Horbruch
Encyclopedia
Horbruch 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 Rhaunen
, whose seat is in the like-named municipality
.
northwest of the 746 m-high Idarkopf. The municipal area is 44.3% wooded, and its elevation is 460 m above sea level
.
(Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis), in the east on the municipality of Krummenau
and in the west on the municipality of Hochscheid
(Bernkastel-Wittlich
district).
digs have been undertaken at a number of barrows
in the cadastral area known as the Feldmark, up from the Marienmühle (mill), dating from protohistoric
times. Unearthed here were grave goods
in the form of remnants of cutting and thrusting weapons as well as a few almost intact pieces of jewellery in typical Celtic ornamental style. Moreover, over on the north slope of the Idar Forest
, not three kilometres from the village, in the Koppelbach’s headwaters, a temple
, likewise from Celtic times, was dug up. This was dedicated to Sirona
and was later expanded by the Romans
in the 2nd century AD. Unearthed here were a votive altar and almost life-size statues of the healing goddess Sirona and the god Apollo Grannus
. Once running by Horbruch’s southern outskirts was the most important overland link between the Roman towns of Augusta Treverorum
(Trier
) and Moguntiacum (Mainz
). Another road, Bundesstraße
327, also called the Hunsrückhöhenstraße (“Hunsrück Heights Road”), is a scenic road across the Hunsrück built originally as a military road on Hermann Göring
’s orders; it runs parallel to the old Roman road.
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: Per bend sinister sable a bugle-horn bendwise sinister Or and chequy gules and argent.
The charge
on the dexter (armsbearer’s right, viewer’s left) side, the horn, is drawn from Horbruch’s 18th-century court seal, whose original stamp is in private ownership in the municipality. It might also be a canting
charge for the village’s name (“horn” is also Horn in German
, as can be noted in the German blazon), but this is unclear. The “chequy” pattern on the sinister (armsbearer’s left, viewer’s right) side is a reference to the village’s former allegiance to the “Hinder” County of Sponheim
.
’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
is a railway station on the Nahe Valley Railway (Bingen
–Saarbrücken
). To the north lie Bundesstraße 50 and Frankfurt-Hahn Airport
.
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 Birkenfeld
Birkenfeld (district)
Birkenfeld is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Sankt Wendel , Trier-Saarburg, Bernkastel-Wittlich, Rhein-Hunsrück, Bad Kreuznach and Kusel.- History :...
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 Rhaunen
Rhaunen (Verbandsgemeinde)
Rhaunen is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district of Birkenfeld, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Rhaunen....
, whose seat is in the like-named municipality
Rhaunen
Rhaunen is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde.-Location:...
.
Location
The municipality lies in the HunsrückHunsrück
The Hunsrück is a low mountain range in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the river valleys of the Moselle , the Nahe , and the Rhine . The Hunsrück is continued by the Taunus mountains on the eastern side of the Rhine. In the north behind the Moselle it is continued by the Eifel...
northwest of the 746 m-high Idarkopf. The municipal area is 44.3% wooded, and its elevation is 460 m above sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
.
Neighbouring municipalities
Horbruch borders in the north on the municipality of HirschfeldHirschfeld, Rhineland-Palatinate
Hirschfeld 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.-Location:The municipality lies...
(Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis), in the east on the municipality of Krummenau
Krummenau
Krummenau 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 Rhaunen, whose seat is in the like-named municipality.-Location:The municipality lies...
and in the west on the municipality of Hochscheid
Hochscheid
Hochscheid is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
(Bernkastel-Wittlich
Bernkastel-Wittlich
Bernkastel-Wittlich is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Vulkaneifel, Cochem-Zell, Rhein-Hunsrück, Birkenfeld, Trier-Saarburg and Bitburg-Prüm.- History :...
district).
Constituent communities
Also belonging to Horbruch are the outlying homesteads of Bergmühle, Emmerichsmühle, Forsthaus Horbruch, Hockenmühle and Neumühle.History
ArchaeologicalArchaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
digs have been undertaken at a number of barrows
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...
in the cadastral area known as the Feldmark, up from the Marienmühle (mill), dating from protohistoric
Protohistory
Protohistory refers to a period between prehistory and history, during which a culture or civilization has not yet developed writing, but other cultures have already noted its existence in their own writings...
times. Unearthed here were grave goods
Grave goods
Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are the items buried along with the body.They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods. Grave goods are a type of votive deposit...
in the form of remnants of cutting and thrusting weapons as well as a few almost intact pieces of jewellery in typical Celtic ornamental style. Moreover, over on the north slope of the Idar Forest
Idar Forest
The Idar Forest is part of the Hunsrück low mountain range in the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Geography :...
