
Auen is an ''
Ortsgemeinde Ortsgemeinde may refer to:
* Ortsgemeinde (Austria), a type of municipality in Austria
* Ortsgemeinde (Germany)
A (; plural ) is a low-level administrative division, administrative unit in the Germany, German States of Germany, federal states ...
'' – a
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
belonging to a , a kind of collective municipality – in the
Bad Kreuznach
Bad Kreuznach () is a town in the Bad Kreuznach (district), Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a spa town, known for its medieval bridge dating from around 1300, the Alte Nahebrücke (Bad Kreuznach), Alte Nahebrücke, ...
district in
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) 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 sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
. It belongs to the
''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Bad Sobernheim, whose seat is in the
like-named town. Auen is a
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...
-oriented community and a state-recognized recreational area.
[Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz – Regionaldaten](_blank)
/ref>
Geography
Location
Auen lies in the southern Hunsrück
The Hunsrück () is a long, triangular, pronounced mountain range, upland in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the valleys of the Moselle (river), Moselle-Saar (north-to-west), the Nahe (south), and the Rhine (east). It is continued ...
between the Soonwald
The Soonwald () is a forested, low mountain region, up to , which forms part of the Hunsrück mountains in the German Central Uplands. It lies within the counties of Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis and Landkreis Bad Kreuznach, Bad Kreuznach in the state of ...
’s heights and the river Nahe. The municipal area measures 271 ha and the countryside is characterized by woodland and vineyard
A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...
s.
Neighbouring municipalities
Auen borders in the north on the town of Bad Sobernheim
Bad Sobernheim () is a town in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the like-named ''Verbandsgemeinde'', and is also its seat. It is a state-recognized spa town, and is well known for two fossil discovery sit ...
, in the south on the municipality of Monzingen
Monzingen is an ''Ortsgemeinde (Germany), Ortsgemeinde'' – a Municipalities of Germany, municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Kreuznach (district), Bad Kreuznach Districts of Germany, d ...
and in the west on the municipality of Langenthal
Langenthal is a town and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Oberaargau (administrative district), Oberaargau in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2010 the municipality of Untersteckholz merged into the ...
.
Constituent communities
Also belonging to Auen is the outlying homestead of Gosenhof.
Geology
It is rather easy even for those outside the field of geology
Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth ...
to make out the geological composition in Auen and its outlying countryside. The Saar-Saale Depression runs almost down the middle of the Auener Tal (dale) from northeast to southwest, forming a clear boundary between the Rotliegend
The Rotliegend, Rotliegend Group or Rotliegendes () is a lithostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) of latest Carboniferous to Guadalupian (middle Permian) age that is found in the subsurface of large areas in western and central Europe ...
geology lying to the south and the Devonian
The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...
geology lying to the north, which began in the framework of the Variscan orogeny
The Variscan orogeny, or Hercynian orogeny, was a geologic mountain-building event caused by Late Paleozoic continental collision between Euramerica (Laurussia) and Gondwana to form the supercontinent of Pangaea.
Nomenclature
The name ''Varis ...
and continued through the Pennsylvanian Pennsylvanian may refer to:
* A person or thing from Pennsylvania
* Pennsylvanian (geology)
The Pennsylvanian ( , also known as Upper Carboniferous or Late Carboniferous) is, on the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS geologic timesc ...
and into the Cisuralian
The Cisuralian, also known as the Early Permian, is the first series/epoch of the Permian. The Cisuralian was preceded by the Pennsylvanian and followed by the Guadalupian. The Cisuralian Epoch is named after the western slopes of the Ural Mou ...
. During this time, the depression was filled with thick sediments of terrestrial-limnic facies
In geology, a facies ( , ; same pronunciation and spelling in the plural) is a body of rock with distinctive characteristics. The characteristics can be any observable attribute of rocks (such as their overall appearance, composition, or con ...
