Bedesbach 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

Kusel Kusel (; written ''Cusel'' until 1865) is a town in the Kusel (district), Kusel Districts of Germany, district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the Kusel-Altenglan ''Verbandsgemeinde'' and is also the district seat. The well-kno ...

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 ...

. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Kusel-Altenglan, whose seat is in

. Bedesbach is also a state-recognized tourist resort.

Geography

Location

The municipality lies in the Kusel '' Musikantenland'' (“Minstrels’ Land”) in the Western Palatinate on the river Glan. Bedesbach lies on the river's right bank, across from Patersbach over on the left bank, at an elevation of roughly 200 m above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. The mountains that edge the valley reach elevations of about 400 m above from the sea level (Sulzberg 402 m, Hohenestel with cabin and lookout tower 399 m, Bächelskopf 357 m). The Sulzbach, which rises east of the village at the Birkenhübel (298 m), flows along a short course, emptying into the Glan downstream from the village. The municipal area measures 443 ha, of which 44 ha is wooded.

Neighbouring municipalities

Bedesbach borders in the north on the municipality of Ulmet, in the east on the municipality of Welchweiler, in the south and west on the municipality of Altenglan and in the northwest on the municipality of Erdesbach. Bedesbach also meets the municipality of

Sankt Julian Sankt Julian (often rendered St. Julian) is an ''Ortsgemeinde (Germany), Ortsgemeinde'' – a Municipalities of Germany, municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel (district), Kusel District ...

at a single point in the northeast. Also belonging to Bedesbach is the outlying homestead of Sulzbacher Hof.

Municipality’s layout

The core of this village, which was originally a small clump village, lies on a low, flat elevation at the valley's edge, an expanse of land that is somewhat shielded against

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

ing. In this part of the village, the old houses built for farming that still stand out clearly. In the expansions before 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 ...

down the valley and back from the river towards the mountains, a mixture of building forms arose. After the war, farther down the valley in the bow of the Sulzbach and on the mountain slope (Schleidchen), a new, looser housing development was built with many single-family dwellings, and a few multiple-family dwellings. Small industrial facilities are built into the residential area. Village renewal and property boundary rationalization (a kind of '' Flurbereinigung'' called ''Ortslagenflurbereinigung'') were also undertaken to promote

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

. Bedesbach has several times been the district-level winner in the contest ''Unser Dorf soll schöner werden'' (“Our village should become lovelier”).

History

Antiquity

Unearthed on a flat-topped hillock not far from the graveyard was a

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

knife blade, likely from the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

. This

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

find shows that the area was settled long before the village was founded. It is also certain that there were people in the area of what is now Bedesbach in the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

, the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

times, as finds from these times bear witness.

Middle Ages

The village itself was founded in the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages (historiography), Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start o ...

, some 500 years before the thus far earliest known documentary mention in a 1364 document. Bedesbach lay in the so-called ''Remigiusland'', which was transferred in the mid 12th century to the Counts of Veldenz as a ''Schutzvogtei'', whereby the Counts were the territory's “protectors”. According to the 1364 document, all villages in the '' Amt'' of Altenglan-Brücken, and thereby also Bedesbach, had to pay for the provisioning of the newlyweds Heinrich (III) von Veldenz and Lauretta von

Sponheim Sponheim is a municipality in the district of Bad Kreuznach in Rhineland-Palatinate in western Germany. History Sponheim was the capital of the County of Sponheim. Sponheim Abbey There was a Benedictine abbey which was founded in 1101 by Steph ...

, who had chosen Lichtenberg Castle as their residential seat. Bedesbach stayed with the County of Veldenz until 1444, when the last Count of Veldenz died. He did indeed have an heir, but it was a daughter, and she could not inherit her father's title. She was married to Count Palatine Stephan, who took his wife's inheritance and combined it with his own holdings to form a new state, which in time came to be known as the Duchy of Palatinate-Zweibrücken.

