Ahrbrück () is a municipality in the district of Ahrweiler, in

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 ...

. The municipality comprises the three districts of Ahrbrück (formerly known as Denn), Brück and Pützfeld.

History

In 893, Pützfeld was mentioned as a possession of the monastery of

Prüm Prüm () is a town in the Westeifel (Rhineland-Palatinate), Germany. Formerly a district capital, today it is the administrative seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") Prüm (Verbandsgemeinde), Prüm. Geography Prüm lies o ...

. The rural communities of Bruck and Denn were first documented in 1265. In the 13th century, the three settlements belonged to the County of Are and by 1246 they were part of the

Electorate of Cologne The Electorate of Cologne (), sometimes referred to as Electoral Cologne (), was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from the 10th to the early 19th century. It consisted of the Hochstift—the temporal posses ...

. Pützfeld had a larger castle and by 1681 it's

Lady chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British English, British term for a chapel dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church (building), church. The chapels are also known as a Mary chape ...

was built next to the river

Ahr Ahr () is a river in Germany, a left tributary of the Rhine. Its source is at an elevation of approximately above sea level in Blankenheim in the Eifel, in the cellar of a timber-frame house near the castle of Blankenheim. After it crosses f ...

. In 1938, the citizens of Denn were evacuated to permit the establishment of an Air Force training area. The town was renamed Ahrbrück when the settlement was re-colonized after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The Ahrbrück crystal factory became a refuge for

ethnic Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The constitution of Germany, implemented in 1949 following the end of World War ...

expelled from

Sudetenland The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and ) is a German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the border districts of Bohe ...

. Today's church was rebuilt on 7 June 1969, after the dissolution of the previously independent municipalities of Ahrbrück (502 inhabitants), Brück (443 inhabitants) and Pützfeld (230 inhabitants).

Population

Population as of 31. December: : Data source: Statistical Office of Rhineland-Palatinate

Politics

The local council in Ahrbrück consists of 16 Council members who were elected by the local elections of 7 June 2009. The council appoints an honorary mayor as chairman. Distribution of seats in the elected council:Kommunalwahl Rheinland-Pfalz 2009, Gemeinderat
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Culture

Notable are the village chapels of St. Rochus in Ahrbrück and of St. Katharina in Brück. Additionally, the

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

shrine Marien-Wallfahrtskapelle () in Pützfeld was restored in 1993.

References

Populated places in Ahrweiler (district) {{Ahrweiler-geo-stub