Dockendorf is a municipality in the district of Bitburg-Prüm, 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 ...

, western

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

The town lies in the

South Eifel The South Eifel () refers to that part of the Eifel mountain region around the Bitburg-Prüm district in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is bordered to the south and southeast by the river Moselle, to the northwest by the Schnee Eifel ...

region, approximately 10 km southwest of

Bitburg Bitburg (; ; ) is a city in Germany, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate approximately 25 km (16 mi.) northwest of Trier and 50 km (31 mi.) northeast of Luxembourg (city), Luxembourg city. The American Spangdahlem Air Base i ...

. It is situated in the west edge of the Nims valley and a brook that leads to the Nims flows through the town. The highest point of the municipality is the "Großenbüsch" at 379 meters above sea level, the lowest point is the Dockendorf Mill at 225 meters above sea level. 60% of the 5.82 km² municipality is used for agriculture, and 30% is covered by forest.

History

The town in its current form most likely arose from the time of the capture of the land by the

Frankish Empire The Carolingian Empire (800–887) was a Frankish-dominated empire in Western and Central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the Lomba ...

. However, the

Romans 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 ...

had already settled parts of the area, as evidenced by remnants of a tower castle near the Dockendorf mill. The first documented reference to Dockendorf occurred in 1270. For many years, the municipality belonged to the Luxembourgish Propstei of Bitburg and since 1816 to the

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

Bitburg-Prüm The Eifelkreis Bitburg-Prüm () is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) Luxembourg, Belgium and the districts of Euskirchen, Vulkaneifel, Bernkastel-Wittlich and Trier-Saarburg. History ...

district. During the French period, Dockendorf was the

mairie In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

, which later became the office of the mayor (Bürgermeisterei). This expanded to include the municipality of Wolsfeld, and in 1970, these plus four other municipalities were combined as the result of communal reform to join the Bitburg-Prüm

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 ...

Municipal Council

The

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

of Dockendorf consists of six councilors elected by the local plurality election in

on May 25, 2014.

Attractions

Throughout the municipality lie many landmark

farmhouse FarmHouse (FH) is a men's social fraternity founded at the University of Missouri on April 15, 1905. It became a national organization in 1921. Today FarmHouse has 34 active chapters in the United States and Canada.FarmHouse Fraternity New Memb ...

s from the 18th and 19th centuries. The most important structures in Dockendorf include the Forest Chapel (Waldkapelle), the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

, and the old rectory, which exhibits four different architectural styles. The rectory has been restored both inside and out and is an important regional

cultural monument A national heritage site is a heritage site having a value that has been registered by a governmental agency as being of national importance to the cultural heritage or history of that country. Usually such sites are listed in a heritage registe ...

. Between the 17th and 19th centuries, a total of five calvaries were built in the district. The nearby "Scharren bei Dockendorf"

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

hosts a selection of rare plant species.

Economy

Dockendorf is an extremely agriculture-dependent municipality, supporting both full-time and part-time farming operations. In the last few years, the amount of agriculturally-suitable land has grown in comparison to neighboring municipalities. In addition, both a construction company and a distillery have begun operations in Dockendorf. Nonetheless, most working residents living in Dockendorf commute to

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 ...

, or

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. The

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 ...

257 lies one kilometer east of Dockendorf and connects the town with the

Bundesautobahn 60 is an autobahn in Germany. During its entire course it forms a part of the E 42. Overview The A 60 begins at the former border crossing Steinebrück four lanes as a continuation of the Belgian A 27 from Liège. The state border runs on the 41 ...

in Bitburg, 10 km away.

References

Bitburg-Prüm {{BitburgPrüm-geo-stub