, which today can be seen as thrust sheets and streams. The bores (5 × 50 m deep) drilled to supply the municipal hall with geothermal heat
Geothermal heating is the direct use of geothermal energy for some heating applications. Humans have taken advantage of geothermal heat this way since the Paleolithic era. Approximately seventy countries made direct use of a total of 270 PJ o ...
showed the same mix of minerals. The groundwater
Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit ...
that feeds the Kneipp wading basin in the village has a constant temperature in both summer and winter, with almost the same rate of flow, of 110 °C. There is no danger of volcanic eruption
A volcanic eruption occurs when material is expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure. Several types of volcanic eruptions have been distinguished by volcanologists. These are often named after famous volcanoes where that type of behavior h ...
. The sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
layers that formed in the Rotliegend were formerly important to employment in Auen. From the roughly eight sandstone quarries opened here, dressed stones and capitals
Capital and its variations may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital
** List of national capitals
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter
Econom ...
were delivered to Cologne
Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
between 1842 and 1863 for cathedral
A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...
building. Also unearthed at some of these quarries (Triftweg, Duschied, Bohnebruch) was petrified wood
Petrified wood (from Ancient Greek meaning 'rock' or 'stone'; literally 'wood turned into stone'), is the name given to a special type of ''fossilized wood'', the fossilized remains of terrestrial plant, terrestrial vegetation. ''Petrifaction ...
from the Permian
The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years, from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the s ...
. From the Devonian came fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...
ized plants here and there (Cordaitales
Cordaitales are an extinct order of gymnosperms, known from the early Carboniferous to the late Permian. Many Cordaitales had elongated strap-like leaves, resembling some modern-day conifers of the Araucariaceae and Podocarpaceae. They had co ...
leaves) and also small, fossilized creatures. These once existed in a collection, but this has unfortunately disappeared. A coal seam has also been observed north of Auen, but this has never been exploited because it is too thin to be commercially recoverable.
History
Archaeology
Auen was until after the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
a blank on the map of archaeological
Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
finds in the Bad Kreuznach
Bad Kreuznach () is a town in the Bad Kreuznach (district), Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a spa town, known for its medieval bridge dating from around 1300, the Alte Nahebrücke (Bad Kreuznach), Alte Nahebrücke, ...
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 county, counties, several municipality, municip ...
. A few find sites were already known, but there were still no digs or listings available. Through constant observation and subsequent digs, however, 22 find sites have now been identified. All digs were carried out under supervision of the Office for the Care of Buried Monuments (''Amt für Bodendenkmalpflege'') in Mainz
Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...
. Listed here are some of the finds that have been brought to light in Auen, or locations where finds have turned up:
* Stone hatchets and ceramics
A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porce ...
from roughly 3500 to 2000 BC
* Two burnt-out wooden wells from Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foot ...
times
* Millstone
Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, used for triturating, crushing or, more specifically, grinding wheat or other grains. They are sometimes referred to as grindstones or grinding stones.
Millstones come in pairs: a s ...
from Celtic times
* Grape seed
A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters.
The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,00 ...
s, wheat
Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...
and barley
Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...
corns from La Tène times
* Great clay vessel from Hallstatt times
* Finds near Saint Willigis
Willigis (; ; 940 – 23 February 1011 AD) was Archbishop of Mainz from 975 until his death as well as archchancellor of the Holy Roman Empire.
Life
Willigus was born in the Duchy of Saxony, possibly at Schöningen, the son of a free peasant. ...
’s Chapel
A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...
from Gallo-Roman
Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...
times
* Four Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of Roman civilization
*Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
watermains
* Top of a Roman amphora
An amphora (; ; English ) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storage rooms and packages, tied together with rope and delivered by land ...
* Roman house with sewerpipe
* Roman coin from roughly AD 200
* Various places with Roman potsherds
This page is a glossary of archaeology, the study of the human past from material remains.
A
B
C
D
E
F
...
* Ivory
Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and Tooth, teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mamm ...
cross from roughly 1300
* Two places with Roman vessels
* Eight sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
quarries
* Two limekiln
A lime kiln is a kiln used for the calcination of limestone (calcium carbonate) to produce the form of lime (material), lime called ''quicklime'' (calcium oxide). The chemical equation for this chemical reaction, reaction is: Calcium carbonat ...
s
* One coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal i ...
pit and further prospecting
Prospecting is the first stage of the geological analysis (followed by Mining engineering#Pre-mining, exploration) of a territory. It is the search for minerals, fossils, precious metals, or mineral specimens. It is also known as fossicking.
...
