Rathskirchen is a municipality in the

Donnersbergkreis The Donnersbergkreis is a district (''Kreis'') in the middle of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are Bad Kreuznach, Alzey-Worms, Bad Dürkheim, Kaiserslautern, Kusel. History The district was created in 1969 by merging the dist ...

district, 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 ...

Geography

Rathskirchen is located in the

North Palatine Uplands The North Palatine Uplands (, ), sometimes shortened to Palatine Uplands (''Pfälzer Bergland''), is a low mountain range and landscape unit in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate and belongs mainly to the Palatinate region. It is part of ...

, west of the

Donnersberg The Donnersberg (; literally: "thunder mountain") is the highest peak of the Palatinate () region of Germany. The mountain lies between the towns of Rockenhausen and Kirchheimbolanden, in the Donnersbergkreis district, which is named after th ...

, in the valley of the Hahnenbach stream. The nearest significant cities are

Bad Kreuznach Bad Kreuznach () is a town in the Bad Kreuznach (district), Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a spa town, known for its medieval bridge dating from around 1300, the Alte Nahebrücke (Bad Kreuznach), Alte Nahebrücke, ...

and

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 ...

. The municipality is made up of the two villages of Rathskirchen and Rudolphskirchen and the hamlet of Bösodenbacherhof. Neighbouring municipalities are Nußbach, Teschenmoschel,

Dörrmoschel Dörrmoschel is a municipality in the Donnersbergkreis district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, 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 ...

, Imsweiler, Reichsthal,

Seelen Seelen is a municipality in the Donnersbergkreis district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, 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 Hefersweiler.

History

After the

War of the First Coalition The War of the First Coalition () was a set of wars that several European powers fought between 1792 and 1797, initially against the Constitutional Cabinet of Louis XVI, constitutional Kingdom of France and then the French First Republic, Frenc ...

Rathskirchen and Rudolphskirchen were occupied and later annexed by

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 ...

with the

Treaty of Campo Formio The Treaty of Campo Formio (today Campoformido) was signed on 17 October 1797 (26 Vendémiaire VI) by Napoleon Bonaparte and Count Philipp von Cobenzl as representatives of the French Republic and the Austrian monarchy, respectively. The trea ...

in 1797. From 1798 to 1814 they belonged to the French Departement du Mont-Tonnerre. After 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 region was first given to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

(1815) and later to

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

(1816). After

World War II 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 two villages became part of

(1946). In 1969 the two independent villages of Rathskirchen (pop. 178) and Rudolphskirchen (pop. 80) formed the new municipality of Rathskirchen. In 1972 the municipality switched from Kusel district to the

district.

Politics

Mayor

Matthias Heckmann is the mayor of Rathskirchen since 2024. His predecessor Oskar Stark held the office since 1994.

Heraldry

The coat of arms shows a church, an argent anchor on vert (Dominion of

Reipoltskirchen Reipoltskirchen is an – a municipality belonging to a , a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Lauterecken-Wolfstein. Geography Location Reipo ...

) and an argent wheel on azure ( County of Falkenstein).

Infrastructure

The nearest highway exit is located along A63 in

Winnweiler Winnweiler () is a municipality in the Donnersbergkreis, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the upper course of the river Alsenz (river), Alsenz, approx. north-east of Kaiserslautern. Winnweiler is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemei ...

, 19 km (12 mi) southeast of Rathskirchen. Bus line 912 of the VRN serves both villages and connects them to

Rockenhausen Rockenhausen () is a town in the Donnersbergkreis, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the river Alsenz, approx. north of Kaiserslautern. Rockenhausen is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") Nordpfälz ...

, where a train station is located.

References

{{Authority control Municipalities in Rhineland-Palatinate Donnersbergkreis