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Coordinates: 49°37′12″N 7°37′40″E / 49.62000°N 7.62778°E / 49.62000; 7.62778
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{{Infobox German location
{{Infobox German location
|image_photo =
|image_photo =
|Wappen = Wappen-hohenoellen.jpg
|image_coa = Wappen-hohenoellen.jpg
|coordinates = {{coord|49|37|12|N|7|37|40|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|lat_deg = 49 |lat_min = 37 |lat_sec = 12
|image_plan = Hohenöllen in KUS.svg
|lon_deg = 7 |lon_min = 37 |lon_sec = 40
|state = Rheinland-Pfalz
|Lageplan = Hohenöllen in KUS.svg
|Bundesland = Rheinland-Pfalz
|district = Kusel
|Landkreis = Kusel
|Verbandsgemeinde = Lauterecken-Wolfstein
|Verbandsgemeinde = Lauterecken-Wolfstein
|Höhe = 312
|elevation = 312
|Fläche = 5.17
|area = 5.17
|Einwohner = 400
|postal_code = 67744
|Stand = 2006-12-31
|area_code = 06382
|PLZ = 67744
|licence = KUS
|Vorwahl = 06382
|Kfz = KUS
|Gemeindeschlüssel = 07 3 36 043
|Gemeindeschlüssel = 07 3 36 043
|website = [http://www.vg-lauterecken.de/haupt/gemeinden/ortsgemeinden/die_ortsgemeinden_in_der_uebersicht/hohenoellen/index.phtml vg-lauterecken.de]
|Adresse-Verband = Schulstraße 6a <br />67742 Lauterecken
|mayor = Hans Jürgen Reule<ref name=mayor>[https://www.wahlen.rlp.de/de/kw/wahlen/kd/gebiete/3360000000000.html Direktwahlen 2019, Landkreis Kusel], Landeswahlleiter Rheinland-Pfalz, accessed 2 August 2021.</ref>
|Website = [http://www.vg-lauterecken.de/haupt/gemeinden/ortsgemeinden/die_ortsgemeinden_in_der_uebersicht/hohenoellen/index.phtml vg-lauterecken.de]
|leader_term = 2019&ndash;24
|Bürgermeister = Erich Wannenmacher
}}
}}
'''Hohenöllen''' is an ''[[Ortsgemeinde (Germany)|Ortsgemeinde]]'' – a [[Municipalities of Germany|municipality]] belonging to a ''[[Verbandsgemeinde]]'', a kind of collective municipality – in the [[Kusel (district)|Kusel]] [[Districts of Germany|district]] in [[Rhineland-Palatinate]], [[Germany]]. It belongs to the [[Lauterecken-Wolfstein|''Verbandsgemeinde'' Lauterecken-Wolfstein]].
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'''Hohenöllen''' is an ''[[Ortsgemeinde]]'' – a [[Municipalities of Germany|municipality]] belonging to a ''[[Verbandsgemeinde]]'', a kind of collective municipality – in the [[Kusel (district)|Kusel]] [[Districts of Germany|district]] in [[Rhineland-Palatinate]], [[Germany]]. It belongs to the [[Lauterecken-Wolfstein|''Verbandsgemeinde'' Lauterecken-Wolfstein]].


==Geography==
==Geography==


===Location===
===Location===
The municipality lies on a high plateau at the edge of a mountain east of and above the [[Lauter (Glan)|Lauter]] valley in the [[North Palatine Uplands]] at an elevation of some 315&nbsp;m above [[sea level]]. There is a particularly picturesque view of Hohenöllen in the heights from the valley. Other heights within municipal limits are the Hansmauler Kopf in the south (325&nbsp;m) and the Wolfersheck in the north (366&nbsp;m). The [[Hamlet (place)|hamlet]] of the<!--Yes, it takes an article.--> Sulzhof with its 15 or so houses lies north of the village on the way to [[Cronenberg, Rhineland-Palatinate|Cronenberg]], which itself lies roughly 4&nbsp;km from Hohenöllen’s main centre in the Sulzbach valley at an elevation of only 227&nbsp;m above sea level. The<!--Yes, this takes an article, too.--> Birkenhof was founded about 1970 as an ''Aussiedlerhof'' (outlying [[Agriculture|agricultural]] settlement), and lies about 200&nbsp;m north of Hohenöllen. The municipal area measures 517&nbsp;ha, of which roughly 9&nbsp;ha is settled and 95&nbsp;ha is wooded.<ref>[http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/index.php?id=7539 Location]</ref>
The municipality lies on a high plateau at the edge of a mountain east of and above the [[Lauter (Glan)|Lauter]] valley in the [[North Palatine Uplands]] at an elevation of some 315&nbsp;m above [[sea level]]. There is a particularly picturesque view of Hohenöllen in the heights from the valley. Other heights within municipal limits are the Hansmauler Kopf in the south (325&nbsp;m) and the Wolfersheck in the north (366&nbsp;m). The [[Hamlet (place)|hamlet]] of the<!--Yes, it takes an article.--> Sulzhof with its 15 or so houses lies north of the village on the way to [[Cronenberg, Rhineland-Palatinate|Cronenberg]], which itself lies roughly 4&nbsp;km from Hohenöllen's main centre in the Sulzbach valley at an elevation of only 227&nbsp;m above sea level. The<!--Yes, this takes an article, too.--> Birkenhof was founded about 1970 as an ''[[Aussiedlerhof]]'' (outlying [[Agriculture|agricultural]] settlement), and lies about 200&nbsp;m north of Hohenöllen. The municipal area measures 517&nbsp;ha, of which roughly 9&nbsp;ha is settled and 95&nbsp;ha is wooded.<ref>[http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/index.php?id=7539 Location]</ref>


===Neighbouring municipalities===
===Neighbouring municipalities===
Line 42: Line 31:


===Municipality’s layout===
===Municipality’s layout===
Hohenöllen is a clump village whose main inhabited area lies on an old road running upon the plateau, skirting the Lauter valley’s steeply sloped eastern edge. Particularly noteworthy buildings named by Schüler-Beigang are the schoolhouse and a classroom that stands next door, a day labourer’s house and the war memorial that stands in the open countryside to the village’s south. Otherwise, the village’s appearance is dominated by farmhouses, either ''Einfirsthäuser'' (houses with a single roof ridge) or ''Quereinhäuser'' (combination residential and commercial houses divided for these two purposes down the middle, perpendicularly to the street), and also workers’ houses. Many farmhouses have been converted to purely residential use. Small new development areas mark the village’s outskirts. To the south lies the graveyard. The Sulzhof, lying on both sides of the Sulzbach, was originally made up of a few farmhouses and an [[inn]]. These buildings, too, have mostly been converted to purely residential use.<ref>[http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/index.php?id=7539 Municipality’s layout]</ref>
Hohenöllen is a clump village whose main inhabited area lies on an old road running upon the plateau, skirting the Lauter valley's steeply sloped eastern edge. Particularly noteworthy buildings named by Schüler-Beigang are the schoolhouse and a classroom that stands next door, a day labourer's house and the war memorial that stands in the open countryside to the village's south. Otherwise, the village's appearance is dominated by farmhouses, either ''Einfirsthäuser'' (houses with a single roof ridge) or ''Quereinhäuser'' (combination residential and commercial houses divided for these two purposes down the middle, perpendicularly to the street), and also workers’ houses. Many farmhouses have been converted to purely residential use. Small new development areas mark the village's outskirts. To the south lies the graveyard. The Sulzhof, lying on both sides of the Sulzbach, was originally made up of a few farmhouses and an [[inn]]. These buildings, too, have mostly been converted to purely residential use.<ref>[http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/index.php?id=7539 Municipality’s layout]</ref>