Middle Ages
Auen's history, which is marked by an unusual wealth of documentary material for a place of its size, thus seeming almost exaggerated, can be explained by the village's time as a landhold of Sponheim Abbey and Saint Willigis
Willigis (; ; 940 – 23 February 1011 AD) was Archbishop of Mainz from 975 until his death as well as archchancellor of the Holy Roman Empire.
Life
Willigus was born in the Duchy of Saxony, possibly at Schöningen, the son of a free peasant. ...
’s Chapel
A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...
’s time as a landhold of Disibodenberg
Disibodenberg () is a monastery ruin near Staudernheim in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It was founded on the eponymous hill near the convergence of the Glan (Nahe), Glan and the Nahe (Rhine), Nahe rivers by Saint Disibod. Hildegard of Bingen, who ...
Abbey. The formerly held assumption that Auen arose in the time of the Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties
* Francia, a post-Roman ...
taking of the land about AD 900 no longer bears up against the latest knowledge that has come to light. Archaeological
Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
finds now show that there had been human habitation here, some of it permanent, in earlier times. Furthermore, all digs undertaken at Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of Roman civilization
*Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
sites have yielded Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foot ...
finds as well, leading to the conclusion that the dale was settled as far back as the New Stone Age
The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide- ...
. In 1128, Auen had its first documentary mention in a confirmation document issued by Archbishop
In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...
Adalbert of Mainz Adalbert of Mainz may refer to:
*Adalbert I of Mainz
Adalbert I von Saarbrücken (died June 23, 1137) was Archbishop-Elector of Mainz from 1111 until his death. He played a key role in opposing Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor, during the Investitur ...
in connection with the building of Saint Willigis's Chapel, itself having been mentioned about 980 or 990. As early as 1044 and 1048, the village was listed in donation documents from Count Eberhard of Sponheim
Sponheim is a municipality in the district of Bad Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate in western Germany.
History
Sponheim was the capital of the County of Sponheim.
Sponheim Abbey
There was a Benedictine abbey which was founded in 1101 by Steph ...
kept at the church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
at Sponheim
Sponheim is a municipality in the district of Bad Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate in western Germany.
History
Sponheim was the capital of the County of Sponheim.
Sponheim Abbey
There was a Benedictine abbey which was founded in 1101 by Steph ...
(in Auen, the landhold in question amounted to four ''Huben''). In 1203, Auen, along with its land and people, was donated as a payment to Sponheim Abbey, as the abbot had kept such good watch over the County of Sponheim during the Count's crusade. Auen's long allegiance to Sponheim Abbey is confirmed by the 1488 ''Auener Weistum'' (a ''Weistum'' – cognate
In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language.
Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...
with English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Culture, language and peoples
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
* ''English'', an Amish ter ...
''wisdom'' – was a legal pronouncement issued by men learned in law in the Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
and early modern times) and by Abbot Johannes Trithemius
Johannes Trithemius (; 1 February 1462 – 13 December 1516), born Johann Heidenberg, was a German Benedictine abbot and a polymath who was active in the German Renaissance as a Lexicography, lexicographer, chronicler, Cryptography, cryptograph ...
’s homage about 1500; it might have lasted until 1570.
Modern times
This allegiance brought Auen into the '' Oberamt'' of Kreuznach. This was mentioned in a 1601 description of the ''Amt'', which said that, among other things, the lordship of Sponheim Abbey and the outlying village of Auen both belonged to the ''Oberamt'' of Kreuznach. By this time, Auen was already an exclave
An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...
between the other ''Ämter''. Also mentioned was that Auen lay within the range of the ''Amt'' of Böckelheim but was nonetheless otherwise strictly subject to the ''Oberamt'' of Kreuznach. At the same time, the inhabitants of Auen were subject ecclesiastically to the parish of Geh in Kirche, which was in turn subject to Disibodenberg Abbey. This arrangement worked out quite well for the inhabitants of Auen. About 1550, the Reformation
The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...
was introduced. The last priest left the parish of Getzbach and became the first Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
minister in Pferdsfeld (a now vanished village). In 1575, the Getzbacher Wald (forest) was sold, thus stripping Auen of lands that had hitherto reached up to the Hummerstuhl, which amounted to almost half the municipal area. In 1707, Auen passed to Electoral Palatinate
The Electoral Palatinate was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire until it was annexed by the Electorate of Baden in 1803. From the end of the 13th century, its ruler was one of the Prince-electors who elected the Holy Roman Empero ...
while remaining in the ''Oberamt'' of Kreuznach until Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
ic times.
