Panorama of the townIdar-Oberstein at nightAerial photographOverlooking Idar-Oberstein from Schloss Oberstein
Idar-Oberstein (German:[ˌiːdaːɐ̯ˈʔoːbɐˌʃtaɪn]ⓘ) is a town in theBirkenfelddistrict inRhineland-Palatinate, Germany. As aGroße kreisangehörige Stadt (large city belonging to a district), it assumes some of the responsibilities that for smaller municipalities in the district are assumed by the district administration. Today's town of Idar-Oberstein is the product of two rounds of administrative reform, one in 1933 and the other in 1969, which saw many municipalities amalgamated into one. The variousStadtteile have, however, retained their original identities, which, aside from the somewhat more urban character encountered in Idar and Oberstein, tend to hark back to each centre's history as a rural village. Idar-Oberstein is known as a gemstone town, and also as agarrison town. It is also the largest town in theHunsrück.
Yearlyprecipitation in Idar-Oberstein amounts to 774 mm, falling into the middle third of the precipitation chart for all Germany. At 57% of theGerman Weather Service'sweather stations, lower figures are recorded. The driest month is April. The most rainfall comes in December. In that month, precipitation is 1.6 times what it is in April. Precipitation hardly varies at all and is evenly spread throughout the year. At only 13% of the weather stations are lower seasonalswings recorded.
View of Oberstein according toMatthäus MerianView of Oberstein, about 1875,oil painting by van ProuyenIdar Marketplace andSchule „Am Markt“ – School at the Market
The territorial history of Idar-Oberstein's individual centres is marked by a considerable splintering of lordly domains in the local area. Only inNapoleonic times, beginning in 1794, with its reorganization and merging of various territorial units, was some order brought to the traditional mishmash of local lordships. However, shortly thereafter, theCongress of Vienna brought the future town division once again, as the river Nahe became a border, and the centres on its north bank were thereby grouped into the Principality of Birkenfeld, anexclave of theGrand Duchy of Oldenburg, most of whose territory was in what is now northwest Germany, with a coastline on theNorth Sea.
The towns of Idar and Oberstein belonged to theBarons of Daun-Oberstein (who later became theCounts of Falkenstein) until 1670. In 1865, both Idar and Oberstein were granted town rights, and finally in 1933, they were forcibly united (along with the municipalities of Algenrodt and Tiefenstein) by theNazis to form the modern town of Idar-Oberstein.
History up to French reorganization beginning in 1794
The constituent community of Oberstein grew out of theImperially immediate Lordship of Oberstein. TheHerren vom Stein (“Lords of the Stone”) had their first documentary mention in 1075. Their seat was at Castle Bosselstein, now known as theAltes Schloss (“Old Palatial Castle”), above the cliff where theFelsenkirche (“Rock Church”) - itself mentioned as early as the 12th century - would later be built. The core of the area over which the lordship held sway was framed by the rivers Nahe, Idarbach, Göttenbach and Ringelbach. After 1323, the Lords of the Stone styled themselves “von Daun-Oberstein”, and managed to considerably expand their domain even into lands south of the Nahe and into the Idarbann. As the lordly seat with its castle and fortifications – remnants of the old town wall built about 1410 can still be seen – Oberstein developed the characteristics of a town, however without ever earning the legal status of a market town (Flecken). In 1682, theCounts of Leiningen-Heidesheim, and in 1766 theCounts of Limburg-Styrum, became the owners of the Lordship of Oberstein, which largely shrank back to the above-mentioned lordly core after the Idarbann wasceded to the “Hinder”County of Sponheim in 1771. In 1776, theMargraves ofBaden became the owners of the Lordship after the “Hinder” County of Sponheim was partitioned.
It is known fromarchaeological finds that human settlement in what is now Idar goes back to the very earliest times. The constituent community of Idar on the Nahe's right bank belonged, as did the villages of Enzweiler, Algenrodt,Mackenrodt,Hettenrodt, Hettstein, Obertiefenbach andKirschweiler, to the Idarbann. This area belonged mostly to the Lords of Oberstein, and it therefore shares a history with Oberstein; however, in some centres, notably Tiefenbach and Kirschweiler, some estates and rights were held by other lords, such as theWaldgraves and Rhinegraves andTholey Abbey.
The constituent community of Tiefenstein arose from the merger of the villages of Tiefenbach and Hettstein in 1909. This Idarbann community's territorial history is the same as Idar's and Oberstein's. Tiefenbach was mentioned as an estate in a 1283 document; a further documentary mention from 1051 cannot be related to the village with any certainty. Hettstein was mentioned asHenzestein orHezerten in 1321 and had among its inhabitants Waldgravial subjects.
The village of Algenrodt had its first certain documentary mention asAlekenrod in a 1321 Oberstein enfeoffment document. In 1324, the Lords of Oberstein pledged it to the Waldgraves and Rhinegraves of Kyrburg. But for this, Algenrodt shares a history with the other Idarbann communities.
Enzweiler boasts traces of human habitation going back toRoman times. In 1276, Tholey Abbey owned a mill near Enzweiler. The village itself might have arisen in the 14th century, and it was always part of the Idarbann.
The village of Georg-Weierbach north of the Nahe, built in a way resembling terraces on land that falls steeply towards the river, likely goes back to the foundation of a church byArchbishop of MainzHatto II in the 10th century. In the 11th century, the village was mentioned in connection with the Lords of Wirebach (that is, Weierbach). In 1327, the village, which was for a short time held by the Lords of Randeck, was largely sold off to the Waldgraves and Rhinegraves and grouped into theAmt of Kyrburg. The form “Georg-Weierbach” stems from thechurch's patron saint.
Göttschied, which had its first documentary mention in 1271, belonged together with Regulshausen,Gerach andHintertiefenbach to Mettlach Abbey. These four villages were therefore known as theAbteidörfer (“abbey villages”), and in 1561, they were sold to the “Hinder” County of Sponheim.
Hamerzwiller (nowadays called Hammerstein) was mentioned in 1438 in a taxation book kept by the County of Sponheim, and had been held by the “Hinder” County of Sponheim as early as 1269, when that county enfeoffed the Counts of Schwarzenberg with it.
Regarded as the origin of the village of Kirchenbollenbach is the foundation of a church by Archbishop of MainzWilligis sometime after 975. The earliest documentary evidence of the village goes back to 1128 when it was calledBolinbach. It is first known to have been afief held by the Lords of Schwarzenberg from the Counts of Zweibrücken, whereafter it passed in 1595 to the Waldgraves and Rhinegraves of Kirn. One local peculiarity here was that aCatholic sideline of the otherwise mainlyProtestant Rhinegraves ended up holding sway in Kirchenbollenbach, and under Prince Johann Dominik ofSalm-Kyrburg, this line not only founded a new Catholic parish but also introduced asimultaneum at the local church.
