Simmern
Encyclopedia
Simmern (ˈzɪmən; officially Simmern/Hunsrück) is a town of 8,000 inhabitants in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
, the district
seat of the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis, and the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde
. In the Rhineland-Palatinate state development plan, it is set out as a middle centre
.
runs, lies in the Hunsrück
in the so-called Simmerner Mulde (“Simmern Hollow”). The old town centre is found in the valley of the Simmerbach, while the newer neighbourhoods are spread over the surrounding heights. The Külzbach empties into the Simmerbach on the town’s western outskirts. East of the town is a recreational area with a manmade lake, the Simmersee. South of the town is the town forest, which forms the edge of the Soonwald, a heavily wooded section of the west-central Hunsrück.
The municipal area measures 1 196 ha. Of interest to visitors are Simmern’s value as a nature and leisure site, and its central location right near three rivers, the Moselle, the Rhine and the Nahe, each about 25 km away, allowing easy day trips to other nearby places.
Simmern lies 630 km from Berlin
and 55 km west of Mainz
.
in Simmern amounts to 690 mm, which falls into the middle third of the precipitation chart for all Germany. Only at 38% of the German Weather Service’s weather station
s are lower figures recorded. The driest month is January. The most rainfall comes in August. In that month, precipitation is 2.1 times what it is in January. Precipitation varies greatly. Only at 25% of the weather stations are higher seasonal swings recorded.
times. There are seemingly mentions before the 11th century, but these cannot be definitively linked to the town, or most likely refer to the Simmerbach, the local river. Simmern lay on the important Bingen-to-Trier
army road. It belonged at first to the Counts of the Nahegau
, later passing to the Raugraves
, who were enfeoffed with Simmern by the Electorate of Trier sometime between 1323 and 1330. Presumably with Archbishop Baldwin’s help, Simmern was granted town rights in 1330 by Emperor Louis the Bavarian
. The weekly and yearly markets were soon drawing dealers throughout the Hunsrück to town, leading to flourishing trade and business. Along with town rights came the town’s right to fortify itself, and this it did with a formidable double wall, complete with a series of towers and gates. Before the 14th century was over, Simmern passed to the Counts Palatine of the House of Wittelsbach.
The Palatine Wittelsbachs were, beginning in 1356, Electors, and after Elector Palatine and King of the Romans
(German King) Ruprecht III’s death, they split into several lines, among which was the Palatinate-Simmern
line, which kept its residence in the town. Worthy of mention are the Dukes Stefan of Palatinate-Simmern-Zweibrücken
, Friedrich I of Palatinate-Simmern, Johann I and, above all, Johann II. He ruled in Simmern from 1509 to 1557, was humanistically and artistically trained, had the first printshop in the town built and promoted the arts, particularly sculpture. He also introduced the Reformation
into his duchy, which led to tension with the neighbouring Archbishoprics of Trier and Mainz
. He was followed by Friedrich III
, called “the Pious”, who converted to Calvinism
in 1563 and played a leading role in Imperial
politics. In 1559, the Palatinate-Simmern line succeeded the now extinct main line of the Palatinate in the Elector’s capacity in Heidelberg
. Friedrich III’s brothers Georg and Reichard formed the short-lived line of the Counts Palatine of Simmern-Sponheim, whose holdings passed back to the Electorate under Friedrich IV
on Reichard’s death in 1598.
was elected King of Bohemia – Bohemia
was an elective monarchy
– but soon ran afoul of the forces arrayed against him, notably the Catholic League
and the Holy Roman Emperor
himself, and not only was he forced to flee Bohemia in the face of these forces after only a year on the Bohemian throne (earning himself the derisive nickname “Winter King”), but he also saw to it that Electoral Palatinate, too, was gripped in the throes of the Thirty Years' War
. The Emperor also declared all Friedrich’s holdings within the Holy Roman Emperor
forfeit. His holdings in the Rhenish Palatinate were meanwhile once again partitioned with the founding of the younger line of Palatinate-Simmern
by his brother Ludwig Philipp in 1611, though even this passed with Ludwig Philipp’s son, Ludwig Heinrich’s death in 1673 back to the main line under Karl I Ludwig
, who won back the Electoral title in the Peace of Westphalia
. Thanks to his fortifying the town, it came through the wars relatively unscathed. When Karl’s son, Karl II
died in 1685, though, there was further upheaval, for with him the Palatine line of the Wittelsbachs had died out, and France
was now declaring rights of possession. Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess Palatine (known as Liselotte of the Palatinate), Karl II’s sister, and in France’s eyes the rightful heir, was married to Philippe I, Duke of Orléans
, King Louis XIV’s
brother. Since the Palatinate-Neuburg
line of the Wittelsbachs also maintained a claim to the Simmern inheritance, the Nine Years' War (known in Germany as the Pfälzischer Erbfolgekrieg, or War of the Palatine Succession) broke out in 1688, during which the French laid waste to broad swathes of the Palatinate.
By 1685, the Duchy of Simmern had passed to the Palatinate-Neuburg line. This noble house reintroduced the Catholic faith and called on the Boppard
Carmelites
to minister to the Catholics in the town of Simmern and the like-named Oberamt
. With the family Schenk von Schmidtburg’s help, the Carmelites founded a presence in town, and together with the Kreuznach Capuchins
, took over pastoral duties in the Oberamt. They built Saint Joseph
’s Church. Not long before this, the town of Simmern itself had been flooded with a great many Huguenot
s who had fled religious persecution
in France
. On 17 September 1689, French troops overwhelmed the town, leaving almost all of it in rubble. The palatial residence was razed, just like the one in Heidelberg. All that was left standing after this catastrophe was Saint Stephen
’s Church, the Pulverturm (“Powder Tower”, later to be known as the “Schinderhannes
Tower”) and a handful of houses. Nevertheless, the Wittelsbachs won out and remained the Palatinate’s rulers under the terms of the Treaty of Ryswick
. In the 18th century, however, Simmern was nothing more than the seat of a Palatine Oberamt, as the electors chose to keep their residence at Mannheim
.
, the French once again conquered the Palatinate, which they annexed to their country along with the rest of the Rhine’s left bank. Simmern became a canton
in the Department of Rhin-et-Moselle
. It was by the regular patrols of the newly founded National Gendarmerie that Johannes Bückler, later a well known robber and often called “Schinderhannes
”, was caught, although at this time he was nothing more than a small-time livestock thief in the Hunsrück and the northern Palatinate. In 1799 he spent half a year locked up in the tower that now bears his nickname, the Schinderhannesturm, in Simmern, from which he managed to escape. In 1804, Emperor Napoleon I
spent some time in the town, which in the meantime had acquired a municipal administration run according to French law. In 1815 Simmern was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia
at the Congress of Vienna
.
The town’s situation in the 19th century, outside the centres of industrialization, was not easy, and much the less so as of 1845 with the potato blight
outbreak and the attendant bad harvests, which drove many inhabitants to seek a better life in the New World
.
In the First World War, Simmern was an important support base for troops marching to the Western Front
. In Weimar
times, when the town was also occupied once again by the French, Simmern suffered under the dire economic situation of the time. In the Second World War, there was yet more destruction. In March 1945, Simmern was occupied by American
troops, but was later assigned along with the rest of the Palatinate to the French zone of occupation. Since 1946, Simmern has been part of the then newly founded state
of Rhineland-Palatinate
.
The town has borne the name element “Hunsrück” since 1 June 1980. On 15 April 1999, Simmern concluded a territorial swap with the municipality of Mutterschied
, whereby several inhabitants found themselves living in a different municipality.
at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:
might be described thus: Per fess sable a lion passant Or armed, langued and crowned gules, and bendy lozengy argent and azure.
Simmern was held by the Raugraves
until 1358, when it passed to the Counts Palatine of the House of Wittelsbach. Simmern was granted town rights in 1555. The arms are based on the town’s oldest known seal, which dates from the late 14th century. The charge
above the line of partition is the Palatine Lion, and the “bendy lozengy” pattern (that is, slanted diamonds) is the Wittelsbachs’ armorial bearing. Otto Hupp
’s version of the town’s arms, as seen in the Coffee Hag albums
in the 1920s, was presented in a somewhat different style (but these differences are common among heraldic artists), and with one heraldic difference: the lion is missing his crown. The tincture
s, however, are the same.
The arms have been borne since 1901.
, Yonne
, France
’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
from 1776 built by the Hunsrück organ-building family Stumm.
The cultural centre at Schloss Simmern has its Hunsrückmuseum with an exhibit by Friedrich Karl Ströher (Hunsrück painter) and the town library. The new palace was built in 1708 as the Oberamtmann’s administration building. It was here that the mediaeval castle
once stood. This was expanded into a palatial residence in the latter half of the 15th century, but destroyed together with the rest of the town in 1689.
The so-called Schinderhannes
The Restaurant Schwarzer Adler is notable as one of the few houses in town that was spared the razing that the rest of the town underwent at French hands in 1689. It stands with Saint Stephen’s Church and the Schinderhannesturm as one of the town’s oldest buildings.
and an outdoor “nature” pool, the Dschungeldorf (“Jungle Village”) indoor children’s adventure playground, a youth café, a skating park and a cinema.
Beginning on the town’s western outskirts is the Schinderhannes-Radweg (cycle path), running from there through the Külztal (Külzbach valley) by way of Kastellaun
to Emmelshausen
. To the south runs the Schinderhannes-Soonwald-Radweg (another cycle path), which links Simmern with the Soonwald.
In 2007 and 2008, the town staged the Schinderhannesfestspiele (theatrical plays) for the first time. The first production was Der Ausbruch (“The Breakout”), a play about Schinderhannes’s daring escape from the town’s “Powder Tower” (now called the “Schinderhannes Tower”) in August 1799. The Powder Tower had been said to be escape-proof. In 2010, the Schinderhannesfestspiele were staged for the third time. This time, the production was the musical
Julchen.
Simmern’s sport clubs are VfR Simmern and BGV Simmern. VfR Simmern is well known for its football team, SG Soonwald/Simmern (a coöperative effort with clubs in the surrounding area), table tennis
(regional league) and its handball
team, HSG Kastellaun/Simmern (a coöperative effort with TV Kastellaun 09). Furthermore, VfR also offers basketball
, swimming
, badminton
and other sports. TC Sportpark Simmern is the town’s tennis
club.
50 runs by south of town. Simmern has a railway station, which currently serves only as a bus station because the Boppard
-to-Simmern stretch of the Hunsrückbahn (railway) has been disused and torn up, and the Bingen
-to-Hermeskeil
stretch of the Hunsrückquerbahn (another railway) is currently not being used. However, it is foreseen that within the next few years, the Hunsrückquerbahn will be reactivated to serve the booming Frankfurt-Hahn Airport
, thus linking the airport with the Frankfurt Rhine Main Region.
The reopening of Frankfurt-Hahn Airport (20 km away) for commercial aviation and the widening of Bundesstrasse B-50 to four lanes have given the district and the town even greater economic potential for the future. Future plans include a possible extension of the Autobahn A 60 to facilitate traffic from the Frankfurt metropolitan area to Simmern and the Benelux
countries. The town is roughly 10 minutes from the Autobahn A 61
.
