Rödelhausen


Rödelhausen is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kirchberg, whose seat is in the like-named town.

Geography

Location

The municipality lies in the Hunsrück roughly 7 km northwest of Kirchberg and 6 km northeast of Frankfurt-Hahn Airport. Rödelhausen also lies right on the Hunsrückhöhenstraße. The Rödelhausener Sandgrube is a geological rarity in the Hunsrück.

History

s from Late Hallstatt times with skeletal remains show that there were settlers quite early on. It is unknown when the village first arose, for this is not recorded in any document. From the 12th century, Rödelhausen was part of the County of Sponheim and in the 18th century passed to the Margraves of Baden. Beginning in 1794, Rödelhausen lay under French rule. In 1815 it was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia at the Congress of Vienna. Since 1946, it has been part of the then newly founded state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

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.

Mayor

Rödelhausen’s mayor is Gerhard Brand, and his deputy is Markus Schmidt.

Coat of arms

The German blazon reads: In Gold ein roter Schrägrechtsbalken, belegt mit drei silbernen Quadraten, vorn ein blaues, rotgegrifftes Hackmesser, hinten eine blaue Urne.
The municipality’s arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Or a bend gules charged with three blocks argent between a flaying knife azure gripped of the second and an urn of the fourth.
The basic design, the red bend on the gold field, is the arms formerly borne by the Margraviate of Baden, Rödelhausen’s old overlord. It was in the Oberamt of Kirchberg. The blocks refer to Baden’s predecessors, the Counts of Sponheim, who bore “chequy” arms. Rödelhausen was in the “Further” County. The knife is Saint Bartholomew’s attribute, thus representing the church’s patron saint. The urn refers to an archaeological find at a barrow from Late Hallstatt times.

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

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