Alzey () is a ''Verband''-free town – one belonging to no ''

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. Rhineland- ...

'' – in the

Alzey-Worms Alzey-Worms () is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by (from the east and clockwise) the district Groß-Gerau (Hesse), the city of Worms and the districts of Bad Dürkheim, Donnersbergkreis, Bad Kreuznach and Mainz-Bingen. ...

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 ...

. It is the fifth-largest town in

Rhenish Hesse Rhenish Hesse or Rhine HesseDickinson, Robert E (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, p. 542. . (german: Rheinhessen) is a region and a former government district () in the German state of Rhineland- ...

, after

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

Worms Worms may refer to: *Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs Places *Worms, Germany, a city **Worms (electoral district) *Worms, Nebraska, U.S. *Worms im Veltlintal, the German name for Bormio, Italy Arts and entertainme ...

Ingelheim am Rhein Ingelheim (), officially Ingelheim am Rhein ( en, Ingelheim upon Rhine), is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in the Rhineland-Palatinate state of Germany. The town sprawls along the Rhine's west bank. It has been Mainz-Bingen's district seat ...

and Bingen. Alzey is one of the ''Nibelungenstädte'' – towns associated with the ''

Nibelungenlied The ( gmh, Der Nibelunge liet or ), translated as ''The Song of the Nibelungs'', is an epic poetry, epic poem written around 1200 in Middle High German. Its anonymous poet was likely from the region of Passau. The is based on an oral tradition ...

'' – because it is represented in this work by the character

Volker von Alzey Volker von Alzey is a legendary figure from the Nibelungenlied. He is the minstrel at the court of Burgundy in Worms. His headquarters Alzey is located about from Worms. Volker is one of the Burgundian knights and heroes. He dies at Hildebrand's ha ...

. Hence, Alzey is also known as ''Volkerstadt''.

Geography

Location

Alzey lies in

on the western edge of the northern part of the

Upper Rhine Plain The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben (German: ''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'', ''Oberrheinisches Tiefland'' or ''Oberrheingraben'', French: ''Vallée du Rhin'') is a major rift, about and on average , between Basel in the s ...

. It is surrounded by the northern part of the

Alzey Hills The Alzey Hills (german: Alzeyer Hügelland) form a region of low, rolling hills, or '' Hügelland'', 275 km² in area and up to , in Rhenish Hesse in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. From a natural region perspective they are part of ...

, which meets the Rhenish Hesse Hills towards the south and the

North Palatine Uplands The North Palatine Uplands (german: Nordpfälzer Bergland), sometimes shortened to Palatine Uplands (''Pfälzer Bergland''), is a low mountain range and landscape unit in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate and belongs mainly to the Palat ...

towards the east. The town is found some 30 km southwest of

and some 22 km (

as the crow flies __NOTOC__ The expression ''as the crow flies'' is an idiom for the most direct path between two points, rather similar to "in a beeline". This meaning is attested from the early 19th century, and appeared in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel '' Oliv ...

, in each case) northwest of

. Through Alzey, in places underground, flows the river

Selz The Selz is a river in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, and a left hand tributary of the Rhine. It flows through the largest German wine region, Rheinhessen (Rhenish Hesse). It rises near the village of Orbis in the county of Donnersbergkreis ...

, a left-bank tributary to the

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

Climate

Yearly

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

in Alzey amounts to 586 mm, which is rather low, falling into the lowest fourth of the precipitation chart for all Germany. At 18% of the

German Weather Service The () or DWD for short, is the German Meteorological Service, based in Offenbach am Main, Germany, which monitors weather and meteorological conditions over Germany and provides weather services for the general public and for nautical, avia ...

's weather stations, even lower figures are recorded. The driest month is February. The most rainfall comes in June. In that month, precipitation is 1.9 times what it is in February. Precipitation varies moderately. At 41% of the weather stations, lower seasonal swings are recorded.

