Baumholder


Baumholder is a town in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, in the Westrich, an historic region that encompasses areas in both Germany and France. The town of Baumholder is the administrative seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde, a state-recognised tourism resort and, according to state planning, a middle centre.

Geography

Location

Baumholder lies between the Hunsrück to the north and the North Palatine Uplands to the south, right on a height that marks the latter's northern boundary. This area is also known as the Westrich. Baumholder lies roughly 10 km south of Idar-Oberstein.
The countryside around Baumholder is marked by many meadows, fields and woodlands, both broadleaf and mixed. A great part of the Baumholder Troop Drilling Ground abutting the town serves as a refuge for many plant and animal species that have become rare, for example the common kingfisher, the lynx and the badger, some of which are on the IUCN Red List.

Climate

Precipitation diagram

Yearly precipitation in Baumholder amounts to 884 mm. At 76% of the German Weather Service's weather stations, lower figures are recorded. The driest month is April. The most rainfall comes in December. In that month, precipitation is twice what it is in April. Precipitation varies only slightly. At 46% of the weather stations, lower seasonal swings are recorded.

History

Middle Ages to 19th century

In 1156, Baumholder had its first documentary mention as Bemondula, then held by the Bishop of Verdun. By the 14th century, it had ended up under the Counts of Veldenz, until 1444, when it was acquired by Stephen, Count Palatine of Simmern-Zweibrücken. Until the French Revolution, Baumholder was the seat of a Zweibrücken Schultheißerei. In 1490, Alexander, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken gave Baumholder leave to fortify the market town.
Although town rights were never explicitly granted Baumholder, the town acquired a number of privileges over the ages that have more or less amounted to as much.
From 1816, Baumholder, along with the rest of the Principality of Lichtenberg, belonged as an exclave to Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. The Principality was sold in 1834 to Prussia and came to form the geographical centre of the Sankt Wendel district, whose bounds to this day define most of the bounds of the Evangelical church district of Sankt Wendel.

20th century

With the formation of the Territory of the Saar Basin in 1919, Baumholder was split from the district seat of Sankt Wendel by the newly drawn border and thereafter became the seat of the Restkreis of St. Wendel-Baumholder. Its designation as a Restkreis arose from its being what was left of the Sankt Wendel district on the Prussian side of the border once the Territory of the Saar Basin had been formed under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. It was run as a rural district, however. Once the Saar area was returned to Germany in 1935, though, the district remained separate. On 1 April 1937, the Restkreis was merged into the Birkenfeld district.
In the 20th century, Baumholder became a garrison town when the Wehrmacht built its barracks and troop drilling ground here. To do this, several thousand inhabitants were moved. Between 1941 and 1945, the troop drilling ground was the location of a prisoner-of-war camp for Soviet, Polish and other prisoners.
After the Second World War, after a short occupation by the United States Army, French soldiers were stationed in Baumholder for a few years. These left the garrison when the Americans came back.
The United States Army built the troop drilling ground beginning in 1951 into one of its biggest garrisons in Germany, which also brought Baumholder a considerable upswing in its economy in the 1950s: bars opened, as did dancehalls and music halls.
On 1 January 1994, the municipality of Gutsbezirk Baumholder was amalgamated with Baumholder, although not wholly, for parts of the area were also shared out to other neighbouring municipalities in both the Birkenfeld and Kusel districts. The municipality of Zaubach had already been merged into Gutsbezirk Baumholder on 1 January 1978.
On August 10, 2005 a group of US Army soldiers engaged in a crime spree within the town of Baumholder, burgling several US Government buildings in Smith Barracks. The soldiers stole computer equipment, robbed a local German taxi driver, and ended their spree early the next morning by setting fire to the Town Hall.
Later that day, German law enforcement took into custody two US Army soldiers and were seeking a third for questioning. Investigators eventually questioned as many as 20 persons, both American and German nationals, for information about the crime spree. Private First Class Zachary Watson and Specialist Samuel Bell were arrested by German authorities in connection to the crimes which totalled more than €1.5 million in damage. The soldiers were handed over to US officials. Watson was sentenced to 15 years in prison at court-martial. In a separate court-martial proceeding, Bell was sentenced to seven years in prison, dishonourable discharge, demotion to private and forfeiture of all pay and allowances.