Recent times
After belonging for some years under French
French may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France
** French people, a nation and ethnic group
** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices
Arts and media
* The French (band), ...
rule to the ''Mairie'' (“Mayoralty”) of Monzingen, Auen passed under the terms of 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, Napol ...
in 1815 to the Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
n ''Amt'' of Monzingen, which governed it for 154 years. Although Auen is a very old village, it was only in the 19th century that it blossomed into one of the Nahe region's agricultural
Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...
and winegrowing
Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ...
hubs. The planting of vineyard
A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...
s promised a good secondary income earner, although a grape seed
A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters.
The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,00 ...
from about 1500 BC had already been found in the municipality along with some grain. The stonemason's craft, too, flourished at the quarries around Auen. In the mid 19th century, finished capitals
Capital and its variations may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital
** List of national capitals
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter
Econom ...
and stones were delivered from these to Cologne Cathedral
Cologne Cathedral (, , officially , English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia belonging to the Catholic Church. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archd ...
. Thirty-nine small farms grew what was needed. New farm lanes that afforded readier access were laid to make farmwork easier. A few farmers received certificates about 1900 for good yields. Beginning in 1770, 31 inhabitants emigrated
Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...
. Out of 180 inhabitants, eight fell in the First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and two went missing in action
Missing in action (MIA) is a casualty (person), casualty classification assigned to combatants, military chaplains, combat medics, and prisoner of war, prisoners of war who are reported missing during wartime or ceasefire. They may have been ...
. In the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, of the 56 soldiers from Auen, 23 fell and 4 went missing. In the course of the 1969 administrative restructuring in Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) 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 sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...
, Auen was grouped into the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Bad Sobernheim. In 1993, the ''Auener Chronik'', the village chronicle, was published. In recent years, Auen has grown into a residential community fit for tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...
that has still not lost its rustic character.
Municipality’s name
Auen is a placename that describes a settlement or a homestead. Only beginning in the mid 18th century did the current spelling “Auen” establish itself as the customary one. In Modern High German, the name literally means “floodplains” or “riverside flats”, and indeed this would seem to be its derivation. Thus it is Germanic, but from Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foot ...
''dhwö'', from Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...
''akua'' (“water”), ''a(z)wjö'' (“island”). It is akin to the Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
''aqua'' (“water”) and the Old High German
Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...
''auw(i)a'' (“land at, in or near water”). Over the ages, Auen has borne the following names:
* 1047: ''Auwen''
* 1124: ''Auwen''
* 1488: ''dorff Awen''
* 1588: ''Awen''
* 1601: ''Dörflein Awen''
* 1720: ''Gemeind Awen''
* 1731: ''Auwen''
* 1758: Auen
* 1761: Auen
Population development
Auen has always been a small village that has never emerged from the shadows. In 1437/1438, the village's population was recorded as 8 hearths (for which read “households”). Between 1580 and 1600, there were 81 inhabitants living at 18 hearths, and in 1808 there were 152 inhabitants in Auen. The table shows Auen's population development since Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
ic times. The figures in the table from 1871 to 1987 are based on census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
es:
Religion
As at 31 August 2013, there are 193 full-time residents in Auen, and of those, 96 are Evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...
(49.741%), 55 are Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
(28.497%), 3 (1.554%) belong to other religious groups and 39 (20.207%) either have no religion or will not reveal their religious affiliation.
Politics
Municipal council
The council is made up of 6 council members, who were elected by majority vote
A majority is more than half of a total; however, the term is commonly used with other meanings, as explained in the "#Related terms, Related terms" section below.
It is a subset of a Set (mathematics), set consisting of more than half of the se ...
at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
Mayor
Auen's mayor is Torsten Baus.[
]
Coat of arms
The German blazon reads: ''Schild durch silbernen Schrägbalken geteilt, der mit einem Schwarzen A belegt ist. Oben blau-goldenes Schach, unten in Blau eine goldene Abtskrümme.''
