Heckenmünster
Heckenmünster is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Geography
The municipality lies on the Meulenwald hill range in the Eifel and belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Wittlich-Land, whose seat is in Wittlich, although that town is itself not in the Verbandsgemeinde.History
About 1231, Heckenmünster had its first documentary mention as villam, que Monasterium appellatur. The village belonged to the Duchy of Luxembourg and lay on the border with the Electorate of Trier. Until the 18th century, only a few homesteads here were actually occupied. The Parish Church of the Holy Cross was the destination for many pilgrims locally.Beginning in 1794, Heckenmünster lay under French rule. In 1814 it was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia at the Congress of Vienna. Since 1947, it has been part of the then newly founded state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Politics
Municipal council
The council is made up of 6 council members, who were elected by majority vote at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.Coat of arms
The German blazon reads: Im schräggeteilten Schild vorne in Silber ein schwarzes Tatzenkreuz, hinten in Silber 4 blaue Balken, belegt mit einem roten, goldgekrönten, wachsenden Löwen.The municipality's arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Per bend argent a cross pattée sable, and argent four bars azure charged of a demi-lion rampant issuant from the line of partition gules crowned Or.