Weidenthal 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
Bad Dürkheim
Bad Dürkheim () is a spa town in the Rhine-Neckar urban agglomeration. It is the seat of the Bad Dürkheim (district), Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, and the site of the discovery of the element caesium, in 1860.
Geogra ...
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
Location
The municipality lies in the middle of the
Palatinate Forest
The Palatinate Forest (; ), sometimes also called the Palatine Forest, is a List of landscapes in Rhineland-Palatinate, low-mountain region in southwestern Germany, located in the Palatinate (region), Palatinate in the state of Rhineland-Palatina ...
in the region of the
Palatinate. It belongs to the
''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Lambrecht, whose seat is in the
like-named town.
History
In 1247, Weidenthal had its first documentary mention as ''Wydentall'' and was held by the Lords of Frankenstein as a fief from the Limburg Monastery. Later, Weidenthal belonged to the
Electorate of the Palatinate
The Electoral Palatinate was a Imperial State, constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire until it was annexed by the Electorate of Baden in 1803. From the end of the 13th century, its ruler was one of the Prince-electors who elected the Holy ...
.
In 2011, this was the location of the last known sighting of the Palatinate Dragon, possibly the last Dragon in Europe.
Religion
Weidenthal has an autonomous
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. The Catholic parish church, ''St. Simon und Judas Thaddäus'', and the rectory, ''Maximilian Kolbe-Haus'', are found on Hauptstraße (“Main Street”).
Together with the neighbouring municipality of
Frankenstein
''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 Gothic novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a Sapience, sapient Frankenstein's monster, crea ...
, Weidenthal forms a
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
parish. The ''Christuskirche'' (“Christ Church” or “Church of Christ”) is found in the village centre at the fairground on Hauptstraße.
In 2007, 45.5% of the inhabitants were
Evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...
and 38.5%
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 ...
. The rest belonged to other faiths or adhered to none.
Politics
Municipal council
The council is made up of 16 council members, who were elected 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 Silber ein aufrecht gestellter wachsender goldener Krummstab mit linksgewendeter Krümme (Bischofsstab).''
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 branc ...
language be described thus: Argent issuant from base a crozier palewise Or, the crook to sinister.
The arms were approved by the
Bavarian king in 1845 and go back to a court seal from 1747. The single
charge
Charge or charged may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary
Music
* ''Charge'' (David Ford album)
* ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album)
* '' Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...
recalls the former feudal lord, the Bishop of Speyer. The Bishop’s rule ended in 1803. Formerly, seals also bore the letters W and D (for ''Weiden Dal'', an old form of the municipality’s name), but these were eventually dropped and never included in the arms.
Culture and sightseeing
*The ''Planetenwanderweg'' (“Planetary Hiking Trail”) is a trail laid out with informational plaques. It begins at the graveyard at the end of Klingentalstraße. In about an hour, one can hike through the
Solar System
The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...
at a scale of 1:1,500,000,000.
[ ]
*Once each year the Weidenthal
kermis
Kermesse, or kermis, or kirmess, is an outdoor fair or festival usually organized for charitable purposes.
The term was derived from 'kerk' (church) and 'mis' (mass) in the original Dutch language term, and was borrowed in English, French, Spa ...
(church consecration festival, locally known as the ''Kerwe'') is held.
*Weidenthal has a natural bathing pond as a swimming pool.
*The Warriors’ Memorial on the Köpfchen is one of Weidenthal’s landmarks, and from the memorial’s location, there is a wonderful panoramic view over the whole village.
*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 ...
church is one of the
Palatinate’s most important
Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...
churches.
Sport
There are a
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
club with its own hard sporting ground (''Karl-Heinz Sportplatz''), a
gymnastics
Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...
club with its own competition ground and track, a
tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
club with three sand courts, one tar court and a tennis wall, and a shooting club with its own shooting ranges of various sizes.
Moreover, there is a gymnastic and multipurpose hall used by all clubs as well as the two
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 cen ...
s and the
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 ...
.
Since August 2007 a nighttime mountainbike race called ''Schlaflos im Sattel'' (“Sleepless in the Saddle”) has been held. The circuit of just under 10 km begins in the Erdbeertal (“Strawberry Dale”) and runs over the Stempelweg into the Weissenbach and then over the Maifeld back into the Erdbeertal.
Economy and infrastructure
Transport
Stopping at
Weidenthal station
Weidenthal station is the station of the town of Weidenthal in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It lies on the Mannheim–Saarbrücken railway, which essentially consists of the ''Pfälzischen Ludwigsbahn'' (Palatine Ludwig Railway), whic ...
are
RheinNeckar S-Bahn
The Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn ''(S-Bahn RheinNeckar)'' forms the backbone of the urban rail transport network of the Rhine Neckar Area, including the cities of Mannheim, Heidelberg and Ludwigshafen.
The S-Bahn operates over of route in the states of ...
trains on the
Saarbrücken–Mannheim line. Lines S1 and S2 afford direct links to
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 ...
in the west and
Ludwigshafen
Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning "Ludwig I of Bavaria, Ludwig's Port upon the Rhine"; Palatine German dialects, Palatine German: ''Ludwichshafe''), is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in the German state of Rh ...
,
Mannheim
Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...
and
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...
in the east. Public transport is integrated into the
VRN, whose fares therefore apply.
References
External links
Municipality’s official webpage
{{Authority control
Bad Dürkheim (district)