Bleckhausen Explained

Coordinates:50.1253°N 6.7761°W
Image Plan:Bleckhausen in DAU.svg
State:Rheinland-Pfalz
District:Vulkaneifel
Verbandsgemeinde:Daun
Elevation:470
Area:6.32
Postal Code:54570
Area Code:06572
Licence:DAU
Gemeindeschlüssel:07 2 33 008
Mayor:Markus Göbel[1]
Leader Term:2019 - 24

Bleckhausen (in Eifel dialect: Blääkes) is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Daun, whose seat is in the like-named town.

Geography

Location

The municipality lies southeast of Weidenbach between the Kleine Kyll and the Lieser in the Volcanic Eifel, a part of the Eifel known for its volcanic history, geographical and geological features, and even ongoing activity today, including gases that sometimes well up from the earth.

Southeast of the village lies the nature conservation area Wacholdergelände bei Bleckhausen (“Juniper Lands near Bleckhausen”), the biggest of its kind anywhere in the Eifel.

History

On 15 June 1354, Bleckhausen had its first documentary mention when Archbishop of Trier Bohemond II (1354–1362) acknowledged the chapel at Bleckhausen built under Archbishop Baldwin (1307–1354). The village belonged to the Electoral-Trier Amt of Manderscheid. In 1721, there were 25 inhabitants in Bleckhausen.

During the time of French administration, Bleckhausen was raised to parish; formerly, it was parochially bound with Manderscheid. Schutz was also assigned to the parish of Bleckhausen.[2]

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 German blazon reads: In Silber ein roter Schrägrechtsbalken, belegt mit einer goldenen Zickzackleiste; oben ein schwarzes Antoniuskreuz, unten drei blaue Wellenleisten.

The municipality’s arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Argent a bend gules surmounted by a bendlet dancetty Or, in sinister a cross tau sable and in dexter three bars wavy azure.

The bend (diagonal stripe) overlaid with the thinner zigzag stripe (“bendlet dancetty”) was inspired by the arms once borne by the Counts of Manderscheid, once and long Bleckhausen’s lords. The T-shaped cross is Saint Anthony’s cross, and thus a reference to the local patron saint. The bars represent both the municipal limits and the charming pastoral scenery, characterized by the Kleine Kyll, Waldbach and Trombach valleys.[3]

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

Natural monuments

Among these are the juniper heath and the Drei Eichen (“Three Oaks”) natural monument.

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. https://www.wahlen.rlp.de/de/kw/wahlen/kd/gebiete/2330000000000.html Direktwahlen 2019, Landkreis Vulkaneifel
  2. Johann Friedrich Schannat: Eiflia Illustrata oder geographische und historische Beschreibung der Eifel, 1854
  3. http://www.eifeltour.de/index.php?type=subitem&item=orte&id=214 Description and explanation of Bleckhausen’s arms
  4. http://denkmallisten.gdke-rlp.de/Vulkaneifel.pdf Directory of Cultural Monuments in Vulkaneifel district