Among the town’s biggest employers are the following: ZF Boge Elastmetall (roughly 600 employees), CompAir
(compressed air and gas systems, roughly 500 employees), the firm Pfefferkorn (Sekt stopper maker), Deutsche Fertighaus Holding (prefabricated buildings), SchwörerHaus KG (works for finishing “Kastell”-brand solid-construction houses, basements, ceilings and prefabricated concrete articles), Zischka Textilpflege (laundry
service), the Hunsrück-Klinik and DHL
, with a logistical centre. Besides these, there are several discount store
s and many smaller service-sector businesses. Over the last few years, Simmern has grown into a regional hub for the automotive trade. Simmern has grown tremendously in the last twenty years as more people and new industries have relocated to the area.
, the “Pro-Winz-Kino”. The business association, Simmern attraktiv e. V., is a union of the town’s business owners, who have, for instance, set themselves the goal of strengthening the town as a retail
centre and making it more attractive to citizens, shoppers and visitors.
and Realschule
certificates, the state mathematical-natural sciences Herzog-Johann-Gymnasium
, the professional training school with an economics Gymnasium, several vocational school
s and upper vocational schools and the Hunsrückschule für Lernbehinderte (for learners with learning difficulties). The folk high school
is charged with providing adult education.
, financial, forestry, health and cadastral office, police
, branch office of the Koblenz
chamber of commerce
, district craftsmen’s association). The town is also the location of a “technology and founders’ centre” (Technologie- und Gründerzentrum, the “founders” being entrepreneurs who found businesses).
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...
, the 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 ....
seat of the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis, and the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde
Simmern (Verbandsgemeinde)
Simmern is a Verbandsgemeinde in the Rhein-Hunsrück district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Its seat is in Simmern.The Verbandsgemeinde Simmern consists of the following Ortsgemeinden :...
. In the Rhineland-Palatinate state development plan, it is set out as a middle centre
Central Place Theory
Central place theory is a geographical theory that seeks to explain the number, size and location of human settlements in an urban system. The theory was created by the German geographer Walter Christaller, who asserted that settlements simply functioned as 'central places' providing services to...
.
Location
Simmern, through whose municipal area the 50th parallel of north latitudeLatitude
In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...
runs, lies in the Hunsrück
Hunsrück
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...
in the so-called Simmerner Mulde (“Simmern Hollow”). The old town centre is found in the valley of the Simmerbach, while the newer neighbourhoods are spread over the surrounding heights. The Külzbach empties into the Simmerbach on the town’s western outskirts. East of the town is a recreational area with a manmade lake, the Simmersee. South of the town is the town forest, which forms the edge of the Soonwald, a heavily wooded section of the west-central Hunsrück.
The municipal area measures 1 196 ha. Of interest to visitors are Simmern’s value as a nature and leisure site, and its central location right near three rivers, the Moselle, the Rhine and the Nahe, each about 25 km away, allowing easy day trips to other nearby places.
Simmern lies 630 km from Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and 55 km west of 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...
.
Climate
Yearly precipitationPrecipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...
in Simmern amounts to 690 mm, which falls into the middle third of the precipitation chart for all Germany. Only at 38% of the German Weather Service’s weather station
Weather station
A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for observing atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasts and to study the weather and climate. The measurements taken include temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, wind speed, wind...
s are lower figures recorded. The driest month is January. The most rainfall comes in August. In that month, precipitation is 2.1 times what it is in January. Precipitation varies greatly. Only at 25% of the weather stations are higher seasonal swings recorded.
Middle Ages and Early Modern Times
In 1072, Simmern had its first documentary mention. The place where the town now stands, however, was already settled in RomanAncient 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....
times. There are seemingly mentions before the 11th century, but these cannot be definitively linked to the town, or most likely refer to the Simmerbach, the local river. Simmern lay on the important Bingen-to-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....
army road. It belonged at first to the Counts of the Nahegau
Nahegau
The Nahegau was in the Middle Ages a county, which covered the environs of the Nahe and large parts of present-day Rhenish Hesse, after a successful expansion of the narrow territory, which did not reach the Rhine, to the disadvantage of the Wormsgau...
, later passing to the Raugraves
Raugraves
The Raugraves were a German noble family, which had its center of influence in the former Nahegau. They descended from the Emichones .- First family in the 12th until 15th centuries :...
, who were enfeoffed with Simmern by the Electorate of Trier sometime between 1323 and 1330. Presumably with Archbishop Baldwin’s help, Simmern was granted town rights in 1330 by Emperor Louis the Bavarian
Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Louis IV , called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was the King of Germany from 1314, the King of Italy from 1327 and the Holy Roman Emperor from 1328....
. The weekly and yearly markets were soon drawing dealers throughout the Hunsrück to town, leading to flourishing trade and business. Along with town rights came the town’s right to fortify itself, and this it did with a formidable double wall, complete with a series of towers and gates. Before the 14th century was over, Simmern passed to the Counts Palatine of the House of Wittelsbach.
The Palatine Wittelsbachs were, beginning in 1356, Electors, and after Elector Palatine and King of the Romans
King of the Romans
King of the Romans was the title used by the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire following his election to the office by the princes of the Kingdom of Germany...
(German King) Ruprecht III’s death, they split into several lines, among which was the Palatinate-Simmern
Palatinate-Simmern
Palatinate-Simmern was one of the collateral lines of the Palatinate line of the House of Wittelsbach.The Palatinate line of the House of Wittelsbach was divided into four lines after the death of Rupert III in 1410, including the line of Palatinate-Simmern with its capital in Simmern. This line...
line, which kept its residence in the town. Worthy of mention are the Dukes Stefan of Palatinate-Simmern-Zweibrücken
Stephen, Count Palatine of Simmern-Zweibrücken
Stephen of Simmern-Zweibrücken was Count Palatine of Simmern and Zweibrücken from 1410.He was the son of King Rupert of Germany and his wife Elisabeth of Nuremberg. After the death of Rupert the Palatinate was divided between four of his surviving sons...
