Birgel
Encyclopedia
Birgel is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district
in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Obere Kyll
, whose seat is in the municipality of Jünkerath
.
on the upper Kyll
, halfway between Trier
and Cologne
. It is linked to the outside world by Bundesstraße
421 and the Cologne-Trier railway (Lissendorf
station).
on the Kyll at Crumpsmühle to about 526 m above sea level at the Hirzberg (mountain).
Geologically, three formations characterize the municipality. The outliers of the Middle Devonian limestone basin in the north, the bunter
in the middle and the east and the sediments of the Kyll in the west.
Arising from this are the great amounts of groundwater
found here, which supply not only Birgel but also other municipalities in the Verbandsgemeinde of Obere Kyll with drinking water.
’s directory of holdings, the Prümer Urbar. In 1457, Gerhard von Loen, Count of Blankenheim, acquired half an estate in Birgel. As well, the Lords of Mirbach had ownership rights in the village, as they styled themselves “Lords of Birgel” in one document from the 16th century. In that same century, Birgel ended up in the power of the County of Gerolstein. The Elector of Trier owned his own fief in the village. The Electoral-Trier Amtmann (Amt official) at Daun
received annuities from Birgel. Foremost among the rulers, however, remained the Counts of Blankenheim-Manderscheid-Gerolstein. On the occasion of an agreement in 1547, it was decided that Birgel belonged in Gerolstein’s hands. In the 19th century, Birgel became the seat of the Lissendorf-Birgel Amt administration. The administration bore the title “Amt Lissendorf
in Birgel”. In the course of administrative restructuring, the formerly self-administering Ämter of Stadtkyll and Lissendorf-Birgel were dissolved, and Birgel was grouped into the newly formed Verbandsgemeinde of Obere Kyll
with its seat at Jünkerath
.
In 2006, the municipality of Birgel received first place in the contest Unser Dorf hat Zukunft (“Our Village Has a Future”) in the Vulkaneifel (then still Daun) district’s main class.
at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
The municipality’s arms
might in English heraldic
language be described thus: Vert in base a mount of three upon which a stag’s head caboshed, between his attires a Latin cross, all argent.
The “mount of three” – a charge
called a Dreiberg in German heraldry
– is canting
for the municipality’s name, as “Birgel” (formerly called Birglin or Birgle) is a diminutive of the German
word Berg, meaning “mountain”. The stag’s head and the cross between his antlers (“attires”) form one of Saint Hubert’s
attributes, thus making it a reference to the local chapel’s patron.
Municipalities of Germany
Municipalities are the lowest level of territorial division in Germany. This may be the fourth level of territorial division in Germany, apart from those states which include Regierungsbezirke , where municipalities then become the fifth level.-Overview:With more than 3,400,000 inhabitants, the...
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
Verbandsgemeinde
A Verbandsgemeinde is an administrative unit in the German Bundesländer of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt.-Rhineland-Palatinate:...
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district
Districts of Germany
The districts of Germany are known as , except in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein where they are known simply as ....
in 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 ....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Obere Kyll
Obere Kyll
Obere Kyll is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district Vulkaneifel, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the upper course of the river Kyll, approx. 55 km south-west of Bonn. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Jünkerath.The Verbandsgemeinde Obere Kyll consists of the following...
, whose seat is in the municipality of Jünkerath
Jünkerath
Jünkerath is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Obere Kyll, and is home to its seat.- Location :Jünkerath, along with its outlying...
.
Location
The municipality lies in the EifelEifel
The Eifel is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the south of the German-speaking Community of Belgium....
on the upper Kyll
Kyll
The Kyll , noted by the Roman poet Ausonius as Celbis, is a 142km long river in western Germany , left tributary of the Moselle. It rises in the Eifel mountains, near the border with Belgium and flows generally south through the towns Stadtkyll, Gerolstein, Kyllburg and east of Bitburg...
, halfway between Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
and Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
. It is linked to the outside world by Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
421 and the Cologne-Trier railway (Lissendorf
Lissendorf
Lissendorf is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
station).
Geology
The municipality belongs to the Kalkeifel (“Limestone Eifel”) and lies on the southern edge of the Dollendorf Limestone Basin (Dollendorfer Kalkmulde). The elevation ranges from about 400 m above sea levelSea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
on the Kyll at Crumpsmühle to about 526 m above sea level at the Hirzberg (mountain).
Geologically, three formations characterize the municipality. The outliers of the Middle Devonian limestone basin in the north, the bunter
Bunter (geology)
Bunter beds are sandstone deposits containing rounded pebbles, such as can notably be found in Warwickshire, Cheshire, Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, Devon and Dorset in England...
in the middle and the east and the sediments of the Kyll in the west.
Arising from this are the great amounts of groundwater
Groundwater
Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock...
found here, which supply not only Birgel but also other municipalities in the Verbandsgemeinde of Obere Kyll with drinking water.