, not three kilometres from the village, in the Koppelbach’s headwaters, a temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
, likewise from Celtic times, was dug up. This was dedicated to Sirona
Sirona
In Celtic mythology, Sirona was a goddess worshipped predominantly in East Central Gaul and along the Danubian limes. A healing deity, she was associated with healing springs; her attributes were snakes and eggs. She was sometimes depicted with Apollo Grannus or Apollo Borvo...
and was later expanded by the Romans
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....
in the 2nd century AD. Unearthed here were a votive altar and almost life-size statues of the healing goddess Sirona and the god Apollo Grannus
Grannus
In the Celtic polytheism of classical antiquity, Grannus was a deity associated with spas, healing thermal and mineral springs, and the sun. He was regularly identified with Apollo as Apollo Grannus...
. Once running by Horbruch’s southern outskirts was the most important overland link between the Roman towns of Augusta Treverorum
History of Trier
Trier in Rhineland-Palatinate, whose history dates to the Roman Empire, is often claimed to be the oldest city in Germany. Traditionally it was known in English by its French name of Treves.- Prehistory :...
(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 Moguntiacum (Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
). Another road, Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
327, also called the Hunsrückhöhenstraße (“Hunsrück Heights Road”), is a scenic road across the Hunsrück built originally as a military road on Hermann Göring
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...
’s orders; it runs parallel to the old Roman road.
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 schräglinks geteiltem Schild vorne in Schwarz ein goldenes Horn, hinten rot-silbernes Schach.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: Per bend sinister sable a bugle-horn bendwise sinister Or and chequy gules and argent.
The 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...
on the dexter (armsbearer’s right, viewer’s left) side, the horn, is drawn from Horbruch’s 18th-century court seal, whose original stamp is in private ownership in the municipality. It might also be a 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 –...
charge for the village’s name (“horn” is also Horn in 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....
, as can be noted in the German blazon), but this is unclear. The “chequy” pattern on the sinister (armsbearer’s left, viewer’s right) side is a reference to the village’s former allegiance to the “Hinder” County 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...
.
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:
- Kleinicher Weg 8 – fully slated house, late 19th century
- Oberdorf 3 – Quereinhaus (a combination residential and commercial house divided for these two purposes down the middle, perpendicularly to the street), partly 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...
slated, marked 1867, expanded with commercial wings; whole complex - Oberdorf 10 – timber-frame Quereinhaus (partly plastered), hipped 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...
, about 1800; timber-frame commercial wing less old - Unterdorf 1 – representative house, late 19th century
- Unterdorf 6 – community house, asymmetrical plastered building, 1928
- Unterdorf 8 – hook-shaped estate, about 1888; timber-frame building on solid pedestal, partly plastered or slated
- Bergmühle (mill), southeast of the village on the Altbach – stately 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...
building with mansard roof, marked 1804 (relocation), essentially possibly from the 16th century; millpond - Marienmühle (mill), south of the village on the Altbach – timber-frame building, slated, on solid pedestal ground floor, technical equipment largely preserved, 19th century
Transport
Serving Idar-ObersteinIdar-Oberstein
Idar-Oberstein is a town in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. As a Große kreisangehörige Stadt , it assumes some of the responsibilities that for smaller municipalities in the district are assumed by the district administration...
is a railway station on the Nahe Valley Railway (Bingen
Bingen am Rhein
Bingen am Rhein is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.The settlement’s original name was Bingium, a Celtic word that may have meant “hole in the rock”, a description of the shoal behind the Mäuseturm, known as the Binger Loch. Bingen was the starting point for the...
–Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....
). To the north lie Bundesstraße 50 and Frankfurt-Hahn Airport
Frankfurt-Hahn Airport
-Cargo airlines:-Other facilities:AirIT Services AG, a subsidiary of Fraport, has its head office in Building 663 at Hahn Airport.-References:*Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982 USAF Reference Series, Office of Air Force History, United States Air Force,...
.