Enkirch 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

The municipality lies below Traben-Trarbach at the mouth of a branched brook, the Ahringsbach, coming from the

Hunsrück The Hunsrück () is a long, triangular, pronounced mountain range, upland in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the valleys of the Moselle (river), Moselle-Saar (north-to-west), the Nahe (south), and the Rhine (east). It is continued ...

on the Moselle’s right bank, and some 52 km south of Cochem. From Enkirch to its mouth on the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

at the Deutsches Eck in

Koblenz Koblenz ( , , ; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz'') is a German city on the banks of the Rhine (Middle Rhine) and the Moselle, a multinational tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman military p ...

, the Moselle covers a distance of 102 km. Near Enkirch is a weir on the Moselle. Enkirch belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Traben-Trarbach, whose seat is in the like-named town.

History

It is assumed that there has been continuous habitation at what is now Enkirch for some 2,500 years, but the first traces of this go all the way back to 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 ...

. Enkirch was already an important centre as early as Celtic times, and then on into Roman times. On 1 April 733, Enkirch had its first documentary mention in the noblewoman Adela’s will as ''Anchiriacum''. It was mentioned for the second time on 10 February 908 by King Ludwig IV when he donated the church and manse to Archbishop Radbod of Trier. The document in question refers to the village as ''Ancaracha''. The municipality’s name evolved through the forms ''Enkricha'', ''Einkirke'' and ''Enkerich'' before settling on today’s form, Enkirch. Beginning in the 11th century, Enkirch belonged to the County of Sponheim. In the 12th century, the Sponheims built the ''Starkenburg'' (castle) above Enkirch. Sometime about the year 1240, the County was divided into the “Further” and “Hinder” County of Sponheim, or Sponheim-Kreuznach and Sponheim-Starkenburg. In 1135, the Ravengiersburg Monastery built a pilgrimage chapel consecrated to Mary on Enkirch's outskirts. This chapel was later expanded into a collegiate church and then in 1685 it was incorporated into a newly founded

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

monastery. After

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 ...

dissolved the monastery in the late 18th century, the church was turned over to the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

parish for their use. As early as 1248, by virtue of being the Rear County seat, Enkirch was granted town and market rights along with its own jurisdiction. At that time, Enkirch was fortified and girded with a town wall and seven gates. After the feud between Countess Loretta of Sponheim and the Prince-Archbishop-Elector Baldwin of Trier, and his capture by the Countess in 1328, Loretta's son John III, Count of Sponheim-Starkenburg built a new castle near Trarbach, the Grevenburg. This brought about a shift of the Rear County seat to Trarbach, and thereby a loss of importance to Enkirch, even though it was considerably bigger than Traben and Trarbach put together, even into the 19th century. Since Enkirch was fortified but now had no castle, the church, which had been mentioned as early as 908, served as a fortress church. In 1557, Frederick II of Simmern – later Frederick III, Elector Palatine – introduced 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 ...

into the '' Oberamt'' of Trarbach. Since this time, the church has been Evangelical. For its outstanding wineries, Enkirch was already well known very early on, as witnessed by 15 formerly ecclesiastical and comital winegrowing estates. Because of the many timber-frame houses built in the 15th to 18th century, Enkirch is also called the ''Schatzkammer rheinischen Fachwerkbaues'' (“Treasury of Rhenish Timber Framing”).

Religion

Some 1,100 of the inhabitants are Lutherans, while about 450 are

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 municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:

Coat of arms

The German blazon reads: ''In Schwarz ein gestürzter Anker mit rot weißem Schach auf den Flunken''. 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 in English heraldic language be described thus: Sable an anchor reversed Or, each of its flukes surmounted by an inescutcheon chequy argent and gules. Curiously, the German blazon does not mention the anchor's tincture, although it is shown as Or (gold) on the municipality's own website. The anchor is likely a canting charge: the German word for “anchor” is ''Anker'', which resembles ''Ankerich'', among other former names that the municipality has had. The oldest composition of Enkirch's arms goes back to 1248 and already shows the two inescutcheons with the checked pattern (“chequy”), the Sponheim armorial bearing. Over time, though, the two inescutcheons were charged differently, and at one point, a third one even appeared. Once Baden and a

Palatine A palatine or palatinus (Latin; : ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman Empire, Roman times.

sideline ( Palatinate-Simmern, later Palatinate-Zweibrücken or Palatinate-Birkenfeld) had come into ownership of the “Hinder” County of Sponheim, the two inescutcheons showed the Palatine Lion and the Baden bend (slanted stripe), while a third inescutcheon at the bottom of the anchor showed the Sponheims’ arms. In the late 19th century, though, the old arms were reinstated.

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

Worth putting foremost from the point of view of sightseeing are the two churches, one

Lutheran 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 ...

and one

. Very colourful old timber-frame houses can be found in narrow, very impressive laneways that bring back some of the flair of 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 ...

. In the area near the church meadow are also remnants of the mediaeval town fortifications. As well as its historical timber-frame houses, Enkirch also has many

Classicist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

buildings built between the mid 19th century and the end of 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 ...

, among which is the imposing old village school. This is no longer used as a school, but together with the ''Terstegen-Haus'', it houses, among others, the local music club. There is now a modern

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 ...

in the village centre.

References

External links

Municipality’s official webpage

at SWR Fernsehen
Enkirch at www.moseltouren.de
{{Authority control Bernkastel-Wittlich