Politics

Town council

The council is made up of 20 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:

Mayor

Baumholder's mayor is Günther Jung.

Coat of arms

The German blazon reads: Das Wappen der Stadt Baumholder zeigt im silbernen Schilde einen aus grünem Dreiberg aufwachsenden grün belaubten Holder- baum. Neben dem Stamm desselben erscheint an nach außen gebogenen grünen Stielen rechts und links je eine vergrößerte, naturfarbene Blüte des Holderbaums. Auf dem Schilde ruht die dreitürmige steinfarbene Mauerkrone.
The town's arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Argent issuant from a mount of three vert in base an elder tree leafed of the same between two elder blossoms proper, also issuant from the mount, the dexter with stem embowed to dexter and the sinister with stem embowed to sinister, the shield ensigned with a mural crown with three towers masoned and embattled proper.
The arms were designed in 1907 by the Berlin heraldic artist Prof. Hildebrandt, and go back to town seals and arms borne in the 16th and 17th centuries. The arms have been borne since 8 February 1909 when they were approved, with a signature on the watercolour original, by Wilhelm II, King of Prussia.

Town partnerships

Baumholder fosters partnerships with the following places:

Buildings

The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
  • Evangelical parish church, Kirchstraße 19 – Baroque aisleless church, 1748–1750, architect Friedrich Hartmann Koch, Kusel; west tower Late Gothic
  • Saint Simon's and Saint Jude's Catholic Parish Church, Hinterm Turm/corner of Hinter Haselweg – Gothic Revival hall church, 1882–1885, architect P. Kontzen, Deggendorf, Bavaria; furnishings
  • Town fortifications – built in the 16th century, only two towers preserved:
  • * Dicker Turm – full-round, quarrystone, partly reconstructed
  • * Leichenpförtchen – square gatetower, pyramidal roof
  • Across from Badegasse 1 – so-called Schmiede Bier; small smithy, possibly about 1840; technical fittings
  • Hauptstraße 10 – former town hall; seven-axis, three-floor Classicist building with hipped roof, 1840
  • Hauptstraße 16 – Quereinhaus, twelve-axis Quereinhaus, late 19th century
  • Korngasse 1 – Gasthaus Goldener Engel ; three-floor plastered building, partly slated, early 20th century; characterises town's appearance
  • Marktplatz – so-called Wäschbach; five-sided walled basin, essentially from the 19th century
  • Guthausmühle/Edingers Mühle, northeast of the town on the Guthausbach – witnessed in 1750; three-sided estate: commercial building, mill, house and since 1890 inn joined together; gristmill from the latter half of the 19th century; fittings

    Dialect

The regional dialect is highly consistent with the Saarland Dialect, a Rhine Franconian dialect spoken mainly in the east of the Saarland. German speakers from other regions often mistake Baumholderers for people from the Saarland for this reason, although Baumholder speech is a relative "island dialect", for in all neighbouring centres, such as Kusel, Idar-Oberstein and Freisen, even in ones like Freisen that are actually in the Saarland, the pronunciation is noticeably different.

Deutschland-Rallye

Baumholder is a venue for the Hunsrück-Rallye and later the ADAC-Rallye Deutschland, which has every year since 2002, except 2009, been a stage in the World Rally Championship. The Altstadtfest held at the same time as the rally is among the region's most important events.

OIE Triathlon

Since 2005, a triathlon has been held each year in the town of Baumholder. This is open to individual or team competition.

Clubs

One of the town's best known clubs is VfR Baumholder sport club. Other less well known but important clubs include the Deutsche Lebens-Rettungs-Gesellschaft, the Baumholderer Karnevalsgesellschaft, the German Red Cross, the angling club and the dog sport club.

Other yearly events

  • Altstadtfest
  • Lindenfest
  • Kräutermarkt
  • Kirmes
  • Weihnachtsmarkt
  • Rosenmontagszug
  • BKG Prunksitzungen
  • DLRG ''Weiherfest''