History

From the Neolithic to the early first millennium

The earliest traces of settlement in the Alzey area go back as far as the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

. Alzey was founded as a ''vicus'' (village) in the

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 ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

province of

Germania Superior Germania Superior ("Upper Germania") was an imperial province of the Roman Empire. It comprised an area of today's western Switzerland, the French Jura and Alsace regions, and southwestern Germany. Important cities were Besançon ('' Vesontio' ...

in the lands surrounding Mogontiacum (

). The name of Alzey is first mentioned on a ''Nymphenstein'' (a Roman altar stone dedicated to nymphs), dedicated on 22 November 223 by the ''Vicani Altiaienses'' ("Villagers of Alzey"). The name ''Altiaia'' could well originate from the name of an older, pre-Roman

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 Fo ...

settlement of about 400 BC, although the name's exact origins have not been passed down to the present day. Over the ruins of the Roman village, which was destroyed about 350, a

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

Castra Alteium The ''Castra Alteium'' (german: Kastell Alzey) is a former late-Roman border fort on the Danube-Iller-Rhine Limes (DIRL). It is located in the territory of the city of Alzey in Rhenish Hesse, Germany. The fort was presumably built in the course of ...

, was built about 390. In 406 and 407, the

Burgundians The Burgundians ( la, Burgundes, Burgundiōnes, Burgundī; on, Burgundar; ang, Burgendas; grc-gre, Βούργουνδοι) were an early Germanic tribe or group of tribes. They appeared in the middle Rhine region, near the Roman Empire, and ...

, together with the

Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal Kingdom, Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century. The ...

, crossed the

and settled in Mainz, Alzey and Worms as Roman confederates. The area was secured for them by treaty. In 436, the Burgundian kingdom was destroyed by the

Western Roman The Western Roman Empire comprised the western provinces of the Roman Empire at any time during which they were administered by a separate independent Imperial court; in particular, this term is used in historiography to describe the period fr ...

magister militum (Latin for "master of soldiers", plural ) was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, ...

Flavius Aëtius Aetius (also spelled Aëtius; ; 390 – 454) was a Roman general and statesman of the closing period of the Western Roman Empire. He was a military commander and the most influential man in the Empire for two decades (433454). He managed pol ...

with help from

Hunnish The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

troops. These events were worked into the ''Nibelungenlied'' and form the origin of the legendary figure Volker von Alzey, the

gleeman An itinerant poet or strolling minstrel (also known variously as a gleeman, circler, or cantabank) was a wandering minstrel, bard, musician, or other poet common in medieval Europe but extinct today. Itinerant poets were from a lower class than jest ...

in the ''Nibelungenlied''. After 450, Alzey passed to the

Alamanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...

and the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...

when they took over the land. After

Clovis I Clovis ( la, Chlodovechus; reconstructed Frankish: ; – 27 November 511) was the first king of the Franks to unite all of the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the form of leadership from a group of petty kings to rule by a single kin ...

's death in 511, the Frankish Empire fell apart into separate smaller kingdoms, and Alzey became part of

Austrasia Austrasia was a territory which formed the north-eastern section of the Merovingian Kingdom of the Franks during the 6th to 8th centuries. It was centred on the Meuse, Middle Rhine and the Moselle rivers, and was the original territory of the F ...

, whose capital was at

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

. Following the unification of the Frankish kingdoms in the mid-8th century, Alzey was assigned by the 843

Treaty of Verdun The Treaty of Verdun (), agreed in , divided the Francia, Frankish Empire into three kingdoms among the surviving sons of the emperor Louis the Pious, Louis I, the son and successor of Charlemagne. The treaty was concluded following almost three ...

to the

Kingdom of the East Franks The Kingdom of Germany or German Kingdom ( la, regnum Teutonicorum "kingdom of the Germans", "German kingdom", "kingdom of Germany") was the mostly Germanic-speaking East Frankish kingdom, which was formed by the Treaty of Verdun in 843, especi ...

, a forerunner of the German Empire. In 897, Alzey was first mentioned as an Imperial fief.

12th century to early 20th century

In 1156, Alzey belonged to the

Electorate of the Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of ...

, and Konrad von Staufen attained the rank of Count Palatine in the Imperial castle, which had been completed in 1118. In 1277, Alzey attained the rank of town from

Rudolf von Habsburg Rudolf I (1 May 1218 – 15 July 1291) was the first King of Germany from the House of Habsburg. The first of the count-kings of Germany, he reigned from 1273 until his death. Rudolf's election marked the end of the Great Interregnum which h ...

. In 1620, Count

Spinola Spinola is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Agostino Spinola (d. 1537), Italian cardinal * Alberto Spinola (born 1943), Italian water polo player * Ambrogio Spinola, 1st Marquis of the Balbases (1569–1630), Genoese banker an ...

sided with the

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 ...

Emperor in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

against the

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

Electorate of the Palatinate and also conquered Alzey. In 1689, the town and the castle, under the French troops' scorched-earth policy, were burnt down in the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarch ...

