The municipality lies on the river Moselle (kilometres 57-59; Lower Moselle) and, as the name suggests, is made up of the two constituent communities of Bruttig and Fankel.
Yearly precipitation in Bruttig-Fankel amounts to 716 mm, which falls into the middle third of the precipitation chart for all Germany. Only at 43% of the German Weather Service’s weather stations are lower figures recorded. The driest month is February. The most rainfall comes in June. In that month, precipitation is 1.8 times what it is in February. Precipitation varies moderately. At 46% of the weather stations, lower seasonal swings are recorded.
The oldest evidence of settlers in the area is the very well preserved barrows on the Bruttig-Fankeler Berg (the local mountain) along the so-called Rennweg, an old linking road between the Roman long-distance roads, over which today runs the “Archaeological Hiking Trail” (Archäologischer Wanderweg). According to information from the State Office for Care of Monuments in Koblenz, some of these barrows date back to the Bronze Age.
Bruttig-Fankel has both Celtic-Roman and Merovingian-Frankish beginnings, with the constituent community of Bruttig likely being the older of the two. It had its first documentary mention on 4 June 898 as Pruteca im Mayengau in a donation document from the Lotharingian king Zwentibold, whose beneficiary was the Imperially immediate, free-noble convent in Essen. Besides many holdings in the Cologne and Bergheim area, the king transferred to the convent “…in pago magnensi in villa pruteca terra arabilis cum curtile et vineis…” (roughly translated: “…in the Mayen country in the village of Bruttig an estate with associated arable earth and vineyards…”). This document establishes that the village is at least 1,100 years old, likely even older, for there was already an estate with vineyards. A further clue as to the village’s Celtic beginnings can be found in the name “Bruttig” itself. Language scholars derive the modern name from the Celtic Brutiacum (“Brut’s Dwelling”) through the Latin Proteca (AD 898) and Prodecha (1250) to today’s Bruttig (or variant Pruttig)
The other constituent community, Fankel, had its first documentary mention about 1100. The name derived from the Celtic fank, meaning “wetlands”. Ownership arrangements in the Middle Ages were governed in both Bruttig and Fankel by several so-called Weistümer (a Weistum – cognate with English wisdom – was a legal pronouncement issued by men learned in law in the Middle Ages and early modern times). In the time of French occupation, beginning in 1794, both centres were assigned to the Mairie (“Mayoralty”) of Beilstein, which itself belonged to the Canton of Zell. Administration nevertheless lay with the Canton of Treis, and as of 1816, when Bruttig and Fankel were assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia at the Congress of Vienna, it lay with the former Cochem district. Since 1946, the two centres have been part of the then newly founded state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
In the course of administrative restructuring in Rhineland-Palatinate, the two formerly administratively separate municipalities of Bruttig and Fankel were amalgamated into one, named Bruttig-Fankel.
The council is made up of 16 council members, who were elected by majority vote at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
Bruttig-Fankel’s mayor is Manfred Ostermann.
The municipality’s arms might be described thus: Per pale argent a fess wavy vert, the whole surmounted by a key palewise gules, the wards to chief and turned to sinister, and vert a fleur-de-lis Or.
Bruttig-Fankel has an impaled coat of arms, meaning that it is composed of two other coats united in one field and separated by a vertical line of partition (“per pale”). The former coats belonged to the two constituent communities when they were separate municipalities.
Bruttig-Fankel fosters partnerships with the following places:
Overijse, Flemish Brabant, Belgium since 1958.The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
Saint Margaret’s Catholic Parish Church (Pfarrkirche St. Margaretha), Hauptstraße – late mediaeval west tower from 1507, sculpture early 16th century, Romanesque Revival quarrystone aisleless church, 1845-1847; in the churchyard wall: cross, 19th century, grave cross from 1504, two grave crosses from 1807 and 1833, gravestone from 1555, 11 grave crosses from, among other years, 1567, 1572, 1598, 1600 and 1614; niche with Crucifixion group from 1599, renovated in 1905, Mary and Joseph, 18th century; whole complex with graveyard and rectoryAm Moselufer (no number) – town hall, three-floor plastered building, outdoor staircase, from 1619Am Moselufer 6 – Schunck’sches Haus, former courthouse and residence, Late Renaissance plastered building from 1652, corner figure of Saint Margaret, 17th/18th century; in the yard the so-called Hinterhaus (“Back House”), partly timber-frame, from 1529, with five-sided oriel, partly timber-frame, from earlier half of 17th century; whole complexAm Moselufer 7 – inn, Alte Winzerschenke, timber-frame house, partly solid, from 1667Am Moselufer 9 – three-floor plastered timber-frame house, early 16th centuryAm Moselufer 10 – timber-frame house, partly solid, sided, half-hipped roof, 18th centuryAm Moselufer 23 – plastered timber-frame house, partly solid, half-hipped roof, from 1606Fausenburg 4/6 – timber-frame house, partly solid, from 1665, timber-frame expansion and roof addition 18th century, timber-frame wing 19th centuryGobeliusstraße 6 – plastered timber-frame house, partly solid or sided, half-hipped roof, from 17th centuryHauptstraße – well, apparently mentioned in 1593Hauptstraße – wayside cross, 18th/19th centuryHauptstraße 2 – quarrystone house housing winepress, latter half of 19th century; whole complexHauptstraße 5 – former rectory, Classicist plastered