Steineberg
Encyclopedia
Steineberg is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality
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 Vulkaneifel
Vulkan 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.

The village, which lies somewhat back from the Daun
Daun, Germany
Daun is a town in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the district seat and also the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Daun.- Location :...

 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...

s, is actually a typical street village (by some definitions, a “thorpe”). Over the last few decades, particularly since the 1970s, the village has been growing. New building areas have been opened. Today, along the now four streets, live 240 inhabitants.

Steineberg lies south of the High Eifel, some 20 km north of the Moselle valley, near the district seat of Daun
Daun, Germany
Daun is a town in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the district seat and also the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Daun.- Location :...

. The village’s midpoint sits at an elevation of 530 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...

. The highest elevation, at 557 m above sea level, is the Steineberger Ley. The municipal area comprises 124 ha of wooded land and 169 ha of cropland and meadows.

Neighbouring municipalities

Steineberg borders in the north on the municipality of Steiningen
Steiningen
Steiningen is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...

, in the east on the municipality of Demerath
Demerath
Demerath is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...

, in the south on the municipality of Ellscheid
Ellscheid
Ellscheid is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...

 and in the west on the municipality of Mehren
Mehren, Vulkaneifel
Mehren is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...

.

History

In prehistoric times, the Celts built a stone refuge castle
Refuge castle
A refuge castle is a castle-like defensive location, usually surrounded by ramparts, that is not permanently occupied but acts as a temporary retreat for the local population when threatened by war or attack...

 on the Steineberger Ley.

In the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The 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...

, Steineberg belonged to the Electorate of Trier as part of the Amt of Daun.

Until 1967, many workers from Steineberg worked at the basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...

 quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...

.

Municipal council

The council is made up of 6 council members, who were elected by majority vote
Plurality 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.

Mayor

Steineberg’s mayor is Heinz Bohr, and his deputies are Walter Theobald and Hildegard Rebelein.

Coat of arms

The German blazon reads: In Silber eine grüne Spitze, darin 3 silberne Steine, vorne ein rotes Schwert, hinten eine rote Taube.

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: Argent a pile transposed throughout vert charged with three stones of the field, one resting on the other two, dexter a sword palewise gules, the hilt to chief, and sinister a dove of the last.

The “pile transposed” (that is, the wedge-shaped 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...

) stands for the Steineberger Ley, the 560 m-high volcanic
Volcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...

 cone that defines the local scenery. On this mountain, the Celts built a defensive wall out of basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...

 stones and logs that served the local people as a refuge castle. The stones symbolize this place. They and the mountain are also the origin of the municipality’s name (Steine = stones; Berg = mountain).

The sword on the dexter (armsbearer’s right, viewer’s left) side is meant to stand for the so-called Schwedenschlacht (“Swede Battle”) in 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....

, which was supposedly fought near the Steineberger Ley. In this battle, many peasants are said to have died by the sword. The dove on the sinister (armsbearer’s left, viewer’s right) side symbolizes Saint Francis of Assisi
Francis of Assisi
Saint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St...

, the municipality’s patron saint, for it is one of his attributes.

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...

 vert (green) seen in the pile transposed stands for the village’s scenically charming surroundings. The tinctures gules and argent (red and silver) stand for Steineberg’s former allegiance to the Electorate of Trier as part of the Amt of Daun.

The arms have been borne since 15 January 1990.

Steineberger Ley

The most prominent point of interest in the municipality is the Steineberger Ley at 557 m above sea level. This mountain on Steineberg’s southeast outskirts, which can be seen from afar, and which stretches to the neighbouring municipality of Steiningen
Steiningen
Steiningen is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...

, is important to history and tourism. This thickly wooded mountain is the subject of many legends and historical events.

It had its beginning in 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....

’s once much livelier vulcanism
Vulcanism
Vulcanism may refer to* Volcanism or volcanic activity.* Plutonism, a scientific theory of the Earth....

 about 35,000,000 years ago in the Tertiary
Tertiary
The Tertiary is a deprecated term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...

. Steineberg then lay in a north-south band that was characterized by a particularly high level of volcanic activity
Volcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...

. As a result of these natural forces, the Steineberger Ley’s bedrock is solid basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...

.

The second word in the name, Ley, is a word often used in the Eifel area, and it means “cliff” or “crag”. Another well known occurrence of this term is in the name Loreley.