, when Louis XIV's armies had to leave areas conquered earlier. In 1798, areas west of the Rhine, among them those that until this time had been parts of the Electorate of the Palatinate, were annexed to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Alzey belonged until 1814 to the Department of

Mont-Tonnerre Mont-Tonnerre was a department of the First French Republic and later the First French Empire in present-day Germany. It was named after the highest point in the Palatinate, the ''Donnersberg'' ("Thunder Mountain", possibly referring to Donar, ...

(or Donnersberg in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

). In 1816, Alzey was attached to the

Grand Duchy of Hesse The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (german: link=no, Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein) was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Grand Duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 ...

. In 1909, the winemaking school (now the ''Landesanstalt für Rebenzüchtung'') was founded. Its first head was Georg Scheu, after whom the grape variety

Scheurebe Scheurebe or Sämling 88 is a white wine grape variety. It is primarily grown in Germany and Austria, where it often is called Sämling 88 (''English'': Seedling 88), and some parts of the New World. Scheurebe wines are highly aromatic, and the v ...

is named.

Third Reich

Kristallnacht () or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from ...

(9 November 1938), the Alzey

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

was destroyed and the fittings were burnt in front of the building. The ruin was removed in the 1950s. A rescued

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...

scroll can nowadays be found in the museum. On 8 January 1945, in

World War II 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 opposin ...

, the town narrowly missed being destroyed when 36 Boeing B-17 bombers had been sent to take out a railway bridge in Alzey. Owing to bad weather and a landmark misinterpretation – the crew mistook the top of the old watchtower for the church steeple – the bombers ended up dropping their load on the Wartberg, a nearby hill, giving rise to the legend of the Wartbergturm – the old tower – as Alzey's saviour.

Since 1945

Since 1947, Alzey has no longer been Hessian, but rather it became the seat of Alzey District in the newly formed state of

. Since the merger of the old Alzey and Worms Districts in 1969, Alzey has been the seat of the new

District and the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Alzey-Land, although as a ''Verband''-free town, it does not actually belong to the ''Verbandsgemeinde''.

Amalgamations

On 22 April 1972, the formerly autonomous centres of Weinheim, Heimersheim and Dautenheim were amalgamated with Alzey. The outlying centre of Schafhausen had already been a ''

Stadtteil A quarter is a section of an urban settlement. A quarter can be administratively defined and its borders officially designated, and it may have its own administrative structure (subordinate to that of the city, town or other urban area). Such a ...

'' (constituent community) of Alzey since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

Religion

On 31 January 2008, the townsfolk's religious affiliations broke down thus:Stand: 31. Januar 2008, Quelle: www.kommwis.de * 8,927

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

* 3,684

* 2,996 none or no affiliation established in public law * 1,322 other affiliations established in public law * 6,809 other * 988 no data * sundry * 50 Alzey Free Religious-Humanist Association * 4

Old Catholic The terms Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics, Old-Catholic churches or Old Catholic movement designate "any of the groups of Western Christians who believe themselves to maintain in complete loyalty the doctrine and traditions of the undivide ...

* 2

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

* 1 Mainz Free Religious-Humanist Association

Jewish History

The town's Jewish congregation is dated to the 14th century. In 1349, during the

Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...

, the town's Jews were murdered in the cause of a

blood libel Blood libel or ritual murder libel (also blood accusation) is an antisemitic canardTurvey, Brent E. ''Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis'', Academic Press, 2008, p. 3. "Blood libel: An accusation of ritual mur ...

. A few years after, the community renewed and a document from 1377 depicted a Jew named Yitschak of Alzey who sued the town of

for not paying its debt to him. In 1389, a "Jew Alley" is first mentioned, depicting a kind of

Ghetto A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...

with a gate, which closes at night. Synagoge-Alzey-01

Jews appeared once again in town only by the 17th century, and the first synagogue was built only by 1791. Several documents from around 1670, depict disputes between Joseph Simon Jessel, a Jew who lived in Alzey and the town butchers, regarding his wish to open a business. On another dispute between him and a neighbor who sold his house to Jessel but refused to evacuate, the verdict blamed both sides - Jessel for it was "unthinkable that a Jew will hit a Christian", and the neighbor for not evacuating the house. Nevertheless, the Count of Palatine Zweibrücken protected the Jews, whose high taxes were a dominant factor of his income. In 1789, there were 21 Jewish households in town. During the 18th century, most of the town Jews were established if not rich. in 1710, a Jew called Simcha Deidesheimer founded a large

