Alzey-Worms () is a district in
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) 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 ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. It is bounded by (from the east and clockwise) the district
Groß-Gerau
Groß-Gerau () is the district seat of the Groß-Gerau district, lying in the southern Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region in Hesse, Germany, and serving as a hub for the surrounding area. In 1994, the town hosted the 34th Hessentag state festival.
Geogra ...
(
Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...
), the city of
Worms and the districts of
Bad Dürkheim
Bad Dürkheim () is a spa town in the Rhine-Neckar urban agglomeration, and is the seat of the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Geography
Location
Bad Dürkheim lies at the edge of Palatinate Forest on the German Win ...
,
Donnersbergkreis
The Donnersbergkreis is a district (''Kreis'') in the middle of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are Bad Kreuznach, Alzey-Worms, Bad Dürkheim, Kaiserslautern, Kusel.
History
The district was created in 1969 by merging the dis ...
,
Bad Kreuznach and
Mainz-Bingen
Mainz-Bingen is a district (''Kreis'') in the east of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from north clockwise) Rheingau-Taunus, the district-free cities Wiesbaden and Mainz, the districts Groß-Gerau, Alzey-Worms, Bad ...
.
History
The territory was in
Roman times part of the province of
Germania Superior. The towns of Worms and Alzey go both back to Roman
military camp
A military camp or bivouac is a semi-permanent military base, for the lodging of an army. Camps are erected when a military force travels away from a major installation or fort during training or operations, and often have the form of large cam ...
s. In medieval times the region was part of the
Electorate of the Palatinate. After the
French occupation (1797–1814) it was incorporated into the
Grand Duchy of Hesse and formed a part of its province
Rhenish Hesse
Rhenish Hesse or Rhine HesseDickinson, Robert E (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, p. 542. . (german: Rheinhessen) is a region and a former government district () in the German state of Rhineland- ...
.
Two districts named Alzey and Worms were established in 1835. In the reorganisation of the districts of Rhineland-Palatinate in 1969 the new district of Alzey-Worms was formed by merging parts of the former districts.
Geography
The district is named after the city of Worms (which is neighboring, but not belonging to the district) and the town of
Alzey (which is the seat of the district). The
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
forms the eastern boundary. From there the land gently rises to the
Alzey Hills The Alzey Hills (german: Alzeyer Hügelland) form a region of low, rolling hills, or '' Hügelland'', 275 km² in area and up to , in Rhenish Hesse in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. From a natural region perspective they are part of ...
in the west, which is the northernmost extension of the
Palatinate Forest. The westernmost portion of the district is crossed by several brooks and covered with forests; it is called the ''Rheinhessische Schweiz'' (
Rhenish-Hessian Switzerland
Rhenish-Hessian Switzerland (german: Rheinhessische Schweiz) is a protected landscape and recreation area in the southwest of the German region of Rhenish Hesse (''Rheinhessen''). It was established in 1961 and has an area of 6,766 hectares.
The f ...
).
Coat of arms
The coat of arms displays a dragon and the fiddle. The
dragon is the heraldic symbol of the city of
Worms, while the fiddle stands for
Alzey. Both themes occur in the
Nibelungenlied
The ( gmh, Der Nibelunge liet or ), translated as ''The Song of the Nibelungs'', is an epic poem written around 1200 in Middle High German. Its anonymous poet was likely from the region of Passau. The is based on an oral tradition of Germani ...
, the old German
epos playing in the region. The hero
Siegfried killed
Fafnir the dragon and gained wisdom from drinking its blood. The fiddle belongs to Volker the minstrel, another character of the Nibelungenlied, who allegedly had lived in Alzey.
Towns and municipalities
''Verband''-free towns:
#
Alzey
References
External links
* (German)
{{Authority control
Districts of Rhineland-Palatinate
Worms, Germany