The foundation stone of today's village of Mittelbollenbach is said to be the estate of Bollenbach, which was mentioned in 1283 as a holding of the Lords of Oberstein in the area of the Winterhauch woodland. In 1432, theDukes of Lorraine were enfeoffed with Nahbollenbach and Mittelbollenbach, which in the wake of the death of the last Lord of Oberstein led to bitter arguments over the complicated inheritance arrangements. Only in 1778 did Lorraine finally relinquish its claims inElectoral Trier's favour.
Until 1667, Nahbollenbach and Mittelbollenbach shared the same history. Then, Nahbollenbach was acknowledged by Lorraine as anallodial holding of Oberstein, although beginning in 1682 it was an Electoral-Trier fief held by Oberstein.
The “abbey village” of Regulshausen belonged to Mettlach Abbey, who sold it in 1561 to the “Hinder” County of Sponheim. The oldest documentary mention comes from 1491.
The village of Weierbach – not to be confused with Georg-Weierbach mentioned above – had its first documentary mention in 1232 asWeygherbach, and belonged to theAmt of Naumburg in the “Further” County of Sponheim, which itself was later held by the Margraves of Baden, which gave the village its onetime alternative name, Baden-Weierbach. The oft-used other alternative name, Martin-Weierbach, stems from thechurch's patron saint.
After theFrench dissolved all the old lordships, they introduced a sweeping reorganization of territorial (and social) structure beginning in 1794. The whole area belonged to thearrondissement of Birkenfeld in theDepartment ofSarre. Until 1814, this was French territory. The introduction of theCode civil des Français, justice reform and, foremost, the abolition of the noble and clerical classes with the attendant end to compulsory labour and other duties formerly owed the now powerless lords quickly made French rule popular. However, there was quite a heavy tax burden imposed by the new rulers, and there was also continuingconscription of men into the French army. Both of these things weighed heavily on France'sRhineland citizens.
AfterNapoleonic rule ended, the area was restructured. On the grounds of Article 25[3] of the concluding acts of theCongress of Vienna, the northern part of the Department of Sarre was at first given to the Kingdom ofPrussia in June 1815.
Since Prussia was obliged under the terms of the 1815Treaty of Paris to cede an area out of this parcel containing 69,000 inhabitants to other powers – 20,000 souls each toSaxe-Coburg and Gotha and theDuke of Oldenburg, along with smaller cessions to smaller princes – and since this had also been reconfirmed in Article 49[4] of the concluding acts of the Congress of Vienna, the region underwent further territorial division.
The villages south of the Nahe – Hammerstein, Kirchenbollenbach, Mittelbollenbach, Nahbollenbach and Martin-Weierbach – were therefore transferred in 1816 to the Principality of Lichtenberg, held by the Dukes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The Dukes were not satisfied with this territorial gain, and for their part, the people in the territory were not satisfied with their new rulers. In 1834, the area was sold for two millionThaler to Prussia and made into the Sankt Wendel district. Later, after theFirst World War, theTreaty of Versailles stipulated, among other things, that 26 of the Sankt Wendel district's 94 municipalities had to be ceded to theBritish- and French-occupiedSaar. The remaining 68 municipalities then bore the designation “Restkreis St. Wendel-Baumholder”, with the first syllable ofRestkreis having the same meaning as in English, in the sense of “left over”. The Prussians were themselves not well liked leaders, as they sometimes imposed their order with military might. They were known, and hated, for, among other things, putting a protest rally of theHambach Festival inSankt Wendel in May 1832, complete with aliberty pole in the Napoleonic tradition, to an end using military force, after Coburg had called on Prussia for help in the matter.
Idar, Oberstein, Tiefenstein, Algenrodt, Enzweiler, Georg-Weierbach, Göttschied, Enzweiler and Regulshausen became on 16 April 1817 part of the newly created Principality of Birkenfeld. They also became theAmt of Oberstein, which comprised theBürgermeistereien (“Mayoralties”) of Herrstein, Oberstein and Fischbach. French law was allowed to stand. The Duke did, however, issue aStaatsgrundgesetz (“Basic State Law”) with which the people were not in agreement, because they would rather have stayed with Prussia. This continued work on the patchwork quilt oflittle states covering Germany was judged very critically in Idar and Oberstein, whereasBirkenfeld, which had as a result of the new political arrangement been raised to residence town, found little to complain about. The jewellery industry there, which even by this time had become national, perhaps international in scope, and indeed the jewel dealers themselves, who now found themselves living in a little provincially oriented town, perceived the new arrangement, though, as a backward step, particularly so after the years that France had ruled. It had had its worldly metropolis ofParis with its good business. The dealers, therefore, tried energetically, but without success, to have their land reannexed to Prussia. On the other hand, the Oldenburgers quickly managed to make themselves popular among the people by installing an unselfish government that established an independent judiciary and introducing various programmes that favoured farmers and the economy. A well regulatedschool system – in 1830, a public school was built in Oberstein – and the temporary suspension of military conscription only helped to support this positive picture. Roads were expanded and a postal coach service (for persons, bulk mailings and bulky goods) was set up. A further economic upswing was brought by the building of theNahe Valley Railway, especially when the stretch fromBad Kreuznach to Oberstein opened on 15 December 1859.
When theFirst World War ended, Grand Duke Friedrich August of Oldenburgabdicated, whereupon theLandesteil (literally “country part”) of Birkenfeld in the Free State of Oldenburg arose from the old principality. ThisLandesteil, along with the whole Rhineland, was occupied by the French on 4 December 1918. They did not withdraw until 30 June 1930.
At the OldenburgLandtag elections in 1931, theNSDAP received more than 37% of the votes cast, but could not form the government. After the Nazis had first given up a declaration of tolerance for the existing government, they were then soon demanding that theLandtag be dissolved. Since this was not forthcoming, the Nazis filed suit for a referendum, and they got their way. This resulted indissolution on 17 April 1932. In the ensuing new elections on 20 May, the Nazis won 48.38% of the popular vote, and thereby took 24 of the 46 seats in theLandtag, which gave them an absolute majority. In Idar, which was then still a self-governing town, the National Socialists received more than 70% of the votes cast. They could thereby already govern, at least in Oldenburg, with endorsement by theGerman National People's Party, which had two seats at its disposal, even beforeAdolf Hitler’sofficial seizure of power in 1933. One of the new government’s first initiatives was administrative reform for Oldenburg, which was followed on 27 April 1933 by the similarGesetz zur Vereinfachung und Verbilligung der Verwaltung (“Law for simplifying administration and reducing its cost”) for theLandesteil of Birkenfeld. Through this new law, 18 formerly self-administering municipalities were amalgamated; this included the self-administering towns (having been granted town rights in 1865) of Idar and Oberstein, which were amalgamated with each other and also with the municipalities of Algenrodt and Tiefenstein to form the new town of Idar-Oberstein. The law foreshadowed what was to come: It would be applied within a few weeks, without further discussion or participation, to the exclusion of the public and against the will of municipalities, who had not even been asked whether they wanted it, to places such as Herrstein and Oberwörresbach, Rötsweiler and Nockenthal, or Hoppstädten and Weiersbach. The restructuring also afforded the Nazis an opportunity to get rid of some “undesirables”; underKreisleiter (district leader) Wild from Idar, all significant public positions were held until Hitler's downfall by Nazis.