Geological and natural peculiarities
- Bunter crags in the Birgeler Hardt, protected as a natural monument since 1948
- Kalkofen, literally “Limekiln”, a former limestoneLimestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
quarryQuarryA quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
on the Hirschberg - Butterley, DolomiteDolomiteDolomite is a carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate CaMg2. The term is also used to describe the sedimentary carbonate rock dolostone....
crags on the Hirschberg, protected as a natural monument since 1938 - Kyll valley floodplain
- Wiesbach with Wiesbachmoor (moorMoorlandMoorland or moor is a type of habitat, in the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, found in upland areas, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils and heavy fog...
) and Arnikawiese (meadow) - Burgberg with high Celtic settlement and former sand quarries
History
In 1222, Birgel had its first documentary mention in the commentary of Prüm AbbeyPrüm Abbey
Prüm Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey in Prüm/Lorraine, now in the diocese of Trier , founded by a Frankish widow Bertrada, and her son Charibert, count of Laon, on 23 June 720. The first abbot was Angloardus....
’s directory of holdings, the Prümer Urbar. In 1457, Gerhard von Loen, Count of Blankenheim, acquired half an estate in Birgel. As well, the Lords of Mirbach had ownership rights in the village, as they styled themselves “Lords of Birgel” in one document from the 16th century. In that same century, Birgel ended up in the power of the County of Gerolstein. The Elector of Trier owned his own fief in the village. The Electoral-Trier Amtmann (Amt official) at Daun
Daun, Germany
Daun is a town in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the district seat and also the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Daun.- Location :...
received annuities from Birgel. Foremost among the rulers, however, remained the Counts of Blankenheim-Manderscheid-Gerolstein. On the occasion of an agreement in 1547, it was decided that Birgel belonged in Gerolstein’s hands. In the 19th century, Birgel became the seat of the Lissendorf-Birgel Amt administration. The administration bore the title “Amt Lissendorf
Lissendorf
Lissendorf is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
in Birgel”. In the course of administrative restructuring, the formerly self-administering Ämter of Stadtkyll and Lissendorf-Birgel were dissolved, and Birgel was grouped into the newly formed Verbandsgemeinde of Obere Kyll
Obere Kyll
Obere Kyll is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district Vulkaneifel, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the upper course of the river Kyll, approx. 55 km south-west of Bonn. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Jünkerath.The Verbandsgemeinde Obere Kyll consists of the following...
with its seat at Jünkerath
Jünkerath
Jünkerath is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Obere Kyll, and is home to its seat.- Location :Jünkerath, along with its outlying...
.
In 2006, the municipality of Birgel received first place in the contest Unser Dorf hat Zukunft (“Our Village Has a Future”) in the Vulkaneifel (then still Daun) district’s main class.
Population development
In 1960, Birgel had roughly 520 inhabitants. The population peaked in 1990 at about 590 inhabitants. Currently, roughly 540 people have a primary or secondary residence in Birgel.Municipal council
The council is made up of 8 council members, who were elected by majority votePlurality voting system
The plurality voting system is a single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member constituencies...
at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
Coat of arms
The German blazon reads: In grün über silbernem Dreiberg ein silberner Hirschkopf im Visier mit silbernem Hochkreuz zwischen den Geweihstangen.The municipality’s arms
Coat 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: Vert in base a mount of three upon which a stag’s head caboshed, between his attires a Latin cross, all argent.
The “mount of three” – a charge
Charge (heraldry)
In heraldry, a charge is any emblem or device occupying the field of an escutcheon . This may be a geometric design or a symbolic representation of a person, animal, plant, object or other device...
called a Dreiberg in German heraldry
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"...
– is canting
Canting arms
Canting arms are heraldic bearings that represent the bearer's name in a visual pun or rebus. The term cant came into the English language from Anglo-Norman cant, meaning song or singing, from Latin cantāre, and English cognates include canticle, chant, accent, incantation and recant.Canting arms –...
for the municipality’s name, as “Birgel” (formerly called Birglin or Birgle) is a diminutive of the German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
word Berg, meaning “mountain”. The stag’s head and the cross between his antlers (“attires”) form one of Saint Hubert’s
Hubertus
Saint Hubertus or Hubert , called the "Apostle of the Ardennes" was the first Bishop of Liège...
attributes, thus making it a reference to the local chapel’s patron.
Buildings
- Kapelle St. Hubertus (Saint Hubert’s Chapel), an 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...
from the early 16th century - Butterley (crags)
- Hubertuseiche (Saint Hubert’s Oak)
- Historical watermill with mill museum
- Bahnhofstraße 12 – a Quereinhaus (a combination residential and commercial house divided for these two purposes down the middle, perpendicularly to the street) from 1882
- Dorfstraße 1 – corner house from 1808, more recent commercial building, old cobblestones in the yard
Public institutions
- Community centre
- Fire station
- Chapel consecrated to Saint Hubert
- Graveyard with consecration hall
- Sporting ground with barbecue pavilion and multipurpose hall
- Nature playground with football pitch (dedicated in 2006)