| Daun | |
|
Daun
|
|
|
Location of the town of Daun within Vulkaneifel district
|
|
|---|---|
| Coordinates | |
| Administration | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Rhineland-Palatinate |
| District | Vulkaneifel |
| Municipal assoc. | Daun |
| Town subdivisions | 8 |
| Mayor | Wolfgang Jenssen (SPD) |
| Basic statistics | |
| Area | 48.97 km2 (18.91 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 410 m (1345 ft) |
| Population | 8,143 (31 December 2010)[1] |
| - Density | 166 /km2 (431 /sq mi) |
| Other information | |
| Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) |
| Licence plate | DAU |
| Postal code | 54550 |
| Area code | 06592 |
| Website | www.stadt-daun.de |
Daun is a town in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the district seat and also the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Daun.
Contents |
The town lies in the Vulkaneifel, 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. Daun lies south of the High Eifel on the river Lieser. Found from 2.5 to 3.5 km southeast of Daun’s town centre are the so-called Dauner Maare, a group of three volcanic lakes separated almost wholly by only the walls of tuff between them. The town is home to the Eifel-Vulkanmuseum. Daun is furthermore a spa town and has mineral water springs.
The district seat of Daun has 8,514 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2005, counting only those with their main residence in the town). Besides the main town, also called Daun (4,264 inhabitants), the municipal area also includes these outlying centres (Stadtteile) that were formerly self-administering municipalities:
| Centre | Population | amalgamated |
|---|---|---|
| Boverath | 564 | 7 June 1969 |
| Gemünden | 215 | 1 April 1938 |
| Neunkirchen | 547 | 7 June 1969 |
| Pützborn | 1,129 | 7 June 1969 |
| Rengen | 438 | 7 November 1970 |
| Steinborn | 410 | 7 November 1970 |
| Waldkönigen | 699 | 7 November 1970 |
| Weiersbach | 251 | 10 June 1979 |
The first settlement in the area came as early as the 7th century BC by which time the Celts had settled the fortified basalt mountain in Daun. The Romans, too, used this prominent hill in the Lieser valley as a watch post, as witnessed by Roman finds. The placename may have come from the Celtic-Roman word Dunum, meaning either “fence” or “fortified heights”, that is to say, a fort.
In the late 10th century, a castle complex belonging to the free Lords of Daun arose here. In 1075, Daun had its first documentary mention in a townsman named Adalbero de Duna.
In 1163, the free lords’ family died out. One of the family’s ministeriales, Richardus de Duna, took over his former Lord’s name and even the coat of arms with the Daun fretting. In 1337, Daun is mentioned for the first time as being a town. In 1346 came a grant of town rights along with market rights, and Daun became at the same time the location of a high court.
In 1712, the Electoral-Trier Amtshaus was built by the Elector of Trier and Archbishop Karl-Josef on the Burgberg (“Castle Mountain”). After a transitory occupation by the French beginning in 1794, the village passed in 1815 to the Kingdom of Prussia. In 1817, Daun became seat of the district and an Amt mayoralty, and also at the same time a district administrator’s seat. Since 1947, it has been part of the then newly founded state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Beginning in 1951, Daun could once more call itself a town.
On 15 May 1895, Daun was linked to the German railway network with the Eifelquerbahn (“Cross-Eifel Railway”). On 1 December 1909, a further railway line, the Maare-Mosel-Bahn to Wittlich came into service. All public rail transport, however, ended in Daun more than a decade ago, although a two-hourly daytime service for tourists has been running in the summertime since 2005 on part of the Eifelquerbahn. The Maare-Mosel-Bahn, on the other hand, was torn up about a decade ago and has since become the Maare-Mosel-Radweg, a cycle path.
In 1965, Daun became a garrison town, housing at the Heinrich Hertz Barracks, among others, two signal corps units and one signals intelligence unit.
The council is made up of 12 council members, who were elected at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the mayor as chairman.
Daun’s mayor is Wolfgang Jenssen, and his three deputies are Otmar Monschauer, Hans-Dieter Wilhelm and Manfred Krag[2].
The town’s arms might be described thus: Or fretty gules.
The arms now borne by the town are the ones once borne by the Lords of Daun, and date from the 13th century. When the Lords died out, the town passed to the Electorate of Trier, thus explaining the Cross of Trier that appeared in seals dating from the 16th and following centuries. The current arms, however, are the Lords’ original ones.
Daun fosters partnerships with the following places:
Maare are bodies of water that form in volcanic craters. There are many in the Vulkaneifel.
Near Daun are the Heinrich Hertz Barracks, which house, among other units:
In Daun there are an “open channel” and local editions of the Trierischer Volksfreund, the Eifelzeitung and the Wochenspiegel. Daun also has a multiplex cinema, the “Kinopalast Vulkaneifel”.
General:
Vocational:
Other schools:
Sport:
Daun is linked to the Autobahn A 1. Also, Bundesstraßen 421 and 257 lead through the town. The town is linked to the railway network through the railway station on the Eifelquerbahn, running from Gerolstein to Andernach.