Matzo Matzah or matzo ( he, מַצָּה, translit=maṣṣā'','' pl. matzot or Ashk. matzos) is an unleavened flatbread that is part of Jewish cuisine and forms an integral element of the Passover festival, during which '' chametz'' (leaven and ...

factory that existed until 1925 and exported its products to

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. In addition, two brothers named Levy opened a porcelain factory in town in 1770. The community had
local cemetery
Alzey was the hometown of well-known famil
Belmont
In 1844, Jewish Shimon Belmont (the ancestor of American politicians

August Belmont August Belmont Sr. (born August Schönberg; December 8, 1813November 24, 1890) was a German-American financier, diplomat, politician and party chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and also a horse-breeder and racehorse owner. He was ...

and August Belmont JR. was elected as the president of the 'Narhalle' carnival, which he initiated, intended for the town's high classes. He donated some money to the cemetery and other community facilities. Eight of Alzey Jews died as soldiers during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. According to town municipality, 76 Jews were expelled from the town to

Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as concen ...

around

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. In 1954, one

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

returned to Alzey.

Politics

Town council

The council is made up of 32 part-time council members who were elected at the municipal election held on 26 May 2019, and the full-time mayor as chairman. The seats are apportioned thus:

Mayors

* (1982–1990) Walter Zuber (SPD) * (1990–2006) Knut Benkert (SPD) * (2006–present) Christoph Burkhard (independent CDU candidate)

Coat of arms

The town'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 be described thus: Per fess sable a demi-lion rampant Or armed, langued and crowned gules, and argent a vielle bendwise of the third. The lion recalls the town's former overlord, the

. The

vielle The vielle is a European bowed stringed instrument used in the medieval period, similar to a modern violin but with a somewhat longer and deeper body, three to five gut strings, and a leaf-shaped pegbox with frontal tuning pegs, sometimes with a ...

, a kind of

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

, stands for the noble families by the name of Truchseß, or Truchsess (Volker von Alzey), ''Winter and Wilch'', who were formerly resident in the town.

Town partnerships

Harpenden Harpenden () is a town and civil parish in the City and District of St Albans in the county of Hertfordshire, England. The population of the built-up area was 30,240 in the 2011 census, whilst the population of the civil parish was 29,448. Har ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

since 1963 *

Josselin Josselin (; ) is a commune in the Morbihan department in Brittany in north-western France. History St Meriadek is said to have founded a chapel there during the 4th century. Much later Josselin became a stronghold of the House of Rohan. An ...

Morbihan Morbihan ( , ; br, Mor-Bihan ) is a department in the administrative region of Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton), the enclosed sea that is the principal feature of the coastli ...

since 1973 *

Lembeye Lembeye (; oc, Lenveja) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. See also *Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department The following is a list of the 546 communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques ...

Pyrénées-Atlantiques Pyrénées-Atlantiques (; Gascon Occitan: ''Pirenèus Atlantics''; eu, Pirinio Atlantiarrak or ) is a department in the southwest corner of France and of the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Named after the Pyrenees mountain range and the Atlanti ...

, France, with the outlying centre of Weinheim, since 1980 *

Rechnitz Rechnitz ( hr, Rohunac, hu, Rohonc, Rohoncz, Romani: ''Rochonca'') is a municipality in Burgenland in the Oberwart district in Austria. Geography The municipality is located in southern Burgenland, on the border with Hungary, near Bozsok and ...

Burgenland Burgenland (; hu, Őrvidék; hr, Gradišće; Austro-Bavarian: ''Burgnland;'' Slovene: ''Gradiščanska'') is the easternmost and least populous state of Austria. It consists of two statutory cities and seven rural districts, with a total of ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

since 1981 *

Kościan Kościan (german: Kosten) is a town on the Obra canal in west-central Poland, with a population of 23 952 inhabitants as of June 2014. Situated in the Greater Poland Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Leszno Voivodeship (1975–1998), it i ...