The municipality's 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 bend argent charged with the letter A sable between chequy of twelve azure and Or and azure an abbot's staff bendwise couped in base of the fourth.
The bend (slanted stripe) with the letter A – for “Auen”, of course – goes back to a court seal from 1731. The charge
Charge or charged may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary
Music
* ''Charge'' (David Ford album)
* ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album)
* '' Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...
below this, the abbot's staff, refers to Archbishop Bardo
In some schools of Buddhism, ''bardo'' ( Wylie: ''bar do'') or ''antarābhava'' (Sanskrit, Chinese and Japanese: 中有, romanized in Chinese as ''zhōng yǒu'' and in Japanese as ''chū'u'') is an intermediate, transitional, or liminal state b ...
of Mainz
Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...
, who in 1044 listed, among other places, Auen in a donation document. The “chequy” pattern recalls the County of Sponheim
The County of 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 of Sponheim, where the cou ...
, to which Auen belonged until the late 18th century.
Culture and sightseeing
Buildings
The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) 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 sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...
’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
* Hauptstraße 2 – house, Late Classicist sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
-block building, about 1850
* Zur Feuchten Ecke 1 – former school
A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...
, town hall; Late Classicist sandstone-block building, about 1850
* In the forest – Saint Willigis’s Catholic Chapel (''St. Willigiskapelle''), formerly “Go-To-Church” (''Geh-in-Kirche''); quire of Romanesque church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
, converted to Early Gothic
Early Gothic is the term for the first period of Gothic architecture which lasted from about 1120 until about 1200. The early Gothic builders used innovative technologies to resolve the problem of masonry ceilings which were too heavy for the t ...
, which had been in ruins since the 17th century, but reconstructed in 1912
Saint Willigis’s Chapel
The Chapel
A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...
was formerly known as the ''Geh in Kirche'' or the ''Getzbach/Götzbach Kirche''. Archbishop and Chancellor Willigis from Mainz
Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...
saw on his inspectional and informational journeys through his rather vast and extensive region that there was already good and eager religious activity, yet there was also a certain lack of gathering places such as churches and other centres of worship to shore up and foster the consolidation of Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
life, especially in outlying areas. On the river Nahe at the bigger centres, the odd church could already be found, but of course, these were simply not enough to serve all believers. It is clear that wherever the former monastery could draw income, there rose, too, the first churches, as in Meckenbach
Meckenbach 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, who ...
, Hundsbach
Hundsbach 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 Meisenheim, ...
and Bollenbach. Disibodenberg
Disibodenberg () is a monastery ruin near Staudernheim in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It was founded on the eponymous hill near the convergence of the Glan (Nahe), Glan and the Nahe (Rhine), Nahe rivers by Saint Disibod. Hildegard of Bingen, who ...
Abbey, which had risen once again, and which is said to have been Willigis's favourite monastery, was richly furnished with estates, income and tithes. It was up to the canons to spread their influence out from this hub, and thus every thread of their dealings now ran from their monastic seat. In the wild and untamed outlands of the Soon, no income from the old monastic landholds was forthcoming that Willigis could have used. He therefore sought a suitable place, finding it within the limits of the old royal estate of Monzingen, near the village of Auen, owned by a cleric named Wizelin. From this secular priest
In Christianity, the term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or otherwise members of religious life. Secular priests (sometimes known as diocesan priests) are priests who commit themselves to a certain geographi ...
, Willigis bought an oxgang
An oxgang or bovate (; ; ; ) is an old land measurement formerly used in Scotland and England as early as the 16th century sometimes referred to as an oxgait. It averaged around 20 English acres, but was based on land fertility and cultivation, a ...