In 1937, on the basis of theGreater Hamburg Act, theLandesteil of Birkenfeld was dissolved and transferred together with the “Restkreis St. Wendel-Baumholder” to the Prussian district of Birkenfeld,[5] a deed which put all of what are today Idar-Oberstein's constituent communities in the same district.
On 1 April 1960, the town of Idar-Oberstein was declared aGroße kreisangehörige Stadt (large town belonging to a district) by the state government, after the town itself had applied for the status.[6]
In the course of administrative restructuring inRhineland-Palatinate, nine surrounding municipalities were amalgamated with Idar-Oberstein. On 7 June 1969, the municipalities of Enzweiler, Göttschied, Hammerstein and Regulshausen were amalgamated, and on 7 November 1970 they were followed by Georg-Weierbach, Kirchenbollenbach, Mittelbollenbach, Nahbollenbach and Weierbach.
Before the administrative restructuring, there were extensive, sometimes behind-closed-doors talks by the then mayor of Idar-Oberstein, Dr. Wittmann, with offers of negotiation to all together 22 municipalities in the surrounding area. One of the reasons for this was a tendency that had been noted for people from Idar-Oberstein to move out of town to the surrounding municipalities, which were opening up extensive new building areas – among others Göttschied,Rötsweiler-Nockenthal and Kirschweiler – whereas within the town itself, given the problematic lie of the land, there were hardly any. The same problem saw to it that there was a dearth of land for industrial location. Surprising was the desire expressed by Weierbach, which came without one of Idar-Oberstein's initiatives, to join the new greater town, for at the time, Weierbach did not even border on the town, and Weierbach itself was then foreseen as the future nucleus of its own greater municipality, or perhaps even town, together with the municipalities of Fischbach, Georg-Weierbach and Bollenbach, which would have been amalgamated with this municipality had the original plan come about.
With the exception of Georg-Weierbach, the proposal to amalgamate these villages with the town of Idar-Oberstein had notable majorities, either in the villages themselves or on their councils, in favour of dissolving their respective municipalities and then merging with the town. Nevertheless, bitter discussions and even administrative legal disputes arose in the formerAmt of Weierbach, which was now bereft of its core municipalities. In April 1970, theAmt of Weierbach lodged a constitutional grievance with theVerfassungsgerichtshof Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate Constitutional Court), which ruled on 8 July 1970 that the state law for administrative simplification in Rhineland-Palatinate was in parts unconstitutional. The right to self-administration of theAmt of Weierbach, it furthermore ruled, was being infringed, and the municipal league's vitality was being jeopardized. Thus, Weierbach, Georg-Weierbach, Nahbollenbach, Mittelbollenbach and Kirchenbollenbach were, with immediate effect, demerged from the town and reinstated as self-administering municipalities. After bitter arguments between the town of Idar-Oberstein together with the amalgamation supporters on the one side and theAmt of Weierbach together with the amalgamation opponents on the other, who promoted their views indemonstrations, at gatherings and in letter duels innewspaper correspondence pages, a poll was taken in early September 1970 with a vote in theAmt of Weierbach. The results favoured the state of affairs that had existed before the constitutional court's ruling with almost 80% of the vote in favour of amalgamation, whereas the remaining municipalities in theAmt of Weierbach, namelySien,Sienhachenbach,Schmidthachenbach,Fischbach, Zaubach (a village that vanished in the late 20th century) andDickesbach, returned a vote of roughly 95% in favour of keeping theAmt of Weierbach.
With this expansion of the town, the centres of gravity in the Birkenfeld district had been shifted considerably. Idar-Oberstein could further grow as amiddle centre: the educational facilities were expanded (Realschule, Heinzenwies-Gymnasium), new building developments could be opened up (especially in Göttschied, Regulshausen and Weierbach), land was available for a newhospital building and there was room, too, for industrial and commercial operations to locate.
Since Idar-Oberstein had not only a good general infrastructure but also, after the Steinbach Reservoir was brought into service, a more than adequate water supply, the option of amalgamating themselves with the town became attractive to many further municipalities. On the initiative of Mayor Wittmann, who had a survey done by anOsnabrück planning bureau on the town's relationship with 25 other neighbouring municipalities, town council decided to promote the “unconditional amalgamation” of the municipalities of Fischbach, Dickesbach, Zaubach,Mittelreidenbach,Oberreidenbach, Schmidthachenbach, Sienhachenbach, Sien, Hintertiefenbach andVollmersbach. The municipalities of Rötsweiler-Nockenthal,Siesbach, Gerach,Veitsrodt, Kirschweiler, Hettenrodt andMackenrodt were each to receive an offer of amalgamation. The district administration in Birkenfeld then got involved, and it was decided by the district assembly (Kreistag) that Idar-Oberstein's amalgamation policy, which was deemed to be reckless, should be censured. Since a certain disenchantment with all these amalgamations had meanwhile set in both in the outlying centres and in the town of Idar-Oberstein itself, all further initiatives either got nowhere or were shelved.
Idar-Oberstein has its connections with the notorious outlaw Johannes Bückler (1777–1803), commonly known asSchinderhannes. His parents lived in Idar around 1790, and Oberstein was the scene of one of his earliest misdeeds in 1796. He spent a wholeLouis d'or on drinks at an inn. He had stolen it from an innkeeper named Koch from Veitsrodt who had meant to use it to buybrandy.[7]
Schinderhannes's sweetheart, Juliana Blasius (1781–1851), known as “Julchen”, came from Idar-Oberstein's outlying centre of Weierbach. She spent her childhood with her father and elder sister Margarethe as a“bench singer” and a fiddler at markets and church fêtes. AtEaster 1800, Schinderhannes saw “Julchen” for the first time at the Wickenhof, a now vanishedhamlet nearKirn, where the 19-year-old danced. Their relationship yielded a daughter and a son, Franz Wilhelm. After Schinderhannes was beheaded for his crimes in 1803, Juliana married first a gendarme, with whom she had seven children, and then after his death a livestock herder and day labourer.[8]
Felsenkirche (“Crag Church”), a legendary church and symbol of the town
According to legend, there were two noble brothers, Wyrich and Emich, who both fell in love with a beautiful girl named Bertha. The brothers lived at Castle Bosselstein, which stood atop a 135 m-high hill. Bertha was from a noble line that occupied the nearby Lichtenburg Castle.
