Birkenfeld (district)

Birkenfeld (district)
Birkenfeld is a district (Landkreis) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Its seat is the town of Birkenfeld. It is bounded by (from the south and clockwise) the districts of Sankt Wendel (Saarland), Trier-Saarburg, Bernkastel-Wittlich, Rhein-Hunsrück, Bad Kreuznach and Kusel.
History
In the early nineteenth century, the Nahe River was the boundary between two tiny principalities: Birkenfeld, west of the Nahe; and Lichtenberg, east of it. The principality of Birkenfeld was annexed by Oldenburg in 1817; Lichtenberg became an exclave of the Duchy Saxe-Coburg (Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld until 1826, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha thereafter). Prussia bought Lichtenberg in 1834 and made it the District of Sankt Wendel.
After World War I, the southern half of Sankt Wendel had to be ceded to the newly created Saar Territory, and the small part remaining in Prussia was then officially called the Restkreis Sankt Wendel ("remaining district of Sankt Wendel"). In 1937 the Oldenburgian District of Birkenfeld was merged with the remaining Sankt Wendel District to form the new Prussian District of Birkenfeld.
Following World War II, on 18 July 1946 by the French Ordinance No. 8, twenty-four more villages were ceded to the new Délégation Supérieure de la Sarre, which became the new Saar Protectorate in 1947. Not until 1970 were the present borders of the district set.
Geography
The Nahe River runs through the district from south to north. The portions west of the river are located on the eastern slopes of the Hunsrück.
Coat of arms
The German blazon reads: Geschachtet von Rot und Silber; belegt mit einem rot gezungten, golden gekrönten und golden bewehrten blauen Löwen.
The arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Chequy of twenty gules and argent a lion rampant azure armed and crowned Or and langued of the first.
The chequered red and silver pattern was the arms of the Counts of Sponheim, a medieval county of the region. The lion is the symbol of the Counts of Veldenz.
Towns and municipalities
Verband-free town: Idar-Oberstein
{|
! colspan=4|Verbandsgemeinden
|- valign=top
||
1. Baumholder
Baumholder1, 2
Berglangenbach
Berschweiler bei Baumholder
Eckersweiler
Fohren-Linden
Frauenberg
Hahnweiler
Heimbach
Leitzweiler
Mettweiler
Reichenbach
Rohrbach
Rückweiler
Ruschberg
||
2. Birkenfeld
Abentheuer
Achtelsbach
Birkenfeld1, 2
Börfink
Brücken
Buhlenberg
Dambach
Dienstweiler
Elchweiler
Ellenberg
Ellweiler
Gimbweiler
Gollenberg
Hattgenstein
Hoppstädten-Weiersbach
Kronweiler
Leisel
Meckenbach
Niederbrombach
Niederhambach
Nohen
Oberbrombach
Oberhambach
Rimsberg
Rinzenberg
Rötsweiler-Nockenthal
Schmißberg
Schwollen
Siesbach
Sonnenberg-Winnenberg
Wilzenberg-Hußweiler
||
3. Herrstein-Rhaunen
Allenbach
Asbach
Bergen
Berschweiler bei Kirn
Bollenbach
Breitenthal
Bruchweiler
Bundenbach
Dickesbach
Fischbach
Gerach
Gösenroth
Griebelschied
Hausen
Hellertshausen
Herborn
Herrstein1
Hettenrodt
Hintertiefenbach
Horbruch
Hottenbach
Kempfeld
Kirschweiler
Krummenau
Langweiler
||
Mackenrodt
Mittelreidenbach
Mörschied
Niederhosenbach
Niederwörresbach
Oberhosenbach
Oberkirn
Oberreidenbach
Oberwörresbach
Rhaunen
Schauren
Schmidthachenbach
Schwerbach
Sensweiler
Sien
Sienhachenbach
Sonnschied
Stipshausen
Sulzbach
Veitsrodt
Vollmersbach
Weiden
Weitersbach
Wickenrodt
Wirschweiler
|-
|colspan=4 align=center|1seat of the Verbandsgemeinde; 2town
|}
References
External links
(German)
Districts of Rhineland-Palatinate