Ulmen
Ulmen is a town in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde – a kind of collective municipality – to which it also belongs.
Geography
Location
The town lies in the Eifel some 11 km northwest of Cochem.Constituent communities
To Ulmen belong the outlying centres – Stadtteile – of Meiserich, Vorpochten and Furth.Geology
The Ulmener Maar, only about 11,000 years old, is not only a maar but also Continental Europe's newest volcano north of the Alps. It is 37 m deep. Volcanic activity can be observed at depths of more than 4 m in the form of rising gas bubbles. The Ulmener Maar has no natural water inflow or outflow. The two tunnels that hold the water at a constant level today were dug in the 19th century.Another maar in town is the 118,000-year-old Jungferweiher, which is considerably bigger than the Ulmener Maar. Formerly used as a fishpond for the lords of the castle, it dried up over the centuries until in the 1930s, it had become a peat bog. In 1942, however, the maar was flooded once again to regulate the water level in the nearby maar.
History
In 1074, Ulmen had its first documentary mention, though Merovingian graves south of the castle bear witness to earlier habitation within town limits. There have also been suspected Roman finds, but these have not yet been verified.Sir Heinrich von Ulmen, a knight, went on the Fourth Crusade to Constantinople, whence he brought valuable treasures back, among others the famous Limburger Staurothek, which can still be seen in the cathedral in Limburg an der Lahn. His successors were in the 15th century subject to the Trier Archiepiscopal Foundation's public peace. The "Sun King" Louis XIV of France conquered Ulmen twice and burnt it down. Both times, the castle and the town were built up again. Beginning in 1794, Ulmen 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.
Many old buildings bear witness even today to Ulmen's historical past. In the 19th century, when buildings confiscated by Napoleon were transferred to Prussian ownership, a Cochem townsman bought the castle and used it as a quarry. When Ulmen all but burnt down in a fire in 1831, the houses were rebuilt using stones from the castle. Since then, it has been a ruin.
In the forest that abuts the town is an old spring near which some Roman and Celtic figures were found. This spring is called Dietzjes Bärechje, a reference to children; for centuries, women prayed here for a good birth and healthy children.
In 1376, Ulmen was granted town rights by Emperor Karl IV. These rights were, however, lost as the Prussians took over the Rhineland in 1815. By decision of the Rhineland-Palatinate Cabinet on 1 September 2009, Ulmen was once again allowed to bear the designation Stadt with effect from 2 October 2009.
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:
| Year | SPD | CDU | FDP | UWG | Total |
| 2009 | 5 | 7 | – | 8 | 20 seats |
| 2004 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 7 | 20 seats |
Mayor
Ulmen's mayor is Thomas Kerpen.Coat of arms
The town's arms might be described thus: Per pale Or issuant from base a poleaxe sable and gules issuant from base a gatehouse with flanking towers embattled, the dexter taller than the sinister argent, on a chief of the fourth eight lozenges conjoined in fess throughout of the third.Town partnerships
Ulmen fosters partnerships with the following places:In 1994, Ulmen and Lormes initiated the first contacts for a partnership. Both places contain an element meaning "elm" in their respective languages. The partnership documents were signed in Lormes on 23 June 1996.
Culture and sightseeing
Museums
- School museum with a reconstructed classroom from the Volksschule.
Buildings
Ulmen (main centre)
- Ulmen Castle – castle complex consisting of Niederburg, from before 1292, and Oberburg, 1679 partly destroyed; dungeonlike gateway, of the Niederburg only sparse wall remnants left; in the Oberburg the girding wall of the Electoral-Trier Amtshaus, an essentially late mediaeval building, completed in 1682–1683, parts of the girding wall, fountain reconstructed; includes castle hill as well as the buildings from the 18th and 19th century at Bachstraße 2 and Burgfrieden 4, 5, 8 and 12
- Saint Matthias's Catholic Parish Church, Am Maar – two-naved hall church, 1905, with the use of parts of the former Late Gothic church; transept on the site of the quire, 1966/1967; graveyard: Bonsig tomb, 19th century; warriors' memorial, 1920s; whole complex of church and graveyard
- Antoniusstraße 2 – former Electoral-Trier tithe house; building with mansard roof, marked 1727
- Cochemer Straße/corner of Burgfrieden – sandstone wayside cross, first third of the 18th century
- At In der Lay 1 – basalt wayside cross, marked 1817
- In der Lay 2 – timber-frame house, commercial building, about 1840
- At In der Lay 3 – coat of arms, 18th century
- At In der Lay 3 – timber-frame house, balloon frame, early 16th century, remodelled in the 19th century
- In der Lay 4 – timber-frame house, partly solid, first third of the 19th century
- Winkelstraße 22 – former school; plastered building on quarrystone pedestal, partly timber-frame, Swiss chalet style, marked 1910–1911
- At Winkelstraße 36 – Bildstock, 19th century
- Antoniuskapelle – open chapel, marked 1659; cross, marked 1659, Electoral-Trier Amtsmann Georg von Metzenhausen's coat of arms
- Waterworks – two basalt quarrystone buildings, marked 1940; whole complex
Furth
- Further Mühle – L-shaped complex, 19th century, plastered building, barn, millraces, girding wall, bridge
Meiserich
- Saint Anne's Catholic Branch Chapel – aisleless church, essentially Late Gothic, extension around tower marked 1793
- Ulmener Straße 3 – L-shaped complex, 19th century
- Before Ulmener Straße 4 – hand pump, with vase, marked 1909
Saint Matthias's Parish Church was built in Romanesque Revival-Gothic Revival style.
Music
- The Spielmannszug Blau-Weiss 1952 Ulmen e.V. under Rainer Pias's direction.
- The Musikverein Ulmen e.V., under Klaus Mohr's direction for almost 30 years now, was founded on 24 January 1969 and today has 50 active members and a further 66 inactive ones.
Sport
Regular events
- The Castle Festival is held yearly in July at the Ulmen castle ruins.
- Every three years on 3 October, the Appelfest is held at the Alter Postplatz by the Eifel Club.
Sightseeing gallery
File:UlmenerMaar.JPG|Ulmener Maar, seen from the castle.
File:Ulmen Marktplatz.jpg|Ulmen village centre with marketplace and Bürgersaal, seen from the castle.
File:BurgruineUlmenFront.jpg|Front of the Ulmen castle ruins.
File:BurgruineUlmenInnen.jpg|Inside view of the Ulmen castle ruins.
Economy and infrastructure
Education
- Kindergarten Ulmen
- Grundschule Ulmen
- Realschule plus Vulkaneifel Ulmen/Lutzerath
Bundeswehr presence