Neither brother was aware of the other's feelings for Bertha. When Wyrich, the elder brother, was away on some unknown business, Emich succeeded in securing Bertha's affections and, subsequently, married her. When Emich announced the news to his brother, Wyrich's temper got the better of him. In the heat of the moment, he hurled his brother out of a window of the castle and sent him to his death on the rocks below.
Wyrich was almost immediately filled with remorse. With the counsel of a local abbot, he began a long period of penance. At this time, Bertha disappears from the historical record. Many romantics feel that she died of abroken heart.
As Wyrich waited for a heavenly sign showing that he was forgiven, the abbot suggested that he build a church on the exact place where his brother died. Wyrich worked and prayed himself into exhaustion. However, the moment the church was completed, he received his sign: a miraculousspring opened up in the church.
Wyrich died soon after this. When the local bishop came to consecrate the new church, he found the noble lord dead on its steps. Wyrich was later placed in the same tomb with his brother.
Idar-Oberstein is known as a gemstone centre. Until the 18th century, the area was a source foragate andjasper. A combination of low-cost labour and energy helped the gemstone-working industry flourish. The river Nahe provided free water power for the cutting and polishing machines at the mills.
In the 18th century, though, gemstone finds in the Hunsrück were dwindling, making life harder for the local people. Many left to try their luck abroad. Some went as far asBrazil, where they found that gemstones could be recovered from open-pit mines or even found in rivers and streams. The locally common tradition of preparing meat over an open fire,churrasco, was also adopted by the newcomers and even found its way back to their homeland by way of gemstone shipping. Agate nodules were shipped back asballast on empty vessels that had offloaded cargo in Brazil. The cheap agates were then transported to Idar-Oberstein.
In the early 19th century, many people were driven out of the local area by hunger and also went toSouth America. In 1827, emigrants from Idar-Oberstein discovered the world's most importantagate deposit in Brazil's state ofRio Grande do Sul. As early as 1834, the first delivery of agate from Rio Grande do Sul had been made to Idar-Oberstein. The Brazilian agate exhibited very even layers, much more even than those seen in the local agates. This made them especially good for makingengraved gems. Using locals’ technical knowledge of chemical dyes, the industry grew bigger than ever at the turn of the 20th century.
After theSecond World War, the region had to redefine itself once more, and it developed into a leading hub in the trade of gemstones from Brazil andAfrica. That in turn provided local artists with a large selection of material and the region experienced a “third boom” as a gemstone centre. More recently, however, competition fromThailand andIndia has hit the region hard.[citation needed]
The council is made up of 40 honorary council members, who were elected byproportional representation at the municipal election held on 25 May 2014, and the full-time mayor (Oberbürgermeister) as chairman.
The municipal election held on 25 May 2014 yielded the following results:[9]
Ever since the state government declared the town of Idar-Oberstein aGroße kreisangehörige Stadt (large town belonging to a district) on 1 April 1960, the town's mayor has borne the official title ofOberbürgermeister.
In office from
In office until
Name
Party
Remarks
1920
30 July 1933
Ludwig Bergér
Stadtbürgermeister in Oberstein
30 July 1933
Otto Schmidt
Stadtbürgermeister in Idar
1 August 1933
9 May 1945
Ludwig Bergér
Bürgermeister of Idar-Oberstein (after unification of Oberstein and Idar)
10 May 1945
29 April 1947
Walter Rommel
Stadtdirektor (arrested and removed from office by French occupational forces)
22 September 1946
4 February 1949
Emil Lorenz
HonoraryBürgermeister
5 February 1949
1953
Ernst Herrmann
Full-timeBürgermeister
15 December 1953
31 March 1960
Leberecht Hoberg
CDU
Bürgermeister
1 April 1960
8 April 1968
Leberecht Hoberg
CDU
Oberbürgermeister
1968
26 September 1974
Wilfried Wittmann
SPD
Voted out of office.
1977
28 February 1991
Erwin Korb
SPD
Oberbürgermeister
1 March 1991
28 February 2001
Otto Dickenschied
SPD
1 March 2001
28 February 2007
Hans Jürgen Machwirth
CDU
First directly electedOberbürgermeister after the 1994 electoral reform. Machwirth resigned when he reached the maximum age allowed for elected municipal officials, 68, before his eight-year term had ended.
The German blazon reads:Im halbrunden silbernen Schild befindet sich ein aufgerichteter roter Forsthaken, begleitet im rechten Obereck von einer sechsblättrigen roten Rose mit goldenem Kelch und grünen Kelchblättern, links unten von einer roten Eichel.
The town'sarms might in Englishheraldic language be described thus: Argent a cramp palewise sinister with a crossbar gules between in dexter chief a rose foiled of six of the second barbed and seeded proper and in sinister base an acorn slipped palewise of the second.
