Siesbach


Siesbach 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

Siesbach lies in the Naturpark Saar-Hunsrück. The municipal area is 68.3% wooded. The nearest major town is Idar-Oberstein, 3 km to the southeast.

Neighbouring municipalities

Siesbach borders in the north on the municipality of Sensweiler, in the northeast on the municipality of Hettenrodt, in the east on the municipality of Mackenrodt, in the southeast on the municipality of Rötsweiler-Nockenthal, in the south and southwest on the municipality of Wilzenberg-Hußweiler, in the west on the municipality of Schwollen and in the northwest on the municipality of Allenbach.

Politics

Municipal council

The council is made up of 8 council members, who were elected by majority vote at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.

Mayor

Siesbach's mayor is Hans-Dieter Storr, and his deputies are Rüdiger Mais and Klaus Mildenberger.

Coat of arms

The German blazon reads: Über rot-silbern geschachtem Schildfuß in Schwarz vorne ein silbernes Eichblatt mit Eichel, hinten ein silberner beschrifteter Stein.
The municipality's arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Sable dexter an oakleaf per bend fructed of one and sinister a border stone inscribed of the field, both argent, the base countercompony gules and argent.
The charge on the dexter side, the oakleaf and the acorn, stand for the municipality's wealth of woodland, while the one on the sinister side, the border stone, recalls such an object within municipal limits that is under monumental protection. The countercompony base is a reference to the village's former allegiance to the “Hinder” County of Sponheim, Oberamt of Birkenfeld.
The arms have been borne since 15 December 1964.

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
Siesbach is also home to a Gallo-Roman barrow in the “Kipp” forest district.

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

Running to the northeast of the municipality is Bundesstraße 422. In nearby Idar-Oberstein, the railway station, as a Regional-Express and Regionalbahn stop, is linked by way of the Nahe Valley Railway to the Saarland and the Frankfurt Rhine Main Region. The Rhein-Nahe-Express running the Mainz-Saarbrücken route serves the station hourly. Every other train goes through to the main railway station in Frankfurt with a stop at Frankfurt Airport. Formerly, fast trains on the Frankfurt-Paris route had a stop at Idar-Oberstein.