Berschweiler bei Kirn

Berschweiler bei Kirn 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 Herrstein-Rhaunen, whose seat is in Herrstein. Berschweiler bei Kirn is one of two municipalities in the district with the name Berschweiler. The two are distinguished from each other by their geographical “tags”; the other one is called Berschweiler bei Baumholder.

Berschweiler bei Kirn
Coat of arms
Location of Berschweiler bei Kirn within Birkenfeld district
Berschweiler bei Kirn
Berschweiler bei Kirn
Coordinates: 49°46′14″N 07°23′28″E
CountryGermany
StateRhineland-Palatinate
DistrictBirkenfeld
Municipal assoc.Herrstein-Rhaunen
Government
 • MayorKarl-Günter Hahn
Area
 • Total7.53 km2 (2.91 sq mi)
Elevation
415 m (1,362 ft)
Population
 (2018-12-31)[1]
 • Total268
 • Density36/km2 (92/sq mi)
Time zoneCET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes
55608
Dialling codes06752
Vehicle registrationBIR
Websitewww.vg-herrstein.de

Geography

Location

The municipality lies west of the Nahe between Kirn and Herrstein. Berschweiler bei Kirn lies roughly 8 km north of Idar-Oberstein and 5 km west of Kirn. Almost half the municipal area is wooded.

Land use

As of 31 December 2010, Berschweiler's 7.53 km² were by use apportioned thus:[2]

  • Agriculture 44.2%
  • Woodland 48.4%
  • Open water 0.2%
  • Settlement and transport 6.9%
  • Other 0.2%

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.[3]

Mayor

Berschweiler's mayor is Karl-Günter Hahn, and his deputies are Hubert Paal and Arno Lang-Lajendäcker.[4]

Coat of arms

The municipality's arms might be described thus: Per bend azure a bear's head sinister erased Or langued gules and Or a lion rampant of the third armed and langued of the first.

The charge on the sinister (armsbearer's left, viewer's right) side is the lion borne as an heraldic device by the Waldgraves and Rhinegraves, who held the village in the Middle Ages. The charge on the dexter (armsbearer's right, viewer's left) side, a bear's head, is canting. “Bear” is Bär – both words are pronounced rather similarly – in German, which sounds like the first three sounds in “Berschweiler”.

The arms have been borne since 16 May 1962.[5]

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

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

  • Evangelical church, Hauptstraße 3 – Gothic Revival yellow sandstone block building, 1866-1868, architect Scheepers, Simmern; décor
  • Hauptstraße 21 – estate with buildings on three sides of a yard; house, partly timber-frame (plastered), marked 1830, commercial wings newer

Other sites

Berschweiler is on both the Hunsrück Schiefer- und Burgenstraße (“Hunsrück Slate and Castle Road”) and the Sirona-Weg, a road whose focus is on the region's Celtic-Roman heritage.

Between Berschweiler and Fischbach is the historic Fischbacher Kupferbergwerk, one of Germany's biggest and most important copper mines. To the south stands a memorial stone to the now vanished village of Staufenberg.

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

To the southeast runs Bundesstraße 41. In Kirn is the nearest railway station. It lies on the Nahe Valley Railway (Bingen–Saarbrücken).

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References
  1. "Bevölkerungsstand 2018 - Gemeindeebene". Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz (in German). 2019.
  2. Berschweiler’s land use
  3. Kommunalwahl Rheinland-Pfalz 2009, Gemeinderat
  4. "Berschweiler's leadership". Archived from the original on 2016-07-19. Retrieved 2011-06-21.
  5. Description and explanation of Berschweiler bei Kirn’s arms
  6. Directory of Cultural Monuments in Birkenfeld district
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