Mandelbachtal is a municipality in the

Saarpfalz Saarpfalz (''Saar-Palatinate'') is a Kreis (district) in the south-east of the Saarland, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from west clockwise) Saarbrücken, Neunkirchen, Kusel, Kaiserslautern, Südwestpfalz, district-free Zweibrücken, and the ...

district, in

Saarland The Saarland (, ; french: Sarre ) is a state of Germany in the south west of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and ...

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 situated near the border with

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 ...

, approx. 15 km southeast of

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...

. Its capital is Ormesheim.

Community organization

Mandelbachtal is composed of the communities of Bebelsheim,

Bliesmengen-Bolchen Bliesmengen-Bolchen is a part of the Mandelbachtal municipality within Saarpfalz-Kreis, Saarland, Germany. Its name comes from the two villages that made up the town, Bliesmengen and Bliesbolchen, that united in 1900 and had historically been cl ...

, Erfweiler-Ehlingen,

Habkirchen ''Habkirchen'' is the smallest village (''Ortsteil'') in the municipality of Mandelbachtal in Saarland, Federal Republic of Germany. Geography Location Habkirchen is located in the southern Blies valley, in the Saarpfalz-Kreis. where the M ...

, Heckendalheim, Ommersheim, Ormesheim, and Wittersheim.

Name

The municipality of Mandelbachtal was formed in 1974. The name is derived from the valley of the Mandelbach, in which four of the eight communities composing the town are located: Erfweiler-Ehlingen, Wittersheim, Bebelsheim und Habkirchen. From the headwaters to the mouth of the Mandelbach there are many

pollarded Pollarding is a pruning system involving the removal of the upper branches of a tree, which promotes the growth of a dense head of foliage and branches. In ancient Rome, Propertius mentioned pollarding during the 1st century BCE. The practice oc ...

willows, ''Kopfweiden'', also called ''Korbweiden'' ("basket willows"). From the shoots of these willows in previous centuries people wove baskets necessary for local agriculture. Because the willow leaves resembled those of the

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genus ...

the tree was colloquially called ''Mandelbaum'' ("almond"). This is where the neighboring stream of the Mandelbach derived its name. Near the confluence of the Mandelbach and the

Blies The Blies () is a right tributary of the Saar in southwestern Germany (Saarland) and northeastern France (Moselle). The Blies flows from three springs in the Hunsrück near Selbach, Germany. It is roughly 100 km long, ending in the French c ...

there was formerly a town named Mandelbach, first recorded in 1239, which is today a neighborhood of Habkirchen. In 1974, during the reform of administrative districts in Saarland, today's Mandelbachtal was formed by the consolidation of eight formerly independent communities.

References

Saarpfalz-Kreis Palatinate (region) {{Saarland-geo-stub