==History==
==History==


===Antiquity===
===Antiquity===
The countryside around Hohenöllen was settled as early as [[Prehistory|prehistoric times]], bearing witness to which are [[Archaeology|archaeological]] finds, such as one made in 1964 in Hob (a rural cadastral name) by a student, a [[Stone tool|stone hatchet]] made of hard, grey stone with a pointed knob and offset sides, and with a length of 9.4&nbsp;cm. Another such hatchet was found in some heaped earth near a farm. The earth itself had been heaped there more than one hundred years earlier, having likewise been dug up in Hob. [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] finds have not come to light in Hohenöllen itself, unlike what has been found in neighbouring villages. The road running by the village is often called a [[Roman roads|Roman road]].<ref>[http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/index.php?id=7539 Antiquity]</ref>
The countryside around Hohenöllen was settled as early as [[Prehistory|prehistoric times]], bearing witness to which are [[Archaeology|archaeological]] finds, such as one made in 1964 in Hob (a rural cadastral name) by a student, a [[Stone tool|stone hatchet]] made of hard, grey stone with a pointed knob and offset sides, and with a length of 9.4&nbsp;cm. Another such hatchet was found in some heaped earth near a farm. The earth itself had been heaped there more than one hundred years earlier, having likewise been dug up in Hob. [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] finds have not come to light in Hohenöllen itself, unlike what has been found in neighbouring villages. The road running by the village is often called a [[Roman roads|Roman road]].<ref>[http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/index.php?id=7539 Antiquity]</ref>


===Middle Ages===
===Middle Ages===
An exact date for Hohenöllen’s founding cannot be determined; the vanished and later revived centre of Sulzbach (now called the Sulzhof) might well have been older. It is believed to have arisen in the 8th or 9th century, whereas the village itself arose only in the 10th or 11th century. Both centres lay in the [[Nahegau]] and passed to the [[County of Veldenz]] when this became independent in the early 12th century. In 1268, Hohenöllen had its first documentary mention in Goswin Widder’s book about [[Electoral Palatinate]], in which he refers to a lecture by the [[Heidelberg]] historian Grollius that mentioned that in that year, Craffto von Boxberg, whose wife was a Countess of Veldenz, leased, among other things, his holdings in ''Hohenhelden'' (Hohenöllen) to the Counts of Landsberg. The transaction was linked to the Veldenz transition from the older line to the newer line. Both Hohenöllen and Sulzbach were later named repeatedly in Veldenz docments. In 1431, Henchin Wolf von Spanheim acknowledged that he had received a series of holdings from Count Friedrich III of Veldenz, among them certain taxation rights in ''Hohenhelde''. That same year, Henchin Wolf announced to the Count that his late brother had sold these income rights. A year later, Count Friedrich granted Henchin leave to transfer the [[tithe]]s from ''Hohenhelde'' to his wife Fyhe von Eyche as a widow’s estate. Then, in 1438, Henchin sold the Count the estate, which had since become his own, along with the income rights in ''Hohenhelde''. As early as the 14th century, Hohenöllen was described as an ''[[Amt (country subdivision)|Amt]]'' seat. The village was seat of an ''Unteramt'' within the Veldenz, and later [[Palatinate-Zweibrücken|Zweibrücken]], ''Oberamt'' of Meisenheim. The ''Unteramt'' seat was later moved to [[Einöllen]].<ref>[http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/index.php?id=7539 Middle Ages]</ref>
An exact date for Hohenöllen's founding cannot be determined; the vanished and later revived centre of Sulzbach (now called the Sulzhof) might well have been older. It is believed to have arisen in the 8th or 9th century, whereas the village itself arose only in the 10th or 11th century. Both centres lay in the [[Nahegau]] and passed to the [[County of Veldenz]] when this became independent in the early 12th century. In 1268, Hohenöllen had its first documentary mention in Goswin Widder's book about [[Electoral Palatinate]], in which he refers to a lecture by the [[Heidelberg]] historian Grollius that mentioned that in that year, Craffto von Boxberg, whose wife was a Countess of Veldenz, leased, among other things, his holdings in ''Hohenhelden'' (Hohenöllen) to the Counts of Landsberg. The transaction was linked to the Veldenz transition from the older line to the newer line. Both Hohenöllen and Sulzbach were later named repeatedly in Veldenz documents. In 1431, Henchin Wolf von Spanheim acknowledged that he had received a series of holdings from Count Friedrich III of Veldenz, among them certain taxation rights in ''Hohenhelde''. That same year, Henchin Wolf announced to the Count that his late brother had sold these income rights. A year later, Count Friedrich granted Henchin leave to transfer the [[tithe]]s from ''Hohenhelde'' to his wife Fyhe von Eyche as a widow's estate. Then, in 1438, Henchin sold the Count the estate, which had since become his own, along with the income rights in ''Hohenhelde''. As early as the 14th century, Hohenöllen was described as an ''[[Amt (country subdivision)|Amt]]'' seat. The village was seat of an ''Unteramt'' within the Veldenz, and later [[Palatinate-Zweibrücken|Zweibrücken]], ''Oberamt'' of Meisenheim. The ''Unteramt'' seat was later moved to [[Einöllen]].<ref>[http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/index.php?id=7539 Middle Ages]</ref>


====Sulzbach====
====Sulzbach====
Sulzbach, on the other hand, was home to nobles, such as a Rudolf von Soltzbach in 1387. It is often hard to tell whether the lords took their name from the local place or from the like-named and likewise vanished village of Sulzbach that once lay within [[Bedesbach]]’s current limits. In 1444, the newer line of the [[County of Veldenz|Counts of Veldenz]] died out in the male line. The last count’s daughter [[Anna of Veldenz, Countess Palatine of Simmern-Zweibrücken|Anna]] had married [[Rupert, King of Germany|King Ruprecht’s]] son [[Stephen, Count Palatine of Simmern-Zweibrücken|Count Palatine Stephan]]. By uniting his own Palatine holdings with the now otherwise heirless County of Veldenz – his wife had inherited the county, but not her father’s title – and by redeeming the hitherto pledged County of Zweibrücken, Stephan founded a new County Palatine, as whose comital residence he chose the town of [[Zweibrücken]]: the County Palatine – later Duchy – of [[Palatinate-Zweibrücken]]. It was likely sometime before 1500 that the village of Sulzbach vanished. It is unlikely to have happened during [[Louis I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken|Count Palatine Ludwig I’s]] (Ludwig the Black’s) warlike disputes. It is assumed, rather, that it was an [[epidemic]] that put an end to the village.<ref>[http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/index.php?id=7539 Middle Ages – Sulzbach]</ref>
Sulzbach, on the other hand, was home to nobles, such as a Rudolf von Soltzbach in 1387. It is often hard to tell whether the lords took their name from the local place or from the like-named and likewise vanished village of Sulzbach that once lay within [[Bedesbach]]’s current limits. In 1444, the newer line of the [[County of Veldenz|Counts of Veldenz]] died out in the male line. The last count's daughter [[Anna of Veldenz, Countess Palatine of Simmern-Zweibrücken|Anna]] had married [[Rupert, King of Germany|King Ruprecht's]] son [[Stephen, Count Palatine of Simmern-Zweibrücken|Count Palatine Stephan]]. By uniting his own Palatine holdings with the now otherwise heirless County of Veldenz – his wife had inherited the county, but not her father's title – and by redeeming the hitherto pledged County of Zweibrücken, Stephan founded a new County Palatine, as whose comital residence he chose the town of [[Zweibrücken]]: the County Palatine – later Duchy – of [[Palatinate-Zweibrücken]]. It was likely sometime before 1500 that the village of Sulzbach vanished. It is unlikely to have happened during [[Louis I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken|Count Palatine Ludwig I's]] (Ludwig the Black's) warlike disputes. It is assumed, rather, that it was an [[epidemic]] that put an end to the village.<ref>[http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/index.php?id=7539 Middle Ages – Sulzbach]</ref>