Greater Poland Voivodeship Greater Poland Voivodeship ( pl, Województwo wielkopolskie; ), also known as Wielkopolska Voivodeship, Wielkopolska Province, or Greater Poland Province, is a voivodeship, or province, in west-central Poland. It was created on 1 January 1999 o ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

since 1990 *

Kamenz Kamenz () or Kamjenc ( Sorbian) is a town (''Große Kreisstadt'') in the district of Bautzen in Saxony, Germany. Until 2008 it was the administrative seat of Kamenz District. The town is known as the birthplace of the philosopher and poet Gotthol ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

since 1990

Culture and sightseeing

Awards and prizes

The town of Alzey regularly bestows the following awards and prizes: *''Elisabeth-Langgässer-Literaturpreis'' (since 1988 every three years) *''Georg-Scheu-Plakette'' (yearly at the winemakers' festival)

Music

The town's links with wine are even shown in the ''Alser Lied'', a town song, which is always sung on the Friday of the opening of the winemakers' festival. One version sung by former mayor Walter Zuber could be found on the jukebox at the Alzey traditional pub, ''Zur Gretel'' for a decade.

Theatre

* Gerry-Jansen-Theater

Museums

* ''Geschichtsmuseum der Stadt Alzey'' (Town of Alzey History Museum)

Buildings

File:Rossmarkt.jpg, ''Alzey Rossmarkt'' (Horse Market) File:FischmarktAlzey.jpg, ''Alzeyer Fischmarkt'' (Fish Market) File:WartbergturmAlzey.jpg, ''Wartbergturm'' File:SchlossAlzey.jpg, Alzeyer Schloss (castle) File:KlKircheAlzey.jpg, Kleine Kirche ("Little Church")

The Old Town

Alzey has a well-kept old town with many

timber-frame Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

houses, restaurants, cafés and shops, surrounded by ruins of the

mediaeval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

town wall. The town's midpoint is the ''Rossmarkt'' ("Horse Market") with the bronze horse by artist Gernot Rumpf. A sculpture of an ondine by

Karlheinz Oswald Karlheinz Oswald (born 1958) is a German sculptor known for his portraits and cast iron sculptures, many of dancers, often displayed in public places. He studied at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz from 1981, and between 1983 and 1988 ...

stands at the ''Fischmarkt'' ("Fish Market") in front of the old town hall.

Sport

The ''Wartbergstadion'' is the town's biggest sporting facility. It has a type-B competition running track with a large grass playing field, a 400 m loop track,

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

areas (plastic) and stands. Here can also be found the leisure swimming pool ''Wartbergbad''. Nearby there is a riding club with stalls, paddocks and a riding hall, and a tennis club with seven clay courts. Moreover, Alzey has at its disposal a newly built artificial-turf playing field, which is used mainly by the

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

clubs. There is also a multipurpose sporting ground and at schools several more hard courts.

Regular events

''Weinbergshäuschen Wanderung''

The so-called ''Weinbergshäuschen Wanderung'' ("Vineyard Cottage Hike"), or ''Wingertshaisje Wanderung'' in the local speech, is a hike through the hilly Rhenish-Hessian countryside between Alzey and the outlying centres of Weinheim and Heimersheim. It is held each September on the first Sunday in that month. Along the network of paths, vineyard cottages are operated between 11:00 and 18:00 by winemaking estates and clubs. On offer at these times are both cold and warm foods and drinks, including the Rhenish-Hessian wine typical of the region.

Winemakers' festival

The ''Winzerfest'' is held each year on the third weekend in September and lasts from Friday to the following Tuesday. It is the biggest event of its kind in Alzey. On the wine and

sekt Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it, making it fizzy. While the phrase commonly refers to champagne, European Union countries legally reserve that term for products exclusively produced in the Champagne regi ...

terrace are presented selected regional wines. Parallel with this is a yearly market with rides and games of all kinds.

Culinary specialities

Being the centre of a winegrowing region, the specialities are first and foremost wines and dishes that are made with wine, such as the ''Backesgrumbeere'', a seasoned potato casserole with bacon, wine and sour cream, which is found throughout

. The winegrowing engineer Georg Scheu named a variety of grapevine after his workplace, the Perle von Alzey.

Economy and infrastructure

The town's main branches of industry are

winegrowing Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) 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, ran ...

