Bickenbach, Rhineland Palatinate

Updated on Nov 09, 2023

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Country Germany District Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis Postal codes 56291 Area 6.39 km² Population 339 (31 Dec 2008) Dialling code 06746		State Rhineland-Palatinate Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Dialling codes 06746 Local time Wednesday 9:32 AM Postal code 56291 Municipal assoc. Emmelshausen

Weather 4°C, Wind SW at 26 km/h, 89% Humidity

Bickenbach is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Emmelshausen, whose seat is in the like-named town.

Map of Bickenbach, Germany

Location

The municipality lies in the Hunsrück between the Hunsrückhöhenstraße (“Hunsrück Heights Road”, a scenic road across the Hunsrück built originally as a military road on Hermann Göring’s orders) and the Baybach valley.

History

In 1147, Bickenbach had its first documentary mention. The village belonged to the Gallscheid Court, which as of 1453 lay under the uncontested rule of the Electorate of Trier. The parish church, which was mentioned as early as about 1330, was newly built in 1771 and 1772 as a Baroque aisleless church. Beginning in 1794, Bickenbach lay under French rule. In 1815 it was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia at the Congress of Vienna. Since 1946, it has been part of the then newly founded state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Municipal council

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.

Mayor

Bickenbach’s mayor is Heribert Müller, and his deputies are Uwe Hoffmann and Karl-Heinz Braun.

Coat of arms

The German blazon reads: Schild geteilt, oben in Rot ein silberner Balken, unten in Gold, vorne ein schwarzes Buch belegt mit drei silbernen Steinen, hinten ein grüner Palmzweig.

The municipality’s arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Per fess gules a fess argent and Or dexter a book sable charged with three stones, one and two, of the second and sinister a palm leaf bendwise sinister, partly surmounted by the book, vert.

The part of the escutcheon above the line of partition refers to the former Gallscheider Gericht (Gallscheid Court). The charges below the line of partition, the book (itself charged with three stones) and the palm leaf, are Saint Stephen’s attributes, thus representing the church’s patron saint. The coat of arms was modelled after a court seal from the year 1632.

Buildings

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

Saint Stephen’s Catholic Parish Church (Pfarrkirche St. Stephan), Hauptstraße 3 – Late Baroque aisleless church, 1771/1772, architect Johann Neurohr, Romanesque Revival west tower, 1855; at the quire Crucifix, 18th century; grotto with figure of Mary, 19th century

Hauptstraße 16 – dance hall; one-floor plastered building, Expressionist motifs, about 1925

At the Schultheiser Mühle (mill) – chapel; Baroque aisleless church, 18th century, wooden cross marked 1774

Northwest of the village – so-called Wendelkreuz (“Saint Wendelin’s Cross”); basalt, marked 1702

Also worthy of note at the parish church is the Stumm organ from 1869.