Rheinbach

Geography

Situated 15 km (9 mi) south-west of Bonn and 35 km (22 mi) south of Cologne, Rheinbach lies at the edge of the Eifel region and within the borders of Rhineland's nature reserve.

History

Around 80 AD, the Eifel Aqueduct, one of the longest aqueducts of the Roman Empire, was running through what is today Rheinbach's town centre. The first written documentation of Rheinbach dates back to 762, when Pepin the Short, then King of the Franks, gave lands to the Prüm Abbey. In the Middle Ages, Rheinbach came to prominence because of its witch-hunts.

First referred to as a town in 1298, the Archbishop of Cologne purchased Rheinbach and the surrounding villages in 1343. Till 1789, Rheinbach was part of the Electorate of Cologne. In 1794, Rheinbach was incorporated into France within the Département de Rhin-et-Moselle before coming under the auspices of Prussia in 1815.

Around 1947, a considerable number of displaced people from the Sudetenland settled in Rheinbach. Having brought their traditions of glasscraft, Rheinbach became famous for its glass art and today hosts a glass art museum and a specialized school.

Coat of arms

Blazon: "The coat of arms from the city of Rheinbach is divided per fess. Above is a silver (=white) field divided by a black cross. The field below is divided per pale. The dexter side shows an upright blue key in a silver (=white) field, the sinister side shows in a red field a silver (=white) demi-eagle, armed and tongued blue."

History: Since 762 the entire Rheinbach District belonged to the Abbey of Prüm. In the years 1246/7 the steward of Prüm (Prümer Vogt), the Count of Are-Hochstaden, transferred his claims in Rheinbach to his brother Konrad, the Archbishop of Cologne.

In 1343 the Archbishop of Cologne acquired all the rights to the city and the castle from the Knights of Rheinbach who had occupied the castle since 1180 and founded the city in 1298.

To show his claim as lord of to Rhienbach the Archbishop of Cologne had a new official seal developed in 1344 from which the coat of arms was derived.

The coat of arms was made official in 1915 by Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia.

Meaning: The black cross with the silver background stands for the archdiocese of Cologne.

The Eagle stems from the coat of arms from the Counts of Are-Hochstaden and refers to the transference of the rights to Rheinbach in 1246/47. The 'unlawful appropriation' of the Knights of Rheinbach is therewith completely ignored.

The blue key refers to the Holy Saint Peter, the patron saint of the Archdiocese of Cologne. This last element has been added at a later stage to distinguish the coat of arms from Rheinbach with that of the city of Ahrweiler.

Governance

Besides the town proper, Rheinbach administratively comprises the surrounding villages and hamlets.

As of 2016, the town council has a Christian Democratic (CDU) majority with 17 seats; the Social Democrats (SPD) hold 10 seats, while the Greens (Die Grünen), the Independents (UWG) and the Liberals (FDP) hold three each.

Education

A local hub for education, Rheinbach is the seat of the Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg, a university of applied science which specializes in business and biomedical sciences.

There are three secondary schools in Rheinbach. The municipal Gymnasium was founded in 1852 and is one of the oldest public secondary schools in the Bonn region; the Vinzenz-Pallotti-Kolleg is one of the few boarding and private schools in Germany; the Catholic run St.-Joseph-Gymnasium was historically a girls-only school and is now coeducational.

Transport

Rheinbach lies in proximity to the Bundesautobahn 61 which connects it with Cologne. The S-Bahn RB23 connects Rheinbach with Bad Münstereifel and Bonn. Rheinbach is part of the regional bus network of Cologne (Regionalverkehr Köln).

Sister cities

Rheinbach is twinned with:

Rheinbach and the similarly-named town of Rhinebeck, New York, USA participate in a student exchange program.

Notable people