Bell, Rhein-Hunsrück
Encyclopedia
History
In 1220, Bell had its first documentary mention in the directory of yearly payments to the Archbishopric of Trier, the liber annalium. Even so, Bell is a much older settlement. The name itself is pre-Germanic, being a CelticCeltic languages
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
word for a hill or a settlement in the heights. Grave finds near Bell, particularly the Wagon Grave of Bell from late Hallstatt times
Hallstatt culture
The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Central European culture from the 8th to 6th centuries BC , developing out of the Urnfield culture of the 12th century BC and followed in much of Central Europe by the La Tène culture.By the 6th century BC, the Hallstatt culture extended for some...
(about 500 BC), show that the area was settled by Celts.
A Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
estate east of the church discovered in the mid 19th century and certified as a “ground monument”, and a Frankish
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
manor just to its south in the cadastral area “In den Hupfeldern” (whose name refers to this estate; foundations of this manor were unearthed when the land was opened to development) give one some clue as to the village’s importance in the time when the Franks were taking over the land. Bell was also the main centre of a parish to which belonged Leideneck, Horn
Horn, Germany
Horn is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, Alterkülz
Alterkülz
-History:Alterkülz belonged until 1417 to the “Further” County of Sponheim, and locally to the Amt of Kastellaun. After this line of the Sponheims died out, the village went with Kastellaun to the “Hinder” part of the County....
and even the later castle and residence town of Kastellaun
Kastellaun
-Climate:Yearly precipitation in Kastellaun amounts to 755 mm, which falls into the middle third of the precipitation chart for all Germany. At 53% of the German Weather Service’s weather stations, lower figures recorded. The driest month is April. The most rainfall comes in June. In that...
, now the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde. Neighbouring places with names ending in —heim and —bach (Hundheim, Michelbach
Michelbach, Rhein-Hunsrück
-History:Beginning in 1794, Michelbach lay under French rule. In 1814 it was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia at the Congress of Vienna.In 1850, the clergyman Bartels from Alterkülz founded a boys’ home in Michelbach, and in 1851 it was moved to the wetlands between Simmern and Nannhausen, where...
) date from the time of the Frankish takeover (500–700) during the Migration Period
Migration Period
The Migration Period, also called the Barbarian Invasions , was a period of intensified human migration in Europe that occurred from c. 400 to 800 CE. This period marked the transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages...
(Völkerwanderung), and are therefore much younger than Bell. Places with names ending in —roth were established in the time of widespread woodland clearing in the Early Middle Ages
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages was the period of European history lasting from the 5th century to approximately 1000. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages...
. Bell also lay near the Celtic, later Roman, “high road”.
Only much later, in the High Middle Ages
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages was the period of European history around the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....
when it was under the lordship of the Counts of Sponheim
County of Sponheim
The County of Sponheim was an independent territory in the Holy Roman Empire which lasted from the 11th century until the early 19th century...
, did Bell’s name once again crop up in history: in 1305, Count Simon II granted Kastellaun, the little place at his castle, town rights, and obtained from Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry VII was the King of Germany from 1308 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1312. He was the first emperor of the House of Luxembourg...
, who was Archbishop-Elector of Trier Baldwin’s brother, market rights as well, in 1308; the next year, though, Emperor Henry also granted Bell market rights.
Modern times
Bell bore its share of hardship and woe in the wars that swept across EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
through the ages. It was particularly bad in the Nine Years' War (known in Germany as the Pfälzischer Erbfolgekrieg, or War of the Palatine Succession) with King Louis XIV’s
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
policy of Réunions. Beginning in 1794, Bell lay under French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
rule. In 1815 it was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
at the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
.
Late in the Second World War Bell was spared destruction when the Americans
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
marched in on 13 March 1945 thanks to several local inhabitants and their clergyman, who courageously seized the initiative and hoisted a white flag
White flag
White flags have had different meanings throughout history and depending on the locale.-Flag of temporary truce in order to parley :...
on the churchtower.
Since 1946, Bell has been part of the then newly founded state
States of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...
of Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
.
Within the framework of the administrative reform in Rhineland-Palatinate begun in the mid 1960s, today’s municipality was newly formed on 17 March 1974 out of what were until then the six separate municipalities of Bell (378 inhabitants), Hundheim (123), Krastel (173), Leideneck (233), Völkenroth (233) and Wohnroth (145).
Other centres’ first documentary mentions
Wohnroth had its first documentary mention in the directory of yearly payments to the Archbishopric of Trier, the liber annalium in 1220. The other outlying centres, though, were first mentioned 90 years later in a taxation register kept by the County of SponheimCounty of Sponheim
The County of Sponheim was an independent territory in the Holy Roman Empire which lasted from the 11th century until the early 19th century...
