Oberwörresbach is an ''

Ortsgemeinde A Verbandsgemeinde (; plural Verbandsgemeinden) is a low-level administrative division, administrative unit in the Germany, German States of Germany, federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt. A Verbandsgemeinde is typically compose ...

'' – 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 ''

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. Rhine ...

'', a kind of collective municipality – in the

Birkenfeld Birkenfeld () is a town and the district seat of the Birkenfeld district in southwest Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is also the seat of the like-named ''Verbandsgemeinde''. The town itself has approximately 7,000 inhabitants. Geography ...

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, municipa ...

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 (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Herrstein-Rhaunen, whose seat is in Herrstein.

Geography

Location

The municipality lies between the southern edge of the

Hunsrück The Hunsrück () is a long, triangular, pronounced upland in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the valleys of the Moselle-Saar (north-to-west), the Nahe (south), and the Rhine (east). It is continued by the Taunus mountains, past ...

and the mountain range of

volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates ...

origin of the Upper Nahe. The village itself lies on the namesake brook, the Wörresbach.

Idar-Oberstein Idar-Oberstein () is a town in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. As a ''Große kreisangehörige Stadt'' (large city belonging to a district), it assumes some of the responsibilities that for smaller municipalities in ...

lies 10 km away.

Neighbouring municipalities

Oberwörresbach borders in the east on the municipality of Herrstein, in the southeast on the municipality of Niederwörresbach, in the southwest on the municipality of Herborn and in the northwest on the municipality of

Mörschied Mörschied is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a '' Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Herrstein-Rhau ...

History

In 1453, Oberwörresbach had its first documentary mention. It is believed, however, that there was a village here as early as 1259. The part of the village on the Wörresbach's left bank was held by the

County of Sponheim The County of Sponheim (german: Grafschaft 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 ...

, to which the ''

Amt Amt is a type of administrative division governing a group of municipalities, today only in Germany, but formerly also common in other countries of Northern Europe. Its size and functions differ by country and the term is roughly equivalent to ...

'' of Herrstein also belonged, and the part over on the right bank was held by the ''

Vögte During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...

'' of Hunolstein. Both these noble houses are reflected by today's civic

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in it ...

. An important event in the village's history came to pass in 1933 after the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

came to power in the Free State of Oldenburg (this was even before

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

’s official seizure of power that same year). One of the new government’s first initiatives was administrative reform for Oldenburg, which was followed on 27 April 1933 by the similar ''Gesetz zur Vereinfachung und Verbilligung der Verwaltung'' (“Law for simplifying administration and reducing its cost”) for the ''Landesteil'' of Birkenfeld (Oldenburg's

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

in the Hunsrück; most of Oldenburg's territory was in what is now northwest Germany, with a coastline on the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

). Through this new law, 18 formerly self-administering municipalities were amalgamated; this included Oberwörresbach, which hitherto had been a self-administering municipality. Nonetheless, it was unceremoniously made part of the municipality of Herrstein. After the

Second World War 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, in 1950, Oberwörresbach's householders petitioned for “independent municipal administration, as it was in the years before 1933.” Their wish was granted, and with effect from 1 May 1952, Oberwörresbach once more became a self-administering municipality.

Politics

Municipal council

The council is made up of 6 council members, who were elected by

majority vote A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-Webster Wappen Starkenburg

The German blazon reads: 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 bran ...

language be described thus: Per bend sinister Or three blocks gules and chequy gules and argent, issuant from base a mount of three sable. The

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemist ...

s and

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 Aqua ...

s on the dexter (armsbearer's right, viewer's left) side are drawn from the arms formerly borne by the ''

'' of Hunolstein, and refer to the estate that they once held in the village, while the “chequy” field on the sinister (armsbearer's left, viewer's right) side is a reference to the village's former allegiance to the

, and the mount of three – a charge called a ''Dreiberg'' in

German heraldry German heraldry is the tradition and style of heraldic achievements in Germany and the Holy Roman Empire, including national and civic arms, noble and burgher arms, ecclesiastical heraldry, heraldic displays and heraldic descriptions. German her ...

– stands for the ''

'' within the County of Sponheim in which Oberwörresbach lay, namely Herrstein (whose name literally means “Lordstone”). Oberwörresbach even today lies in a ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of that same name. The arms have been borne since 4 April 1963.Description and explanation of Oberwörresbach’s arms
/ref>

Culture and sightseeing

Regular events

* ''Brämerekirb'' (fair)

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

Running southeast of the municipality is ''

Bundesstraße ''Bundesstraße'' ( German for "federal highway"), 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 ''Bundesstraße ...

'' 41. Serving nearby Fischbach is a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

on the

Nahe Valley Railway The Nahe Valley Railway (german: Nahetalbahn) 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. It was built by the Rhine-Nahe R ...

( Bingen–

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 ...

). Two bus routes also stop in Oberwörresbach. These mainly serve to ferry students to and from school. Route 349 runs one bus daily to Nahbollenbach (a constituent community of Idar-Oberstein), while route 351 goes to the Vollmersbachstraße school centre in Idar-Oberstein and on to the '' Gymnasium Heinzenwies''. The two return trips stop in Oberwörresbach only to let passengers alight.

References

External links

Municipality’s official webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oberworresbach Birkenfeld (district)