Vulcano Infoplattform

On 3 October 2003, the Vulcano Infoplattform of the municipality of Steineberg was opened on the Steineberger Ley. The 28 m-tall tower rose with the help of subsidies from the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

, the 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 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...

 and the Daun/Vulkaneifel Economic Promotion Organization (Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft Daun/Vulkaneifel). The structure was, for ecological
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...

 reasons built out of 100-year-old, untreated Douglas-fir
Douglas-fir
Douglas-fir is one of the English common names for evergreen coniferous trees of the genus Pseudotsuga in the family Pinaceae. Other common names include Douglas tree, and Oregon pine. There are five species, two in western North America, one in Mexico, and two in eastern Asia...

 logs. It has an overall weight of 38 t and supports an observation deck 24 m above the ground.

Given its outstanding location above the Steineberger Ley’s treetops, visitors can on a clear day see far across 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....

 and the Moselle valleys, and even make out 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...

 some 20 km away.

Celtic ringwall

The Steineberger Ley’s peak bears at its south end an old fortification. Broken-down walls made of mortarless masonry and artificially steepened sides hem a gently sloping inner area of 2.2 ha. At the north end in particular, it is hard to tell natural rubble heaps apart from artificial wall remnants. An old gatehouse is believed to have stood where two wall ends clearly stand facing each other.

Since there have yet to be any archaeological
Archaeology
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...

 investigations, the complex’s age can only be estimated: The size of the area and the wall building method using dry stonework (likely with a wooden truss) would seem to suggest a Celtic 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...

 from the time between 500 and 100 BC. In those times, similar castles arose throughout the low mountain range as rival lords squared off against each other.

From late Celtic (1st century BC) and late Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 times (4th century AD) come various finds that have, however, still yielded no conclusions as to the reasons why these peoples frequented the mountain. At its southern foot spreads an early Celtic burying ground with 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...

 (6th to 3rd centuries BC). Of the roughly 90 barrows, many of which were excavated in the 19th century, many are still discernable. The castle and the barrows are protected cultural monuments, any digging of or changes to which are therefore forbidden.

Buildings

  • Saint Francis’s
    Francis of Assisi
    Saint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St...

     Catholic Church (branch church; Filialkirche St. Franziskus), Hauptstraße – Gothic Revival
    Gothic Revival architecture
    The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...

     aisleless church
    Aisleless church
    An 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...

    , 1884-1886.
  • Hauptstraße/corner of Im Brühl – former pump well, latter half of 19th century.
  • Hauptstraße/corner of Zur Held – pump well, latter half of 19th century.

Economy

The municipality itself is characterized by agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

, even if nowadays only one farm, dealing mainly in dairy
Dairy
A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting of animal milk—mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffalo, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a dedicated dairy farm or section of a multi-purpose farm that is concerned...

, is still being run. Even before the First World War, many Steinebergers worked at a basalt
Basalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...

 quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...

 on the edge of the Steineberger Ley. Since this lay right near the historical ringwall on the “Ley”, closure of the quarry was already being considered in the 1950s. It eventually met just this fate in 1967, and beginning in 1976, the quarry became a wetland
Wetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....

. In 1983, the Steineberger Ley was officially declared a natural monument, thereby ensuring protection.

Today, the overwhelming majority of Steineberg inhabitants work in the service and industrial sectors throughout 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....

, mainly in Daun
Daun, Germany
Daun is a town in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the district seat and also the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Daun.- Location :...

, Wittlich
Wittlich
The town of Wittlich is the seat of the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, and thereby the middle centre for a feeder area of 56 municipalities in the Eifel and Moselle area with its population of roughly 64,000...

 or 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...

. Long commutes to work and shopping are an everyday reality here.

Transport

Steineberg lies right near the Autobahnen A 1 and A 48, southeast of the Vulkaneifel Autobahn junction. The nearest Autobahn interchange
Interchange (road)
In the field of road transport, an interchange is a road junction that typically uses grade separation, and one or more ramps, to permit traffic on at least one highway to pass through the junction without directly crossing any other traffic stream. It differs from a standard intersection, at which...

, Daun-Mehren, is only a few kilometres away. Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...

421 passes by the municipality’s southern limit. The nearest railway station is in Gerolstein
Gerolstein
Gerolstein is a town in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde. Gerolstein is headquarters to a large mineral water firm, Gerolsteiner Brunnen...

, more than 20 km away. Steineberg can be reached by bus on route 503 from Daun
Daun, Germany
Daun is a town in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the district seat and also the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Daun.- Location :...

.

See also

Steineberg (Westerwald) is also the name of a constituent community of Malberg
Malberg, Altenkirchen
Malberg is a municipality in the district of Altenkirchen, in Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany....

 in the Westerwald
Westerwald
The Westerwald is a low mountain range on the right bank of the River Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhine Massif...

.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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