, Friedrich I of Palatinate-Simmern, Johann I and, above all, Johann II. He ruled in Simmern from 1509 to 1557, was humanistically and artistically trained, had the first printshop in the town built and promoted the arts, particularly sculpture. He also introduced the Reformation
Protestant 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 his duchy, which led to tension with the neighbouring Archbishoprics of Trier and Mainz
Archbishopric of Mainz
The Archbishopric of Mainz or Electorate of Mainz was an influential ecclesiastic and secular prince-bishopric in the Holy Roman Empire between 780–82 and 1802. In the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, the Archbishop of Mainz was the primas Germaniae, the substitute of the Pope north of the Alps...
. He was followed by Friedrich III
Frederick III, Elector Palatine
Frederick III of Simmern, the Pious, Elector Palatine of the Rhine was a ruler from the house of Wittelsbach, branch Palatinate-Simmern-Sponheim. He was a son of John II of Simmern and inherited the Palatinate from the childless Elector Otto-Henry, Elector Palatine in 1559...
, called “the Pious”, who converted to Calvinism
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
in 1563 and played a leading role in Imperial
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
politics. In 1559, the Palatinate-Simmern line succeeded the now extinct main line of the Palatinate in the Elector’s capacity in Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
. Friedrich III’s brothers Georg and Reichard formed the short-lived line of the Counts Palatine of Simmern-Sponheim, whose holdings passed back to the Electorate under Friedrich IV
Frederick IV, Elector Palatine
Frederick IV, Elector Palatine of the Rhine , only surviving son of Louis VI, Elector Palatine and Elisabeth of Hesse, called "Frederick the Righteous" .-Life:Born in Amberg, his father died in October 1583 and...
on Reichard’s death in 1598.
Wars in the Palatinate
Friedrich IV’s son, Friedrich VFrederick V, Elector Palatine
Frederick V was Elector Palatine , and, as Frederick I , King of Bohemia ....
was elected King of Bohemia – Bohemia
Kingdom of Bohemia
The Kingdom of Bohemia was a country located in the region of Bohemia in Central Europe, most of whose territory is currently located in the modern-day Czech Republic. The King was Elector of Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806, whereupon it became part of the Austrian Empire, and...
was an elective monarchy
Elective monarchy
An elective monarchy is a monarchy ruled by an elected rather than hereditary monarch. The manner of election, the nature of the candidacy and the electors vary from case to case...
– but soon ran afoul of the forces arrayed against him, notably the Catholic League
Catholic League (German)
The German Catholic League was initially a loose confederation of Roman Catholic German states formed on July 10, 1609 to counteract the Protestant Union , whereby the participating states concluded an alliance "for the defence of the Catholic religion and peace within the Empire." Modeled...
and the Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand II , a member of the House of Habsburg, was Holy Roman Emperor , King of Bohemia , and King of Hungary . His rule coincided with the Thirty Years' War.- Life :...
himself, and not only was he forced to flee Bohemia in the face of these forces after only a year on the Bohemian throne (earning himself the derisive nickname “Winter King”), but he also saw to it that Electoral Palatinate, too, was gripped in the throes of the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
. The Emperor also declared all Friedrich’s holdings within the Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
forfeit. His holdings in the Rhenish Palatinate were meanwhile once again partitioned with the founding of the younger line of Palatinate-Simmern
Palatinate-Simmern
Palatinate-Simmern was one of the collateral lines of the Palatinate line of the House of Wittelsbach.The Palatinate line of the House of Wittelsbach was divided into four lines after the death of Rupert III in 1410, including the line of Palatinate-Simmern with its capital in Simmern. This line...
by his brother Ludwig Philipp in 1611, though even this passed with Ludwig Philipp’s son, Ludwig Heinrich’s death in 1673 back to the main line under Karl I Ludwig
Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine
Charles Louis, , Elector Palatine KG was the second son of Frederick V of the Palatinate, the "Winter King" of Bohemia, and his wife, Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King James I of England ....
, who won back the Electoral title in the Peace of Westphalia
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the...
. Thanks to his fortifying the town, it came through the wars relatively unscathed. When Karl’s son, Karl II
Charles II, Elector Palatine
Charles II was Elector Palatine from 1680 to 1685. He was the son of Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine and Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel.Charles was a strict Calvinist. In 1671, his aunt Electress Sophia of Hanover arranged his marriage to Princess Wilhelmina Ernestina, daughter of King Frederick III...
died in 1685, though, there was further upheaval, for with him the Palatine line of the Wittelsbachs had died out, and France
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...
was now declaring rights of possession. Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess Palatine (known as Liselotte of the Palatinate), Karl II’s sister, and in France’s eyes the rightful heir, was married to Philippe I, Duke of Orléans
Philippe I, Duke of Orléans
Philippe of France was the youngest son of Louis XIII of France and his queen consort Anne of Austria. His older brother was the famous Louis XIV, le roi soleil. Styled Duke of Anjou from birth, Philippe became Duke of Orléans upon the death of his uncle Gaston, Duke of Orléans...
, 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...
brother. Since the Palatinate-Neuburg
Palatinate-Neuburg
Palatinate-Neuburg is a former territory of the Holy Roman Empire, founded in 1505. Its capital was Neuburg an der Donau. Its area was about 2,750 km², with a population of some 100,000.-History:...
line of the Wittelsbachs also maintained a claim to the Simmern inheritance, the Nine Years' War (known in Germany as the Pfälzischer Erbfolgekrieg, or War of the Palatine Succession) broke out in 1688, during which the French laid waste to broad swathes of the Palatinate.