.
Church history
With the introduction of the ReformationProtestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
into the County in 1557, Kastellaun and Alterkülz, along with the municipalities that were dependent on them, became parochially autonomous. Leideneck split away in 1854 and thereafter shared a clergyman with Kappel, but since 1976, it has once more been parochially united with Bell. The last municipalities that left the parish of Bell were Spesenroth
Spesenroth
-History:In 1427, Spesenroth had its first documentary mention and belonged to the Amt of Kastellaun in the County of Sponheim. Beginning in 1794, Spesenroth lay under French rule. In 1815 it was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia at the Congress of Vienna...
in 1926, which joined Kastellaun, and Hasselbach
Hasselbach, Rhein-Hunsrück
-History:In 1310, Hasselbach had its first documentary mention in the Sponheimisches Gefälleregister, a taxation register kept by the County of Sponheim....
in 1947, which nowadays belongs to the parish of Alterkülz.
Bell Church
The church’s age is not known for certain. The tower’s RomanesqueRomanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
building style would mean that it comes from some time between the 11th and 13th centuries. The nave, however, is considerably newer. It was newly built from the ground up in 1728. The old rectory was built to replace an older one in 1716; it stood until 1959.
Bell’s bells
Worthy of note are the church’s three bells. The oldest one, the kleine Maria (“Little Mary”) dates from 1313, and along with SohrenSohren
Sohren is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kirchberg, whose seat is in the like-named town...
’s and Büchenbeuren
Büchenbeuren
Büchenbeuren is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kirchberg, whose seat is in the like-named town...
’s bells is one of the oldest in the Hunsrück. Its diameter is 79 cm, its height is 77 cm and it weighs 250 kg.
The große Maria (“Great Mary”) was poured in 1459 by bellfounder Thilmann from Hachenburg
Hachenburg
-Geography:The town lies in the Westerwald between Koblenz and Siegen, roughly 10 km west of Bad Marienberg on the river Nister. Hachenburg is the administrative seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Hachenburg, a kind of collective municipality .-The castle and the town:The castle , former seat of...
. Its diameter is 126 cm, its height is 110 cm and it weighs 900 kg. In 1694, some of Louis XIV’s soldiers stole this bell. A brave man from Bell named Braun ran after the soldiers and then had earnest words with their general, who relented and let Mr. Braun have the bell back. It turned out that Braun was not even Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
; he was one of the village’s few Catholics. As thanks for Mr. Braun’s good deed, the Protestant Presbytery at that time decided that whenever a member of Mr. Braun’s family or one of his descendants was buried, the bells at Bell’s Protestant church – including the one that he had recovered – would peal to accompany them to their final resting place. Catholics otherwise had to make do with the bell at the town hall. This tradition was observed for the very last time in 2005 when Mr. Albert Braun, the hero’s last living descendant, died on 31 July of that year in Kastellaun.
The third bell in the churchtower was seized and melted down in the First World War. Its replacement, which was hung in 1928, suffered the same fate only 14 years later in the Second World War. The bell that hangs there now dates from 1957. Its diameter is 90 cm, its height is 88 cm and it weighs 441 kg. The whole village turned out to see the bell lifted from the street on a tight cable, up through one of the sound holes and into the belfry.
Eucharist chalice
The EucharistEucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
chalice
Chalice
A chalice is a goblet or footed cup intended to hold a drink. This can also refer to;* Holy Chalice, the vessel which Jesus used at the Last Supper to serve the wine* Chalice , a type of smoking pipe...
from 1483 bears the name “Steph’ de Bernkastel”, who was the priest at that time.
Municipal council
The council is made up of 16 council members, who were elected at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.Mayor
Bell’s mayor is Kurt Baumgarten, and his deputies are Toni Nick, Dieter Illges and Stefan Engelmann. Each of the municipality’s six Ortsteile also has a head official with the title Ortsvorsteher, each of whom is also on municipal council.Coat of arms
The municipality’s armsCoat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
might in English heraldic
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
language be described thus: Azure in base a wall masoned sable of three courses upon which a shorter course of three bricks upon which a poplar tree eradicated, all argent, the whole below a chief countercompony gules and argent.
Beller Markt
On the second-last Wednesday in July each year, Bell holds its traditional Beller Markt (marketMarket
A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...
) on the market grounds on the Hunsrückhöhenstraße (Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
327). The market, with its centuries-long tradition as a farmer’s market and a livestock trading centre, is today a popular event for tourists and a meeting point for people from the whole region. It draws many thousands of visitors each year. On average, 400 sellers, showmen and restaurateurs offer guests a mixture of market dealing and fair attractions. Also, many local businesses take part.