Thecharges are drawn from coats of arms formerly borne by both Idar and Oberstein before the two towns were merged in 1933. The current arms were approved by the Oldenburg Ministry of State for the Interior. The arms have been borne since 10 July 1934.[10]
Burg Stein orBosselstein, so-calledAltes Schloss (“Old Palatial Castle”)
Burg Oberstein, so-calledNeues Schloss (“New Palatial Castle”;see also below) – first mention 1336, expansion in the 15th and 16th centuries; 1855 roof frame and interior destroyed by fire; originally a triangular complex; in the centre remnants of dwellings, among others the so-calledKaminbau (“Fireplace Building”) and theEsel-bück-dich-Turm (“Ass-stoop-down Tower”), bothGothic; of the bailey, possibly built later, remnants of the three towers
Burg Stein orBosselstein, so-calledAltes Schloss (“Old Palatial Castle”), above theFelsenkirche (see also below) – first mention 1197, from the 15th century incorporated into the town fortifications, a ruin no later than the 18th century; in the northwest at the entrance and in the southwest of the girding wall remnants of dwellings, roundkeep
FormerEvangelical parish church, so-calledFelsenkirche (“Crag Church”), Kirchweg (see also below) – on an irregular floor plan, built into a crag in 1482–1484, renovation of the Late Gothicvaulting withbarrel vaulting, 1742, alteration to the tower roof, 1858, master builder Weyer, thorough renovation, 1927–1929, architect Wilhelm Heilig, Langen; polyptych altar from late 14th century, ascribed to the Master of theMainz Mocking
Evangelical parish church, Hauptstraße (see also below) – formerly St. Peter and Paul, cross-shapedaisleless church, 1751, expansion with transept 1894-1894, conversion 1955/1956, architect Hans Rost,Würzburg;Romanesque west tower (1114?),Baroque roof, possibly from 1712; gravestone M. C. Hauth, about 1742; in the graveyard a memorial to those who fell in theFirst World War
Town fortifications – walling of Oberstein, incorporating theFelsenkirche, built of coarsevolcanic rock, on the inside supported bybuttresses, arose in 15th and 16th centuries; preserved parts: on the church hill halfway up to theFelsenkirche, tower Im Gebück (a lane) above Hauptstraße 476
At Alte Gasse 5 – coat of arms of the formerImperial post office, 19th century
Bahnhofstraße 3 – sophisticated corner house, three-floorBaroque Revival building with mansard roof, echoes of Art Nouveau, 1908/1909, architect Hans Best,Kreuznach
Klotzbergkaserne (“Klotzberg Barracks”), Berliner Straße, Bleidornplatz, Juterbogstraße, Klotzbergstraße, Ostpreußenstraße, Pestmüllerring, Pommernstraße (monumental zone) – barracks for twoinfantry battalions built in the course of Idar-Oberstein's expansion into agarrison town during theThird Reich, buildings on terraced lands grouped about several yards and stairwells with staff buildings, houses for men, riding hall, partly quarrystone, 1936–1938; characterizes town's appearance
At Bismarckstraße 12 –stucco decoration on a residential and commercial house, about 1905
Bismarckstraße 53 – Baroque Revival villa with mansard roof, 1910
Dietzenstraße 30 – villa-style house with hipped roof, about 1910; characterizes town's appearance
Dietzenstraße 34 – picturesque-rustic villa, early 20th century
Dietzenstraße 55 – residential and commercial house with several floors, Classicist Revival-Baroque Revival building with mansard roof, 1926
Dr.-Liesegang-Straße 1 – former commercial hall; building of red brick framed with yellowsandstone, 1894/1895
Dr.-Liesegang-Straße 3 – representative house, Art Nouveau motifs, about 1905; characterizes streetscape's appearance together with no. 5
Dr.-Liesegang-Straße 4 – cube-shaped villa with hipped roof, 1924
Finsterheckstraße – water cistern, two-floor tower-type housing,rusticated, 1900
Forststraße – memorial cross for Anne Freiin (Baroness) von Schorlemer, about 1905 (?); memorial stone, 1930
Forststraße 26 – former hunting lodge; sophisticated country house in alternating materials typical of the time, last fourth of the 19th century
Friedrich-Ebert-Ring 10 – sophisticated villa, begun 1911, architect Julius Schneider
Friedrich-Ebert-Ring 12–18 (monumental zone) – three sophisticated apartment blocks for French officers, 1922–1924, government master builder Metz; middle building, flanked by buildings with gable fronts that penetrate each other
Friedrich-Ebert-Ring 59–65 (monumental zone) – four similar multi-family dwellings; three-floor cube-shaped buildings with hipped roofs on a retaining wall, 1924
Georg-Maus-Straße 2 – formerSchillerschule; mighty Baroque Revival housing, towards the back open like acour d'honneur, 1908–1911, town master builder Müller; characterizes town's appearance
Hasenklopp 6 – palatial castle-type complex, Baroque Revival building with mansard roof, garden pavilion, swung retaining wall, 1921–1923, architectPaul Schultze-Naumburg
Hauptstraße 260–274 (even numbers), Naßheckstraße 1, 3 (monumental zone) – group of villas, individually characterized buildings, some with great garden complexes, towards Naßheck smaller houses, many original enclosing fences, about 1905
Hauptstraße 48 – corner residential and commercial house, iron framing with brickwork outside, Burbach Ironworks; characterizes streetscape's appearance
Hauptstraße 70 – formerschoolhouse; three-floor cube-shaped building with hipped roof, so-called OldenburgLate Classicism, 1856/1857, architect Peter Reinhard Casten, Birkenfeld; triangular gable after 1900, portal with balcony after 1933; characterizes town's appearance
At Hauptstraße 71 – stuccoed façade, 1922, of a three-floor residential and commercial house from 1888
Hauptstraße 72 – representative three-floor house, Renaissance Revival motifs, in the back stable and barn, 1863/1864
Hauptstraße 76 – four-floor residential and commercial house,New Objectivity, 1931, architect Johannes Weiler,Cologne
Hauptstraße 103 and 105 – house with mansard roof, 1852, remodellings in 1890 and 1905; in the back commercial building, 1912; whole complex in subdued Baroque Revival forms
Hauptstraße 108 – lordly villa, Renaissance Revival motifs with Classicist tendencies, French country house style, 1870/1871, architect Louis Purper,Paris; in the back commercial buildings
Hauptstraße 118 (see also below) – representative Renaissance Revival villa, 1894; nowadays theDeutsches Edelsteinmuseum (German Gemstone Museum)
Hauptstraße 123 – representative villa with hipped roof, Art Nouveau décor, 1901, architect Hans Weszkalnys,Saarbrücken
Hauptstraße 126 – representative residential and commercial house, possibly from the 1890s; in the gateway clay reliefs
At Hauptstraße 129 – stately Gothic Revival entrance gate
Hauptstraße 135 – villalike house, building of red brick framed with yellow sandstone, Renaissance Revival and Baroque Revival motifs, possibly about 1890
Hauptstraße 143 – mighty three-floor house with mansard roof, 1910; characterizes town's appearance
Hauptstraße 145 – three-floor Historicist house, building of red brick framed with yellow sandstone, Renaissance Revival and Art Nouveau motifs
Hauptstraße 147 – three-floor representative house, Baroque Revival, Louis XVI (early FrenchNeoclassical) and Art Nouveau motifs, 1908
Hauptstraße 148 – three-floor sophisticated house, Baroque Revival building with mansard roof, about 1900; whole complex with factory building and a further house in the back from 1910/1911