===Modern times===
===Modern times===
From 1544, the text of a ''Weistum'' (a ''Weistum'' – [[cognate]] with [[English language|English]] ''wisdom'' – was a legal pronouncement issued by men learned in law in the [[Middle Ages]] and early modern times) from Hohenöllen has been preserved. Hardship and woe were brought to the village by the [[Thirty Years' War]] and the [[Plague (disease)|Plague]]. Further suffering came in the late 17th century with [[France|French]] [[Louis XIV of France|King Louis XIV’s]] wars of conquest. In 1672, eleven families were once again living in the village, making Hohenöllen one of the biggest villages in the greater area. Hohenöllen belonged to the County Palatine of [[Palatinate-Zweibrücken|Zweibrücken]] until it became part of [[Electoral Palatinate]] in 1768. The instrument whereby this happened was the [[Seltz|Selz]]-[[Hagenbach]] Treaty, also known as the [[Schwetzingen]] Compromise, under whose terms Zweibrücken exchanged a series of villages for another series of hitherto Electoral Palatinate villages, the former series comprising mainly the Zweibrücken villages in the ''[[Schultheiß]]erei'' of Einöllen with Hohenöllen, the then town of [[Odernheim]], Frankweiler, [[Niederhausen]], [[Hochstätten]] and [[Melsheim]] (now in [[France]]), and the latter series comprising the Electoral Palatinate ''[[Amt (country subdivision)|Ämter]]'' of Selz and Hagenbach (whose like-named seats today lie in France and Germany respectively). The seat of the ''Unteramt'' was now [[Wolfstein, Rhineland-Palatinate|Wolfstein]], which belonged to the Electoral Palatinate ''Oberamt'' of Kaiserslautern. Nevertheless, this arrangement lasted only a bit less than three decades before the whole [[Feudalism|feudal]] system was swept away. Goswin Widder, who about 1788 published a four-volume work about all Electoral Palatinate places, put together the following description: “Hohenöllen lies one and a half hours down from Wolfstein on the Lauter’s right bank. … A quarter hour to the side lies a considerable farm, called Sulzhof. Including this, the population of 41 families, which comprise 224 souls, is great. Besides a school, there are 33 townsmen’s houses and common houses. The municipal area contains 978 ''Morgen'' of cropfields, 100 ''Morgen'' of [[vineyard]]s, 6 ''Morgen'' of [[garden]]s, 80 ''Morgen'' of [[meadow]]s, 308 ''Morgen'' of [[forest]]. This last belongs partly to the municipality, partly to the Baron of Fürstenwärther and a few subjects, also at the Sulzhof. They are subordinate to the forestry duties of the forester at [[Katzweiler]].”<ref>[http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/index.php?id=7539 Modern times]</ref>
From 1544, the text of a ''Weistum'' (a ''Weistum'' – [[cognate]] with [[English language|English]] ''wisdom'' – was a legal pronouncement issued by men learned in law in the [[Middle Ages]] and early modern times) from Hohenöllen has been preserved. Hardship and woe were brought to the village by the [[Thirty Years' War]] and the [[Plague (disease)|Plague]]. Further suffering came in the late 17th century with [[France|French]] [[Louis XIV of France|King Louis XIV's]] wars of conquest. In 1672, eleven families were once again living in the village, making Hohenöllen one of the biggest villages in the greater area. Hohenöllen belonged to the County Palatine of [[Palatinate-Zweibrücken|Zweibrücken]] until it became part of [[Electoral Palatinate]] in 1768. The instrument whereby this happened was the [[Seltz|Selz]]-[[Hagenbach]] Treaty, also known as the [[Schwetzingen]] Compromise, under whose terms Zweibrücken exchanged a series of villages for another series of hitherto Electoral Palatinate villages, the former series comprising mainly the Zweibrücken villages in the ''[[Schultheiß]]erei'' of Einöllen with Hohenöllen, the then town of [[Odernheim]], Frankweiler, [[Niederhausen]], [[Hochstätten]] and [[Melsheim]] (now in [[France]]), and the latter series comprising the Electoral Palatinate ''[[Amt (country subdivision)|Ämter]]'' of Selz and Hagenbach (whose like-named seats today lie in France and Germany respectively). The seat of the ''Unteramt'' was now [[Wolfstein, Rhineland-Palatinate|Wolfstein]], which belonged to the Electoral Palatinate ''Oberamt'' of Kaiserslautern. Nevertheless, this arrangement lasted only a bit less than three decades before the whole [[Feudalism|feudal]] system was swept away. Goswin Widder, who about 1788 published a four-volume work about all Electoral Palatinate places, put together the following description: “Hohenöllen lies one and a half hours down from Wolfstein on the Lauter’s right bank. … A quarter hour to the side lies a considerable farm, called Sulzhof. Including this, the population of 41 families, which comprise 224 souls, is great. Besides a school, there are 33 townsmen’s houses and common houses. The municipal area contains 978 ''Morgen'' of cropfields, 100 ''Morgen'' of [[vineyard]]s, 6 ''Morgen'' of [[garden]]s, 80 ''Morgen'' of [[meadow]]s, 308 ''Morgen'' of [[forest]]. This last belongs partly to the municipality, partly to the Baron of Fürstenwärther and a few subjects, also at the Sulzhof. They are subordinate to the forestry duties of the forester at [[Katzweiler]].”<ref>[http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/index.php?id=7539 Modern times]</ref>