Leisure and tourism
- Right next to the market grounds and the SG Bell sporting ground lies the small Freizeitpark Bell (“leisure park”), established in the 1970s. The principle of the small complex is that it was built “around nature”. Highlights here are the fairytale forest with moving figures, a petting zooPetting zooA petting zoo features a combination of domestic animals and some wild species that are docile enough to touch and feed. In addition to independent petting zoos, also called children's farms or petting farms, many general zoos contain a petting zoo...
and simpler attractions. The park itself has its roots in the time when many German leisure parks were being established, and began, like others, with the fairytale forest. Although it is off the beaten tourist path, the park has economic importance for the local area. - There is an indoor stage at the Bell-Vue inn where political and cultural events are held.
- Only a few hundred metres from Bell, at the former railway station, runs the SchinderhannesSchinderhannesJohannes Bückler , nicknamed Schinderhannes, was a German outlaw who orchestrated one of the most fascinating crime sprees in German history. He was born at Miehlen, the son of Johann and Anna Maria Bückler. He began an apprenticeship to a tanner, but turned to petty theft. At 16 he was arrested...
-Radweg (cycle path) on the old Hunsrückbahn (railway) right-of-way.
Buildings
The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-PalatinateRhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
Bell (main centre)
- EvangelicalEvangelical Church in GermanyThe Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...
church, Hauptstraße 5 – BaroqueBaroque architectureBaroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
aisleless churchAisleless churchAn Aisleless church is a single-nave church building that consists of a single hall-like room. While similar to the hall church, the aisleless church lacks aisles or passageways either side of the nave separated from the nave by colonnades or arcades, a row of pillars or columns...
, marked 1728, RomanesqueRomanesque architectureRomanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
west tower; whole complex of buildings with church and graveyard - Hauptstraße 24 – building with mansard roofMansard roofA mansard or mansard roof is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterized by two slopes on each of its sides with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper that is punctured by dormer windows. The roof creates an additional floor of habitable space, such as a garret...
, timber framingTimber framingTimber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
slated, about 1800 - Hauptstraße 25 – estate complex along the street; building with hipped mansard roof, timber framing sided, about 1800, barn, stable
- Hauptstraße 27 – timber-frame house, partly solid and slated, mid 19th century
- Hauptstraße 29 – timber-frame house, partly solid and slated, half-hipped roof, 18th century; whole complex of buildings together with no. 31
- Hauptstraße 31 – timber-frame house, slated, 18th or 19th century; whole complex of buildings together with no. 29
- Hauptstraße/corner of Landesstraße (State Road) 204 – boundary stone, marked 1866
- Rothenberger Hof 5 – Rothenberger Hof; estate complex along the street; timber-frame house, slated, 19th century
Krastel
- Dorfstraße 6 – Quereinhaus (a combination residential and commercial house divided for these two purposes down the middle, perpendicularly to the street), timber framing plastered, partly slated, 19th century
- Dorfstraße 39 – estate complex; timber-frame house, partly solid, sided, 18th or 19th century; timber-frame barn, marked 1792; second barn, marked 1849
Leideneck
- Evangelical church, Hauptstraße 6 – aisleless church, 1850-1852
- At Oberstraße 1 – ClassicistClassicismClassicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. The art of classicism typically seeks to be formal and restrained: of the Discobolus Sir Kenneth Clark observed, "if we object to his restraint...
door, early 19th century
Völkenroth
- Im Weiherchen 1 – timber-frame house, slated, 19th century
- Ringstraße 7 – Quereinhaus, timber framing slated, 19th century
- Ringstraße 19 – estate complex, 19th century; timber-frame house, slated, barn
- Ringstraße 21 – estate complex, 19th century; timber-frame house, slated, timber-frame barn
- Ringstraße 23 – L-shaped estate complex, 19th century; timber-frame house, partly slated, commercial wing
Wohnroth
- Dorfstraße 28 – timber-frame house, partly solid, half-hipped roof, earlier half of the 18th century
Economy and infrastructure
Until the 1950s there was mining within Bell’s municipal limits near the railway station at the Ilse manganeseManganese
Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature , and in many minerals...
ore mine.
Among other businesses, the village has a car and truck workshop, an electrical installer’s shop, a goldsmith
Goldsmith
A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Since ancient times the techniques of a goldsmith have evolved very little in order to produce items of jewelry of quality standards. In modern times actual goldsmiths are rare...
’s shop and, on the road to the old railway station, an underground and road construction business. Besides the Bell-Vue, there is one other inn run on a pension
Pension (lodging)
A pensione is a family-owned guest house or boarding house. This term is typically used in Portugal, France, Spain, Italy, other Continental European countries, in areas of North Africa and the Middle East that formerly had large European expatriate populations, and in some parts of South America...
basis.