By 1685, the Duchy of Simmern had passed to the Palatinate-Neuburg line. This noble house reintroduced the Catholic faith and called on the Boppard
Boppard
Boppard is a town in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, lying in the Rhine Gorge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It belongs to no Verbandsgemeinde. The town is also a state-recognized tourism resort and is a winegrowing centre.-Location:Boppard lies on the upper Middle...
Carmelites
Carmelites
The Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites is a Catholic religious order perhaps founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel, hence its name. However, historical records about its origin remain uncertain...
to minister to the Catholics in the town of Simmern and the like-named Oberamt
AMT
-Aviation:*The ICAO code for ATA Airlines*Aircraft Maintenance Technician, a term used in the United States* Aviation Maintenance Technician, a United States Coast Guard rating-Businesses and business-related terms:...
. With the family Schenk von Schmidtburg’s help, the Carmelites founded a presence in town, and together with the Kreuznach Capuchins
Order of Friars Minor Capuchin
The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin is an Order of friars in the Catholic Church, among the chief offshoots of the Franciscans. The worldwide head of the Order, called the Minister General, is currently Father Mauro Jöhri.-Origins :...
, took over pastoral duties in the Oberamt. They built Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph
Saint Joseph is a figure in the Gospels, the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus Christ ....
’s Church. Not long before this, the town of Simmern itself had been flooded with a great many Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
s who had fled religious persecution
Religious persecution
Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group of individuals as a response to their religious beliefs or affiliations or lack thereof....
in France
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...
. On 17 September 1689, French troops overwhelmed the town, leaving almost all of it in rubble. The palatial residence was razed, just like the one in Heidelberg. All that was left standing after this catastrophe was Saint Stephen
Saint Stephen
Saint Stephen The Protomartyr , the protomartyr of Christianity, is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Churches....
’s Church, the Pulverturm (“Powder Tower”, later to be known as the “Schinderhannes
Schinderhannes
Johannes 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...
Tower”) and a handful of houses. Nevertheless, the Wittelsbachs won out and remained the Palatinate’s rulers under the terms of the Treaty of Ryswick
Treaty of Ryswick
The Treaty of Ryswick or Ryswyck was signed on 20 September 1697 and named after Ryswick in the Dutch Republic. The treaty settled the Nine Years' War, which pitted France against the Grand Alliance of England, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and the United Provinces.Negotiations started in May...
. In the 18th century, however, Simmern was nothing more than the seat of a Palatine Oberamt, as the electors chose to keep their residence at Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
.
18th to 20th century
After the French RevolutionFrench 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 French once again conquered the Palatinate, which they annexed to their country along with the rest of the Rhine’s left bank. Simmern became a canton
Cantons of France
The cantons of France are territorial subdivisions of the French Republic's 342 arrondissements and 101 departments.Apart from their role as organizational units in certain aspects of the administration of public services and justice, the chief purpose of the cantons today is to serve as...
in the Department of Rhin-et-Moselle
Rhin-et-Moselle
Rhin-et-Moselle is the name of a département of the First French Empire in present Germany. It is named after the rivers Rhine and Moselle. It was formed in 1798, when the left bank of the Rhine was annexed by France. Until the French occupation, its territory was divided between the Archbishopric...
. It was by the regular patrols of the newly founded National Gendarmerie that Johannes Bückler, later a well known robber and often called “Schinderhannes
Schinderhannes
Johannes 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...
”, was caught, although at this time he was nothing more than a small-time livestock thief in the Hunsrück and the northern Palatinate. In 1799 he spent half a year locked up in the tower that now bears his nickname, the Schinderhannesturm, in Simmern, from which he managed to escape. In 1804, Emperor Napoleon I
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
spent some time in the town, which in the meantime had acquired a municipal administration run according to French law. In 1815 Simmern 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,...
.
The town’s situation in the 19th century, outside the centres of industrialization, was not easy, and much the less so as of 1845 with the potato blight
Phytophthora infestans
Phytophthora infestans is an oomycete that causes the serious potato disease known as late blight or potato blight. . Late blight was a major culprit in the 1840s European, the 1845 Irish and 1846 Highland potato famines...
outbreak and the attendant bad harvests, which drove many inhabitants to seek a better life in the New World
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
.
In the First World War, Simmern was an important support base for troops marching to the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
. In Weimar
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
times, when the town was also occupied once again by the French, Simmern suffered under the dire economic situation of the time. In the Second World War, there was yet more destruction. In March 1945, Simmern was occupied by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
troops, but was later assigned along with the rest of the Palatinate to the French zone of occupation. Since 1946, Simmern 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 ....
.
The town has borne the name element “Hunsrück” since 1 June 1980. On 15 April 1999, Simmern concluded a territorial swap with the municipality of Mutterschied
Mutterschied
Mutterschied is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
, whereby several inhabitants found themselves living in a different municipality.
Town council
The council is made up of 24 council members, who were elected by proportional representationProportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:
| SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany... |
CDU | FDP Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party that is ideologically based around liberalism... |
GREENS Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir... |
aSL | other | Total | |
| 2009 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 4 | - | 24 seats |
| 2004 | 6 | 12 | 1 | 1 | - | 4 | 24 seats |
Mayor
Simmern’s mayor is Dr. Andreas Nikolay, and his deputies are Peter Mumbauer, Karl-Heinz Augustin and Michael Becker.Coat of arms
The town’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 be described thus: Per fess sable a lion passant Or armed, langued and crowned gules, and bendy lozengy argent and azure.