Modern times

Bedesbach shared this state's history until, like all other

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

states in the region, it was swept away under the tide of the French Revolution. Only a few villagers survived the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

, and the village itself had to be newly settled by newcomers. In the late 17th century, there were once more great losses, this time due to King Louis XIV's wars of conquest. Nevertheless, the village recovered during the 18th century. During the French Revolutionary and

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

ic times from 1801 to 1814, Bedesbach lay within the Department of

Mont-Tonnerre Mont-Tonnerre () was a department of the First French Republic and later the First French Empire in present-day Germany. It was named after the highest point in the Palatinate, the '' Donnersberg'' ("Thunder Mountain", possibly referring to Do ...

(or Donnersberg 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 ...

), in the

Arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, and certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissem ...

of Kaiserslautern and in the Canton of Wolfstein. Bedesbach belonged then to the ''Mairie'' (“Mayoralty”) of Horschbach, but was also governed temporarily by the ''Mairie'' of Ulmet. Beginning in 1817, once the Palatinate had been granted to the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingd ...

by 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 ...

, the Canton of Wolfstein was grouped into the ''Landkommissariat'' of Kusel and Bedesbach at first remained in the Canton of Wolfstein and the ''Bürgermeisterei'' (“Mayoralty”) of Horschbach. In 1836, however, it passed to the Canton of Kusel and the ''Bürgermeisterei'' of Altenglan. This arrangement did not change until the 1968 administrative restructuring in

Recent times

During this 1968 reform, Bedesbach, which in the meantime had grown into a considerable

resort, had to fight hard to keep its autonomy. In the course of all the municipal mergers, Bedesbach was at first amalgamated with the neighbouring village of Patersbach and at the same time amalgamated along with Patersbach with Altenglan. The municipality disagreed with the administrative decision and as early as 1970 had got its autonomy back. Since then, Bedesbach has been an ''Ortsgemeinde'' within the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Altenglan.

Population development

Population figures from the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

are not available. According to the so-called 1609 Konken Protocols (''Konker Protokolle''), eleven families with 51 people were living in the village at that time. Only a few survived the

, and only in the 18th century did the population begin once again to rise healthily. It is known that during this time, seven families

emigrated Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

, one to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and the other six to the lands in the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

. In the 19th century, the number of emigrations rose. The population figures themselves, though, kept rising, almost continuously as a result of the favourable location for living and transport, but also because of particular efforts by the villagers to improve their own economic structure. The following table shows population development over the centuries for Bedesbach, with some figures broken down by religious denomination:

Municipality’s name

The village's name has taken these forms over the ages: ''Bechtenspach'' (1364), Bedesbach (1446), ''Bechtesbach'' (1453), ''Bertzebach'' (1456), ''Bettesbach'' (1593), ''Pfeddesbach'' (1573) and Bedesbach (1824). Researcher Ernst Christmann noted “The villages of Bedesbach and Patersbach, lying across from each other, each have a tributary emptying into the Glan here, and these (have) from persons their names.” The first part of Bedesbach's name is thus somebody's name, perhaps the

Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic languages, Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from ...

name ''Berthin''. According to this version, today's Sulzbach would originally have been the ''Bedesbach'', and the original Sulzbach (today the Horchmannsgraben) would have been a tributary to this ''Bedesbach'' or ''Bechtelsbach''.

Vanished villages

Northeast of Bedesbach, likely in the area where the Sulzbacherhof now lies, once lay the village of Sulzbach which, like Bedesbach itself, had its first documentary mention in 1364 in Heinrich II's document for his son, also named Heinrich, and daughter-in-law, Lauretta von Sponheim. From Sulzbach came the noble family of the Lords of Sulzbach and of Alben, whose representatives were the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

emperor's influential

retainers Retainer may refer to: * Retainer (orthodontics), devices for teeth * RFA ''Retainer'' (A329), a ship * Retainers in early China, a social group in early China Employment * Retainer agreement, a contract in which an employer pays in advance for ...

in the

Late Middle Ages The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the Periodization, period of History of Europe, European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period ( ...