Hauptstraße 149 – former “Hotel Fürstenhof”; red-brick building with plastered areas, Art Nouveau décor; 1904
Hauptstraße 150 – small, elaborately shaped house, third fourth of the 19th century
Hauptstraße 151 – house with entranceloggia, mansard roof, about 1910
Hauptstraße 153 – picturesque-rustic villa, Gothic Revival motifs, about 1900
Hauptstraße 289 – meeting building of the lodge at theFelsentempel; symmetrically divided plastered building, Art Nouveau décor, 1906
Hauptstraße 291 – house, sandstone-framed brick building with timber-frame parts, towards late 19th century, architect possibly Max Jager; conversion 1909 and 1914
Hauptstraße 313 – bungalow with mansard roof, rustic and Expressionist motifs, 1923/1924, architect Julius Schneider; décor
Hauptstraße 330 – corner house, 1882, architect R. Goering; décor
Hauptstraße 332 – corner house, Classicist and Renaissance Revival motifs, third fourth of the 19th century
Hauptstraße 337/339 – three-floor double house with mansard roofs, 1910/1911, architect Johannes Ranly, Oberstein
Hauptstraße 338 – former Imperial post office, so-calledAlte Post; mighty, three- and four-floor three-winged building with bell-shaped and timber-frame gables, 1910–1912, architect Postal Building Adviser Neufeldt; characterizes square's appearance
Hauptstraße 342/344 – double house, red sandstone building with mansard roof, Late Gothic and Art Nouveau motifs, 1900, architect Hubert Himmes, Idar-Oberstein
Hauptstraße 385 – plastered building, echoes ofSwiss chalet style with Baroque elements, 1950, architect Julius Schneider; built-in shop from time of building
Hauptstraße 386 – former Pielmeyer department store; three-floor building with mansard roof, Louis XVI and Art Nouveau motifs, about 1905, architects Gerhards & Hassert; characterizes streetscape's appearance
Hauptstraße 391 – Renaissance Revival façade of a residential and commercial house, 1890; characterizes streetscape's appearance
Hauptstraße 412/414 – Baroque double house with timber-frame gable, marked 1702
Hauptstraße 417 – three-floor residential and commercial house, Art Nouveau motifs, 1906, architect Max Jager; characterizes square's appearance
(an) Hauptstraße 418 – elaborate façade décor, Art Nouveau with Baroque elements, about 1905
Hauptstraße 432 – three-floor timber-frame building, partly solid, late 16th century, conversion 1717
Hauptstraße 434 – three-floor residential and commercial house with mansard roof, Renaissance Revival motifs, 1895; characterizes town's appearance
Hauptstraße 468/470 – mighty three-floor balloon frame building, earlier half of the 15th century
Hauptstraße 499 – house with mansard roof, Baroque Revival plaster décor, late 19th century
Hauptstraße 281–309 (odd numbers) (monumental zone) – mostly two-floor residential and commercial buildings in an almost closed row giving the effect of a unified streetscape, 19th and early 20th centuries; brick with sandstonework parts, plastered, timber-frame, in parts of the back factory buildings; pattern broken somewhat by two villalike houses (no. 303 Baroque Revival, 1905; no. 309, possibly from 1890)
Höckelböschstraße 1 – three-floor Baroque Revival corner residential and commercial house, about 1908; décor; characterizes town's appearance
Höckelböschstraße 2 – row house with mansard roof, early 20th century
Höckelböschstraße 8 – house, Renaissance Revival motifs, about 1877
Hoher Weg 1/3 – double house, three-floor building with mansard roof on a retaining wall, 1912, architect Johannes Ranly; characterizes town's appearance
Kasinostraße 7 – building of the former Hermann Leysercardboard packaging factory; brick building, partly timber-frame, filigree wood details, late 19th century; house 1896, wing joining the two 1911
Keltenstraße – water cistern; representative front building with brickwork walls, 1894
Kobachstraße 4 – sophisticated residential and commercial house, Louis-XVI-style, 1912
Luisenstraße 9 – rustic villa, bungalow with mansard roof on an irregular floor plan, 1908, architect Georg Küchler, Darmstadt
Mainzer Straße 64 – villa, Art Nouveau décor, 1907
Mainzer Straße 66 – representative Art Nouveau villa, 1905, architects Hubert Himmes and Adrian Wehrli, Idar-Oberstein
Mainzer Straße 69 – representative Art Nouveau villa with mansard roof, about 1905
Mainzer Straße 73 – representative villa on an asymmetrical floor plan, Art Nouveau décor with Baroque elements, 1905/1906, architect Hans Weszkalnys, Saarbrücken
Mainzer Straße 75 – plastered villa on an asymmetrical floor, hipped roofs, 1901, architect Hubert Himmes, Idar-Oberstein
Mainzer Straße 224 –Villa Wolff, sophisticated rustic villa, bungalow with mansard roof, 1923/1924, architect Julius Schneider
Mainzer Straße 56/58, 60, 64, 66, 69, 73, 75, 77, Dr.-Liesegang-Straße 1, Hauptstraße 123 (monumental zone) – Idar-Oberstein's only mainly closed villa neighbourhood, villas in gardens, about 1900 to the 1920s; partly with sprightly roof profiles, Late Historicism, Art Nouveau, architecture of the 1920s; on the squarelike widening at the south end of Mainzer Straße the commercial hall (Dr.-Liesegang-Straße 1,see above)
Otto-Decker-Straße 6 – three-floor Gothic Revival residential and commercial house with mansard roof, 1900, architect Hubert Himmes, Idar-Oberstein
Otto-Decker-Straße 16 – Historicist residential and commercial house with mansard roof, 1905
Pappelstraße 1, 2, 3 (monumental zone) – so-calledFranzosenhäuser (“Frenchman’s Houses”), group of three houses built by the town for French officers in the occupational forces; buildings with tent roofs, Expressionist motifs, begun in 1920, architect Wilhelm Heilig, Langen
Ritterstraße 11 – house, after 1882, Baroque Revival expansion 1912
Ritterstraße 31 – row house with mansard roof, Renaissance Revival motifs, marked 1906
Schönlautenbach 27 – house with mansard roof, timber-frame bungalow on terracelike stone lower floor, 1928
ObersteinJewish graveyard, Seitzenbachstraße (monumental zone) – laid out possibly in the 17th century, expanded in 1820, older part dissolved in 1945; gravestones placed since the mid 19th century in the newer section's wall; memorials mainly sandstone orgranite,obelisks,steles; behind Kirchhofshübel 14 further gravestone fragments and wall settings; originally belonging to the graveyard the former Jewish mortuary (Seitzenbachstraße – no number – today a workshop), central building with pyramid roof, built in 1914
Seitzenbachstraße/Hauptstraße, NiederauChristian graveyard (monumental zone) – three-part parklike complex, laid out from 1836 to 1916; soldiers’ graveyard 1914/1918; warriors’ memorial 1914/1918 and 1939/1945, memorial stone for Jewish fellow inhabitants placed after 1945; hereditary gravesites: no. 1 crypt with Egyptian-style entrance; no. 3 polygonal Gothic Revival column; nos. 7 and 8 several gravestones, granite slabs, granite steles,bronzeurns; no. 29 complex of Kessler & Röhl,Berlin, sculpture by H. Pohlmann, Berlin; no. 32 angel with anchor by P. Völker; no. 33:marble angel
Tiefensteiner Straße, Idar Christian graveyard (monumental zone) – laid out in 1869 in “Mittelstweiler”, first documented in 1871, enlarged several times; since 1969 newer main graveyard to the west “Im Schmalzgewann”; warriors’ memorial 1870/1871: roofed stele with relief, surrounded by eightlimetrees; fencing with Baroque Revival entrance possibly from about 1900; graveyard chapel, yellow sandstone building, towards 1908; warriors’ memorial in graveyard of honour for those who fell in 1914/1918, 1920; graveyard for those who fell in 1939/1945 by Max Rupp, Idar-Oberstein, and Theodor Siegle, Saarbrücken, 1961; several elaborate hereditary gravesites
