Hattgenstein

Hattgenstein
Coat of arms
Hattgenstein
Location of Hattgenstein within Birkenfeld district
Coordinates: 49°41′55″N 7°09′37″E / 49.69861°N 7.16028°ECoordinates: 49°41′55″N 7°09′37″E / 49.69861°N 7.16028°E
Country	Germany
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
District	Birkenfeld
Municipal assoc.	Birkenfeld
Government
• Mayor	Rudi Gordner
Area
• Total	8.21 km^2 (3.17 sq mi)
Population (2013-12-31)[1]
• Total	257
• Density	31/km^2 (81/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	55767
Dialling codes	06782
Vehicle registration	BIR

Hattgenstein is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Birkenfeld, whose seat is in the like-named town.

Geography

Location

The municipality lies at the edge of the Schwarzwälder Hochwald (forest) in the Hunsrück, and 72.2% of the municipal area is wooded. There is a widespread misconception that Hattgenstein, with its average elevation of 534 m above sea level, is the highest place in Rhineland-Palatinate, but this is not true. There are a few places, such as Stein-Neukirch in the High Westerwald and Nürburg in the Eifel, that are higher.^[2]

Neighbouring municipalities

To the northeast lies Schwollen, and to the south, Oberhambach.

Constituent communities

Also belonging to Hattgenstein are the outlying homesteads of Helmhof, Waldfriede and Zur Zimmerei.^[3]

Politics

Municipal council

The council is made up of 6 council members, who were elected by majority vote at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.^[4]

Mayor

Since 1984, Hattgenstein’s mayor has been Rudi Gordner, and his deputy is Günter Helm.^[5]

Coat of arms

The municipality’s arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Over a base countercompony gules and argent, gules on a mount vert the Hattgenstein Glockenhaus argent with timber framing sable and doors and windows of the field.

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

From the 28-metre-high lookout tower, a view of the Hunsrück countryside is possible

The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:^[6]

• Am Brunnen 2 – Quereinhaus (a combination residential and commercial house divided for these two purposes down the middle, perpendicularly to the street), partly timber-frame, partly slated, late 18th or early 19th century
• Am Brunnen 4 – former winepress house, timber-frame building
• Flurstraße 3 – Quereinhaus, partly timber-frame, possibly from the earlier half of the 19th century
• Hauptstraße 13 – so-called Glockenhaus (“Bell House”); partly timber-frame, half-hipped roof, bell turret, 1762; characterizes village’s appearance
• Hauptstraße 17 – stately Quereinhaus, partly timber-frame, possibly from the early 19th century

The Glockenhaus (“Bell House”) is Hattgenstein’s main landmark. It was built in 1762 as a school building and a dwelling for the beadle.

Natural monuments

Hattgensteiner Fels, a crag with a lookout tower near the sporting ground, is believed to be the village’s namesake.

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

To the west runs Bundesstraße 269, and to the south, the Autobahn A 62 (Kaiserslautern–Trier). Available in nearby Neubrücke is a railway station on the Nahe Valley Railway (Bingen–Saarbrücken).

References

1. "Gemeinden in Deutschland mit Bevölkerung am 31. Dezember 2013". Statistisches Bundesamt (in German). 2014.
2. Elevation misconception
3. Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz – Amtliches Verzeichnis der Gemeinden und Gemeindeteile, Seite 19 (PDF)
4. Kommunalwahl Rheinland-Pfalz 2009, Gemeinderat
5. Hattgenstein’s council
6. Directory of Cultural Monuments in Birkenfeld district

External links

• Municipality’s official webpage (German)