building, 1824; whole complex of buildings with church and graveyardNear Hauptstraße 13 – wayside cross from 1816Hauptstraße 22 – quarrystone house from 19th centuryHauptstraße 23 – former school, stately quarrystone building from about 1900Hauptstraße 24 – quarrystone house from 1894Near Hauptstraße 49 – wayside cross from 1816Hauptstraße/corner of Kirchstraße – Baroque Bildstock, 18th centuryHerrenstraße 2 – timber-frame house, partly solid, balloon frame, 1473–1474Kirchstraße 2 – three-floor timber-frame house, partly solid, half-hipped roof, from 1510–1511, timber framing in middle floor newerKirchstraße 6 – timber-frame house, about 1910 (?)Klosterstraße 1 – timber-frame house, partly solid, 1472–1473; whole complex of buildings with quarrystone building adjoiningKlosterstraße 5 – timber-frame house on top of high pedestal, 16th century, two-floor timber-frame oriel from 1652; towards the back a quarrystone building from the time of buildingKlosterstraße 12 – solid building with gable integrated into wall, 16th centuryMühlenbachstraße 8 – timber-frame house, partly solid or sided, 17th century (?), hearth heating platesNext to Mühlenbachstraße 10 – former synagogue, quarrystone building with half-hipped roof, about 1840; next to it a quarrystone building with mansard roof, 18th centuryPetrus-Mosellanus-Straße 2 – three-floor solid building, latter half of 16th centuryPetrus-Mosellanus-Straße 3 – Moselle-style quarrystone building from about 1900Poststraße 2 – two-winged building, back wing possibly from 16th/17th century, front wing from 19th centurySchunck’sche Straße 7 – two solid buildings, front one essentially mediaeval (?), back one from 16th centuryKreuzkirche (“Cross Church”), east of the village on Kreisstraße 36 – aisleless church, about 1720, Way of the Cross to the chapel, 7 prostrations, Bildstock-typeCatholic Church of the Assumption of Mary (Kirche Mariä Himmelfahrt), Brunnenstraße 31 – Romanesque tower, 13th century, quire about 1385, Late Gothic aisleless church, mid 15th century; whole complex of buildings with graveyard: 4 gravestones from 1617, 1685, 1728 and the 17th century; 13 grave crosses from, among other years, 1598, 1610, 1617 and 1750; missionary cross from 17th/18th century; Crucifixion group from 19th centuryBrunnenstraße – fountain made with two basalt basinsBrunnenstraße (no number) – daycare centre and town hall, well, solid building with church gate from the old fortifications, partly timber-frame, half-hipped roof, dendrochronologically dated to 1559, wellBrunnenstraße 11 – timber-frame house, partly solid, cellar portal from 1618, half-hipped roof, 18th centuryBrunnenstraße 13 – timber-frame house, partly solid, balloon frame, from 1524, solid building behind, roof dated to 1425Brunnenstraße 16 – timber-frame house, partly solid, hipped mansard roof from 1828Between Brunnenstraße 16 and 18 – fire stationBrunnenstraße 17 – tithe house, Late Gothic house with crow-stepped gable, about 1425Brunnenstraße 19 – timber-frame house from 1517, balloon frame, roof dated to 1575Brunnenstraße 20 – timber-frame house, partly solid, balloon frame, roof dated to 1481 and 1532Behind Brunnenstraße 22 – timber-frame house, partly solid, from 18th centuryBrunnenstraße 22 – estate of the Stetzgis of Treis, three-sided enclosed late mediaeval solid building, partly timber-frame, on quarrystone pedestal, 1467; hearth heating plateBrunnenstraße 24/26 – timber-frame house, partly solid or plastered, 16th/17th centuryBrunnenstraße 25 – three-floor solid building, timber-frame façade, roof dated to 1432-1433Brunnenstraße 11, 13, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 24/26, 25, 27, Brunnenstraße 29/Rathausstraße 11/13 (monumental zone) – Brunnenstraße beginning with no. 11 and no. 16 on the other side, with town hall, Engelport Convent’s estate, church and graveyardChristophorusweg 2 – Late Gothic detached manor house, 1377–1378, partly timber-frame from about 1550Nikolausstraße 4 – timber-frame house, partly solid, from 18th centuryRathausstraße 4 – timber-frame house, partly solid, mansard roof, from 18th centuryRathausstraße 6 – timber-frame house, partly solid, from 16th century (?)Rathausstraße 7 – timber-frame house, partly solid, plastered, 17th centuryRathausstraße 11/13 – Engelport Convent’s estate, timber-frame house, partly solid, hipped roof, relief, 1716; former winepress house, hipped roof, 18th century, commercial building; whole complexRathausstraße 16 – solid building, crow-stepped gable at the back, from 1418, converted 1802Rathausstraße 53 – building with mansard roof, 18th centuryAt Schulstraße 30 – basalt wayside cross from 1749Bruttiger Winzerfest (“Bruttig Winemakers’ Festival”), on the second weekend in AugustFankeler Weinfest (“Fankel Wine Festival”), on the second weekend in JulyBruttiger Kirmes (“Bruttig Kermis”), on the first Sunday after 20 JulyFankeler Kirmes (“Fankel Kermis”), on the first Sunday after 15 AugustPfingstfest (“Whitsun Festival”)FZM GIB GAS tournament, always three weeks after WhitsunWeingelage (“Wine Revelry”)Economy and infrastructure
Winegrowing and tourism characterize the village and belong inseparably together. In the constituent community of Bruttig, on the second weekend in August each year, the great Winemakers’ Festival is held. Well known steep-slope vineyards are Pfarrgarten, Götterlay, Rathausberg, Layenberg and Rosenberg. Raised here mainly is Riesling, although there are also Elbling and various other grape varieties, including some red.
In Fankel is found, besides the Fankel Weir, also the RWE Power AG main control centre, from which all hydroelectric stations at weirs on the German section of the Moselle are controlled.
Sons and daughters of the town
Petrus Mosellanus (birth name: Peter Schade), b. 1493 in Bruttig, d. 19 April 1524 in Leipzig; Moselle humanist, philologist, theologist and church teacher