Congress of Vienna awarded the region to the Kingdom of Prussia, which took possession of it in April 1815. The municipalities of Hochstetten and Dhaun passed in 1816 to the ''Bürgermeisterei'' (“Mayoralty”) of Kirn (later named the ''Amt'' of Kirn-Land in 1927) in the Kreuznach district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Koblenz. The area south of the Nahe was ceded in 1816 to the Landgraves of Hesse-Homburg. Hochstädten became part of the ''Oberamt'' of Meisenheim, which existed until 1866, then being absorbed into the Prussian Meisenheim district. Hochstädten belonged to the ''Bürgermeisterei'' of Meddersheim (later named the ''Amt'' of Meddersheim in 1927). The Meisenheim district was merged into the Kreuznach district in 1932, thus ending the division of the three municipalities of Dhaun, Hochstädten and Hochstetten into different districts. After the ''Amt'' of Meddersheim was dissolved in 1940, Hochstädten likewise passed to the ''Amt'' of Kirn-Land, out of which today's ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Kirn-Land was formed in 1968. Today's '' Ortsgemeinde'' of Hochstetten-Dhaun arose within the framework of municipal restructuring and administrative reform through a voluntary merger of the hitherto three self-administering municipalities of Dhaun (then with 208 inhabitants), Hochstädten (322) and Hochstetten bei Kirn (835) on 7 June 1969.

Religion

As at 30 September 2013, there are 1,655 full-time residents in Hochstetten-Dhaun, and of those, 1,062 are Evangelical (64.169%), 314 are Catholic (18.973%), 1 is Greek Orthodox (0.06%), 1 is Lutheran (0.06%), 1 is Russian Orthodox (0.06%), 37 (2.236%) belong to other religious groups and 239 (14.441%) either have no religion or will not reveal their religious affiliation.

Politics

Municipal council

The council is made up of 16 council members, who were elected by proportional representation 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:

Mayor

Hochstetten-Dhaun's mayor is Hans Helmut Döbell (SPD).

Coat of arms

The German blazon reads: ''Schild gespalten, vorne in Grün zwei goldene gekreuzte Hämmer, hinten in Gold ein roter blaubewehrter und -gezungter Löwe.''

The municipality's arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Per pale vert a hammer and pick per saltire Or and Or a lion rampant gules armed and langued azure.

The charge on the dexter (armsbearer's right, viewer's left) side, the hammer and pick, is the mark of the stone industry in the municipality. The charge on the sinister (armsbearer's left, viewer's right) side, the lion, is a reference to the village's former allegiance to the Waldgraviate-Rhinegraviate. Before their dissolution on 6 June 1969, the former municipalities of Dhaun, Hochstädten and Hochstetten bei Kirn bore their own arms. The council of the newly formed municipality of Hochstetten-Dhaun decided on 8 August 1969 to bear Hochstetten's former arms as the new municipality's heraldic emblem. At a Hochstetten council meeting on 6 July 1964, council had adopted the design that had been put forth by the graphic artist Brust from Kirn-Sulzbach. The Ministry of the Interior in Mainz had then granted approval for Hochstetten to bear its own arms on 15 February 1965. The approval for Hochstetten-Dhaun to bear these same arms was granted on 2 October 1969. The municipal banner also bears this coat of arms in the centre.

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:

Hochstädten

* Evangelical church, Kirchstraße 3 – sandstone-block building, Rundbogen framing, marked 1866/1867
* At Hauptstraße 39 – Renaissance portal with skylight, about 1600
* At Hauptstraße 41 – Renaissance portal, marked 1567

Hochstetten

* Evangelical church, Brunnengasse – sandstone-block building, 1864

Schloß Dhaun

* Evangelical church, Kirner Straße 12 – former comital brewing house, essentially Baroque, 18th century, given Classicist makeover in the early 19th century
* Castle (monumental zone) – mentioned in 1215 as a castle, expanded in 1729 into a residential castle, torn down in 1804 and years that followed, conversion of outer bailey into an English garden; inner ward complex, ruin of Saint George’s Chapel (''Georgskapelle''; 1608), upper gateway (1526), north wing (1729, expansion in 1971–1977); reconstructed and altered great hall; two gun turrets; on the ward wall an heraldic lion, 18th century
* Im Hahn – village fountain, hewn stone, 17th or 18th century
* Im Hahn 1 – Baroque house with single roof ridge, partly slated, 18th century
* Im Hahn 17 – Late Baroque timber-frame bungalow, marked 1776
* Kirner Straße (no number) – communal bakehouse; possibly from the latter half of the 19th century
* Kirner Straße 2 – Baroque building with half-hip roof, marked 1731; set at a corner across from the castle gateway
* Neuweg 13 – former ''Amtshaus'' ('' Amt'' seat); Baroque building with mansard roof, 1738

St. Johannisberg

* St. Johannisberg – Evangelical parish church; formerly Saint John the Baptist’s Collegiate Church (''Stiftskirche St. Johannes der Täufer''), Gothic aisleless church, 1318, tower 1465, quire 1595; old churchyard wall with gateway arch
* Village core (monumental zone), St. Johannisberg 11, 13 among others – former collegiate church with churchyard, former Protestant rectory from 1743, village inn and farmhouse across the street, essentially Baroque as well as an estate complex along the street, no. 11, abutting the churchyard; in the middle of the street a well; bakehouse, possibly from the latter half of the 19th century
* On ''Kreisstraße'' 10 north of the church – bakehouse, possibly from the latter half of the 19th century
* St. Johannisberg 13 – former Evangelical rectory; Baroque solid building in style of house with single roof ridge, marked 1743

More about the castle

Schloss Dhaun is a castle ruin in the Hunsrück within Hochstetten-Dhaun’s municipal limits. The castle and the like-named constituent community lie high above the Kellenbach valley. It is said to be the biggest complex of its kind in the Nahe valley. Built in the 12th century as a defensive fortification (a ''Burg'' or " castle" rather than a ''Schloss'' or " stately home") by the Counts of the Nahegau, it had its first documentary mention in 1215 as ''castrum de Dune'' (“the castle on the heights”) and was then a fief of Saint Maximin's Abbey in Trier. In the Middle Ages, the complex protected the territory held by the Waldgraves, who were the Nahegau counts’ successors. In 1340, during the so-called “Dhaun Feud” (''Dhauner Fehde''), the castle was besieged by Prince-Archbishop-Elector of Trier Baldwin's troops. Baldwin was at odds with the lord of the castle, Johann I of Dhaun, over the Schmidtburg. The Prince-Archbishop-Elector prevailed in the siege, and Johann eventually had to grant him the unhindered use of the castle in times of war or feud (an arrangement called '' Öffnungsrecht'' in German history). In connection with the Dhaun Feud, a whole ring of castles sprang up, among them Castle Brunkenstein (actually the addition of an outer bailey), Castle Rotenberg, Castle Martinstein, the siege position of Geiersley and the castle on the Johannisberg (mountain). Johann I died in 1350 without a male heir, and therefore the complex passed to his nephew, Rhinegrave Johann II of Stein, Johann's sister Hedwig's son. With him began the long era of the Waldgraves and Rhinegraves of Dhaun. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the castle was further expanded and fortified. It is from that time that the barbican at the upper bailey comes. This was built in 1526. The three-level network of underground passageways and rooms was also built in these centuries. The passageways emerge from the ground at an exit at the foot of the castle, into its neck ditch

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