Großlittgen (in

Eifel dialect The Eifel dialects (german: Eifeler Mundarten) are those dialects spoken in the Eifel mountains of Germany. They divide into two language regions: the dialects spoken in the southern Eifel (''Eifelisch'') are part of the Moselle Franconian dialect ...

: ''Gruhssleehtchen'') 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 Verbandsgemeinde (; plural Verbandsgemeinden) is a low-level administrative unit in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt. A Verbandsgemeinde is typically composed of a small group of villages or towns. Rhine ...

'', a kind of collective municipality – in the

Bernkastel-Wittlich Bernkastel-Wittlich ( 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, Trier-Saa ...

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, municipa ...

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 (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

Geography

The municipality lies in the

Eifel The Eifel (; lb, Äifel, ) is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Community of ...

and belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde''

Wittlich-Land Wittlich-Land is a ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") in the district Bernkastel-Wittlich, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is located around the town Wittlich, which is the seat of Wittlich-Land, but not part of the ''Verbandsgem ...

History

In 912, Großlittgen had its first documentary mention as ''Lutiaco''. In 1134 or 1135, Bernhard von Clairvaux founded the

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Sain ...

Himmerod Abbey near the village. During the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Pruss ...

, Großlittgen ended up under French rule beginning in 1794. In 1802, Himmerod Abbey was dissolved. In 1814 it was assigned to the Kingdom of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

at 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 B ...

. In 1922, the Abbey was founded anew by German Cistercian brothers from Marienstatt Abbey in the

Westerwald The Westerwald (; literally 'Western forest') is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Massif ( or Rhenish ...

. Since 1947, it has been part of the then newly founded

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * '' Our ...

Politics

Municipal council

The council is made up of 16 council members, who were elected by

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

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: ''Unter silbernem Schildhaupt, darin ein rotes Balkenkreuz, durch eingeschweifte goldene Spitze, darin ein schwarzer Löwe, gespalten: rechts in Rot ein silbernes Schwert, links in Rot zwei ineinander geschlungene goldene Ringe''. 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 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, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known bran ...

language be described thus: Tierced in mantle, dexter gules a sword bendwise sinister argent, sinister gules two annulets embraced in pale Or, in base Or a lion rampant sable, in a chief of the second a cross of the first. The cross charge in the chief is Electoral Trier's old armorial bearing. Großlittgen belonged to this state from 1341 to the late 18th century. The lion in base is the Lion of Luxembourg, recalling Großlittgen's time as a Luxembourgish fief; the family von Litiche from Luxembourg was enfeoffed with Großlittgen in the 12th century. The sword and also the

division of the field In heraldry, the field (background) of a shield can be divided into more than one area, or subdivision, of different tinctures, usually following the lines of one of the ordinaries and carrying its name (e.g. a shield divided in the shape of a ...

, which resembles a mantle spread open at the bottom, are references to Saint

Martin of Tours Martin of Tours ( la, Sanctus Martinus Turonensis; 316/336 – 8 November 397), also known as Martin the Merciful, was the third bishop of Tours. He has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints in France, heralded as th ...

, long the municipality's patron saint, the former being his attribute and the latter a reference to the story of Martin cutting off a piece of his mantle for a beggar. The two linked rings are an armorial device borne by Himmerod Abbey. The arms have been borne since 31 August 1987 when the ''

Regierungsbezirk A ' () means "governmental district" and is a type of administrative division in Germany. Four of sixteen ' ( states of Germany) are split into '. Beneath these are rural and urban districts. Saxony has ' (directorate districts) with more res ...

'' administration in Trier approved them.Description and explanation of Großlittgen’s arms

Culture and sightseeing

Worth seeing in Großlittgen is the

Himmerod Abbey.

Economy and infrastructure

The state-recognized tourism municipality has one

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

and one

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

. To the south runs the

Autobahn The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...

A 60, and to the east, A 1.

Notable people

Carl Hau Karl or Carl Hau (1881–1926) was an early 20th century German lawyer found guilty of murdering his mother-in-law. His sensational trial in 1907 sparked the Hau Riot, the biggest street riot of its kind in German history. Life Hau was born ...

(1881-1926) murderer *

John J. Raskob John Jakob Raskob, KCSG (March 19, 1879 – October 15, 1950) was a financial executive and businessman for DuPont and General Motors, and the builder of the Empire State Building. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 1928 ...

(1879-1950)

References

External links

Municipality’s official webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grosslittgen Bernkastel-Wittlich