. In Johannes Hofmann's 1588 description of the '' Oberamt'' of Lichtenberg, this village was already described as having vanished. In 1491, it apparently had already fallen into decline. The estate of Sulzbacherhof takes its name from the old village, but is a later founding.

Religion

Bedesbach lay in the ''Remigiusland'', and thereby belonged from the time of its founding to the Church of

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

, although under ecclesiastical organization, it was assigned to the

Archbishopric of Mainz The Electorate of Mainz ( or '; ), previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, the Archbishop-Elec ...

. Within regional ecclesiastical organization, the village always belonged to the Church of Altenglan, but for those times when, owing to war, Altenglan ended up without a church. Thus, in the wake of the

, the villagers were tended by the Church of Ulmet, Bosenbach or

Eßweiler Eßweiler (, with a short E; also ''Essweiler'') is an ''Ortsgemeinde (Germany), Ortsgemeinde'' – a Municipalities of Germany, municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel (district), Kusel ...

. In the age of the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, all the villagers had converted to

Lutheranism Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

by 1534, and then in 1588, on Count Palatine Johannes I's

orders Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * H ...

, everyone had to convert to

Calvinism Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyteri ...

. Lutherans and

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

could only set foot in the municipality once again in the late 17th century. The Catholics today belong to the parish of Rammelsbach. A few

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

came to Bedesbach, likely as far back as the 18th century, but already by the time after the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, there were no more Jews living in the village. Of the 235 inhabitants living in Bedesbach in 1825, 219 (92%) were

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

, 11 (5%) were Catholic and 6 (3%) were Jewish. Of the 779 inhabitants living in Bedesbach in 1997, 630 (81%) were Evangelical and 62 (8%) were Catholic, while 25 (3%) belonged to other denominations and 62 (8%) professed no religion.

Politics

Municipal council

The council is made up of 12 council members, who were elected by

majority vote A majority is more than half of a total; however, the term is commonly used with other meanings, as explained in the "#Related terms, Related terms" section below. It is a subset of a Set (mathematics), set consisting of more than half of the se ...

at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.

Mayor

Bedesbach's mayor is Peter Koch.

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: A bend sinister wavy azure between argent a lion rampant sinister issuant from the bend sinister armed and langued gules, and Or a dove wings erect tenné with an olive sprig proper in its beak. The municipality of Bedesbach belonged in the

to the

County of Veldenz The County Palatine of Veldenz was a principality in the contemporary States of Germany, Land Rhineland-Palatinate with full voting rights to the Reichstag. The county was located partially between Kaiserslautern, Sponheim and Zweibrücken, part ...

and later passed to the Duchy of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, with which it remained until the French Revolution. The wavy blue bend sinister (slanted stripe) is a

canting ' (International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: , Van Ophuijsen Spelling System, VOS Spelling: , ) is a pen-like tool used to apply liquid hot wax () in the batik-making process in Indonesia, more precisely (). Traditional consists of copper wax-con ...

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 ...

referring to the last syllable in the municipality's name, ''—bach'', which in

means “brook”. The blue Veldenz lion in silver recalls Bedesbach's past as a Veldenz, and later Zweibrücken, holding. Since Bedesbach also lay in the old ''Remigiusland'', the dove with the olive sprig,

Saint Remigius Remigius ( or ; – 13 January 533) was the Bishop of Reims and "Apostle of the Franks". On 25 December 496, he baptised Clovis I, King of the Franks. The baptism, leading to about 3000 additional converts, was an important event in the Christ ...

’s attribute, has been incorporated into the arms as a charge. The dove’s

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

tenné In heraldry, tenné (; sometimes termed tenny or tawny) is a "stain", or non-standard tincture, of orange (in English blazonry), light brown (in French heraldry) or orange- tawny (in continental heraldry) colour. Tenné, however, is not to be ...

, is not a common one, but is not considered unusual in

heraldry Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and genealo ...

