Dreis is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

belonging to a ''

Verbandsgemeinde A (; plural ) is a low-level administrative division, administrative unit in the Germany, German States of Germany, federal states of Brandenburg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt. A is typically composed of a small group of Municipalitie ...

'', a kind of collective municipality – in the

Bernkastel-Wittlich Bernkastel-Wittlich (German language, German: ''Landkreis Bernkastel-Wittlich'') is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Vulkaneifel, Cochem-Zell, Rhein-Hunsrück, Birkenfeld ...

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Geography

Dreis lies on the river Salm at the point where it flows out of the

Eifel The Eifel (; , ) is a low mountain range in western Germany, eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Com ...

at the foot of the Burgberg, on the edge of the

Wittlich Depression The Wittlich Depression ( or ''Wittlicher Rotliegend-Senke''), less commonly, the Wittlich Basin, is the continuation of the Trier Valley in a northeasterly direction. It is not only recognisable in the terrain as an elongated depression (geology ...

. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Wittlich-Land, whose seat is in

Wittlich Wittlich (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Wittlech'') is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany, the seat of the Bernkastel-Wittlich Districts of Germany, district. Its historic town centre and the beauty of the sur ...

, although that town is itself not in the ''Verbandsgemeinde''.

History

Dreis is one of the oldest places in the ''Wittlicher Land''. The village gets its name from the sour spring that can be found in the hear of the village. Dreis, a kingly estate (''fisci'') was donated by

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

’s brother

Carloman I Carloman I (28 June 751 – 4 December 771), German Karlmann, Karlomann, was king of the Franks from 768 until his death in 771. He was the second surviving son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon and was a younger brother of Charlemagne. ...

towards the end of the 8th century to the

Abbey of Echternach The Abbey of Echternach is a Benedictine monastery in the town of Echternach, in eastern Luxembourg. The abbey was founded in the 7th century by St Willibrord, the patron saint of Luxembourg. For three hundred years, it benefited from the pat ...

on the river

Sauer The Sauer ( German and Luxembourgish, , ) or Sûre ( French, ) is a river in Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. A left tributary of the Moselle, its total length is . Rising near Vaux-sur-Sûre in the Ardennes in southeastern Belgium, the Sauer f ...

. In 785, Emperor Charlemagne confirmed his brother’s donation. A certificate of the original donation had not been issued. Carloman died in 771. A copy of the certificate is found in the Abbey’s “golden book” (''Liber aureus''), which is now kept in

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

. Beginning in 1794, Dreis lay under

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

rule. In 1815 it was assigned to the Kingdom of

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

at the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...

. Since 1946, it has been part of the then newly founded

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Politics

Municipal council

The council is made up of 16 council members, who were elected by

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman. The 16 seats are shared among three voters’ groups: Steffgen (6 seats), Lütticken (6 seats) and Berg (4 seats).

Coat of arms

The municipality’s

arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

might be described thus: Or an eagle bicapitated displayed sable with nimbi gules surmounted by a Latin cross argent, itself surmounted by a dexter hand palewise proper, the forefinger and middle finger extended, the others flexed. The arms go back to a court seal from 1722 which bore the inscription ''SVB MANV SOLIVS DEI'' (“Under the only God’s hand”). The eagle is the old Imperial eagle. The cross and the hand are traditional

charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * '' Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

s locally standing for the old jurisdiction that the municipality held. The hand, with the forefinger and middle finger extended, is what in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

is called a ''

Schwurhand The ''Schwurhand'' (, "Oath, swear-hand"; ) is a traditional List of gestures, hand gesture and heraldic Charge (heraldry), charge (depicting the gesture) that is used in Germanic peoples, Germanic Europe and neighbouring countries, when swearing ...

'' (“swearing hand” or “oath-taking hand”), as this is the typical gesture locally. The approval from the state of Rhineland-Palatinate for Dreis to bear its own arms was issued on 20 March 1962.Description and explanation of Dreis’s arms
/ref>

Culture and sightseeing

Schloss Dreis

Schloss Dreis, built in 1774 as the Echternach abbots’ summer seat, later passed into the ownership of the Counts of

Walderdorff The House of Walderdorff is the name of an old and distinguished German noble family, whose members occupied many important ecclesiastical positions within the Holy Roman Empire. Since the 17th century the family has been residing on Molsberg ...

. The two-and-a-half floor quarrystone building with red sandstone structural members is truly worth seeing for its rich décor.

Economy and infrastructure

The ''Waldhotel Sonnora'' in Dreis is, according to

Gault Millau Gault et Millau () is a French restaurant guide. It was founded by two restaurant critics, Henri Gault and Christian Millau in 1965. Points system Gault Millau rates restaurants on a scale of 1 to 20, with 20 being the highest. Restaurants given ...

, among the nine best restaurants in Germany.

References

External links

*
Dreis
at the

Eifel Club The Eifel Club () is one of the largest hiking, rambling clubs in Germany with a membership of 28.000. Its purpose is the "maintenance of local customs, the protection and care of monuments to which it is particularly committed". The Eifel Clu ...

{{Authority control Bernkastel-Wittlich