Elchweiler 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 of Birkenfeld, whose seat is in the like-named town.
Elchweiler | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms | |
Location of Elchweiler within Birkenfeld district  | |
  Elchweiler  Elchweiler | |
| Coordinates: 49°40′23″N 7°12′02″E / 49.67313°N 7.20069°E | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Rhineland-Palatinate |
| District | Birkenfeld |
| Municipal assoc. | Birkenfeld |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2019–24) | Helmut Aulenbach[1] |
| Area | |
| • Total | 2.15 km2 (0.83 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 370 m (1,210 ft) |
| Population (2022-12-31)[2] | |
| • Total | 178 |
| • Density | 83/km2 (210/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Postal codes | 55765 |
| Dialling codes | 06782 |
| Vehicle registration | BIR |
Geography
editLocation
editThe municipality lies on the Molkenbach in the Hunsrück.
Neighbouring municipalities
editElchweiler borders in the north on the municipality of Niederhambach and in the south on the municipality of Schmißberg.
Constituent communities
editAlso belonging to Elchweiler is the Ortsteil of “Alte Schule”.[3] The homestead lies south of the village itself at the municipal boundary with Schmißberg.
Politics
editMunicipal council
editThe council is made up of six council members, who were elected by majority vote at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009. They also elect an honorary mayor as chairman.[4]
Mayor
editElchweiler's mayor is Helmut Aulenbach.[1]
Coat of arms
editThe German blazon reads: Unter rot-silbern geschachtem Schildhaupt in Grün ein goldenes Elchgeweih mit Grind.
The municipality's arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Under a chief countercompony gules and argent, vert an elk's attires fixed to the scalp Or.
The chief countercompony (that is, with two rows of squares of alternating tinctures) recalls the arms formerly borne by the “Hinder” County of Sponheim, which were “Chequy gules and argent” (that is, the whole escutcheon was covered by a checkerboard pattern of red and silver), and thereby also the Sponheims former feudal rule over Elchweiler. The elk antlers and scalp are a canting charge for the municipality's name, which literally means “Elk Hamlet” (meant here is the Eurasian elk, or moose), although this is, in fact, an example of folk etymology.
The arms have been borne since 23 September 1964.[5]
Economy and infrastructure
editTransport
editTo the south runs Bundesstraße 41, which leads to the Autobahn A 62 (Kaiserslautern–Trier). Serving nearby Neubrücke is a railway station on the Nahe Valley Railway (Bingen–Saarbrücken).
References
edit- ^ a b Direktwahlen 2019, Landkreis Birkenfeld, Landeswahlleiter Rheinland-Pfalz, accessed 10 August 2021.
- ^ "Bevölkerungsstand 2022, Kreise, Gemeinden, Verbandsgemeinden" (PDF) (in German). Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz. 2023.
- ^ Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz – Amtliches Verzeichnis der Gemeinden und Gemeindeteile Archived 2015-11-25 at the Wayback Machine, Seite 19 (PDF)
- ^ Kommunalwahl Rheinland-Pfalz 2009, Gemeinderat
- ^ Description and explanation of Elchweiler’s arms
External links
edit
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