, and it is always to be rendered as shown here. The arms have been borne since 1970, when they were approved by the now defunct

Rheinhessen-Pfalz Rheinhessen-Pfalz (rarely anglicized as "Rhine-Hesse-Palatinate") was one of the three ''Regierungsbezirke'' of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, located in the south of the state. It was created in 1968 out of ''Regierungsbezirke'' Rheinhessen and ...

Regierungsbezirk A ' (, 'governmental district') is a type of administrative division in Germany. Currently, four of sixteen ' (states of Germany) are split into '. Beneath these are rural and urban districts ' (plural, ) serve as regional mid-level local gov ...

'' administration.

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

The following are listed buildings or sites in

’s Directory of Cultural Monuments: * Hauptstraße 6 – ''Quereinhaus'' (a combination residential and commercial house divided for these two purposes down the middle, perpendicularly to the street), 1821, barn wing after 1842, commercial yard with well and

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of any tree of the genus '' Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. They are accessory fruit because the outer covering of the fruit is technically an i ...

tree; characterizes village’s appearance * Near Ringstraße 16 – former smithy; one-floor plastered building, whetstone, mid 19th century; technical equipment The former schoolhouse was renovated in 2002 and now serves as the village community centre. Nesting in the

loft A loft is a building's upper storey or elevated area in a room directly under the roof (American usage), or just an attic: a storage space under the roof usually accessed by a ladder (primarily British usage). A loft apartment refers to large ...

are

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

s of the species ''Myotis myotis'', the

greater mouse-eared bat The greater mouse-eared bat (''Myotis myotis'') is a European species of bat in the family Vespertilionidae. Description ''Myotis myotis'' is a large bat with a long, broad muzzle and big, long ears. The body's dorsal side is brown to reddish-br ...

, Germany’s largest bat species.

Regular events

Old customs are today observed almost not at all. However, there is a ''Brunnenfest'' (“Fountain Festival”) in late May, a

kermis Kermesse, or kermis, or kirmess, is an outdoor fair or festival usually organized for charitable purposes. The term was derived from 'kerk' (church) and 'mis' (mass) in the original Dutch language term, and was borrowed in English, French, Spa ...

(church consecration festival, locally known as the ''Kerb'') on the first weekend in July and the ''Schmiedefest'' (“Smithy Festival”) on the last Sunday in August.

Museums

The old smithy houses a

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

that displays the original blacksmithing equipment and keeps the memory of old crafts alive. Viewing and demonstrations can be arranged ahead of time.

Clubs

Bedesbach has many clubs, some of which even devote themselves to furthering

. Foremost among the village's clubs are: *Countrywomen's club (''Landfrauenverein'') *Fruitgrowing and

gardening Gardening is the process of growing plants for their vegetables, fruits, flowers, herbs, and appearances within a designated space. Gardens fulfill a wide assortment of purposes, notably the production of Aesthetics, aesthetically pleasing area ...

club (''Obst- und Gartenbauverein'') *

Gymnastic Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sho ...

and sport club (''Turn- und Sportverein'') *Model sport club (''Modellsportclub “Mittleres Glantal” '') *Seniors’ club (''Rentnerverein'') *Singing and conversation club (''Gesang- und Unterhaltungsverein'') * SPD local club (''SPD Ortsverein'') *

Tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

club (''Tennisclub'') *Transport club (''Verkehrsverein'') *Volunteer

fire brigade A fire department (North American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire company, fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and ...

(''Freiwillige Feuerwehr'')

Economy and infrastructure

Economic structure

Originally, the inhabitants earned their livelihood mainly at

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

. Quite early on, though, they sought to exploit mineral wealth. As in many places in the Westrich, an historic region that encompasses areas in both Germany and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, there were also collieries in Bedesbach. Near the limit with Ulmet, as early as 1773, a substantial coal seam was discovered at the Hellerberg (mountain) by a farmer, which the Zweibrücken Chief Mountain Director (''Oberbergdirektor'') Stahl later had exploited, an endeavour at which over the years Stahl himself and the Duke of Zweibrücken (for his private estate) made a profit of more than 10,000 ''Gulden''. The coal thus mined was used mainly by smiths and lime burners. Since the coal was dug to a certain extent destructively, the mine eventually caved in. A new gallery was built that was roughly 290 m long. The colliery at the Hellerberg was run until 1840, and again for a short while after the

. After 1800, there were three further galleries under the collective name ''Karlsgrube'' in the Kerzenbach and in the Grundwäldchen (wood). Employed here were four to six workers, who over time mined 2,600 metric tons of coal. Within municipal limits, there was also lime mining and burning during the 19th century.