====Recent times====
====Recent times====
[[French Revolutionary Wars|French Revolutionary troops]] were [[Military operation|operating]] in the Western [[Palatinate (region)|Palatinate]] beginning in 1793 as the old ruling structures were being dissolved bit by bit. In 1798, the inhabitants of Hohenöllen were under orders to set up a [[Liberty pole]], but they refused to do so. In 1801, the German lands on the [[Rhine]]’s left bank were [[Annexation|annexed]] to the [[French First Republic|French Republic]]. Hohenöllen now belonged to the ''Mairie'' (“Mayoralty”) of Lauterecken, the [[Cantons of France|Canton]] of Lauterecken, the [[Arrondissements of France|Arrondissement]] of Kaiserslautern and the [[Departments of France|Department]] of [[Mont-Tonnerre]] (or Donnersberg in [[German language|German]]). In 1814, the French were driven out. A commission made up of [[Prussia]]ns, [[Kingdom of Bavaria|Bavarians]] and [[Austrian Empire|Austrians]] administered the area until eventually, the ''Baierischer Rheinkreis'' (“Bavarian Rhine District”) was founded, later known as the ''Rheinpfalz'' (“Rhenish Palatinate”). The [[Congress of Vienna]] awarded this territory to Bavaria in 1816. Within the ''Rheinpfalz'', Hohenöllen belonged to the ''Bürgermeisterei'' (“Mayoralty”) of Lauterecken, the Canton of Lauterecken and the ''Landkommissariat'' of Kusel. From the ''Landkommissariat'' later arose the ''Bezirksamt'', and then the ''Landkreis'' (district). In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the [[Nazi Party]] (NSDAP) became quite popular in Hohenöllen. In the [[German federal election, 1928|1928 Reichstag elections]], 51.8% of the local votes went to [[Adolf Hitler]]’s party, but by the [[German federal election, 1930|1930 Reichstag elections]], this had shrunk to 45.7%. By the time of the [[German federal election, March 1933|1933 Reichstag elections]], though, after Hitler had already [[Machtergreifung|seized power]], local support for the Nazis had swollen to 64.9%. Hitler’s success in these elections paved the way for his [[Enabling Act of 1933]] (''Ermächtigungsgesetz''), thus starting the [[Nazi Germany|Third Reich]] in earnest. Even after the [[First World War]], Hohenöllen belonged to [[Bavaria]], although it was no longer a [[Monarchy|kingdom]] now that the [[Ludwig III of Bavaria|last king]], and of course the [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Kaiser]], had [[Abdication|abdicated]]. After the [[Second World War]], the Palatinate was separated from Bavaria and became part of the then newly founded [[States of Germany|state]] of [[Rhineland-Palatinate]]. In the course of administrative restructuring in the state, the old administrative structures were dissolved, and in early 1972, Hohenöllen, along with the Sulzhof, passed as an ''[[Ortsgemeinde]]'' to the newly founded [[Lauterecken (Verbandsgemeinde)|''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Lauterecken]].<ref>[http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/index.php?id=7539 Recent times]</ref>
[[French Revolutionary Wars|French Revolutionary troops]] were [[Military operation|operating]] in the Western [[Palatinate (region)|Palatinate]] beginning in 1793 as the old ruling structures were being dissolved bit by bit. In 1798, the inhabitants of Hohenöllen were under orders to set up a [[Liberty pole]], but they refused to do so. In 1801, the German lands on the [[Rhine]]’s left bank were [[Annexation|annexed]] to the [[French First Republic|French Republic]]. Hohenöllen now belonged to the ''Mairie'' (“Mayoralty”) of Lauterecken, the [[Cantons of France|Canton]] of Lauterecken, the [[Arrondissements of France|Arrondissement]] of Kaiserslautern and the [[Departments of France|Department]] of [[Mont-Tonnerre]] (or Donnersberg in [[German language|German]]). In 1814, the French were driven out. A commission made up of [[Prussia]]ns, [[Kingdom of Bavaria|Bavarians]] and [[Austrian Empire|Austrians]] administered the area until eventually, the ''Baierischer Rheinkreis'' (“Bavarian Rhine District”) was founded, later known as the ''Rheinpfalz'' (“Rhenish Palatinate”). The [[Congress of Vienna]] awarded this territory to Bavaria in 1816. Within the ''Rheinpfalz'', Hohenöllen belonged to the ''Bürgermeisterei'' (“Mayoralty”) of Lauterecken, the Canton of Lauterecken and the ''Landkommissariat'' of Kusel. From the ''Landkommissariat'' later arose the ''Bezirksamt'', and then the ''Landkreis'' (district). In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the [[Nazi Party]] (NSDAP) became quite popular in Hohenöllen. In the [[German federal election, 1928|1928 Reichstag elections]], 51.8% of the local votes went to [[Adolf Hitler]]’s party, but by the [[German federal election, 1930|1930 Reichstag elections]], this had shrunk to 45.7%. By the time of the [[German federal election, March 1933|1933 Reichstag elections]], though, after Hitler had already [[Machtergreifung|seized power]], local support for the Nazis had swollen to 64.9%. Hitler's success in these elections paved the way for his [[Enabling Act of 1933]] (''Ermächtigungsgesetz''), thus starting the [[Nazi Germany|Third Reich]] in earnest. Even after the [[First World War]], Hohenöllen belonged to [[Bavaria]], although it was no longer a [[Monarchy|kingdom]] now that the [[Ludwig III of Bavaria|last king]], and of course the [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Kaiser]], had [[Abdication|abdicated]]. After the [[Second World War]], the Palatinate was separated from Bavaria and became part of the then newly founded [[States of Germany|state]] of [[Rhineland-Palatinate]]. In the course of administrative restructuring in the state, the old administrative structures were dissolved, and in early 1972, Hohenöllen, along with the Sulzhof, passed as an ''Ortsgemeinde'' to the newly founded [[Lauterecken (Verbandsgemeinde)|''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Lauterecken]].<ref>[http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/index.php?id=7539 Recent times]</ref>


===Population development===
===Population development===
Even into the 20th century, most inhabitants in Hohenöllen earned their livelihoods in [[agriculture]]. This reality has, however, undergone a fundamental shift since then. Today, 95% of those in the workforce must now seek work elsewhere, outside the village. Hohenöllen is thus no longer a farming village. Even when it was, though, there were other ways to earn a living than by farming. There were jobs in mining and quarrying, and one could also become a ''Wandermusikant'', or travelling musician (see the [[Hinzweiler]] article for more about this). According to 1906 statistics, 65 musicians from Hohenöllen were travelling the world plying their trade at the time. The population figures broke the 500 mark as early as the early 19th century, peaking around the turn of the 20th century. Since then, the trend has been towards a steady fall in numbers. [[Commuting|Commuters]] go to jobs in, among other places, [[Kaiserslautern]], [[Wolfstein, Rhineland-Palatinate|Wolfstein]], [[Kusel]], [[Lauterecken]] and [[Meisenheim]].
Even into the 20th century, most inhabitants in Hohenöllen earned their livelihoods in [[agriculture]]. This reality has, however, undergone a fundamental shift since then. Today, 95% of those in the workforce must now seek work elsewhere, outside the village. Hohenöllen is thus no longer a farming village. Even when it was, though, there were other ways to earn a living than by farming. There were jobs in mining and quarrying, and one could also become a ''Wandermusikant'', or travelling musician (see the [[Hinzweiler]] article for more about this). According to 1906 statistics, 65 musicians from Hohenöllen were travelling the world plying their trade at the time. The population figures broke the 500 mark as early as the early 19th century, peaking around the turn of the 20th century. Since then, the trend has been towards a steady fall in numbers. [[Commuting|Commuters]] go to jobs in, among other places, [[Kaiserslautern]], [[Wolfstein, Rhineland-Palatinate|Wolfstein]], [[Kusel]], [[Lauterecken]] and [[Meisenheim]].


The following table shows population development over the centuries for Hohenöllen, with some figures broken down by religious denomination:<ref>[http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/index.php?id=7539 Hohenöllen’s population development]</ref>
The following table shows population development over the centuries for Hohenöllen, with some figures broken down by religious denomination:<ref>[http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/index.php?id=7539 Hohenöllen’s population development]</ref>
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="500"
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="500"
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee" align="center"
|- bgcolor="#eeeeee" align="center"
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===Municipality’s names===
===Municipality’s names===
The second part of the name, ''—öllen'', developed out of the [[Middle High German]] word ''helde'' ([[German language|Modern High German]]: ''Halde''), meaning “heap” or “mound”, referring to the steep slope between the village and the [[Lauter (Glan)|Lauter]] valley. The first part of the name, ''Hohen—'', is a [[Declension|declined]] form of the adjective ''hoch'' (“high”). Thus, the village’s name can be taken to mean “Settlement behind the steep slope”. The link with the earlier form, ''helde'', can be seen in some of the name’s earlier forms: ''Hohenhelde'' (1268), ''Hoynhelden daz Ampt'' (1387), ''Honellen'' (1565).
The second part of the name, ''—öllen'', developed out of the [[Middle High German]] word ''helde'' ([[German language|Modern High German]]: ''Halde''), meaning “heap” or “mound”, referring to the steep slope between the village and the [[Lauter (Glan)|Lauter]] valley. The first part of the name, ''Hohen—'', is a [[Declension|declined]] form of the adjective ''hoch'' (“high”). Thus, the village's name can be taken to mean “Settlement behind the steep slope”. The link with the earlier form, ''helde'', can be seen in some of the name's earlier forms: ''Hohenhelde'' (1268), ''Hoynhelden daz Ampt'' (1387), ''Honellen'' (1565).


