Rheinbach is a town in the Rhein-Sieg-Kreis district (

Landkreis In all German states, except for the three city states, the primary administrative subdivision higher than a '' Gemeinde'' (municipality) is the (official term in all but two states) or (official term in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia ...

), in

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

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 administrative district (

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

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

Geography

Situated south-west of

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

and south of

, Rheinbach lies at the edge 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 ...

region and within the borders of Rhineland's nature reserve.

History

Around 80 AD, the Eifel Aqueduct, one of the longest aqueducts of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

, was running through what is today Rheinbach's town centre. The first written documentation of Rheinbach dates back to 762, when

Pepin the Short the Short (french: Pépin le Bref; – 24 September 768), also called the Younger (german: Pippin der Jüngere), was King of the Franks from 751 until his death in 768. He was the first Carolingian to become king. The younger was the son of ...

, then

King of the Franks The Franks, Germanic-speaking peoples that invaded the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, were first led by individuals called dukes and reguli. The earliest group of Franks that rose to prominence was the Salian Merovingians, who con ...

, gave lands to the Prüm Abbey. In the early 17th century, Rheinbach came to prominence because of its

witch-hunt A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The Witch trials in the early modern period, classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and European Colon ...

s. First referred to as a town in 1298, the

Archbishop of Cologne The Archbishop of Cologne is an archbishop governing the Archdiocese of Cologne of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and is also a historical state in the Rhine holding the birthplace of Beethoven and northern Rhineland-Palati ...

purchased Rheinbach and the surrounding villages in 1343. Till 1789, Rheinbach was part of the

Electorate of Cologne The Electorate of Cologne (german: Kurfürstentum Köln), sometimes referred to as Electoral Cologne (german: Kurköln, links=no), was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from the 10th to the early 19th century. ...

. In 1794, Rheinbach was incorporated into France within the

Département de Rhin-et-Moselle Rhin-et-Moselle (; ) was a department of the First French Republic and First French Empire in present-day Germany. It was named after the rivers Rhine and Moselle. It was formed in 1797, when the left bank of the Rhine was annexed by France. Until ...

before coming under the auspices 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 ...

in 1815. Around 1947, a considerable number of displaced people from the

Sudetenland The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and sk, Sudety) is the historical German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the ...

settled in Rheinbach. Having brought their traditions of glasscraft, Rheinbach became famous for its

glass art Glass art refers to individual works of art that are substantially or wholly made of glass. It ranges in size from monumental works and installation pieces to wall hangings and windows, to works of art made in studios and factories, including glas ...

and today hosts a glass art museum and a specialized school.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was made official in 1915 by

Wilhelm II, German Emperor Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empir ...

and King of Prussia. The black cross with the silver background stands for the archdiocese of Cologne. The Eagle stems from the coat of arms from the Counts of Are-Hochstaden. The blue key refers to the Holy

Saint Peter Saint Peter; he, שמעון בר יונה, Šimʿōn bar Yōnāh; ar, سِمعَان بُطرُس, translit=Simʿa̅n Buṭrus; grc-gre, Πέτρος, Petros; cop, Ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ, Petros; lat, Petrus; ar, شمعون الصفـا, Sham'un ...

, the patron saint of the Archdiocese of Cologne.

Governance

Besides the town proper, Rheinbach administratively comprises the surrounding villages and hamlets, including

Flerzheim Flerzheim is a part (''Stadtteil'') of Rheinbach in the Rhein-Sieg-Kreis in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Location Flerzheim is located twelve kilometres southwest of Bonn in the Cologne Lowland in the foothills of the Eifel, in Germany. Thr ...

. As of 2016, the town council has a Christian Democratic ( CDU) majority with 17 seats; the Social Democrats (

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...

) hold 10 seats, while the Greens (

Die Grünen Die Grünen (German for "the Greens") may refer to: *The Greens – The Green Alternative The Greens – The Green Alternative (german: Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative, ) is a green political party in Austria. The party was founded in 19 ...

), the Independents (UWG) and the Liberals ( FDP) hold three each.

Education

A local hub for education, Rheinbach is the seat of the Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, a university of applied science which specializes in business and biomedical sciences. There are three secondary schools in Rheinbach. The municipal Gymnasium was founded in 1852 and is one of the oldest public secondary schools in the Bonn region; the Vinzenz-Pallotti-Kolleg was one of the few boarding and private schools in Germany; the Catholic run St.-Joseph-Gymnasium was historically a girls-only school and is now

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

Transport

Rheinbach lies in proximity to the Bundesautobahn 61 which connects it with Cologne. The S-Bahn RB23 connects Rheinbach with Bad Münstereifel and

. Rheinbach is part of the regional bus network of Cologne (''Regionalverkehr Köln'').

Twin towns – sister cities

Rheinbach is twinned with: *

Deinze Deinze () is a city and a municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders. It comprises the city of Deinze, and the towns of Astene, Bachte-Maria-Leerne, Gottem, Grammene, Hansbeke, Landegem, Meigem, Merendree, Nevele, Petegem-aan-de-Leie, ...

, Belgium * Kamenický Šenov, Czech Republic * Sevenoaks, England, United Kingdom * Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, France Rheinbach and the similarly named town of

Rhinebeck, New York Rhinebeck is a village (New York), village in the Rhinebeck (town), New York, town of Rhinebeck in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 2,657 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie, New York, Poughkeepsie– ...

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, participate in a student exchange program.

Notable people

* Hubert Lavies (1833-1905), American farmer, postmaster and legislator * Peter Lavies (c. 1790 – c. 1876), American tavernkeeper, local official, postmaster, moneylender and legislator *

Michael Preisinger Michael Preisinger (born 26 March 1962 in Rheinbach) is a German consultant, journalist, author and TV host. He also writes under the pseudonym Mig Feuser. Life Preisinger, son of a glass technician, grew up - beside a two-year stay in easte ...

(born 1962), journalist and writer * Norbert Röttgen (born 1965), politician, federal minister in 2009–2012 *

Tim Lobinger Tim Lobinger (3 September 1972 – 16 February 2023) was a German pole vaulter. Career Lobinger's discipline was pole vault and he was an elite competitor from the 1990s. His best results came in 1997 and 1999 when he jumped over 6.00 meters. ...

(born 1972), pole vaulter *

Markus Pröll Markus Pröll (born 28 August 1979) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. During his career, he played for 1. FC Köln and Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany and Panionios in Greece. Club career Pröll was born in Rh ...

(born 1979), footballer * Pius Heinz (born 1989), winner of the Main Event of

2011 World Series of Poker The 2011 World Series of Poker was the 42nd annual World Series of Poker (WSOP). The WSOP is the most prestigious poker tournament in the world with the winner of the Main Event considered to be the World Champion. It was held at the Rio All Suit ...

References

External links

Official website

University of Applied Sciences Bonn-Rhein-Sieg
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