Pfaffen-Schwabenheim

Geography

Location

Pfaffen-Schwabenheim lies on the Appelbach in the district's easternmost corner, just east of the district seat of Bad Kreuznach (and thus east of the Nahe) and 14 km directly south of the Rhine at Bingen's outlying centre of Kempten.

Neighbouring municipalities

Clockwise from the north, Pfaffen-Schwabenheim's neighbours are the municipalities of Biebelsheim, Zotzenheim, Sprendlingen, Badenheim, Pleitersheim and Volxheim and the town of Bad Kreuznach. Zotzenheim, Sprendlingen and Badenheim all lie in the neighbouring Mainz-Bingen district, whereas all the others likewise lie within the Bad Kreuznach district.

Constituent communities

Also belonging to Pfaffen-Schwabenheim is the outlying homestead of Schleifmühle.^[3]

History

During some clearing work not very many years ago, workers happened upon some roof tiles and

All the following works are in German:

• ISBN 978-3-86526-019-2
  .
• Georg Dehio: Handbuch der deutschen Kunstdenkmäler, Rheinland-Pfalz und Saarland, München 1982, pp. 816–818
• Clemens Jöckle: Pfaffen-Schwabenheim. Kleine Kunstführer Nr. 1355. Verlag Schnell und Steiner, München/Zürich 1982

Religion

As at 30 November 2013, there are 1,292 full-time residents in Pfaffen-Schwabenheim, and of those, 559 are

Politics

Municipal council

This section needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (August 2021)

The council is made up of 16 council members, who were elected by proportional representation 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:^[8]

Mayor

Pfaffen-Schwabenheim's mayor is Hans-Peter Haas (CDU), and his deputies are Michael Simon (SPD), Jörg Zöller (FWG) and Josef Feldhaus (CDU).^[9]

Coat of arms

The German blazon reads: Das Wappen ist geteilt. In der oberen Hälfte in Silber die Halbfigur eines Augustiner-Mönches in Vorderansicht, beiderseitig begleitet von einem grünen Weinstock. Die untere Hälfte ist in Blau und Gold geschachtet.

The municipality's arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Per fess argent issuant from the line of partition an Augustinian friar affronty between two grapevines likewise issuant vert, and chequy azure and Or.

The German blazon does not mention the trellises on which the grapevines grow, nor the book that the friar is holding. Indeed, the coat of arms shown at Pfaffen-Schwabenheim's own website shows both in different tinctures to what is seen in this article (the trellises are brown instead of green, and the book is red instead of silver), while the grapevines themselves have leaves. The friar is also shown there with a beard.^[10]

The civic arms in this form created by the artist were approved by the

Pfaffen-Schwabenheim fosters partnerships with the following places:[12]

• Spören, Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Saxony-Anhalt since 1991

Spören, together with its outlying centre of Prussendorf, is a

Stadtteil of the town of Zörbig

. This came about on 1 March 2004 when Spören was amalgamated along with Löberitz, Göttnitz, Salzfurtkapelle, Schrenz and Stumsdorf into Zörbig. The original partnership had been forged with the then self-administering municipality of Spören.

The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:^[13]

• Evangelical church, Brühlstraße 1 – two-naved galleried hall church with Romanesque elements, sandstone
  -block building, 1907/1908
• Binger Straße, graveyard – Wetzel-Diegel tomb, Neoclassical portal with galvanoplasty, about 1914
• Im Kloster 2-12 and others, former Augustinian Canonical Foundation (monumental zone) – founded about 1040, dissolved in 1566, reëstablished in 1697; former provostry church (Catholic Parish Church of the Assumption of Mary [Pfarrkirche Mariä Himmelfahrt]): Late Romanesque quire square, apse flanked by round towers, about 1230–1260, consecration in 1308; Late Baroque aisleless church with ridge turret about 1766, furnishings, sacristy from 1723; convent buildings: three-wing Baroque complex with mansard roofs, 1723 and years following; ringwall remnants (see also below)
• Klostergasse 14 – former Evangelical rectory, two-and-a-half-floor Late Classicist sandstone-block building, about 1850
• Kreuznacher Straße 3 – four-sided estate, from the earlier half of the 19th century; building with half-hip roof, timber framing plastered, about 1800
• Mittelgasse 1 – timber-frame house, plastered, 18th to early 19th century
• Mühlengasse 10 – hook-shaped estate; Baroque timber-frame house, partly solid, marked 1685, timber-frame barn
• Mühlengasse 11 – former monastery mill; four-sided estate; 1836 and years following; Late Classicist house, barn with half-hip roof, partly timber-frame
• Mühlengasse/corner of Sprendlinger Straße – warriors’ memorial 1870-1871, sandstone obelisk, last fourth of the 19th century
• Rathausstraße 8 – former town hall; essentially Late Gothic, possibly from about 1600, marked 1699, heavily made over in the 19th and 20th centuries
• Sprendlinger Straße 3 – estate complex; bungalow, gatehouse marked 1796
• Sprendlinger Straße 16 – Baroque timber-frame house, partly solid, apparently from 1761
• Former grindstone mill, on Landesstraße 413 – four-sided estate, mid 19th century, building with half-hip roof, quarrystone