The Sulzhof, an outlying centre of Hohenöllen, was originally a village in its own right, named Sulzbach. The ''Sulz—'' may have referred to a salty [[spring (hydrology)|spring]], or perhaps to a boggy forest floor. Former names include Solzbach (1321) and Wüst solzbach (1543). ''Wüst'' means “forsaken” or “waste”; by 1543, the village had been given up.<ref>[http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/index.php?id=7539 Municipality’s names]</ref>
The Sulzhof, an outlying centre of Hohenöllen, was originally a village in its own right, named Sulzbach. The ''Sulz—'' may have referred to a salty [[spring (hydrology)|spring]], or perhaps to a boggy forest floor. Former names include Solzbach (1321) and Wüst solzbach (1543). ''Wüst'' means “forsaken” or “waste”; by 1543, the village had been given up.<ref>[http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/index.php?id=7539 Municipality’s names]</ref>


===Vanished villages===
===Vanished villages===
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==Religion==
==Religion==
Hohenöllen originally belonged to the Glan [[chapter (religion)|chapter]] in the [[Electorate of Mainz|Archbishopric of Mainz]]. The ''[[Amt (country subdivision)|Amt]]'' of Hohenhelden formed a parish together with the mother church in [[Oberweiler-Tiefenbach|Tiefenbach]], which was tended by the [[Knights Hospitaller|Order of Saint John]] from [[Meisenheim]]. With the introduction of the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]], at the Prince-Bishop-Elector’s decree, everyone [[Religious conversion|became]] first [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]], and then, as of 1588, [[Calvinism|Calvinist]]. After the [[Thirty Years' War]], villagers could once again choose their faith, and also, adherents of any [[Christianity|Christian]] denomination were free to come and settle. During [[Electoral Palatinate]] times, the [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] faith was once again to be promoted (but not [[Forced conversion|enforced]]). Nevertheless, most people kept their [[Reformed churches|Reformed]] (Calvinist) beliefs. About 1700, the Reformed parish seat was moved to Einöllen. Lutherans belonged to the Church of Roßbach (nowadays an outlying centre of [[Wolfstein, Rhineland-Palatinate|Wolfstein]]). Today, about 80% of the villagers are [[Protestantism|Protestant]]. The Catholic Christians now officially belong to the Church of Reipoltskirchen, but usually attend services in [[Lauterecken]]. There are no [[Judaism|Jews]] living in Hohenöllen.<ref>[http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/index.php?id=7539 Religion]</ref>
Hohenöllen originally belonged to the Glan [[chapter (religion)|chapter]] in the [[Electorate of Mainz|Archbishopric of Mainz]]. The ''[[Amt (country subdivision)|Amt]]'' of Hohenhelden formed a parish together with the mother church in [[Oberweiler-Tiefenbach|Tiefenbach]], which was tended by the [[Knights Hospitaller|Order of Saint John]] from [[Meisenheim]]. With the introduction of the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]], at the Prince-Bishop-Elector's decree, everyone [[Religious conversion|became]] first [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]], and then, as of 1588, [[Calvinism|Calvinist]]. After the [[Thirty Years' War]], villagers could once again choose their faith, and also, adherents of any [[Christianity|Christian]] denomination were free to come and settle. During [[Electoral Palatinate]] times, the [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] faith was once again to be promoted (but not [[Forced conversion|enforced]]). Nevertheless, most people kept their [[Reformed churches|Reformed]] (Calvinist) beliefs. About 1700, the Reformed parish seat was moved to Einöllen. Lutherans belonged to the Church of Roßbach (nowadays an outlying centre of [[Wolfstein, Rhineland-Palatinate|Wolfstein]]). Today, about 80% of the villagers are [[Protestantism|Protestant]]. The Catholic Christians now officially belong to the Church of Reipoltskirchen, but usually attend services in [[Lauterecken]]. There are no [[Judaism|Jews]] living in Hohenöllen.<ref>[http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/index.php?id=7539 Religion]</ref>


==Politics==
==Politics==


===Municipal council===
===Municipal council===
The council is made up of 8 council members, who were elected by [[Plurality voting system|majority vote]] at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.<ref>[http://wahlen.rlp.de/kw/wahlen/2009/gemeinderatswahlen/ergebnisse/3360404300.html Kommunalwahl Rheinland-Pfalz 2009, Gemeinderat]</ref>
The council is made up of 8 council members, who were elected by [[Plurality voting system|majority vote]] at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.<ref>[http://wahlen.rlp.de/kw/wahlen/2009/gemeinderatswahlen/ergebnisse/3360404300.html Kommunalwahl Rheinland-Pfalz 2009, Gemeinderat]</ref>


===Mayor===
===Mayor===
Hohenöllen's mayor is Hans Jürgen Reule.<ref name=mayor/>
Hohenöllen’s mayor is Erich Wannenmacher, and his deputies are Roland Kunz and Helmut Blumenröder.<ref>[http://www.vg-lauterecken.de/vg_lauterecken/Familie%20&%20Wohnen/Gemeinden/Ortsgemeinden/Hohen%C3%B6llen/ Hohenöllen’s executive]</ref>


===Coat of arms===
===Coat of arms===
The municipality’s [[Coat of arms|arms]] might be described thus: Per bend sable a plough bendwise Or and argent a lyre azure.
The municipality's [[Coat of arms|arms]] might be described thus: Per bend sable a plough bendwise Or and argent a lyre azure.


The [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] on the dexter (armsbearer’s right, viewer’s left) side, the plough, hearkens back to the days when Hohenöllen was a farming village. The charge on the sinister (armsbearer’s left, viewer’s right) side, the lyre, refers to the former industry of travelling musicians, ''Musikantentum''. The arms have been borne since 1979 when they were approved by the now defunct [[Rheinhessen-Pfalz]] ''[[Regierungsbezirk]]'' administration in [[Neustadt an der Weinstraße]].<ref>[http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/index.php?id=7539 Description and explanation of Hohenöllen’s arms]</ref>
The [[charge (heraldry)|charge]] on the dexter (armsbearer's right, viewer's left) side, the plough, hearkens back to the days when Hohenöllen was a farming village. The charge on the sinister (armsbearer's left, viewer's right) side, the lyre, refers to the former industry of travelling musicians, ''[[Musikantentum]]''. The arms have been borne since 1979 when they were approved by the now defunct [[Rheinhessen-Pfalz]] ''[[Regierungsbezirk]]'' administration in [[Neustadt an der Weinstraße]].<ref>[http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/index.php?id=7539 Description and explanation of Hohenöllen’s arms]</ref>


==Culture and sightseeing==
==Culture and sightseeing==
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===Buildings===
===Buildings===
The following are listed buildings or sites in [[Rhineland-Palatinate]]’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:<ref>[http://denkmallisten.gdke-rlp.de/Kusel.pdf Directory of Cultural Monuments in Kusel district]</ref>
The following are listed buildings or sites in [[Rhineland-Palatinate]]’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:<ref>[http://denkmallisten.gdke-rlp.de/Kusel.pdf Directory of Cultural Monuments in Kusel district]</ref>
* Vordergasse 2, 4, 7 – former [[school]]; no. 4 one-floor plastered building with [[ridge turret]], 1829; no. 2 addition with dwelling and teaching room, 1849, architect Johann Schmeisser, [[Kusel]]; no. 7 one-floor building with hipped roof with ridge turret, 1898, architect Regional Master Builder Kleinhans
* Vordergasse 2, 4, 7 – former [[school]]; no. 4 one-floor plastered building with [[ridge turret]], 1829; no. 2 addition with dwelling and teaching room, 1849, architect Johann Schmeisser, [[Kusel]]; no. 7 one-floor building with hipped roof with ridge turret, 1898, architect Regional Master Builder Kleinhans
* Warriors’ memorial for the fallen of both [[world war]]s, south of the village – [[sandstone]]-block [[stele]], 1922 by sculptor Strauß, [[Lauterecken]], expanded in1952
* Warriors’ memorial for the fallen of both [[world war]]s, south of the village – [[sandstone]]-block [[stele]], 1922 by sculptor Strauß, [[Lauterecken]], expanded in 1952