Quicklime Calcium oxide (formula: Ca O), commonly known as quicklime or burnt lime, is a widely used chemical compound. It is a white, caustic, alkaline, crystalline solid at room temperature. The broadly used term '' lime'' connotes calcium-containin ...

production had to be given up after the

owing to unprofitability. The attempt to further

by furnishing lodgings, putting together an adequate dining sector, creating local facilities and laying out

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

trails was enjoying success even decades ago. Sometimes there were 12,000 overnight stays each year. The tourism boom has, however, not held out.

Established businesses

Among major enterprises in Bedesbach, the “Baumrech” hard-stone quarry is still in business today, having been opened in 1919 by ''Eiserfelder Steinwerke''. After 1920, the quarry employed for a time 80 workers and daily made from 300 to 400 metric tons of crushed stone. Also of importance was the making of paving stones, with some 60 metric tons being hewn each day. In the time when the

Siegfried Line The Siegfried Line, known in German as the ''Westwall (= western bulwark)'', was a German defensive line built during the late 1930s. Started in 1936, opposite the French Maginot Line, it stretched more than from Kleve on the border with the ...

was being built, the quarry managed to raise its general output considerably. Before the

, some 250 workers were employed at the quarry. After the war, production was started again, at first hesitantly, and the rather more insistently once again, although with the now customary economization and

automation Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, mainly by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machine ...

. Only a few workers now produce several times the amount of crushed stone as those who worked here in bygone days. Among other industries in Bedesbach is a

tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, Rock (geology), stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, wal ...

-laying company, which also runs a tile wholesaling operation. There are also a planning and construction office, a business that manufactures precision parts for machine building, a big

bakery A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based baked goods made in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, doughnuts, bagels, Pastry, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as Coffeehouse, cafés, servi ...

, a

stairway A stairwell or stair room is a room in a building where a stair is located, and is used to connect walkways between floors so that one can move in height. Collectively, a set of stairs and a stairwell is referred to as a staircase or stairway. ...

-building business and a metalworking business.

Transport

Bedesbach is well linked to the transport network. The village lies just across the Glan bridge from ''

Bundesstraße ''Bundesstraße'' (, ), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways. Germany Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km. German ''Bundesstraßen'' are labelled with re ...

'' 420, which runs through the neighbouring village of Patersbach, a constituent community of Altenglan. To the south lies the

Autobahn The (; German , ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. Much of t ...

A 62 (

Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern (; ) is a town in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, 666 kilometers (414 m ...

–

Trier Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

); the Kusel

interchange Interchange may refer to: Transport * Interchange (road), a collection of ramps, exits, and entrances between two or more highways * Interchange (freight rail), the transfer of freight cars between railroad companies * Interchange station, a rai ...

lies some 12 km away. ''

Kreisstraße A Kreisstraße (, or 'county road') is a class of road in Germany. It carries traffic between the towns and villages within a ''Districts of Germany, Kreis'' or district or between two neighbouring districts. In importance, the ''Kreisstraße'' ...

'' 36 stands as a direct link to Welchweiler, while ''Kreisstraße'' 35 leads to ''

Landesstraße ''Landesstraßen'' (singular: ''Landesstraße'' ) are roads in Germany and Austria that are, as a rule, the responsibility of the respective German or Austrian federal state. The term may therefore be translated as "state road". They are road ...

'' 368, which links Altenglan with

and leads to the Altenglan

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...

. Altenglan station is on the Landstuhl–Kusel railway and the now closed

Glan Valley Railway The Glan Valley Railway () is a non-electrified line along the Glan (Nahe), Glan river, in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It consists of the Glan-Münchweiler–Altenglan section, which was built as part of the Landstuhl–Kusel railwa ...

