Hattgenstein | |
Hattgenstein
|
|
Location of Hattgenstein within Birkenfeld district
|
|
---|---|
Coordinates | |
Administration | |
Country | Germany |
State | Rhineland-Palatinate |
District | Birkenfeld |
Municipal assoc. | Birkenfeld |
Mayor | Rudi Gordner |
Basic statistics | |
Area | 8.21 km2 (3.17 sq mi) |
Elevation | 534 m (1752 ft) |
Population | 241 (31 December 2010)[1] |
- Density | 29 /km2 (76 /sq mi) |
Other information | |
Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) |
Licence plate | BIR |
Postal code | 55767 |
Area code | 06782 |
Hattgenstein 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 of Birkenfeld, whose seat is in the like-named town.
Contents |
The municipality lies at the edge of the Schwarzwälder Hochwald (forest) in the Hunsrück, and 72.2% of the municipal area is wooded. There is a widespread misconception that Hattgenstein, with its aveage elevation of 534 m above sea level, is the highest place in Rhineland-Palatinate, but this is not true. There are a few places, such as Stein-Neukirch in the High Westerwald and Nürburg in the Eifel, that are higher[2].
To the northeast lies Schwollen, and to the south, Oberhambach.
Also belonging to Hattgenstein are the outlying homesteads of Helmhof, Waldfriede and Zur Zimmerei[3].
The council is made up of 6 council members, who were elected by majority vote at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman[4].
Since 1984, Hattgenstein’s mayor has been Rudi Gordner, and his deputy is Günter Helm[5].
The municipality’s arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Over a base countercompony gules and argent, gules on a mount vert the Hattgenstein Glockenhaus argent with timber framing sable and doors and windows of the field.
The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:[6]
The Glockenhaus (“Bell House”) is Hattgenstein’s main landmark. It was built in 1762 as a school building and a dwelling for the beadle.
Hattgensteiner Fels, a crag with a lookout tower near the sporting ground, is believed to be the village’s namesake.
To the west runs Bundesstraße 269, and to the south, the Autobahn A 62 (Kaiserslautern–Trier). Available in nearby Neubrücke is a railway station on the Nahe Valley Railway (Bingen–Saarbrücken).