===Regular events===
===Regular events===
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===Clubs===
===Clubs===
Hohenöllen is a village with great community spirit, and with the following clubs, which reflect that:<ref>[http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/index.php?id=7539 Clubs]</ref>
Hohenöllen is a village with great community spirit, and with the following clubs, which reflect that:<ref>[http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/index.php?id=7539 Clubs]</ref>
*''Männergesangverein 1881'' — men’s singing club
*''Männergesangverein 1881'' — men's singing club
*''Radfahrverein “Blitz”'' — [[cycling]]
*''Radfahrverein “Blitz”'' — [[cycling]]
*''FC Blau-Weiß Hohenöllen mit Spielgemeinschaft SG Herrenberg Hohenöllen'' — [[Association football|football]] club
*''FC Blau-Weiß Hohenöllen mit Spielgemeinschaft SG Herrenberg Hohenöllen'' — [[Association football|football]] club
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===Economic structure===
===Economic structure===
Besides [[Agriculture|agricultural]] operations, which included [[winegrowing]] and fruitgrowing in earlier times, Hohenöllen had the customary craft occupations in the village itself, along with the St. Antonius [[Coal mining|colliery]], in business from 1777 to sometime towards 1900; it was quite small, employing about five workers. There was also a [[limestone]] mine, and for the village’s own needs, there were also stone quarries. The village still has one [[inn]] (at the Sulzhof). Further independent businesses are no longer to be found here. The village is therefore a typical country community with a very great number of [[Commuting|commuters]] living in it.<ref>[http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/index.php?id=7539 Economic structure]</ref>
Besides [[Agriculture|agricultural]] operations, which included [[winegrowing]] and fruitgrowing in earlier times, Hohenöllen had the customary craft occupations in the village itself, along with the St. Antonius [[Coal mining|colliery]], in business from 1777 to sometime towards 1900; it was quite small, employing about five workers. There was also a [[limestone]] mine, and for the village's own needs, there were also stone quarries. The village still has one [[inn]] (at the Sulzhof). Further independent businesses are no longer to be found here. The village is therefore a typical country community with a very great number of [[Commuting|commuters]] living in it.<ref>[http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/index.php?id=7539 Economic structure]</ref>


===Education===
===Education===
The first schoolhouse was built sometime about 1770 as a simple [[Timber framing|timber-frame]] building for a winter school (a school geared towards an agricultural community’s practical needs, held in the winter, when farm families had a bit more time to spare). This schoolhouse was torn down in the early 19th century, and in 1829, on the same spot, a new schoolhouse was built. In the beginning, both [[Evangelical Church in Germany|Evangelical]] and [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] schoolchildren were taught together. Since not all the children could be taught in the [[One-room school|single room]], the municipality acquired a private house in 1843 in which an assistant would take over teaching for the few Catholic schoolchildren. Because two classes of greatly differing sizes (about 60:15) would then arise, the municipality opposed the government’s plans. Thus it became possible for the actual schoolteacher to teach in the big class and a for a trainee to take the smaller class in the auxiliary space. About 1870, the schoolhouse was given a [[ridge turret]] in which a bell could be hung. A new schoolhouse in the [[Classicism|Classicist]] style was built in 1899 with one classroom for the [[primary school]] pupils, while the upper classes remained at the old schoolhouse. Beginning in the 1922/1923 school year, the two classes switched places. About 1969, the two-class Hohenöllen school was dissolved. The upper class went to the [[Hauptschule]] in [[Lauterecken]] while the lower class went to the [[Lohnweiler]]-[[Heinzenhausen]] primary school. The old Hohenöllen schoolhouse passed into private ownership. The so-called new schoolhouse was taken over by the municipality for its own requirements.<ref>[http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/index.php?id=7539 Education]</ref>
The first schoolhouse was built sometime about 1770 as a simple [[Timber framing|timber-frame]] building for a winter school (a school geared towards an agricultural community's practical needs, held in the winter, when farm families had a bit more time to spare). This schoolhouse was torn down in the early 19th century, and in 1829, on the same spot, a new schoolhouse was built. In the beginning, both [[Evangelical Church in Germany|Evangelical]] and [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] schoolchildren were taught together. Since not all the children could be taught in the [[One-room school|single room]], the municipality acquired a private house in 1843 in which an assistant would take over teaching for the few Catholic schoolchildren. Because two classes of greatly differing sizes (about 60:15) would then arise, the municipality opposed the government's plans. Thus it became possible for the actual schoolteacher to teach in the big class and for a trainee to take the smaller class in the auxiliary space. About 1870, the schoolhouse was given a [[ridge turret]] in which a bell could be hung. A new schoolhouse in the [[Classicism|Classicist]] style was built in 1899 with one classroom for the [[primary school]] pupils, while the upper classes remained at the old schoolhouse. Beginning in the 1922/1923 school year, the two classes switched places. About 1969, the two-class Hohenöllen school was dissolved. The upper class went to the [[Hauptschule]] in [[Lauterecken]] while the lower class went to the [[Lohnweiler]]-[[Heinzenhausen]] primary school. The old Hohenöllen schoolhouse passed into private ownership. The so-called new schoolhouse was taken over by the municipality for its own requirements.<ref>[http://www.regionalgeschichte.net/index.php?id=7539 Education]</ref>


===Transport===
===Transport===
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==External links==
==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.vg-lauterecken.de/vg_lauterecken/Familie%20&%20Wohnen/Gemeinden/Ortsgemeinden/Hohen%C3%B6llen/ Hohenöllen in the collective municipality’s webpages] {{de icon}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130305080857/http://www.vg-lauterecken.de/vg_lauterecken/Familie%20%26%20Wohnen/Gemeinden/Ortsgemeinden/Hohen%C3%B6llen/ Hohenöllen in the collective municipality’s webpages] {{in lang|de}}

{{iw-ref|de}}


{{Cities and towns in Kusel (district)}}
{{Cities and towns in Kusel (district)}}

{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Hohenollen}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hohenollen}}

Latest revision as of 10:40, 1 June 2023

Hohenöllen
Coat of arms of Hohenöllen
Location of Hohenöllen within Kusel district
Hohenöllen is located in Germany
Hohenöllen
Hohenöllen
Hohenöllen is located in Rhineland-Palatinate
Hohenöllen
Hohenöllen
Coordinates: 49°37′12″N 7°37′40″E / 49.62000°N 7.62778°E / 49.62000; 7.62778
CountryGermany
StateRhineland-Palatinate
DistrictKusel
Municipal assoc.Lauterecken-Wolfstein
Government
 • Mayor (2019–24) Hans Jürgen Reule[1]
Area
 • Total5.17 km2 (2.00 sq mi)
Elevation
312 m (1,024 ft)
Population
 (2022-12-31)[2]
 • Total349
 • Density68/km2 (170/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes
67744
Dialling codes06382
Vehicle registrationKUS
Websitevg-lauterecken.de

Hohenöllen is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde Lauterecken-Wolfstein.

Geography

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Location

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The municipality lies on a high plateau at the edge of a mountain east of and above the Lauter valley in the North Palatine Uplands at an elevation of some 315 m above sea level. There is a particularly picturesque view of Hohenöllen in the heights from the valley. Other heights within municipal limits are the Hansmauler Kopf in the south (325 m) and the Wolfersheck in the north (366 m). The hamlet of the Sulzhof with its 15 or so houses lies north of the village on the way to Cronenberg, which itself lies roughly 4 km from Hohenöllen's main centre in the Sulzbach valley at an elevation of only 227 m above sea level. The Birkenhof was founded about 1970 as an Aussiedlerhof (outlying agricultural settlement), and lies about 200 m north of Hohenöllen. The municipal area measures 517 ha, of which roughly 9 ha is settled and 95 ha is wooded.[3]

Neighbouring municipalities

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Hohenöllen borders in the north on the municipality of Cronenberg, in the northeast on the municipality of Ginsweiler, in the east on the municipality of Reipoltskirchen, in the southeast on the municipality of Einöllen, in the south on the municipality of Oberweiler-Tiefenbach, in the west on the municipality of Heinzenhausen and in the northwest on the municipality of Lohnweiler and the town of Lauterecken. Hohenöllen also meets the town of Wolfstein at a single point in the southwest.