Simmern was held by the Raugraves
Raugraves
The Raugraves were a German noble family, which had its center of influence in the former Nahegau. They descended from the Emichones .- First family in the 12th until 15th centuries :...
until 1358, when it passed to the Counts Palatine of the House of Wittelsbach. Simmern was granted town rights in 1555. The arms are based on the town’s oldest known seal, which dates from the late 14th century. 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...
above the line of partition is the Palatine Lion, and the “bendy lozengy” pattern (that is, slanted diamonds) is the Wittelsbachs’ armorial bearing. Otto Hupp
Otto Hupp
Otto Hupp was a German graphical artist. His main working area was heraldry, yet he also worked as a typeface designer, creating commercial symbols and metal works....
’s version of the town’s arms, as seen in the Coffee Hag albums
Coffee Hag albums
The Coffee Hag albums were published in the early 20th century by the Kaffee Handelsgesellschaft AG in Bremen, Germany, starting with heraldic stamps and collector's albums....
in the 1920s, was presented in a somewhat different style (but these differences are common among heraldic artists), and with one heraldic difference: the lion is missing his crown. 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, however, are the same.
The arms have been borne since 1901.
Town partnerships
Simmern fosters partnerships with the following places: MigennesMigennes
Migennes is a commune in the Yonne department in Burgundy in north-central France....
, Yonne
Yonne
Yonne is a French department named after the Yonne River. It is one of the four constituent departments of Burgundy in eastern France and its prefecture is Auxerre. Its official number is 89....
, France
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...
Culture and sightseeing
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:
- Saint StephenSaint StephenSaint Stephen The Protomartyr , the protomartyr of Christianity, is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Churches....
’s 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 (Kirche St. Stephan), Römerberg 2 – former palace church, Late GothicGothic architectureGothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
hall churchHall churchA hall church is a church with nave and side aisles of approximately equal height, often united under a single immense roof. The term was first coined in the mid-19th century by the pioneering German art historian Wilhelm Lübke....
, 1486 to about 1509, tower raised in 1752 (see also below) - Saint JosephSaint JosephSaint Joseph is a figure in the Gospels, the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus Christ ....
’s Catholic Church (Kirche St. Joseph), Klostergasse 3 – 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...
, 1749-1752 (see also below) - Schloss Simmern, Schloßplatz – three-winged palatial complex around cour d'honneurCour d'HonneurCour d'Honneur is the architectural term for defining a three-sided courtyard, created when the main central block, or corps de logis, is flanked by symmetrical advancing secondary wings, containing minor rooms...
, 1708-1713 (see also below) - Town fortifications – remnants of the town fortifications destroyed in 1689, preserved Schinderhannesturm (“Schinderhannes Tower”, Hüllstraße), mediaevalMiddle AgesThe Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
quarrystone building, 1750 new roof (see also below); Rundturm (“Round Tower”, Mühlgasse), quarrystone - Fruchtmarkt 2 – former schoolSchoolA school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
; Romanesque RevivalRomanesque Revival architectureRomanesque Revival is a style of building employed beginning in the mid 19th century inspired by the 11th and 12th century Romanesque architecture...
quarrystone building, 1846, in emulation of Johann Claudius von Lassaulx - Gerbereistraße – small tannery hut, 19th century
- Karl-Wagner Straße – substationElectrical substationA substation is a part of an electrical generation, transmission, and distribution system. Substations transform voltage from high to low, or the reverse, or perform any of several other important functions...
tower, Swiss chalet styleSwiss chalet styleSwiss chalet style is an architectural style inspired by the chalets of Switzerland. The style originated in Germany in the early 19th century and was popular in parts of Europe and North America, notably in the architecture of Norway, the country house architecture of Sweden, Cincinnati, Ohio,...
, about 1910/1920 - Kirchberger Straße 8 – 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...
plastered building, mid 19th century - Klostergasse 4 – former CarmeliteCarmelitesThe Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites is a Catholic religious order perhaps founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel, hence its name. However, historical records about its origin remain uncertain...
monastery (today a rectory); eight-axis plastered building, marked 1704; in the middle portal a statuette of Saint Joseph, ascribed to Burkhard Zamels - Ludwigstraße 3/5 – Baroque Revival three-winged complex, 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 1910/1920 - Mühlengasse 19 – former Neumühle (“New Mill”); stately building with hipped mansard roof, 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...
, sculpture, second fourth of the 18th century - Oberstraße 13 – timber-frame house, partly solid, plastered or sided, historical setting into hillside, essentially from the 17th century
- Oberstraße 36 – Late HistoricistHistoricism (art)Historicism refers to artistic styles that draw their inspiration from copying historic styles or artisans. After neo-classicism, which could itself be considered a historicist movement, the 19th century saw a new historicist phase marked by a return to a more ancient classicism, in particular in...
brick building, marked 1902 - Oberstraße 38 – three-floor building with hipped roof, timber-frame, partly solid or slated, about 1700
- Oberstraße 40 – former Evangelical school; three-floor building with hipped mansard roof, timber-frame, partly solid or slated, 1689 to 1724
- Römerberg 4 – three-floor timber-frame house, partly slated, essentially possibly from the 17th century
- Römerberg 25 – timber-frame house, partly solid or slated, marked 1612, knee wall 19th century
- Römerberg 27 – timber-frame house, partly slated, early 17th century
- Vor dem Tor 2 – three-floor seven-axis building with mansard roof, timber-frame, partly solid, 1838
- JewishJudaismJudaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
graveyard (monumental zone) – founded before 1800, 115 grave steles from 1855 on - warriors’ memorial 1870/1871, in the forest south of Simmern – sandstoneSandstoneSandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
obelisk
More about buildings
Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church, built in the 18th century, has ceiling frescoes worth seeing. For its part, Saint Stephen’s Evangelical Church, built between 1486 and 1510, has tombs of the Dukes of Palatinate-Simmern and an historical organOrgan (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
from 1776 built by the Hunsrück organ-building family Stumm.