, the resident specialized clinic, the building firm Wilhelm Faber GmbH & Co. KG, a

Schlecker Schlecker was a German retail company with headquarters in Ehingen which once had a workforce of some 52,000. There were stores across Europe including Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Portugal, Poland, France, Spain and Italy ...

distribution centre, a

Plus Plus may refer to: Mathematics * Addition * +, the mathematical sign Music * ''+'' (Ed Sheeran album), (pronounced "plus"), 2011 * ''Plus'' (Cannonball Adderley Quintet album), 1961 * ''Plus'' (Matt Nathanson EP), 2003 * ''Plus'' (Martin Ga ...

distribution centre, an administrative seat of the hypermarket chain real,- and

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding m ...

daughter companies Lufthansa Technik AERO Alzey and LSG Sky Food. Moreover, Alzey is the region's service provision centre with a very broad array, for the town's size, of shopping, which is concentrated mainly in the industrial area.

Agriculture

Alzey is characterized by winegrowing and with 769 ha of vineyards currently worked, 69% with

white wine White wine is a wine that is Fermentation in winemaking, fermented without skin contact. The wine color, colour can be straw-yellow, yellow-green, or yellow-gold. It is produced by the alcoholic fermentation of the non-coloured Juice vesicles, ...

varieties and 31% with

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

, it ranks sixth in size among winegrowing centres in

, and after

(1 490 ha) and

Nierstein Nierstein is a town belonging to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Rhein-Selz in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography Location Nierstein lies in Rhenish Hesse on the Rhine between Mainz and Worms. In Nierstein the F ...

(783 ha), it is the third biggest winegrowing centre in

Transport

Alzey is found near the ''Autobahnkreuz Alzey'', an

Autobahn The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...

interchange at which the two Autobahnen A 61 (

Venlo Venlo () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands, close to the border with Germany. It is situated in the province of Limburg (Netherland ...

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...

, Bingen, Alzey,

Ludwigshafen Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning " Ludwig's Port upon Rhine"), is a city in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, on the river Rhine, opposite Mannheim. With Mannheim, Heidelberg, and the surrounding region, it form ...

Hockenheim Hockenheim () is a town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 20 km south of Mannheim and 10 km west of Walldorf. It is located in the Upper Rhine valley on the tourist theme routes "Baden Asparagus Route" () and Bertha Benz M ...

) and A 63 (

, Alzey,

Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern (; Palatinate German: ''Lautre'') is a city in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfur ...

) cross.

Alzey station Alzey station is, along with the stations Alzey Süd and Alzey West, one of three stations in the urban area of the Rhenish Hesse (german: Rheinhessen) town of Alzey in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as ...

has direct connections to

Mainz Central Station Mainz Hauptbahnhof ("Mainz main station", formerly known as ''Centralbahnhof Mainz''von Meyer, Arthur (1891). ''Geschichte und Geographie der deutschen Eisenbahnen von ihrer Entstehung bis auf die Gegenwart'', W. Baensch, p. 1131) is a railway st ...

Regional-Express In Germany, Luxembourg and Austria, the Regional-Express (RE, or in Austria: REX) is a type of regional train. It is similar to a semi-fast train, with average speed at about 70–90 km/h (top speed often 160 km/h) as it calls at f ...

and Regionalbahn services on the

Alzey–Mainz railway The Alzey–Mainz railway was opened on 18 December 1871 by the Hessian Ludwig Railway (german: Hessische Ludwigsbahn), linking the two cities of Alzey and Mainz in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate to each other. Route The non-elect ...

, and on the Rheinhessenbahn (railway) to Bingen and

. The Donnersbergbahn has connected Alzey with

Kirchheimbolanden Kirchheimbolanden (), the capital of Donnersbergkreis, is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, south-western Germany. It is situated approximately 25 km west of Worms, and 30 km north-east of Kaiserslautern. The first part of the name, ''Kir ...

again since 1999. On weekends and holidays, trips on the Elsass-Express ("Alsace Express") to

Wissembourg Wissembourg (; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Weisseburch'' ; German: ''Weißenburg'' ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Bas-Rhin Departments of France, department in Grand Est in northeastern France. It is situated on the li ...

are possible. The town belongs to the VRN. This tariff can also be used for trips to and from the Rhein-Nahe-Nahverkehrsverbund (RNN) area as far as Alzey.

Public institutions

*DRK Krankenhaus Alzey (hospital) *Rheinhessen-Fachklinik Alzey (specialized clinic) *Seat of Alzey-Worms district council *Seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Alzey-Land *Seat of the branch office of the Bingen-Alzey finance office

Education

Primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

s: ** Albert-Schweitzer-Schule ** Nibelungenschule ** St. Marienschule *

Secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

: ** Gustav-Heinemann-Schulzentrum with: ***

Hauptschule A ''Hauptschule'' (, "general school") is a secondary school in Germany, starting after four years of elementary schooling (''Grundschule''), which offers Lower Secondary Education (Level 2) according to the International Standard Classification ...