of land, which he must have found very convenient. In the 1128 document that first mentions Auen, the text does not go into church buildings on the newly acquired lot. It does, however, make clear that there was such a sale. It can be assumed, indeed it is likely, that Willigis found that there were still buildings or ruins on the land from Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of Roman civilization
*Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
times and he thus had no great difficulty building a church. Furthermore, there were quarries right nearby. It is known today that these buildings that the archbishop would have found here would have been of Roman origin. Perhaps, too, in this outlying area, they had survived the upheavals of the intervening time and had not sustained any serious damage. New knowledge came to light at the time of the renovation in 1978-1979, which yielded rich, informative finds that left no doubt but that the existing foundations are partly of Roman origin. It seems clear that even Willigis would have had qualms about coming to this forsaken land to build a church when even by the 16th century, records were still being made about how dangerous it was there for clergymen on their way to services. Willigis, so the story goes, consecrated this church in which he had put such great hope and named it ''Geh-in-Kirche'' (or ''Gehinkirche'', but either way, meaning “Go-To-Church”) as an everlasting reminder to attend church assiduously, wanting as he did to deepen the Soonwald people's understanding of Christian teaching (it should perhaps be pointed out that the verb form, ''Geh'', is in the imperative mood
The imperative mood is a grammatical mood that forms a command or request.
The imperative mood is used to demand or require that an action be performed. It is usually found only in the present tense, second person. They are sometimes called ' ...
). On the other hand, differing opinions have it that this name is not original, but rather that it came from the local dialect, somehow linked to the name ''Getzbach'' or ''Götzbach'', as the local brook was called. Anyone from outside or who was otherwise unfamiliar with the area would not quite gather anything meaningful from either of those names when applied to a church, for a name ending in ''—bach'' (“brook”), while it might suit a village or a homestead – and would certainly suit a brook – did not quite go with a church. Whatever the old name's genesis was, when the chapel was reconstructed early in the 20th century – by which time it had fallen into ruin – it was realized in 1913 that no church had ever been consecrated to Willigis (it is true, though, that although he is often called “Saint Willigis”, he has never actually been canonized
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of sa ...
). So, the two Catholic dioceses concerned, Trier
Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...
and Mainz
Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...
, agreed to give the chapel its new name: ''Willigis-Kapelle'' (Saint Willigis's Chapel), after its builder. The new name, if it can still be called “new” after more than a century, is of the three names mentioned here still not the most widely used, which goes to show that new names do not always quickly sweep old ones away. “Getzbach”, despite any confusion that it may have caused earlier, is still the preferred name for the chapel among locals (“''Ich gehe auf die Getzbach''” – “I’m going to the Getzbach”). The new and thus far only church was the hub of a great spiritual guidance area that stretched far across the Soonwald, all the way to Gehlweiler
Gehlweiler is an – a municipality belonging to a , a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Kirchberg, whose seat is in the like ...
, taking in the centres of not only Auen and Gehlweiler but also Daubach, Eckweiler (forsaken in the late 20th century), Pferdsfeld (likewise), Winterburg, Ippenschied, Seesbach
Seesbach is a municipality in the district of Bad Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea t ...
, Kellenbach
Kellenbach 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, wh ...
and further places that later vanished. Churchgoers had to walk for hours to reach the chapel for services. The dead were buried at the church, too. There was a lichway (a path along which the dead were taken to the church and/or graveyard) running from the Soon to the church. The church soon became too small and Willigis had another church built near Seesbach, the ''Sementis-Kapelle''. It had been assumed that the church stood alone, away from the village of Auen. However, given what was found during excavations for the retention basin
A retention basin, sometimes called a retention pond, wet detention basin, or storm water management pond (SWMP), is an artificial pond with vegetation around the perimeter and a permanent pool of water in its design. It is used to manage ...
, which brought to light ample material, it is now believed that a few houses and buildings stood on the other side of the brook. This is also seen in the water supply for the Kneipp wading basin that formerly served people over there. Many documents are on hand dealing with the chapel's history. A timeline has been constructed out of some of them here:
* 1128 — Founding of the ''Geh in Kirche''
* 1259 — Archbishop Gerhard reserves the right to appoint the parish priest
* 1273 — Sir Philipp, called Paffe, forgoes tithes
* 1339 — Foundation of the Mass
Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...
* 1400 — Willigis's building supposedly burns down; reconstructed with nave in the Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language
** Gothic ( ...
style
* 1501 — Synodic ''Weistum''
* 1515 — Synodic court
* 1552 — Last priest, Venter, departs (Reformation
The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...
); becomes first Reformed
Reform is beneficial change.
Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to:
Media
* ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang
* Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group
* ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine
Places
* Reform, Al ...
pastor in Pferdsfeld, after selling everything off with the Schultheiß
In medieval Germany, the ''Schultheiß'' () was the head of a municipality (akin to today's office of mayor), a '' Vogt'' or an executive official of the ruler. As official (''villicus'') it was his duty to order his assigned village or county ( ...
of Auen
* 1560 — Reformation is introduced
* 1564 — Niklas von Schmittburg has the right to appoint the pastor and is “collator”
* 1568 — Parish seat is moved to Eckweiler when the rectory burns down
* 1602 — Complaint about the church building's bad condition
* 1608 — Church is on the point of collapse
* 1630 — Reconstruction or renovation
* 1685 — Copies of the 1501 ''Weistum'' by Gehlweiler, which instigated secession
In the graveyard, people from Eckweiler, Daubach, Auen and the Soonwald were henceforth also buried. Now and then, a funeral sermon was still delivered in the ruin, as it was for Friedrich Wilhelm Utsch (“the Hunter from Electoral Palatinate
The Electoral Palatinate was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire until it was annexed by the Electorate of Baden in 1803. From the end of the 13th century, its ruler was one of the Prince-electors who elected the Holy Roman Empero ...
”), as was a yearly sermon. The church, however, kept on falling further into disrepair. People removing the stone for their own building projects also did not help. A listing from 1876 gives a clear indication of how heavy the damage to the church was, and slowly, efforts arose to reconstruct it once again. In a relatively short time, this was finally done and the church was consecrated on 15 September 1912. The building work proceeded without much care taken as to old relics, and certainly a certain amount of destruction of important things resulted. Now, though, there were once more weekly services, weddings, christenings and burials. Through both world wars, little importance was placed on maintaining the building, and so considerable disrepair began to show up once more. In 1977 and 1979, a general overhaul by the parish of Rehbach and make-work
A make-work job is a job that is created and maintained at a cost not offset by the job’s fulfilment. Usually having little or no immediate financial benefit, such roles can be said to exist for other economic or social-political reasons, for ex ...
measures were carried out. During this work, finds from early history were made, some of them important, including proof that the church stood on Roman foundations; even Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foot ...
material was unearthed. At the ''Priorhof'' (Bad Sobernheim
Bad Sobernheim () is a town in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the like-named ''Verbandsgemeinde'', and is also its seat. It is a state-recognized spa town, and is well known for two fossil discovery sit ...
’s town museum
A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...
) an exhibit of the most important finds is on loan. Lying buried at the little forest graveyard are Friedrich Wilhelm Utsch, called “the Hunter from Electoral Palatinate”, and his wife and two children.
Evangelical church
The ''Lapis Primarius'' (“Foundation Stone”) Evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
has an end window by Röhrig/Bensberg
Clubs
The following clubs are active in Auen:
* ''Feuerwehr'' — fire brigade
A fire department (North American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire company, fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and ...
* ''Landfrauen'' — countrywomen's club
* ''Verschönerungsverein'' — beautification club
Economy and infrastructure
Economic structure
Auen has a small balneotherapeutic facility where one can “take the waters”, although visitors do not drink the water, but rather wade through it. It is a Kneipp facility, complete with a wading basin. Auen also has a number of inn
Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway. Before the advent of motorized transportation, they also provided accomm ...
s offering the local wine and home-style cooking. There are also private lodging providers.Economic structure
/ref>
Transport
To the south runs ''Bundesstraße
''Bundesstraße'' (, ), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.
Germany
Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km.
German ''Bundesstraßen'' are labelled with re ...
'' 41. Serving nearby Monzingen
Monzingen is an ''Ortsgemeinde (Germany), Ortsgemeinde'' – a Municipalities of Germany, municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Kreuznach (district), Bad Kreuznach Districts of Germany, d ...
is a railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
on the Nahe Valley Railway
The Nahe Valley Railway () is a two-track, partially electrified main line railway in the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, which runs for almost 100 kilometres along the Nahe (Rhine), Nahe. It was built by the Rhine-Nahe Railway ...
( Bingen–Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...
).
References
External links
Auen in the collective municipality’s webpages
Municipality’s official webpage
{{Authority control
Bad Kreuznach (district)
Districts of the Rhine Province