The cultural centre at Schloss Simmern has its Hunsrückmuseum with an exhibit by Friedrich Karl Ströher (Hunsrück painter) and the town library. The new palace was built in 1708 as the Oberamtmann’s administration building. It was here that the mediaeval castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
once stood. This was expanded into a palatial residence in the latter half of the 15th century, but destroyed together with the rest of the town in 1689.
The so-called Schinderhannes
Schinderhannes
Johannes 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...
The Restaurant Schwarzer Adler is notable as one of the few houses in town that was spared the razing that the rest of the town underwent at French hands in 1689. It stands with Saint Stephen’s Church and the Schinderhannesturm as one of the town’s oldest buildings.
Sport and leisure
Simmern has an indoor swimming poolSwimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
and an outdoor “nature” pool, the Dschungeldorf (“Jungle Village”) indoor children’s adventure playground, a youth café, a skating park and a cinema.
Beginning on the town’s western outskirts is the Schinderhannes-Radweg (cycle path), running from there through the Külztal (Külzbach valley) by way 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...
to Emmelshausen
Emmelshausen
Emmelshausen is a town in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde, to which it also belongs...
. To the south runs the Schinderhannes-Soonwald-Radweg (another cycle path), which links Simmern with the Soonwald.
In 2007 and 2008, the town staged the Schinderhannesfestspiele (theatrical plays) for the first time. The first production was Der Ausbruch (“The Breakout”), a play about Schinderhannes’s daring escape from the town’s “Powder Tower” (now called the “Schinderhannes Tower”) in August 1799. The Powder Tower had been said to be escape-proof. In 2010, the Schinderhannesfestspiele were staged for the third time. This time, the production was the musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
Julchen.
Simmern’s sport clubs are VfR Simmern and BGV Simmern. VfR Simmern is well known for its football team, SG Soonwald/Simmern (a coöperative effort with clubs in the surrounding area), table tennis
Table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...
(regional league) and its handball
Team handball
Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...
team, HSG Kastellaun/Simmern (a coöperative effort with TV Kastellaun 09). Furthermore, VfR also offers basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, swimming
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
, badminton
Badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
and other sports. TC Sportpark Simmern is the town’s tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
club.
Transport
The four-lane BundesstraßeBundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
50 runs by south of town. Simmern has a railway station, which currently serves only as a bus station because the Boppard
Boppard
Boppard is a town in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, lying in the Rhine Gorge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It belongs to no Verbandsgemeinde. The town is also a state-recognized tourism resort and is a winegrowing centre.-Location:Boppard lies on the upper Middle...
-to-Simmern stretch of the Hunsrückbahn (railway) has been disused and torn up, and the 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...
-to-Hermeskeil
Hermeskeil
Hermeskeil is a town in the Trier-Saarburg district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated in the Hunsrück, approx. 25 km southeast of Trier...
stretch of the Hunsrückquerbahn (another railway) is currently not being used. However, it is foreseen that within the next few years, the Hunsrückquerbahn will be reactivated to serve the booming 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,...
, thus linking the airport with the Frankfurt Rhine Main Region.
The reopening of Frankfurt-Hahn Airport (20 km away) for commercial aviation and the widening of Bundesstrasse B-50 to four lanes have given the district and the town even greater economic potential for the future. Future plans include a possible extension of the Autobahn A 60 to facilitate traffic from the Frankfurt metropolitan area to Simmern and the Benelux
Benelux
The Benelux is an economic union in Western Europe comprising three neighbouring countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. These countries are located in northwestern Europe between France and Germany...
countries. The town is roughly 10 minutes from the Autobahn A 61
Bundesautobahn 61
is an autobahn in Germany that connects the border to the Netherlands near Venlo in the northwest to the interchange with A 6 near Hockenheim. In 1965, this required a re-design of the Hockenheimring....
.
Economy
Slate mining and agriculture have been the traditional industries of the district, but recent growth in the optical, pharmaceutical and biochemical industries has transformed the local economy.Among the town’s biggest employers are the following: ZF Boge Elastmetall (roughly 600 employees), CompAir
CompAir
CompAir is an engineering and manufacturing company specialising in compressed air and gas systems.CompAir was acquired by Alchemy Partners from Invensys, which retained a small minority shareholding...
(compressed air and gas systems, roughly 500 employees), the firm Pfefferkorn (Sekt stopper maker), Deutsche Fertighaus Holding (prefabricated buildings), SchwörerHaus KG (works for finishing “Kastell”-brand solid-construction houses, basements, ceilings and prefabricated concrete articles), Zischka Textilpflege (laundry
Laundry
Laundry is a noun that refers to the act of washing clothing and linens, the place where that washing is done, and/or that which needs to be, is being, or has been laundered...
service), the Hunsrück-Klinik and DHL
DHL
DHL Express is a division of the German logistics company Deutsche Post providing international express mail services. DHL is a world market leader in sea and air mail....
, with a logistical centre. Besides these, there are several discount store
Discount store
A discount store is a type of department store, which sells products at prices lower than those asked by traditional retail outlets. Most discount department stores offer a wide assortment of goods; others specialize in such merchandise as jewelry, electronic equipment, or electrical appliances...
s and many smaller service-sector businesses. Over the last few years, Simmern has grown into a regional hub for the automotive trade. Simmern has grown tremendously in the last twenty years as more people and new industries have relocated to the area.