Constituent communities

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Also belonging to Hohenöllen are the outlying homesteads of Sulzhof and Birkenhof.[4]

Municipality’s layout

[edit]

Hohenöllen is a clump village whose main inhabited area lies on an old road running upon the plateau, skirting the Lauter valley's steeply sloped eastern edge. Particularly noteworthy buildings named by Schüler-Beigang are the schoolhouse and a classroom that stands next door, a day labourer's house and the war memorial that stands in the open countryside to the village's south. Otherwise, the village's appearance is dominated by farmhouses, either Einfirsthäuser (houses with a single roof ridge) or Quereinhäuser (combination residential and commercial houses divided for these two purposes down the middle, perpendicularly to the street), and also workers’ houses. Many farmhouses have been converted to purely residential use. Small new development areas mark the village's outskirts. To the south lies the graveyard. The Sulzhof, lying on both sides of the Sulzbach, was originally made up of a few farmhouses and an inn. These buildings, too, have mostly been converted to purely residential use.[5]

History

[edit]

Antiquity

[edit]

The countryside around Hohenöllen was settled as early as prehistoric times, bearing witness to which are archaeological finds, such as one made in 1964 in Hob (a rural cadastral name) by a student, a stone hatchet made of hard, grey stone with a pointed knob and offset sides, and with a length of 9.4 cm. Another such hatchet was found in some heaped earth near a farm. The earth itself had been heaped there more than one hundred years earlier, having likewise been dug up in Hob. Roman finds have not come to light in Hohenöllen itself, unlike what has been found in neighbouring villages. The road running by the village is often called a Roman road.[6]

Middle Ages

[edit]

An exact date for Hohenöllen's founding cannot be determined; the vanished and later revived centre of Sulzbach (now called the Sulzhof) might well have been older. It is believed to have arisen in the 8th or 9th century, whereas the village itself arose only in the 10th or 11th century. Both centres lay in the Nahegau and passed to the County of Veldenz when this became independent in the early 12th century. In 1268, Hohenöllen had its first documentary mention in Goswin Widder's book about Electoral Palatinate, in which he refers to a lecture by the Heidelberg historian Grollius that mentioned that in that year, Craffto von Boxberg, whose wife was a Countess of Veldenz, leased, among other things, his holdings in Hohenhelden (Hohenöllen) to the Counts of Landsberg. The transaction was linked to the Veldenz transition from the older line to the newer line. Both Hohenöllen and Sulzbach were later named repeatedly in Veldenz documents. In 1431, Henchin Wolf von Spanheim acknowledged that he had received a series of holdings from Count Friedrich III of Veldenz, among them certain taxation rights in Hohenhelde. That same year, Henchin Wolf announced to the Count that his late brother had sold these income rights. A year later, Count Friedrich granted Henchin leave to transfer the tithes from Hohenhelde to his wife Fyhe von Eyche as a widow's estate. Then, in 1438, Henchin sold the Count the estate, which had since become his own, along with the income rights in Hohenhelde. As early as the 14th century, Hohenöllen was described as an Amt seat. The village was seat of an Unteramt within the Veldenz, and later Zweibrücken, Oberamt of Meisenheim. The Unteramt seat was later moved to Einöllen.[7]

Sulzbach

[edit]

Sulzbach, on the other hand, was home to nobles, such as a Rudolf von Soltzbach in 1387. It is often hard to tell whether the lords took their name from the local place or from the like-named and likewise vanished village of Sulzbach that once lay within Bedesbach’s current limits. In 1444, the newer line of the Counts of Veldenz died out in the male line. The last count's daughter Anna had married King Ruprecht's son Count Palatine Stephan. By uniting his own Palatine holdings with the now otherwise heirless County of Veldenz – his wife had inherited the county, but not her father's title – and by redeeming the hitherto pledged County of Zweibrücken, Stephan founded a new County Palatine, as whose comital residence he chose the town of Zweibrücken: the County Palatine – later Duchy – of Palatinate-Zweibrücken. It was likely sometime before 1500 that the village of Sulzbach vanished. It is unlikely to have happened during Count Palatine Ludwig I's (Ludwig the Black's) warlike disputes. It is assumed, rather, that it was an epidemic that put an end to the village.[8]

Modern times

[edit]

From 1544, the text of a Weistum (a Weistumcognate with English wisdom – was a legal pronouncement issued by men learned in law in the Middle Ages and early modern times) from Hohenöllen has been preserved. Hardship and woe were brought to the village by the Thirty Years' War and the Plague. Further suffering came in the late 17th century with French King Louis XIV's wars of conquest. In 1672, eleven families were once again living in the village, making Hohenöllen one of the biggest villages in the greater area. Hohenöllen belonged to the County Palatine of Zweibrücken until it became part of Electoral Palatinate in 1768. The instrument whereby this happened was the Selz-Hagenbach Treaty, also known as the Schwetzingen Compromise, under whose terms Zweibrücken exchanged a series of villages for another series of hitherto Electoral Palatinate villages, the former series comprising mainly the Zweibrücken villages in the Schultheißerei of Einöllen with Hohenöllen, the then town of Odernheim, Frankweiler, Niederhausen, Hochstätten and Melsheim (now in France), and the latter series comprising the Electoral Palatinate Ämter of Selz and Hagenbach (whose like-named seats today lie in France and Germany respectively). The seat of the Unteramt was now Wolfstein, which belonged to the Electoral Palatinate Oberamt of Kaiserslautern. Nevertheless, this arrangement lasted only a bit less than three decades before the whole feudal system was swept away. Goswin Widder, who about 1788 published a four-volume work about all Electoral Palatinate places, put together the following description: “Hohenöllen lies one and a half hours down from Wolfstein on the Lauter’s right bank. … A quarter hour to the side lies a considerable farm, called Sulzhof. Including this, the population of 41 families, which comprise 224 souls, is great. Besides a school, there are 33 townsmen’s houses and common houses. The municipal area contains 978 Morgen of cropfields, 100 Morgen of vineyards, 6 Morgen of gardens, 80 Morgen of meadows, 308 Morgen of forest. This last belongs partly to the municipality, partly to the Baron of Fürstenwärther and a few subjects, also at the Sulzhof. They are subordinate to the forestry duties of the forester at Katzweiler.”[9]

Recent times

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French Revolutionary troops were operating in the Western Palatinate beginning in 1793 as the old ruling structures were being dissolved bit by bit. In 1798, the inhabitants of Hohenöllen were under orders to set up a Liberty pole, but they refused to do so. In 1801, the German lands on the Rhine’s left bank were annexed to the French Republic. Hohenöllen now belonged to the Mairie (“Mayoralty”) of Lauterecken, the Canton of Lauterecken, the Arrondissement of Kaiserslautern and the Department of Mont-Tonnerre (or Donnersberg in German). In 1814, the French were driven out. A commission made up of Prussians, Bavarians and Austrians administered the area until eventually, the Baierischer Rheinkreis (“Bavarian Rhine District”) was founded, later known as the Rheinpfalz (“Rhenish Palatinate”). The Congress of Vienna awarded this territory to Bavaria in 1816. Within the Rheinpfalz, Hohenöllen belonged to the Bürgermeisterei (“Mayoralty”) of Lauterecken, the Canton of Lauterecken and the Landkommissariat of Kusel. From the Landkommissariat later arose the Bezirksamt, and then the Landkreis (district). In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Nazi Party (NSDAP) became quite popular in Hohenöllen. In the 1928 Reichstag elections, 51.8% of the local votes went to Adolf Hitler’s party, but by the 1930 Reichstag elections, this had shrunk to 45.7%. By the time of the 1933 Reichstag elections, though, after Hitler had already seized power, local support for the Nazis had swollen to 64.9%. Hitler's success in these elections paved the way for his Enabling Act of 1933 (Ermächtigungsgesetz), thus starting the Third Reich in earnest. Even after the First World War, Hohenöllen belonged to Bavaria, although it was no longer a kingdom now that the last king, and of course the Kaiser, had abdicated. After the Second World War, the Palatinate was separated from Bavaria and became part of the then newly founded state of Rhineland-Palatinate. In the course of administrative restructuring in the state, the old administrative structures were dissolved, and in early 1972, Hohenöllen, along with the Sulzhof, passed as an Ortsgemeinde to the newly founded Verbandsgemeinde of Lauterecken.[10]

Population development

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Even into the 20th century, most inhabitants in Hohenöllen earned their livelihoods in agriculture. This reality has, however, undergone a fundamental shift since then. Today, 95% of those in the workforce must now seek work elsewhere, outside the village. Hohenöllen is thus no longer a farming village. Even when it was, though, there were other ways to earn a living than by farming. There were jobs in mining and quarrying, and one could also become a Wandermusikant, or travelling musician (see the Hinzweiler article for more about this). According to 1906 statistics, 65 musicians from Hohenöllen were travelling the world plying their trade at the time. The population figures broke the 500 mark as early as the early 19th century, peaking around the turn of the 20th century. Since then, the trend has been towards a steady fall in numbers. Commuters go to jobs in, among other places, Kaiserslautern, Wolfstein, Kusel, Lauterecken and Meisenheim.

