| Niederhosenbach | |
| Image Coa: | NiederhosenbachWappen.svg |
| Coordinates: | 49.7953°N 7.3808°W |
| Image Plan: | Niederhosenbach in BIR.svg |
| State: | Rheinland-Pfalz |
| District: | Birkenfeld |
| Verbandsgemeinde: | Herrstein-Rhaunen |
| Elevation: | 360 |
| Area: | 7.43 |
| Postal Code: | 55758 |
| Area Code: | 06785 |
| Licence: | BIR |
| Gemeindeschlüssel: | 07 1 34 059 |
| Mayor: | Markus Schnurr[1] |
| Leader Term: | 2019 - 24 |
Niederhosenbach 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 Herrstein-Rhaunen, whose seat is in Herrstein.
The municipality lies north of the river Nahe between Kirn and Herrstein. The municipal area is 43.4% wooded.
Niederhosenbach's neighbours are Herrstein, Breitenthal, Wickenrodt, Sonnschied, Griebelschied and Bergen.
Also belonging to Niederhosenbach are the outlying homesteads of “Auf dem Büchelchen”, “Heupenmühle” and “Zwischen den Seen”.[2]
South of Niederhosenbach, on the Hosenbach's left bank before the “Allholz” woods and opposite the Etzelberg (mountain) once stood a village named Hitzelhosenbach. A plaque at the site recalls the now long-vanished village. Standing at the spot where the road from Niederhosenbach to Fischbach crosses the brook was the Etzelberger Mühle (mill), which burnt down in 1913.[3]
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.[4]
Niederhosenbach's mayor is Markus Schnurr.[1]
The German blazon reads: German: In schräglinks geteiltem Schild vorne in Silber über blauem Wellenschrägbalken die blauen Buchstaben N und H, hinten rot-silbernes Schach, belegt mit einem schwarzen Dreiberg.
The municipality's arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Per bend sinister argent a bend wavy abased above which the letters N and H in bend, and chequy gules and argent issuant from base a mount of three sable.
The letters N and H on the dexter (armsbearer's right, viewer's left) side refer to the municipality's name, as does the wavy bend (slanted stripe; the ending —bach means “brook” in German), while the “chequy” field on the sinister (armsbearer's left, viewer's right) side is a reference to the village's former allegiance to the County of Sponheim, and the mount of three – a charge called a Dreiberg in German heraldry – stands for the Amt within the County of Sponheim in which Niederhosenbach lay, namely Herrstein (whose name literally means “Lordstone”). Niederhosenbach even today lies in a Verbandsgemeinde of that same name.[5]
The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:[6]
Running southeast of the municipality is Bundesstraße 41. Serving nearby Fischbach is a railway station on the Nahe Valley Railway (Bingen–Saarbrücken).