Valwig
Valwig is an "Ortsgemeinde" – a municipality belonging to a "Verbandsgemeinde", a kind of collective municipality – in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the "Verbandsgemeinde" of Cochem, whose seat is in the like-named town. Valwig is also a winegrowing centre. Geography. Location. The municipality lies on the river Moselle’s right bank (at kilometre 55). The district seat of Cochem is some 3 km away. Geology. The Moselle valley is part of the Rheinisches Schiefergebirge (Rhenish Slate Mountains) and is marked by steep and craggy mountain slopes. Neighbouring municipalities. Valwig’s municipal area borders  along the Moselle downstream on Cochem, and upstream on Bruttig-Fankel, and it is separated by the Moselle itself from Ernst. Over the Valwigerberg (mountain), Treis-Karden can be reached. Constituent communities. Valwig’s "Ortsteile" are: History. In the earliest documents, Valwig is mentioned under the names "Falavoia" (AD 866), "Falaveia" (893) und "Valefayer" (1130). It is, however, assumed that both Celts and Romans lived in Valwig. This is seen in the Celtic-Roman name "Balbiacum", meaning “Balbius’s Settlement”. Valwig is therefore one of the oldest settlements along the Moselle. With the occupation of the Rhine’s left bank  by French Revolutionary troops in 1794, the Electorate of Trier, for centuries the local overlord, fell. In 1814 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 8 council members, who were elected by majority vote at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman. Coat of arms. The municipality’s arms might be described thus: Argent a cross gules surmounting two vines each slipped and  fructed and leafed of three vert. Culture and sightseeing. Buildings. The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Directory of Cultural Monuments: Section::::"Wallfahrtskirche St. Maria und Maria Magdalena". The building of the little pilgrimage chapel on the Valwiger Berg goes all the way back to the mid 15th century. After a great number of stories of answered prayers, it was built by Sir Johann von Winneburg to pay homage to the “wonder-working image of Our Lady of the Mountain”. Hiking trails. Running along Valwig’s vineyards, where Riesling is grown, are two well known hiking trails . Down the Moselle towards Cochem leads the 7.5 km-long "Apolloweg Valwig". It was brought into existence by the municipality of Valwig by, among other ways, using funds from the European LEADER II programme. More recently, another trail has been built, the 4.4 km-long "BREVA Weg", running up the Moselle to the outlying centre of Valwigerberg and the neighbouring municipality of Bruttig-Fankel. This was a cooperative project undertaken by the municipalities of Bruttig-Fankel, Ernst and Valwig, hence the acronym used as its name.