More about the Augustinian Canonical Foundation and its church

The former Pfaffen-Schwabenheim Augustinian Canonical Foundation (Augustiner-Chorherrenstift Pfaffen-Schwabenheim) is the biggest Baroque monastery complex that has been preserved unaltered in Rhineland-Palatinate. The former provostry church (then known as the monastery or abbey church, now as the Catholic Parish Church of the Assumption of Mary, or Pfarrkirche Mariä Himmelfahrt in German) that was built into the Baroque complex is one of Rhineland-Palatinate's noteworthiest Late Romanesque churches, and it stands under the protection of the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict. Since August 2012 the church has also been a promotional project of the Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz (German Foundation for Monument Protection). The abbey church itself unites Lower-Rhine and Upper-Rhine Romanesque with elements of the Gothic that came from France into a unique, harmonious ambiance. The church is made up of two parts that date from different times: the Late Romanesque quire and the Late Baroque nave. The Late Romanesque tapering quire is enclosed by an apse flanked by round towers and was built sometime in the years from 1230 to 1248. The transept, completed in 1260, has now vanished. In 1308 came the final consecration, whose 700th anniversary in 2008 was celebrated with a Pontifical High Mass with Karl Cardinal Lehmann. The Late Baroque aisleless nave was built onto the Late Romanesque quire in 1766, and in 1848 it was given a ridge turret. The convent buildings that were built between 1723 and 1764 form a three-winged Baroque complex with mansard roofs and elaborate stucco ceilings of the Mainz school of strapwork. The highlight among the stucco ceilings is the painted one in the former refectory measuring more than 90 m², which bears inscribed witness to the sponsor of these works, Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine. The last remnants of the ringwall that once girded the monastery were removed in 2003 when a new building zone was laid out.

Clubs

The following clubs are active in Pfaffen-Schwabenheim:^[14]

• Evangelischer Kirchenchor —
  Evangelical church choir
• Fördergemeinschaft Kirchen, Klosteranlagen und Kulturdenkmäler Pfaffen-Schwabenheim
  e.V. — promotional association for churches
  , monastery complexes and cultural monuments
• Gewerbeverein — business association
• Jugendförderverein — youth promotional association
• “Klosterbühne” Pfaffen-Schwabenheim e.V. — amateur theatrical group
• Kulturverein Pfaffen-Schwabenheim e.V. — cultural club
• Landfrauenverein — countrywomen's club
• Reit- und Fahrsportverein Pfaffen-Schwabenheim — driving and riding club
• Sozialverband VdK Rheinland Pfalz e.V. Ortsverband Pfaffen Schwabenheim — social advocacy group local chapter
• Turn- und Sportverein 1883 e.V. —
  sport club
  , with the following departments:
  • Badminton
  • Football (all ages)
  • Gymnastics (mother-child up to seniors)
  • Mini-trampoline
  • Nordic walking
  • Prellball
  • Rhythmic gymnastics and dance
  • Ski workout
  • Step aerobics
  • Volleyball

Economy and infrastructure

Economic structure

Between the Appelbach (the local brook) and the Bosenberg (the local hill), the craft of

with a variety of rail services. The Kreuznacher Straßen- und Vorortbahnen ("Kreuznach Tramways and Suburban Railways") ran a tramway from Bad Kreuznach to Pfaffen-Schwabenheim and beyond until it was closed in 1952.

Education

Pfaffen-Schwabenheim has a daycare centre with spaces for 75 children aged from 2 to 6 years, split into three mixed-age groups tended by a staff of nine. The children here are mainly from Pfaffen-Schwabenheim and neighbouring Pleitersheim. The Grundschule Pfaffen-Schwabenheim (primary school) is attended by 145 schoolchildren from Pfaffen-Schwabenheim, Badenheim, Pleitersheim, Volxheim and Biebelsheim.

Public institutions

Pfaffen-Schwabenheim has a village community centre with seating for up to 300, a public address system, a fully equipped kitchen, a stage and parking.^[19]

Famous people

Sons and daughters of the town

• Ramona Diegel, Wine Queen of Rhenish Hesse 2012/2013 (“Ramona I”) and German Wine Princess 2013/2014

References

1. ^ Direktwahlen 2019, Landkreis Bad Kreuznach, Landeswahlleiter Rheinland-Pfalz, accessed 2 August 2021.
2. Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz
   . 2023.
3. ^ Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz – Amtliches Verzeichnis der Gemeinden und Gemeindeteile Archived 2015-11-25 at the Wayback Machine, Seite 14 (PDF; 2,3 MB)
4. ^ "Roman villa". Archived from the original on 2014-01-01. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
5. ^ History Archived 2013-10-05 at the Wayback Machine
6. ^ History Archived 2014-01-01 at the Wayback Machine
7. ^ Religion
8. ^ Der Landeswahlleiter Rheinland-Pfalz: Kommunalwahl 2009, Stadt- und Gemeinderatswahlen
9. ^ "Pfaffen-Schwabenheim's council". Archived from the original on 2014-01-01. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
10. ^ "Another form of the arms". Archived from the original on 2014-01-01. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
11. ^ Description and explanation of Pfaffen-Schwabenheim’s arms Archived 2014-01-01 at the Wayback Machine
12. ^ "Partnership with Spören". Archived from the original on 2014-01-01. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
13. ^ Directory of Cultural Monuments in Bad Kreuznach district
14. ^ "Clubs". Archived from the original on 2014-01-01. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
15. ^ Economic structure Archived 2014-01-01 at the Wayback Machine
16. ^ Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz - Infothek
17. ^ "Wineries". Archived from the original on 2014-01-01. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
18. ^ Wineries Archived 2013-10-05 at the Wayback Machine
19. ^ "Village community centre". Archived from the original on 2014-01-01. Retrieved 2013-12-31.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pfaffen-Schwabenheim.

• Municipality’s official webpage (in German)
• Pfaffen-Schwabenheim in the collective municipality’s webpages (in German)
• Pfaffen-Schwabenheim promotional association for churches, monastery complexes and cultural monuments (in German)
• “Klosterbühne” Pfaffen-Schwabenheim e.V. amateur theatrical group (in German)