The following table shows population development over the centuries for Hohenöllen, with some figures broken down by religious denomination:[11]

Year 1788 1825 1835 1871 1905 1939 1961 1998 2010
Total 222 420 507 455 555 457 488 435 396
Catholic   69         54    
Evangelical   351         434    

Municipality’s names

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The second part of the name, —öllen, developed out of the Middle High German word helde (Modern High German: Halde), meaning “heap” or “mound”, referring to the steep slope between the village and the Lauter valley. The first part of the name, Hohen—, is a declined form of the adjective hoch (“high”). Thus, the village's name can be taken to mean “Settlement behind the steep slope”. The link with the earlier form, helde, can be seen in some of the name's earlier forms: Hohenhelde (1268), Hoynhelden daz Ampt (1387), Honellen (1565).

The Sulzhof, an outlying centre of Hohenöllen, was originally a village in its own right, named Sulzbach. The Sulz— may have referred to a salty spring, or perhaps to a boggy forest floor. Former names include Solzbach (1321) and Wüst solzbach (1543). Wüst means “forsaken” or “waste”; by 1543, the village had been given up.[12]

Vanished villages

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Sulzbach was already being described as a downfallen village in the 16th century, and may well have been uninhabited for 200 years before rising once again as the Sulzhof.[13]

Religion

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Hohenöllen originally belonged to the Glan chapter in the Archbishopric of Mainz. The Amt of Hohenhelden formed a parish together with the mother church in Tiefenbach, which was tended by the Order of Saint John from Meisenheim. With the introduction of the Reformation, at the Prince-Bishop-Elector's decree, everyone became first Lutheran, and then, as of 1588, Calvinist. After the Thirty Years' War, villagers could once again choose their faith, and also, adherents of any Christian denomination were free to come and settle. During Electoral Palatinate times, the Catholic faith was once again to be promoted (but not enforced). Nevertheless, most people kept their Reformed (Calvinist) beliefs. About 1700, the Reformed parish seat was moved to Einöllen. Lutherans belonged to the Church of Roßbach (nowadays an outlying centre of Wolfstein). Today, about 80% of the villagers are Protestant. The Catholic Christians now officially belong to the Church of Reipoltskirchen, but usually attend services in Lauterecken. There are no Jews living in Hohenöllen.[14]

Politics

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Municipal council

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The council is made up of 8 council members, who were elected by majority vote at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.[15]

Mayor

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Hohenöllen's mayor is Hans Jürgen Reule.[1]

Coat of arms

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The municipality's arms might be described thus: Per bend sable a plough bendwise Or and argent a lyre azure.

The charge on the dexter (armsbearer's right, viewer's left) side, the plough, hearkens back to the days when Hohenöllen was a farming village. The charge on the sinister (armsbearer's left, viewer's right) side, the lyre, refers to the former industry of travelling musicians, Musikantentum. The arms have been borne since 1979 when they were approved by the now defunct Rheinhessen-Pfalz Regierungsbezirk administration in Neustadt an der Weinstraße.[16]

Culture and sightseeing

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Buildings

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The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:[17]

  • Vordergasse 2, 4, 7 – former school; no. 4 one-floor plastered building with ridge turret, 1829; no. 2 addition with dwelling and teaching room, 1849, architect Johann Schmeisser, Kusel; no. 7 one-floor building with hipped roof with ridge turret, 1898, architect Regional Master Builder Kleinhans
  • Warriors’ memorial for the fallen of both world wars, south of the village – sandstone-block stele, 1922 by sculptor Strauß, Lauterecken, expanded in 1952

Regular events

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Hohenöllen holds its kermis (church consecration festival, locally known as the Kerb) on the second weekend in September. On the Monday, two “Lulus” show up, young men wearing masks who pull the wagon of the Straußmädchen and Straußbuben (“bouquet girls and boys”). The custom supposedly goes back to a spoof on Napoleon.[18]

Clubs

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Hohenöllen is a village with great community spirit, and with the following clubs, which reflect that:[19]

  • Männergesangverein 1881 — men's singing club
  • Radfahrverein “Blitz”cycling
  • FC Blau-Weiß Hohenöllen mit Spielgemeinschaft SG Herrenberg Hohenöllenfootball club
  • Förderverein “Freiwillige Feuerwehr” — volunteer fire brigade promotional association
  • Krieger- und Militärverein — warrior and military club

Economy and infrastructure

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Economic structure

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Besides agricultural operations, which included winegrowing and fruitgrowing in earlier times, Hohenöllen had the customary craft occupations in the village itself, along with the St. Antonius colliery, in business from 1777 to sometime towards 1900; it was quite small, employing about five workers. There was also a limestone mine, and for the village's own needs, there were also stone quarries. The village still has one inn (at the Sulzhof). Further independent businesses are no longer to be found here. The village is therefore a typical country community with a very great number of commuters living in it.[20]

Education

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The first schoolhouse was built sometime about 1770 as a simple timber-frame building for a winter school (a school geared towards an agricultural community's practical needs, held in the winter, when farm families had a bit more time to spare). This schoolhouse was torn down in the early 19th century, and in 1829, on the same spot, a new schoolhouse was built. In the beginning, both Evangelical and Catholic schoolchildren were taught together. Since not all the children could be taught in the single room, the municipality acquired a private house in 1843 in which an assistant would take over teaching for the few Catholic schoolchildren. Because two classes of greatly differing sizes (about 60:15) would then arise, the municipality opposed the government's plans. Thus it became possible for the actual schoolteacher to teach in the big class and for a trainee to take the smaller class in the auxiliary space. About 1870, the schoolhouse was given a ridge turret in which a bell could be hung. A new schoolhouse in the Classicist style was built in 1899 with one classroom for the primary school pupils, while the upper classes remained at the old schoolhouse. Beginning in the 1922/1923 school year, the two classes switched places. About 1969, the two-class Hohenöllen school was dissolved. The upper class went to the Hauptschule in Lauterecken while the lower class went to the Lohnweiler-Heinzenhausen primary school. The old Hohenöllen schoolhouse passed into private ownership. The so-called new schoolhouse was taken over by the municipality for its own requirements.[21]

Transport

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Hohenöllen lies on Landesstraße 383, branching off which in the middle of the village is Kreisstraße 51, leading towards Reipoltskirchen. The nearest Autobahn interchanges are the ones at Kaiserslautern and Kusel, each some 25 km away. To the west runs Bundesstraße 270. The nearest railway station is Lohnweiler-Heinzenhausen on the Lautertalbahn, some 5 km away.[22]

References

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  1. ^ a b Direktwahlen 2019, Landkreis Kusel, Landeswahlleiter Rheinland-Pfalz, accessed 2 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Bevölkerungsstand 2022, Kreise, Gemeinden, Verbandsgemeinden" (PDF) (in German). Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz. 2023.
  3. ^ Location
  4. ^ Constituent communities
  5. ^ Municipality’s layout
  6. ^ Antiquity
  7. ^ Middle Ages
  8. ^ Middle Ages – Sulzbach
  9. ^ Modern times
  10. ^ Recent times
  11. ^ Hohenöllen’s population development
  12. ^ Municipality’s names
  13. ^ Vanished villages
  14. ^ Religion
  15. ^ Kommunalwahl Rheinland-Pfalz 2009, Gemeinderat
  16. ^ Description and explanation of Hohenöllen’s arms
  17. ^ Directory of Cultural Monuments in Kusel district
  18. ^ Regular events
  19. ^ Clubs
  20. ^ Economic structure
  21. ^ Education
  22. ^ Transport
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