Demerath
Encyclopedia
Demerath 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 Daun
, whose seat is in the like-named town
.
, a part of the Eifel
known for its volcanic history, geographical and geological features, and even ongoing activity today, including gases that sometimes well up from the earth.
Right near Demerath are found a few of the Vulkaneifel’s Maar
e, lakes that form in volcanic craters. These are the Pulvermaar and the Holzmaar in Gillenfeld
, and the Schalkenmehrener Maar and the Ulmener Maar.
Cochem
on the Moselle and the Nürburgring
each lie 25 km away.
troops. About 1794, the so-called Freiheitseiche (“Freedom Oak”) was planted. In 1803, Demerath was raised to a parish in its own right. Beginning in 1815, after Prussia
n rule had begun, Demerath belonged to the Daun district. In 1841, the municipality received a new police force for the Bürgermeisterei (“Mayoralty”) of Gillenfeld. From 1904, there was telephone
service in Demerath. In 1920, the volunteer fire brigade was founded, as was the music club in 1960. In 1970, the local school was dissolved, and in 2003, the ailing Freedom Oak was felled and a new one was planted.
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 issuant from base a stone, above which an oak twig issuant from the chief leafed and fructed of two, the whole Or, in a chief argent a sword hilt sable and a key in saltire both gules, the key in bend sinister and surmounting the sword.
In its composition, the municipal arms go back to the French Revolution
. The tincture
s gules and argent (red and silver) in the chief
stand as a reminder of the municipality’s former allegiance to the Electorate of Trier. The key and the sword refer to the local patron saints, Peter
and Paul. The stone in the base is a representation of the court stone before the church, and the oak sprig above stands for the Freiheitseiche (“Freedom Oak”), planted in the time of French rule, under which this court stone stood. The high court that sat here carried out its death and mutilation penalties upon this stone. The field tincture, vert (green), stands for the village’s charming, rustic location in the scenic conservation area.
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 Daun
Daun (Verbandsgemeinde)
Daun is a collective municipality in the Vulkaneifel district of Rhineland-Palatinate. The seat of the Daun Verbandsgemeinde is in the municipality of Daun.- Constituent municipalities:# Betteldorf# Bleckhausen# Brockscheid...
, whose seat is in the like-named town
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 :...
.
Location
The municipality lies in the VulkaneifelVulkan Eifel
The Vulkan Eifel is a region in the Eifel Mountains in Germany, that is defined to a large extent by its volcanic geological history. Characteristic of the Vulkan Eifel are its typical explosion crater lakes or maars, and numerous other signs of volcanic activity such as volcanic tuffs, lava...
, a part of the Eifel
Eifel
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....
known for its volcanic history, geographical and geological features, and even ongoing activity today, including gases that sometimes well up from the earth.
Right near Demerath are found a few of the Vulkaneifel’s Maar
Maar
A maar is a broad, low-relief volcanic crater that is caused by a phreatomagmatic eruption, an explosion caused by groundwater coming into contact with hot lava or magma. A maar characteristically fills with water to form a relatively shallow crater lake. The name comes from the local Moselle...
e, lakes that form in volcanic craters. These are the Pulvermaar and the Holzmaar in Gillenfeld
Gillenfeld
Gillenfeld is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, and the Schalkenmehrener Maar and the Ulmener Maar.
Cochem
Cochem
Cochem is the seat of and the biggest place in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With just under 5,000 inhabitants, Cochem falls just behind Kusel, in the like-named district, as Germany's second smallest district seat...
on the Moselle and the Nürburgring
Nürburgring
The Nürburgring is a motorsport complex around the village of Nürburg, Germany. It features a modern Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a much longer old North loop track which was built in the 1920s around the village and medieval castle of Nürburg in the Eifel mountains. It is located about...
each lie 25 km away.