(''Glantalbahn''). The stretch of the ''Glantalbahn'' (a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

formerly running all the way from Homburg in the

Saarland Saarland (, ; ) is a state of Germany in the southwest of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and the smallest in ...

to Bad Münster am Stein) running through Odenbach is out of service, having withdrawn service in 1985. On its tracks, visitors may ride

draisine A draisine () is a light auxiliary rail vehicle, driven by service personnel, equipped to transport crew and material necessary for the maintenance of railway infrastructure. The eponymous term is derived from the German inventor Baron Karl D ...

s during the summer months.

Education

About the middle of the 18th century, the neighbouring villages of Bedesbach and Patersbach together shared a winter school (a school geared towards an agricultural community's practical needs, held in the winter, when farm families had a bit more time to spare). The first ''Schuldiener'' (“school server”) – that is to say, teacher – was, according to records, Johann Scherp, himself a teacher's son from Volksheim. The teacher's recompense consisted of 9 ''Gulden'' each year and free board. Each year, to the “

Hauptschule A ''Hauptschule'' (, "general school") is a secondary school in Germany, starting after four years of elementary schooling (''Grundschule''), which offers Lower Secondary Education (Level 2) according to the International Standard Classification ...

” in Altenglan, 1 ''Malter'' and 4 ''Fass'' of grain had to be yielded up, along with 2 ''Malter'', 3 ''Fass'' and 12 ''Sester'' of

oats The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural). Oats appear to have been domesticated as a secondary crop, as their seed ...

, and in money, 8 ''Gulden'', 6 ''Batzen'' and 1 ''Pfennig''. It goes without saying that during the time of French rule after 1800, the school was closed for a long time. Later in the 19th century, Bedesbach got its own school. Only in 1938 was it once again merged with the Patersbach school. The school now had three classes, with the lower level attending lessons in Patersbach and the middle and upper levels in Bedesbach. Since 1969, Hauptschule students have been attending the

Regionalschule In Germany, a Regionale Schule or Regionalschule ({{langx, en, "regional school") is a secondary school that allows attaining the graduation of Hauptschulabschluss, Berufsreife (after nine years) or Mittlere Reife (after ten years). It doesn't in ...

in Altenglan, while the

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

pupils have been attending the ''Grundschule Altenglan'' in Rammelsbach. A

Realschule Real school (, ) is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), F ...

, a Gymnasium and

vocational school A vocational school (alternatively known as a trade school, or technical school), is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary education#List of tech ed skills, secondary or post-secondar ...

s can be found in

. The schoolhouse became, after school reform in 1970, the village community centre, used for church services and club functions. It was later thoroughly renovated and then rededicated as the new village community centre in March 2002.

Famous people

Sons and daughters of the town

*Julius Cappel (b. 1890 in Bedesbach; d. 1961 in

Kirchheimbolanden Kirchheimbolanden is the capital and the second largest city of the Donnersbergkreis, in Rhineland-Palatinate. Situated in south-western Germany, it is approximately 25 km west of Worms, Germany, Worms, and 30 km north-east of Kaisersla ...

) ::Educator, 1946 President of the Evangelical State

Synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

of the Palatinate, 1949 ''Regierungsrat'' and ''Oberregierungsrat'' in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' administration of Pfalz, organized schooling and teacher training. *Philipp Dunzweiler (b. 1880 in Bedesbach; d. 1944 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

) ::As a

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

, Dunzweiler opposed

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

’s

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

dictatorship A dictatorship is an autocratic form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, who hold governmental powers with few to no Limited government, limitations. Politics in a dictatorship are controlled by a dictator, ...

during the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

. After his work colleagues denounced him, he was seized, and after being sentenced by the ''Volksgerichtshof'' in 1944, he was put to death.Sons and daughters of the town
/ref>

References

External links

Municipality’s official webpage
{{Authority control Municipalities in Rhineland-Palatinate Kusel (district)