Moselkern
Moselkern 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. Geography. The municipality lies at the mouth of the Elzbach, where this river empties into the river Moselle. Neighbouring municipalities. Moselkern's neighbours are Müden in the west, the Münstermaifeld "Stadtteil" of Lasserg and Wierschem in the north and Burgen and Hatzenport in the northeast. History. A "villa Kerne" was listed about 1100 in the directory of holdings at Saint Castor's Foundation in Karden. In 1097, "Kerne  was named as the only village in the district that in the Middle Ages was subject to the rural chapter of Ochtendung. In 1280, Sir Hermann von Löf, a knight, forwent one third of the tithes gathered from winemaking and cereal yields in Moselkern in favour of the Münstermaifeld Foundation. In 1337, Johann von Eltz, Burgrave at Baldeneltz, held a fief in Moselkern from the Electorate of Trier. In 1424, Johann von Eltz was enfeoffed by the Electorate of Trier with his father Richard's fief, which comprised, among other things, vineyards in Moselkern. In 1442, he was enfeoffed with 	Moselkern
823170	benefits from winemaking, an estate and taxes out of his wife Agnes von Kobern's holdings by the Electorate of Trier. By 1794, the estate was still held by the Counts of Eltz, albeit jointly with the Counts of Leyen. A priest in Kerne" was mentioned in Rudolf von Polch's will. In the "Taxa generalia", which came into being about 1330, Moselkern was listed as “"capella sive plebania"” (“chapel or presbytery”) with a priest who celebrated Early Mass. In the 16th century it is likely that the church was granted full parochial rights to the veneration of Saint Valerius . It is from this time, too, that the figure of the holy bishop Valerius on the side altar to the right comes. Today's church building was built to plans by Electoral-Trier master builder Wirth in 1789. Trier's lordship ended only a few years later with the occupation of the lands on the Rhine’s left bank by French Revolutionary troops in 1794. In 1814 Moselkern 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 12 council members, who were elected by majority vote at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman. Mayor. Moselkern’s mayor is Peter Mayer. Coat of arms. The German blazon reads: "" The municipality’s arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Sable a pall wavy argent between, in chief a lion rampant erased below the shoulders Or armed and langued gules, in dexter the Moselkern Merovingian gravestone of the third and in sinister a mitre of the same. The wavy pall (the Y-shaped ordinary) refers to  the municipality’s location at the mouth of the Elzbach, where it flows into the Moselle. The gravestone charge is an image of one unearthed about 1800 in Moselkern. It is of Merovingian origin and dates from the 7th century. It is one of the Western World’s earliest monumental Christian images. The mitre recalls the church’s patron saint, Valerius. His image can be found on the seals used by the court and "Schöffen" (roughly “lay jurists”) from 1562 and 1765. The arms were designed by A. Friderichs of Zell and have been borne since 12 February 1982. Culture  and sightseeing. Buildings. The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Directory of Cultural Monuments: