Melsbach

Melsbach
Coat of arms of Melsbach Coat of arms
Melsbach
Location of Melsbach within Neuwied district 250px
Coordinates:
Country	Germany
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
District	Neuwied
Municipal assoc.	Rengsdorf
Government
• Mayor	Holger Klein (FWG)
Area
• Total	2.80 km2 (1.08 sq mi)
Population (2013-12-31)
• Total	2,015
• Density	720/km2 (1,900/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	56581
Dialling codes	02634
Vehicle registration	NR
Website	www.gemeinde-melsbach.de

Melsbach is a municipality in the district of Neuwied, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Regional parts of Melsbach's surrounding belong to the well-known air-spa of Rengsdorf.

Description

Melsbach is surrounded by thick and lush forests. It is located at the southern borders to the Westerwald region and thus often described as a "border village". Direct neighbourhood municipalities include: Rengsdorf, Niederbieber, Oberbieber and Altwied. Current mayor of Melsbach is Holger Klein.

History and special events

The first mentioning of the village's name occurs in 1267 as "Melszbach" as a part of a county that the earl Gottfried von Eppstein, the Younger, had to sell away. In 1396, the "Kreuzkirche" (church-of-the-cross) chapel was built and first mentioned in 1399 in curatorial documents. The chapel was a famous pilgrimage destination from the beginning and it belonged to the St. Thomas monastery (a woman's diocese) of Andernach. Today, the ruins of the Kreuzkirche are situated at the southern entrance to the village and have become a known tourist attraction and popular panorama motive.

In 1789, vast clay fields were found, especially white clay and colored clay, both rich of siderite. It was also discovered that the clay contained high amounts of precious alaun. The alaun mining lasted until 1880, the clay mining lasted until the late 1960s. The today "soccer hill" at the south entrance of Melsbach, opposite to the Kreuzkirche, is the result of a huge scree slope. Today only a winding tower marks the place where the mines´ entrance once has been. The winding tower has become a local emblem and can still be visited. It is not allowed to climb it, though. The clay of Melsbach is described as "highly fireproof" and "of remarkable quality, often preferred for ceramic".

Despite the rich mining of clay, alaun and lignite, Melsbach was always described as being "poor" in curatorial documents. In contrast to the neighbourhood municipality Altwied, Melsbach had to pay taxes. And despite the regarding mining, Melsbach grew surprisingly slowly. During the years 1753 and 1807, for example, only 6 new houses were built, during 1840 and 1895 it had been 22 new houses. In 1840, Melsbach counted 399 inhabitants, in 1895 it had been 559 citizens. The increase of houses may have been the result of the mining, but oddly enough, the increase of inhabitants in neighbourhood towns, such as Niederbieber, Oberbieber and Rengsdorf was unequally higher. It is possible, that most of the mine workers came from the county towns.

The surroundings of Melsbach are of some interests to geologists: local archaeological and geological investigations lead to findings of ammonites and plant fossils, furthermore a bronze bucket from the late bronze era was found. It is dated back to 500 BC. Other geologists point to the seismic activities in the surroundings. In April 1992, for example, the citizens of Melsbach (as the whole of Rhineland-Palatinate, too) got surprised by an unusual earthquake with the magnitude of 5,9 on the Richter scale. It occurred at 3:40 o'clock in the morning and lasted 15 seconds. In 2011, another earthquake struck Melsbach with a magnitude of 4,8 on the Richter scale.

Timeline

File:Förderturm-Melsbach.jpg

Winding tower of Melsbach

File:Ruine Hl.Kreuz.JPG

Kreuzkirche (church-of-the-cross)

• 500 BC: a bronze bucket from this time is found in the local area
• 1267: first documentary mentioning of the village: Graf Gottfried von Eppstein, the Younger, sells his estate
• 1278: Melsbach becomes the parish of Rengsdorf
• 1357: Melsbach becomes an important customer's facility
• 1399: first curatorial document entry about the Kreuzkirche (church-of-the-cross) as a pilgrimage destination
• 1692/1720: Melsbach receives its own school
• 1747: Melsbach enparts to the parish of Altwied
• 1789: lignite- and clayfields are found
• 1789–1880: Digging of alaun in the first alaun-mine of Rhineland-Palatinate
• 1812-1815: Destruction of most parts of Melsbach during the German Campaign of 1813
• 1850: At the Laubach creek blue schist is discovered
• 1863: first kermis in Melsbach, first mentioning of the regional wine "Melsbacher Goldberg"
• 1865: year of the foundation of the Burschenverein Melsbach
• 1907: Foundation of the Auxiliary Fire Brigade

Population statistic

The following list shows the population changes from 1815 - 2014 according to the statistical office of Rhineland-Palatinate.

• 1815: 345
• 1835: 382
• 1871: 431
• 1905: 576
• 1939: 609
• 1950: 731
• 1961: 973
• 1970: 1391
• 1987: 2015
• 2005: 2017
• 2011: 1996
• 2014: 2007

Local Legends

A rarely known legend from 14th century tells the legend of how and why the Kreuzkirche chapel was built:

Once upon a time, the surroundings of today Melsbach's and Rengsdorf's hights were covered in thick forests. These forests were crowded with wild animals in such amounts, that wealthy knights and earls greatly enjoyed hunting in these woods. One of these knights, who originated from the valley of the Wied, was known for hunting often in the high forests. One day, he became so eagerly with hunting a deer, that he completely lost his orientation and any feeling for time and space. Not only did he lose sight of his comrades, when he blew the horn, he received no audible response. Unfortunately, the sun was soon setting and night approached. The knight decided to set up a camp for night under an extraordinary thick and lush oak tree. All of a sudden, he witnessed an ominous bright, white light between the far trees and he saw the appearance of a white, shimmering lady. The white lady was holding a shining cross in her hands and her voice told the knight; "follow me!". The man did so and the lady guided him home safely. Right after this event the knight became a pious believer and he ordered his servants to erect a large, beautiful cross at the very spot he had encountered the white lady. Later, when he became rich, he gave order to the erection of a chapel at the place where the cross was placed. The chapel was then baptized to the name "Kreuzkirche" (church-of-the-cross).

Sources

• Albert Hardt: Melsbach und seine Geschichte. In: Im Wiedischen Land, Rengsdorf 1989 – Geschichte der Orte in der Verbandsgemeinde Rengsdorf, page 377 ff.

External links

• Homepage of Melsbach (German)