Eisenberg, Rhineland-Palatinate
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Eisenberg () is a municipality in the Donnersbergkreis, 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 ...
. Eisenberg is the seat of the ''
Verbandsgemeinde A (; plural ) is a low-level administrative division, administrative unit in the Germany, German States of Germany, federal states of Brandenburg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt. A is typically composed of a small group of Municipalitie ...
'' ("collective municipality") Eisenberg. The name indicates ancient
iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...
mining (Eisen = iron; -berg = hill/mountain). Even more important is the extraction of
clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...
and ''Klebsand''.


Geography


Location

Eisenberg is located in the North Palatinate in the south-eastern part of Donnersbergkreis district of which it is the largest municipality by population.
Worms The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...
is about 25 km (16 mi) to the north-east, Kaiserslautern 30 km (19 mi) to the west and
Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...
40 km (25 mi) to the south-east. Neighbouring municipalities are Kerzenheim, Ebertsheim, Tiefenthal, Hettenleidelheim, Wattenheim and Ramsen.


Subdivisions

Besides the town itself the villages of Stauf (incorporated in 1962) and Steinborn, as well as the inhabited places of Abendthal, Erlenhof, Lauberhof, Ochsenbusch, Seltenbach und SOS-Kinderdorf belong to the municipality.


Geology

The eponymous ''Eisenberger Becken'' (Eisenberg basin) in which the town is located is enclosed by the Alzey Hills, Göllheim Hills and the ''Grünstadter Berg'' (en.: Grünstadt mountain) to the north and east. To the south and west the Stumpfwald and the Leininger Sporn, both part of the
Palatinate Forest The Palatinate Forest (; ), sometimes also called the Palatine Forest, is a List of landscapes in Rhineland-Palatinate, low-mountain region in southwestern Germany, located in the Palatinate (region), Palatinate in the state of Rhineland-Palatina ...
, surround the basin. The Eisenberg Basin is a sunken floe of
Buntsandstein The Buntsandstein (German for ''coloured'' or ''colourful sandstone'') or Bunter sandstone is a lithostratigraphy, lithostratigraphic and allostratigraphy, allostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the Subsurface (geology), subsurface ...
. Because of this the basin can be seen as part of the Palatinate Forest but due to the deposits from the Tertiary and
Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...
, as well as its climate, use and
topology Topology (from the Greek language, Greek words , and ) is the branch of mathematics concerned with the properties of a Mathematical object, geometric object that are preserved under Continuous function, continuous Deformation theory, deformat ...
it is regarded as part of the Rhenish-Hessian Hills. Klebsand and fire-resistant clay can be found in the basin's center. Their mining has had a large impact on the landscape. Donnersberg und Eisenberger Becken vom Gruenstadter Berg 2 (Elop).jpg, View of the Eisenberg basin, Donnersberg in the background


History

The Romans had already settled the area of the town. A
vicus In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (plural ) designated a village within a rural area () or the neighbourhood of a larger settlement. During the Republican era, the four of the city of Rome were subdivided into . In the 1st century BC, Augustus ...
was found on the bypass road near the border with Hettenleidelheim. It is said to be identical with ''Rufiniana'' ( gr.: Ρουφινιάνα), a settlement of the Nemetes, mentioned by
Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...
. Eisenberg's first mention in medieval times was as ''Ysinberc'' in 763. From the 14th century onwards Eisenberg was part of the ''Dominion of Kirchheim'' that was ruled by the
House of Nassau The House of Nassau is the name of a European aristocratic dynasty. The name originated with a lordship associated with Nassau Castle, which is located in what is now Nassau, Rhineland-Palatinate, Nassau in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With t ...
as part of the Duchy of Nassau-Weilburg. After the
War of the First Coalition The War of the First Coalition () was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797, initially against the Constitutional Cabinet of Louis XVI, constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French First Republic, Frenc ...
Eisenberg was occupied and later annexed by
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
with the
Treaty of Campo Formio The Treaty of Campo Formio (today Campoformido) was signed on 17 October 1797 (26 Vendémiaire VI) by Napoleon Bonaparte and Count Philipp von Cobenzl as representatives of the French Republic and the Austrian monarchy, respectively. The trea ...
in 1797. From 1798 to 1814 it belonged to the French Departement du Mont-Tonnerre. After 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 ...
the region was first given to
Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
(1815) and later to
Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
(1816). After
World War II 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 ...
Eisenberg became part of
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 ...
(1946). On 15 March 1963 the municipality was granted town privileges. Since 1969 it belongs to the Donnersbergkreis district.


Politics


Council

The
city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...
is composed of 24 members who were elected in a personalized proportional representation in the local elections on June 9, 2024, and the honorary mayor as chairman. * SPD: 8 seats * FW: 10 seats * FDP: 1 seats * CDU: 5 seats


Heraldry

The coat of arms shows three argent horseshoes on a sable background. The horseshoe as a symbol can be traced back 15th century and can be seen in the oldest surviving seal from 1622. In the 17th century the number of horseshoes was increased to three. The current coat of arms was granted in 1844 by Ludwig I of Bavaria in the colours of the
Teutonic Order The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...
(black and white) which had properties in Eisenberg.


Sister cities

* Sanvignes-les-Mines,
Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...
, France * Baldock, North Hertfordshire, United Kingdom


Religion

The confessional make-up of the town population on 31 March 2024 was as follows: * 29.3% protestant * 16.3% catholic * 54.4% other/no religion


Christianity

In the 16th century the protestant village had its own
parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
that included neighbouring Hettenheim. Today the protestants are part of the Evangelical Church of the Palatinate. The catholics belong to the Diocese of Speyer and are managed by the parish in Hettenleidelheim. File:Protestantische Kirche Eisenberg (Pfalz) -01.JPG, protestant church File:Protestantisches Gemeindehaus - panoramio.jpg, protestant community center File:Eisenberg kath Kirche JS.jpg, catholic church


Judaism

Eisenberg once had a synagogue.