Tiefensteiner Straße 20 – country-house-style house, bungalow with half-hipped roof, 1920s
Wasenstraße 1 – three-floor residential and commercial house with Historicist elements, partly decorative timber-frame, conversion 1924/1925
Wilhelmstraße 23 – representative manufacturer's villa with mansard roof, Baroque Revival motifs with Classicist elements, begun in 1909, architect Julius Schneider
Wilhelmstraße 44 – manufacturer's house with garden; sandstone-framed volcanic rock building, Art Nouveau décor, 1910, architect Max Jager; décor
Wilhelmstraße 48 – three-floor Historicist residential and commercial house, sandstone-framed brick building, 1903, in the back factory building; characterizes town's appearance
Wilhelmstraße 40/42, 44, 46, 48, 49–51 (monumental zone) – complex of dwelling and manufacturing buildings around the Jakob Bengel metalware factory (long, two- and three-floor commercial buildings, entrepreneur's villa (no. 44), 1873 to 1906
Bismarckturm (Bismarck Tower), east of Idar on the Wartehübel – monumental complex built out of volcanic rock, 1907, architect Hans Weszkalnys, Saarbrücken (design byWilhelm Kreis,Dresden)
Railway bridge on the Rhine-Nahe Railway, on the east side of the Altenberg – three-arch bridge in the Nahe valley at the Altenberg
Railway bridges on the Rhine-Nahe Railway, west of therailway station – two brick-framed sandstone-block structures over a bend in the Nahe
Railway bridge on the Rhine-Nahe Railway, at the Wüstlautenbach – partly heavily renovated three-arch, brick-framed sandstone-block structure over the valley of the Wüstlautenbach
Im Stäbel – entrance relief at theStraßburgkaserne (“Strasbourg Barracks”) – forms characterized byNational Socialism, 1936–1938; on the corner of Saarstraße a memorial, 1958
Im Stäbel, graveyard – memorial for those who fell in the First World War by Wilhelm Heilig, about 1920
Railway bridge and tunnel on the Rhine-Nahe Railway, east of Enzweiler – two-arch bridge, volcanic rock and brick, over the Nahe, impressive sequence of Hommericher Tunnel, bridge and Enzweiler Tunnel
Former Evangelical parish church, Auf der Burr – formerly Saint George's, stepped Romanesque building, west tower, quire Late Gothic altered (possibly in the 14th century),aisleless nave remodelled in Baroque;Marienglocke ("Mary's Bell") from 1350; in the graveyard gravestones about 1900
Near Auf der Burr 13 – lift pump,cast-iron,brass, Gothic Revival, firm of Gebrüder Zilken,Koblenz, possibly from the last fourth of the 19th century
Before Buchengasse 2 and 4 – twowrought-iron wells
Evangelical church, Hammersteiner Straße 39 – Baroque Revival aisleless church with ridge turret, 1904–1909, architect August Senz,Düsseldorf; characterizes town's appearance
Railway bridge and tunnel on the Rhine-Nahe Railway, northwest of Hammerstein – two-arch brick-framed sandstone-block structure over the Nahe, tunnel through the so-called Hammersteiner Kipp
FormerCatholic Parish Church ofJohn of Nepomuk (Pfarrkirche St. Johann Nepomuk), Am Kirchberg 3 – two-naved Late Historicist quarrystone building, flanking tower, 1895–1898, architect Ludwig Becker,Mainz;spolia (18th century); rich décor
Evangelical parish church, Am Kirchberg 6 – plain Baroque aisleless church, ridge turret with helmed roof, 1755, architect Johann Thomas Petri,Kirn; décor
Am Kirchberg 8 – former Catholic rectory; one- and two-floor Baroque building with hipped roof, 1770, architect possibly Johann Thomas Petri; characterizes town's appearance
Am Kirchberg 3, 6, 8 (monumental zone) – group made up of the Catholic church (Am Kirchberg 3) and the Evangelical church (Am Kirchberg 6) with the former rectory (Am Kirchberg 8), forecourt with altars (made of spolia), across the street, documents the village's ecclesiastical development
Auf dem Rain 21 – formerschool; nestedSwiss chalet style building with Expressionist details, 1926/27
At Im Brühl 1 – wooden door,Zopf style, 18th century
Bachweg 6 –Quereinhaus (a combination residential and commercial house divided for these two purposes down the middle, perpendicularly to the street), partly timber-frame (plastered), possibly from the earlier half of the 19th century
Granatweg – warriors’ memorial;sandstone relief, 1920s,concrete stele inserted after 1945
Tiefensteiner Straße 87 –Kallwiesweiherschleife; water-driven gemstone-cutting mill; squat building with gable roof and great iron-bar windows, 18th century, converted or renovated several times; equipment; pond
Tiefensteiner Straße 178 –Hettsteiner Schleife orSchleife zwischen den Mühlen; former water-driven gemstone-cutting mill; quarrystone building with great iron-bar windows, 1846; equipment
Near Tiefensteiner Straße 232 – formerfilling station, filling station building with sales room and workshop, mushroom-column construction with broad overlying roof, 1950s
Tiefensteiner Straße 275 – villalike house with contemporary details, 1920s
Tiefensteiner Straße 296 – avant-garde house, 1930/1932, architect Julius Schneider
Tiefensteiner Straße 322 – villalike house with mansard roof, Louis XVI and Art Nouveau motifs, shortly after 1900
Evangelical parish church, Obere Kirchstraße – formerly Saint Martin's, Early Classicist aisleless church, architect Wilhelm Frommel, 1792/1793;late mediaeval tower altered in the 17th century; retaining wall possiblymediaeval
Saint Martin's Catholic Parish Church (Pfarrkirche St. Martin), Obere Kirchstraße – Gothic Revival red sandstone building, 1896/1897, architect Lambert von Fisenne,Gelsenkirchen; décor; characterizes town's appearance
Across from Dorfstraße 1 – so-calledHessenstein; former border stone; Tuscan column with inscription and heraldicescutcheon, after 1815
Dorfstraße 32 – former Evangelical rectory; building with half-hipped roof, Swiss chalet style, 1930/1931, architect Friedrich Otto, Kirn; characterizes streetscape's appearance
Weierbacher Straße 12 – house, used partly commercially, with mansard roof, Expressionist motifs, 1920s
Weierbacher Straße 22 – railway station; reception and administration building with employee dwellings, goods hall and side building, 1913/1914, architect Schenck; one- and two-floor main building, Art Nouveau décor with Classicist elements, monumental roof profile
Jewish graveyard, east of the village on the hilltop "Am Winnenberg" (monumental zone) – seven stones or pedestals, similar to steles
Niederreidenbacher Hof, northeast of the village (monumental zone) – first mention of acastle in the 13th century, in the 19th century an estate, from 1904 a deaconess's establishment, with dwelling and commercial buildings, mill and distillery, about 1840 and thereafter; crag cellar under the estate; conversions and expansions 1904 and thereafter; chapel, 1658 or older, expansion 1931; Imperial Baron Friedrich Kasimir Boxheim's (died 1743) gravestone; remnants of the graveyard belonging to the establishment; two water cisterns, 1930s; park and garden facilities, characterizes landscape's appearance
The famousFelsenkirche (“Crag Church”) is the town's defining landmark. It came to be through efforts by Wirich IV of Daun-Oberstein (about 1415–1501), who in 1482 built the now Protestant church on the foundations of theBurg im Loch (“Castle in the Hole”).
