Rüssingen 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

The municipality is located between

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 ...

and

Worms The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...

around 4 km (2.5 mi) east of

Göllheim Göllheim () is a municipality in the Donnersbergkreis, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated north of the Palatinate forest, approx. 25 km west of Worms. It was the site of the 1298 Battle of Göllheim. Göllheim is the seat of ...

. The landscape is part of the

Alzey Hills The Alzey Hills () form a region of low, rolling hills (geology), rolling hills, or ''Hügelland'', 275 km2 in area and up to , in Rhenish Hesse in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. From a natural region perspective they are part of the ...

. In the northeast of the district the ''Zollstock'' hill is located. 80.5% of Rüssingen's area are used for

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 ...

. Neighbouring municipalities are Albisheim, Immesheim, Ottersheim, Biedesheim, Göllheim and Marnheim. Besides the village proper, the municipality includes the inhabited place ''Lindenhof''.

History

Etymology

There are two theories regarding the name "Rüssingen". # "Platz an dem es viele Rosse gab" = "place of many horses" # "Platz bei den Leuten des Hrusso" = "place of Hrusso's people"

History

Archaeological finds indicate settlements from the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

Bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

and

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 ...

. The "Rüssingen Ploughshare" made from limestone is the most well known artifact from the village's early history. The oldest surviving documentation of Rüssingen's existence dates back to 773 and can be found in the

Lorsch codex The Lorsch Codex (Chronicon Laureshamense, Lorscher Codex, Codex Laureshamensis) is an important historical document created between about 1175 to 1195 AD in the Lorsch Abbey, Monastery of Saint Nazarius in Lorsch, Germany. The codex is handwrit ...

. In the late 8th century several properties were gifted to

Lorsch Abbey Lorsch Abbey, otherwise the Imperial Abbey of Lorsch (; or ''Laurissa''), is a former Imperial abbey in Lorsch, Germany, about east of Worms, Germany, Worms. It was one of the most important monasteries of the Carolingian Empire. Even in its ru ...

. In later times it seemed to have been a ''Reichsgut'', belonging directly to the

Holy Roman Emperors The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and head of state of the Holy Roman Empire. ...

. Around 1190 the counts of Leiningen had given the village to ''Werner II of Bolanden'' as

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

. Through this Rüssingen became part of the ''Dominion of Kirchheim'' that fell to Philipp I of Nassau-Weilburg in 1393.

Otterberg Otterberg () is a town in the district of Kaiserslautern in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate with about 7,350 (as of 6/2006) inhabitants. It is situated approximately north of Kaiserslautern. Otterberg is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemein ...

Abbey held properties in the village. The compact appearance of the village indicates, that it was fortified during the Middle Ages. There are no documents proving this thesis.M. Hoffmann: ''Die Verbandsgemeinde Göllheim – Ein kulturhistorischer Reiseführer.'' Göllheim 1997. A local noble family eponymous to the village is documented from 1135 to 1424. They were

vassals A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerai ...

to the Bolanden family. The Counts of Nassau-Saabrücken ruled the village until 1574 when the

House of Nassau-Weilburg The House of Nassau-Weilburg, a branch of the House of Nassau, ruled a division of the County of Nassau, which was a state in what is now Germany, then part of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1344 to 1806. On 17 July 1806, upon the dissolution of t ...

took over. Their rule ended 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 ...

. Rüssingen was 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 it 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 ...

Rüssingen became part of

(1946). Since 1969 it belongs to the

district.

Religion

Since 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 ...

Rüssingen was protestant. A catholic parish was established again in the second half of the 17th century. The position was not filled after the death of the local priest in 1696. After being part of the catholic parish of

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 ...

for a few years Rüssingen came under the jurisdiction of Göllheim's parish in 1707. There was a chapel 500 m northwest of the village.

Politics

Council

The village council is composed of 12 members who were elected in a personalized proportional representation in the local elections on June 9, 2024, and the honorary mayor as chairman.

Heraldry

The coat of arms shows an argent horse on an azur background.

Culture and sights

Buildings

The main street (''Hauptstraße'') is a prodected architectural ensemble. Like neighbouring Biedesheim and Ottersheim Rüssingen is a

linear settlement A linear settlement is a (normally small to medium-sized) settlement or group of buildings that is formed in a long line. Many of these settlements are formed along a transport route, such as a road, river, or canal. Others form due to physical r ...

. The ''Hauptstraße'' is an almost completely intact ensemble of calssicist buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries. The protestant church is also protected.

Nature

The ''Adolphslinde'' was a 700 year old

lime tree ''Tilia'' is a genus of about 30 species of trees or bushes, native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The tree is known as linden for the European species, and basswood for North American species. In Great Britain and Irelan ...

northwest of the village, which had a circumference of 8 m. Legend has it that Adolf of Nassau broke a branch of the tree to put on his helmet before the

Battle of Göllheim The Battle of Göllheim was fought on 2 July 1298 between the forces of duke Albert I of Habsburg (German: Albrecht) and king Adolf of Nassau following the unilateral decision of the prince electors, without any formal election, to dethrone Ad ...

against his rival

Albert I of Germany Albert I of Habsburg () (July 12551 May 1308) was a List of rulers of Austria, Duke of Austria and Duchy of Styria, Styria from 1282 and List of German monarchs, King of Germany from 1298 until his assassination. He was the eldest son of King Ru ...

. The tree fell victim to a storm in 1952.

Clubs

* TuS Rüssingen (football) * Rischinger Narre-Gaul e.V. (carnival)

Festivals

* Dorffest (3rd weekend in June) * ''Kerwe'' (1st weekend in September) * "Gaulssteigwanderung" (October) * ''Nikolausmarkt'' (2nd weekend of

Advent Advent is a season observed in most Christian denominations as a time of waiting and preparation for both the celebration of Jesus's birth at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Chri ...

)

Economy and infrastructure

Economy

Rüssingen is part of the Palatinate wine region. A

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

of cement producer ''Dyckerhoff'' is located 500 m north of the village. Lime stone is mined here since the 1960s. Its mighty white and yellow silhouette can be seen from afar. It has become a safe haven for wildlife.

Infrastructure

Roads

Rüssingen is connected by two minor roads to Ottersheim, Biedesheim and Göllheim. The A63 highway is 8 km (5 mi) to the west and can be reached via Göllheim.

Public transit

Rüssingen is connected by bus line 904 of the VRN to Kirchheimbolanden, Göllheim and Eisenberg. The next

train station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing suc ...

is ''Albisheim'' along the

Zeller Valley Railway References External links StreckeninformationenFörderverein Eistalbahn e. V.– Fahrplaninformationen, Betriebsführung und Instandhaltung Infrastrukturbetreiber der Strecke Railway lines in Rhineland-Palatinate North Palatinate Palatinate ...

which is not served by passenger trains at the moment.

References

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