Islam

The local mosque is managed by DITIB.


Sights and culture


Sights


Protected buildings

Stauf Castle, Gienanth iron works and ''Wormser Straße'' are protected architectural ensembles. There are several other protected buildings such as the former station building.


Other buildings

Stauf has a
bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...
built in 1984 to replace a steel one built in 1950, which was already the replacement for an even older wooden one. It has two bells. In the town center the ''Storchenturm'' (stork tower) a replica of a watch tower can be found. Far from the town but in its district the hunting residence of NS-politician Josef Bürckel can be found. File:Glockenturm (Stauf)-1.JPG, bell tower in Stauf File:Storchenturm - panoramio (3).jpg, ''Storchenturm'' File:Eisenberg (Pfalz)- Bahnhof Eisenberg (Pfalz)- Bahnhofsgebäude- Außenansicht 24.9.2011.jpg, station building


Nature

The western district is part of the Palatinate Forest Nature Park which belongs to the larger Palatinate Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve. An oak tree in Steinborn and two sweet chestnut trees near Lauberhof are listed as natural monuments. South of the city proper the ''Erdekaut'' is located, once a clay pit it is now a protected landscape.


Culture


Legend of the "Undecayable Hand"

Inside the protestant church a mummified hand can be found. It is said that one day two forest owners west of Eisenberg argued about the boundary between their properties. A forester, who was an expert on the topic, was called to resolve the dispute independently. He was bribed by one of the two men and the court, trusting the foresters expertise, ruled in his favour. The forester had sworn a perjury. After he died they buried him but at the funeral his hand, which he had sworn the perjury with, burst through the coffin and they were unable to bury it. His hand was cut of and held as a souvenir that never decays.


Museums

The local history museum is called ''Haus Isenburg''. The roman ruins of the ''vicus'' can also be visited.


Clubs

* TSG Eisenberg (sports club) * DRK-Eisenberg (health and
emergency management Emergency management (also Disaster management) is a science and a system charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters. Emergency management, despite its name, does not actu ...
)


Economy and infrastructure


Industrial history

In its early days
iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...
mining was an important part of Eisenberg's economy. The mining and processing of
clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...
had an even bigger economic impact in the towns history. Old clay pits that demonstrate the ecological consequences of mining can be seen in the ''Erdekaut'', south of the town center. The clay mine can no longer be visited due to the extension of commercial mining activity. The ''Eisenberger Klebsand'' (roughly translated to "Eisenberg sticky sand") is a mineral with very good adhesion qualities and the purest of its kind in the world. It is made up of 14.5% clay, 6.5% silt, 76% sand and 3% gravel. Mineralogically speaking 85% of its mass are
quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...
.


Economy

Eisenberg is the only industrial town of the Donnersbergkreis district. The largest company with 1300 workers is ''Gienanth Eisengießerei'' ( foundry) founded in 1735. An other important employer are the ''Klebsandwerke''. The headquarters of an insurance company (AOK Rheinland-Pfalz/Saarland), a retirement home (AZURIT Rohr GmbH) and an optician (Delker) are located in Eisenberg.


Infrastructure


Roads

The B47 federal road runs from Eisenberg to
Worms The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...
and further into
Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...
. The A6 highway can be reached 5.5 km (3.5 mi) south of Eisenberg (exit 18 ''Wattenheim''). The A63 highway is 9 km (5.5 mi) to the north (exit 12 ''Göllheim'').


Public transit

Public transit was integrated into the WVV since 2000 until VRN took over in summer of 2006. ''Eisenberg (Pfalz)'' railway station is located along the Eis Valley Railway, which was opened in 1876 it was extended to Enkenbach-Alsenborn in 1932. Passenger service on the line was discontinued in 1976 but reopened between 1994 and 2001. Trains now run every 60 minutes from Frankenthal via Grünstadt to Ramsen. On sundays and holidays the trains serve Eiswoog lake, a recreational area in the Palatinate Forest. The section Ramsen-Enkenbach has been closed since 1990. The viaduct and other bridges on the line have shown damages since. Line 920 of the VRN connects Eisenberg hourly to Göllheim and Kirchheimbolanden. Lines 917 and 918 serve as urban lines inside the town. It is further served by lines 902, 904 and 906, that connect Eisenberg to other municipalities inside Donnersbergkreis district. Lines 454, 455 and 457 connect it to the municipalities in Bad Dürkheim district as well as Enkenbach-Alsenborn in Kaiserslautern district.


Tourism

On the north-western edge of town is a hut of the Palatinate Forest Club, that was opened in 1976. Several hiking trails run through and around Eisenberg, as well as the Barbarossa Cycleway.


Education

Eisenberg has an
elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
, a high school (IGS) and a
vocational school A vocational school (alternatively known as a trade school, or technical school), is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary education#List of tech ed skills, secondary or post-secondar ...
. There are five
kindergartens Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...
in the municipality.


Personalities


Born in Eisenberg

* Georg Fischer (1888-1963), politician (SPD) * Josef Diehl (1898-1971), politician (SPD), long-time mayor of Eisenberg * Walter Blankenheim (1926-2007) was a German pianist and teacher, born in Eisenberg, died in Saarbrücken


Connected to Eisenberg

* Winfried Hirschberger (born 1945), politician ( SPD), mayor (1982-1985) * Rainer Guth (born 1970), Landrat of the Donnersbergkreis district * Jaqueline Rauschkolb (born 1987), politician (SPD), parliamentary deputy since 2014


References

{{Authority control Palatinate Forest Donnersbergkreis