Dittelsheim-Heßloch

Dittelsheim-Heßloch
Dittelsheim-Heßloch
Location of Dittelsheim-Heßloch within Alzey-Worms district
Coordinates	49°44′38″N 8°14′13″E / 49.74389°N 8.23694°E / 49.74389; 8.23694Coordinates: 49°44′38″N 8°14′13″E / 49.74389°N 8.23694°E / 49.74389; 8.23694
Administration
Country	Germany
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
District	Alzey-Worms
Municipal assoc.	Westhofen
Mayor	Rainer Fuhrmann (CDU)
Basic statistics
Area	13.84 km2 (5.34 sq mi)
Elevation	170 m  (558 ft)
Population	2,091 (31 December 2010)[1]
- Density	151 /km2 (391 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate	AZ
Postal code	67596
Area code	06244
Website	www.dittelsheim-hessloch.de

Dittelsheim-Heßloch (or Dittelsheim-Hessloch) 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, and is a wine village in the Wonnegau. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Westhofen, whose seat is in the like-named municipality.

History

Werner II of Bolanden was enfeoffed about 1190 with the village of Dittelsheim by the Counts of Katzenelnbogen. Bit by bit, Electoral Palatinate acquired the parts formerly held by the Raugrafen noble family and the Old Bolanden line, and those held by the von Wachenheims and the von Dalbergs (15th to early 17th century). During the Middle Ages, the Lords of Dalberg held the Vogtei.

The municipality of Dittelsheim-Heßloch came into being on 7 June 1969 through the merger of the two municipalities of Dittelsheim and Heßloch.

Politics

Municipal council

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

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

	SPD	CDU	FWG	Total
2009	4	6	6	16 seats
2004	4	7	5	16 seats

Mayors

• Werner Spies - FWG (1970–1989)
• Herbert Morch - SPD (1989–2004)
• Rainer Fuhrmann - CDU (2004–present)

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

• Sarazenenturm (Saracen Tower): A tower at the Evangelical church in the constituent community of Dittelsheim, built about 1200, known locally as the Heidenturm (“Heathen Tower”). The church itself was torn down in 1729 and replaced with a Baroque structure. Only the vestibule and the tower remain from earlier times. Reportedly, Moorish or Byzantine style influences can be made out in this Romanesque tower. It is often described as the loveliest of its kind in Rhenish Hesse. The spire with its 16-sided cupola top supposedly bears some relation to the Hohenstaufen Rhinelands to the east and it belongs to a group of similar spires in Rhenish Hesse, such as Alsheim, Guntersblum and Saint Paul’s Church in Worms. The names Heidenturm and Sarazenenturm go back to the Crusaders who supposedly built the tower.
• Old Catholic Christuskirche in Heßloch.

Sport

• TSG Dittelsheim (gymnastic and sport club)
• Kunstradfahrverein Dittelsheim (artistic cycling)
• TuS Hessloch (gymnastic and sport club)

Clubs

• Kloppberggugger e.V. – the first Guggenmusik from Rhenish Hesse
• Musikverein Hessloch (music club)

Economy and infrastructure

Winegrowing

Winegrowing has a long tradition here. Dittelsheim-Heßloch covers an area of some 1 350 ha, of which 446 ha is planted with vineyards.

Differences in elevation, various microclimatic conditions and highly differentiated soil compositions that range from heavy, loamy to light sandy earth are good preconditions for winegrowing, and thus many different varieties of vine thrive in Dittelsheim-Heßloch, making possible a broad palette of wines.

Transport

Dittelsheim-Heßloch was once served by the former Osthofen–Gau Odernheim railway line.

Famous people

• Jakob Becker (b. 15 March 1810 in Dittelsheim; d. 22 December 1872 in Frankfurt am Main) painter, etcher and lithographer as well as art professor at Städel
• Anton Praetorius was from 1592 to 1596 the first reformed clergyman in Dittelsheim. He wrote in 1595 the earliest description of the first Great Barrel at Heidelberg Castle, in which he praised the barrel as a symbol for the Calvinist belief’s supremacy. He was later known as an active opponent of witch trials and torture.
• Julia Metzler was the Rhenish-Hessian Wine Queen in 2006/2007 and German Wine Princess in 2007/2008.

References

1. ^ "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden am 31.12.2010" (in German). Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz. 31 December 2010. http://www.statistik.rlp.de/fileadmin/dokumente/berichte/A1033_201022_hj_G.pdf. 
2. ^ Kommunalwahl Rheinland-Pfalz 2009, Gemeinderat

External links

• Municipality’s official webpage (German)
• Brief portrait with film of Dittelsheim-Heßloch at SWR Fernsehen (German)

This article incorporates information from the German Wikipedia.