Other business activity
There is also a cinemaMovie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
, the “Pro-Winz-Kino”. The business association, Simmern attraktiv e. V., is a union of the town’s business owners, who have, for instance, set themselves the goal of strengthening the town as a retail
Retailing
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
centre and making it more attractive to citizens, shoppers and visitors.
Education
Simmern has two primary schools, the Kurt-Schöllhammer-Grundschule and the Rottmannschule. It also has a regional school for HauptschuleHauptschule
A Hauptschule is a secondary school in Germany and Austria, starting after 4 years of elementary schooling, which offers Lower Secondary Education according to the International Standard Classification of Education...
and Realschule
Realschule
The Realschule is a type of secondary school in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia , Denmark , Sweden , Hungary and in the Russian Empire .-History:The Realschule was an outgrowth of the rationalism and empiricism of the seventeenth and...
certificates, the state mathematical-natural sciences Herzog-Johann-Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
, the professional training school with an economics Gymnasium, several vocational school
Vocational school
A vocational school , providing vocational education, is a school in which students are taught the skills needed to perform a particular job...
s and upper vocational schools and the Hunsrückschule für Lernbehinderte (for learners with learning difficulties). The folk high school
Folk high school
Folk high schools are institutions for adult education that generally do not grant academic degrees, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal...
is charged with providing adult education.
Public institutions
Besides the town and district administrations, a number of other public entities can be found in Simmern (AmtsgerichtAmtsgericht
Amtsgericht is German for Local District Court, situated in Germany in almost every larger capital of a rural district.It mainly acts in Civil and Criminal law affairs. It forms the lowest level of the so-called ordinary jurisdiction of the German judiciary , which is responsible for most criminal...
, financial, forestry, health and cadastral office, police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
, branch office of the Koblenz
Koblenz
Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...
chamber of commerce
Chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...
, district craftsmen’s association). The town is also the location of a “technology and founders’ centre” (Technologie- und Gründerzentrum, the “founders” being entrepreneurs who found businesses).
Sons and daughters of the town
- Friedrich IIIFrederick III, Elector PalatineFrederick III of Simmern, the Pious, Elector Palatine of the Rhine was a ruler from the house of Wittelsbach, branch Palatinate-Simmern-Sponheim. He was a son of John II of Simmern and inherited the Palatinate from the childless Elector Otto-Henry, Elector Palatine in 1559...
(1515–1576), Elector Palatine - Peter Joseph Rottmann (1799–1881), Hunsrück dialectal poet
- Eugen Eppstein (1878–1943 at Majdanek concentration camp), politician and Member of the Reichstag
- Bernhard Hermkes (1903–1995), architectArchitectAn architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
and urban plannerUrban planningUrban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities.... - Rudolf Zischka (1928– ), recipient of the Bundesverdienstkreuz
- Michael LindenMichael LindenMichael Linden is a German psychiatrist and professor of psychiatry, psychosomatic medicine and psychotherapy in the Charité University Hospital in Berlin....
(1948– ), neurologist and psychotherapist - Dan Zerfaß (1968– ), church musician
- Benjamin Sohns (1982– ), Electro musician
- Patrick Schmidt (1988– ), footballer
Famous people associated with the town
- Johannes BücklerSchinderhannesJohannes 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...
(1779–1803), robber, called Schinderhannes, spent just under half a year in 1799 in the Simmern town prison - Johann Peter Petri (1752–1812), robber, called Schwarzer Peter or Der alte Schwarzpeter, Johannes Bückler’s henchman
- The Reverend Julius Reuß (1814–1883), cofounder of the Schmiedelanstalten (“Wetland Institutes”, homes that care for those with various handicaps) in 1849
- Richard Oertel (1860–1932), Evangelical theologian and politician
- Wolfgang Rumpf (1936–2006), forester and politician (FDPFree Democratic PartyFree Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party that is ideologically based around liberalism...
), headed the Simmern forestry office from 1971 to 1981 - Günter FelkeGünter FelkeGünter Felke was a German furniture manufacturer, numismatist and patron of culture.-Life:...
(1929–2005), entrepreneur and cultural promoter, beginning in 1994 bearer of the shield of honour and beginning in 2000 honorary citizen of the town of Simmern - Edgar ReitzEdgar ReitzEdgar Reitz is a German filmmaker and Professor of Film at the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung in Karlsruhe.- Early life and education :...
(1932– ), film directorFilm directorA film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, made parts of the film Die Reise nach Wien in Simmern as well as some scenes of Heimat – Eine deutsche Chronik and Heimat 3 – Chronik einer Zeitenwende (both parts of the HeimatHeimat (film)Heimat is the overall title of three series of films in 30 episodes written and directed by Edgar Reitz which view life in Germany between 1919 and 2000 through the eyes of a family from the Hunsrück area of the Rhineland. Personal and domestic life is set against glimpses of wider social and...
trilogy). Edgar Reitz has been an honorary citizen of the town since 2002. - Gudrun LandgrebeGudrun LandgrebeGudrun Landgrebe is a German actress.Landgrebe was born in Göttingen, grew up in Bochum, and attended theatre school in Cologne from 1968 until 1971. In 1971 she made her debut at Stadttheater Bielefeld. She also appeared in Heimat as the character Klärchen Sisse...
(1950– ), actress - Felix Antoine BlumeKollegahFelix Antoine Blume is a German rapper, known as Kollegah. He is signed to label Selfmade Records.His rapping technique is heavily based on gangsta rap, but he calls his personal characterization "pimp rap"...
(1984– ), rapper/musician, grew up in Simmern
Further reading
- Willi Wagner, Gustav Schellack: 650 Jahre Stadt Simmern im Hunsrück; Simmern 1980