History
In 1075, Demerath had its first documentary mention as Diemunderode. In 1319, the village was called Demeroyt, in 1341 Dymelderade and in 1368 Dymenroide. In 1475, the village church was described as the Demarait branch of the Parish of Wollmerath. From 1518, there was a high court in Demerath held by the Counts of Manderscheid. In 1644 came the Battle of the Steineberger Ley, at which many of the area’s inhabitants were slaughtered by Lotharingian troops. In 1728, Demerath, Ambts Dauhn (that is, in the Amt of Daun) got a Polizey oder Dorfordnung (police force). In 1794 the village was occupied by FrenchFrance
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...
troops. About 1794, the so-called Freiheitseiche (“Freedom Oak”) was planted. In 1803, Demerath was raised to a parish in its own right. Beginning in 1815, after 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...
n rule had begun, Demerath belonged to the Daun district. In 1841, the municipality received a new police force for the Bürgermeisterei (“Mayoralty”) of Gillenfeld. From 1904, there was telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
service in Demerath. In 1920, the volunteer fire brigade was founded, as was the music club in 1960. In 1970, the local school was dissolved, and in 2003, the ailing Freedom Oak was felled and a new one was planted.
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: Unter silbernem Schildhaupt, darin schräggekreuzt rotes Schwert und roter Schlüssel, in Grün ein goldener Stein, aus dem unteren Schildrand wachsend, darüber zwei goldene Eichblätter mit Eicheln.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 issuant from base a stone, above which an oak twig issuant from the chief leafed and fructed of two, the whole Or, in a chief argent a sword hilt sable and a key in saltire both gules, the key in bend sinister and surmounting the sword.
In its composition, the municipal arms go back to the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. The tincture
Tincture (heraldry)
In heraldry, tinctures are the colours used to emblazon a coat of arms. These can be divided into several categories including light tinctures called metals, dark tinctures called colours, nonstandard colours called stains, furs, and "proper". A charge tinctured proper is coloured as it would be...
s gules and argent (red and silver) in the chief
Chief (heraldry)
In heraldic blazon, a chief is a charge on a coat of arms that takes the form of a band running horizontally across the top edge of the shield. Writers disagree in how much of the shield's surface is to be covered by the chief, ranging from one-fourth to one-third. The former is more likely if the...
stand as a reminder of the municipality’s former allegiance to the Electorate of Trier. The key and the sword refer to the local patron saints, Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
and Paul. The stone in the base is a representation of the court stone before the church, and the oak sprig above stands for the Freiheitseiche (“Freedom Oak”), planted in the time of French rule, under which this court stone stood. The high court that sat here carried out its death and mutilation penalties upon this stone. The field tincture, vert (green), stands for the village’s charming, rustic location in the scenic conservation area.
Buildings
- Saint Peter’s and Saint Paul’s Catholic Parish Church, Talstraße 2, 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...
, essentially from the 18th century, expanded in 1803, east tower from 1827, BildstockBildstockA wayside shrine, is a religious image, usually in some sort of small shelter, placed by a road or pathway, sometimes in a settlement or at a crossroads, but often in the middle of an empty stretch of country road, or at the top of a hill or mountain. They have been a feature of many cultures,...
from 1775. - Gartenweg 1 – former bakehouse, single-floor quarrystone building, apparently from 1880.
- Talstraße 7 – estate alongside street, two-floor solid structure, 19th century.
- Talstraße 10 – house from a former timber-frameTimber 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...
estate alongside street, partly solid, 18th century. - Talstraße 21 – timber-frame Quereinhaus (a combination residential and commercial house divided for these two purposes down the middle, perpendicularly to the street) expanded into a corner estate, partly plastered.
- Ulmener Straße 2 – timber-frame house from a corner estate, partly solid or plastered.
External links
- Municipality’s official webpage
- Demerath – private page
- http://www.swr.de/landesschau-rp/hierzuland/-/id=100766/nid=100766/did=2349972/1h8dd2p/index.htmlBrief portrait of Demerath with film at SWR FernsehenSWR FernsehenSWR Fernsehen is a German regional television channel targeting the states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. It is produced by Südwestrundfunk and is one of eight regional "third channels" broadcast by the ARD members....
]