Mettenheim, Rhineland-Palatinate

Mettenheim

Coat of arms
Mettenheim

Coordinates: 49°44′24″N 8°19′33″E / 49.74000°N 8.32583°ECoordinates: 49°44′24″N 8°19′33″E / 49.74000°N 8.32583°E
Country Germany
State Rhineland-Palatinate
District Alzey-Worms
Municipal assoc. Eich
Government
 • Mayor Leonhard Jugenheimer
Area
 • Total 6.41 km2 (2.47 sq mi)
Population (2012-12-31)[1]
 • Total 1,508
 • Density 240/km2 (610/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 67582
Dialling codes 06242
Vehicle registration AZ
Website www.mettenheim-rlp.de
Mettenheim

Mettenheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

Geography

Location

The municipality lies in Rhenish Hesse between Worms and Mainz. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Eich, whose seat is in the like-named municipality.

Climate

Yearly precipitation in Mettenheim amounts to 558 mm, which is low, falling into the lowest fourth of the precipitation chart for all Germany. Only at 12% of the German Weather Service’s weather stations are even lower figures recorded. The driest month is January. The most rainfall comes in July. In that month, precipitation is twice what it is in January. Precipitation varies moderately. At 51% of the weather stations, lower seasonal swings are recorded.

History

Mettenheim was mentioned as early as 873 in the Annales Wormatienses as a Roman colony. It was originally held by the Bishop of Worms, but, still in early times, the Counts of Leiningen were enfeoffed with it, later counting it as being among their ancestral holdings. Towards the end of the 17th century, the village ended up in the Frankfurt merchant Canpoing’s ownership, from whom it then passed to the Counts of Wartenberg. In 1393, a castle at Mettenheim was mentioned, whose owners, the Chamberlains and Knights of Fleckenstein, sold it at that time to the City of Worms.

Politics

Municipal council

The council is made up of 16 council members, who were elected at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.

The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:[2]

CDU FWG Loibl BLM Total
2009 2 6 2 6 16 seats

Town partnerships

Coat of arms

The municipality’s arms might be described thus: Argent a talon barwise lopped, the toes to chief, azure.

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

In 2007, the crypt of the Counts of Wartenberg was opened to the public after renovation.

Mettenheim town hall

Economy and infrastructure

About half of the usable agricultural land of 540 ha in Mettenheim is planted with vineyards. The vineyards are sheltered from the wind on the typical Wonnegau terraces. There are 34 businesses that earn their living wholly from winegrowing. Mettenheim lies in the Nierstein zone of the Rhenish Hesse wine region and bears the winemaking appellations Michelsberg, Schloßberg and Goldberg.

Transport

Mettenheim station

Famous people

Jacob Best, Sr. (1786–1861) was born in Hesse-Darmstadt where he learned the brewing trade, later running a small brewery in Mettenheim. He later founded one of the forerunners of the Pabst Brewing Company in Milwaukee after his emigration in 1844 to join his sons.[3][4]

References

  1. ↑ "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden am 31.12.2012". Statistisches Bundesamt (in German). 2013.
  2. ↑ Kommunalwahl Rheinland-Pfalz 2009, Gemeinderat
  3. ↑ Helmut Schmahl: Rheinhessische Brauer in Milwaukee in: Verpflanzt, aber nicht entwurzelt: Die Auswanderung aus Hessen-Darmstadt (Provinz Rheinhessen) nach Wisconsin im 19. Jahrhundert. Frankfurt/Main (u. a.) 2000 (Mainzer Studien zur Neueren Geschichte, 1)
  4. ↑ Cochran, Thomas C. (1948). The Pabst Brewing Company: The History of an American Business. New York University Press. p. 455. ISBN 0-9662084-5-5.

External links