***

Realschule ''Realschule'' () is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), ...

** Elisabeth Langgässer Gymnasium ** Gymnasium am Römerkastell ** Staatliches Aufbaugymnasium (state training Gymnasium) * Other: ** two special schools (Volkerschule and Schule im Rotental) ** District music school ** Berufsbildende Schule Alzey (

vocational school A vocational school is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary or post-secondary education designed to provide vocational education or technical skills required to complete the tasks ...

) ** Rheinhessen Fachklinik nursing school

Famous people

Honorary citizens

*Georg Scheu *Willi Bechtolsheimer *Kurt Neumann *Walter Zuber *

Karl-Heinz Kipp Karl-Heinz Kipp (12 February 1924 – 11 October 2017) was a German billionaire, and founder of the department store chain. He sold the business but kept the property, and had a large property portfolio. In 2017, ''Forbes'' estimated his net we ...

Sons and daughters of the town

* Felix Adler (1851–1933), philosopher and son of Rabbi Samuel Adler *

(1816-1890), German-American banker and politician. He was from the well known Jewish family Belmont in Alzey as a son of Simon Isaac, who had taken the name Belmont under

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

's name law. *

Heinrich Claß Heinrich Claß (February 29, 1868 – April 16, 1953) was a German right-wing politician, a Pan-Germanism, Pan-Germanist, an anti-Semite and a "rabid racialist". He presided the Pan-German League from 1908 to 1939. Early life Claß was born in A ...

(1868-1953) was from 1908 to 1939 chairman of the

Alldeutscher Verband The Pan-German League (german: Alldeutscher Verband) was a Pan-German nationalist organization which was officially founded in 1891, a year after the Zanzibar Treaty was signed. Primarily dedicated to the German Question of the time, it held pos ...

, the influential nationalistic club in Imperial Germany. Claß was known for, among other things, works published under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

s Daniel Frymann and Einhart, in which he propagated his extreme nationalistic and expansionist politics. *

, (1924-2017), entrepreneur, founder of the Massa-Märkte (now belonging to the Metro Group), ranked 154 on Forbes's list of wealthiest people (2008) with an estimated fortune of US$6,300,000,000.Karl-Heinz Kipp im ManagerMagazin
/ref> * Elisabeth Langgässer, (1899-1950), writer * Gunther Metz, (born 1967), former professional footballer, active in 1 FC Kaiserslautern and Karlsruher SC in the 1990s, today co-trainer of the Lauterer Amateure. * Tarkan Tevetoğlu, (born 1972), today's best known Turkish pop musician with more than 15 million CDs sold. In Germany he is particularly well known for the title "Şımarık".

Famous people associated with the town

* Dr. Samuel Adler (1809-1891) was from 1842 to 1857

Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

of Alzey's Jewish community. He was a supporter of the liberal movement in German Jewry and advocated, for example, the use of German in Jewish worship and a greater role for women. Dr. Adler went as a rabbi to the Temple Emanu-El in New York and became head of the USA's leading Jewish Reform community. Services held by Samuel Adler continued to be in his preferred German. His library is as far as has been possible maintained at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. *

Ludwig Bamberger Ludwig Bamberger (22 July 1823 – 14 March 1899) was a German Jewish economist, politician, revolutionary and writer. Early life Bamberger was born into the wealthy Ashkenazi Jewish Bamberger family in Mainz. After studying at Giessen, H ...

(1823-1899), was a revolutionary, banker and politician. He belonged to the Democrats, who faced down Prussian troops at the Schlosspark in Kirchheimbolanden in 1848. Sentenced to death ''in absentia'', Bamberger later became a banker (founding member of

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...

) and one of the leading liberal politicians after the German Empire was founded in 1871. He is described as the "Father" of the German Mark (founding of an independent issuing bank). He was for many years a Member of the Reichstag for the electoral district of Bingen-Alzey (from 1871 to 1893) and married Anna Belmont from Alzey.

References

External links

*
Auswandererliste nach Südbrasilien zu dem Landkreis Alzey-Worms
(German) Institut für Geschichtliche Landeskunde an der Universität Mainz. {{Authority control Alzey-Worms Rhenish Hesse Holocaust locations in Germany