As far as is now known, thiscastle was the first defensive position held by the Lords of Stein and arefuge castle for the dwellers of the village down below that was built into the great cave in the crag, the “Upper Stone” (or inGerman,Oberer Stein) on the river Nahe. This, of course, explains the origin of the name “Oberstein”.
The “Castle in the Hole” was the only cave castle on the Upper Nahe. TheFelsenkirche can nowadays be reached by visitors through a tunnel that was built in modern times.
Up above the small church, on a knoll (Bossel) stands Castle Bosselstein, or rather what is left of it. The whole complex was forsaken in 1600, and all that stands now is a tower stump and remnants of the castle wall. In the Middle Ages, it was a stronghold to be reckoned with, with its two crescent moats and its two baileys.
Somewhat farther up, not far from Castle Bosselstein, the third castle arose about 1325, the one now known as Schloss Oberstein. Until 1624, it was the residence of the Counts of Daun-Oberstein. In 1855 it burnt down. In the years 1926 to 1956, the castle was used as ayouth hostel, and thereafter as aninn.
In 1961, part of the east wall fell in. The castle club,Schloss Obersteine. V., that was founded shortly thereafter, in 1963, has been worrying ever since about maintaining the acutely endangered building materials that make up this former four-tower complex. In 1998, the town of Idar-Oberstein became the castle's owner. Today there is once again a small inn, the Wyrich-Stube, and there are also now a few rooms restored by the castle club, which can be hired for festive occasions or cultural events.
St. Peter und Paul is the Catholic church in the constituent community of Idar. It was built in 1925 as a wooden church for the then town of Idar. Since the 17th century, the town's Catholics had had to make do with ecclesiastical services from Oberstein. By 1951, the church had fallen into such disrepair that it was extensively converted and expanded with stone.
Besides the Town Theatre in the constituent community of Oberstein, there is also acabaret stage. With Schloss Oberstein as the backdrop, theTheatersommer Schloss Oberstein (“Schloss Oberstein Theatre Summer”) is held each year.
Hauptstraße 118: TheDeutsches Edelsteinmuseum, housed in a representative Renaissance Revival villa (see underBuildings above)
Since the early 1960stourism has grown in importance for Idar-Oberstein. Today it boasts a number of modern facilities such as the Steinkaulenberg, a gemstone mine open to visitors, and the German Gemstone Museum, as well as several recreational resorts. Nationally known is theDeutsches Edelsteinmuseum (German Gemstone Museum) in the constituent community of Idar, which boasts many gemstone exhibits.
TheMuseum Idar-Oberstein in the constituent community of Oberstein right below the famousFelsenkirche devotes itself to the specialized theme of “minerals”, and accordingly shows not only local places where gems were discovered, but also worldwide discovery places. The Idar-Oberstein jewellery industry and gemstone processing, too, and especially theagate-cutting operation, are presented in an impressive way.
Insights into the production ofArt Deco jewellery as it was done about the turn of the 20th century are offered by theIndustriemuseum Jakob Bengel in the constituent community of Oberstein. It is open the year round.
At the Steinkaulenberg gemstone mines, the only gemstone mine inEurope open to visitors, and at theHistorische Weiherschleife – a gemstone-grinding mill – one can learn a few things about gemstone processing and Idar-Oberstein's history.Jasper is also featured there, for Idar-Oberstein is also an important centre for that semiprecious stone.
Idar-Oberstein has an indoorswimming pool and, since September 2005 an outdoor swimming pool fed by natural water. On the town's outskirts, aFriends of Nature house has been established, offering cyclists, hikers and tourists meals and lodging. Also, in nearby Kirschweiler is agolf course.
TheSchleiferweg (Schleifer is German for “grinder” or “polisher”, a reference to the town's fame as a gem-processing centre;Weg simply means “way”) is a 22 km-long signpostedhiking trail round Idar. The path leads around the constituent communities of Idar, Oberstein, Göttschied, Algenrodt and Tiefenstein. Especially for sophisticated hikers, theSchleiferweg offers a special hiking experience with a high section of path through thick forest. The trail leads by various tourist attractions, such as theWeiherschleife, the Steinkaulenberg, the Kammerwoog (lake) or even theWäschertskaulen spit roast house. With the good links to the town transport network, the trail can be broken up into as many shorter stretches as the hiker chooses.
The New Year's Gala Concert of the Symphonisches Blasorchester Obere Nahe e. V. (wind orchestra) has been seeing the town into the New Year culturally since 1991.
The International Trade Fair for Gemstones, Gemstone Jewellery and Gemstone Objects is held yearly in September and October (see also below).
The regional consumer fair, better known asIdar-Obersteiner Wirtschaftstage, was created by theWirtschaftsjunioren Idar-Oberstein 2003, and is growing into a true success story. It was organized and staged from 2003 to 2005 by theWirtschaftsjunioren.
TheDeutsche Edelsteinkönigin (“German Gemstone Queen”) is chosen every other year from the region of theDeutsche Edelsteinstraße (“German Gem Road”).
TheSpießbratenfest (“Spit Roast Festival”) has been held since 1967 each year from the Friday to Tuesday that includes the last Sunday in June. It is said to be the biggest folk festival on the Upper Nahe.
TheKinderkulturtage (“Children’s Cultural Days”) have been being held for several years now as a successor festival to theKinderliederfestival (“Children’s Song Festival”). There are 15 to 20 events for children, youth and those who are young at heart.
Each year in early June, theJazztage (“Jazz Days”) are held. Appearing here are regional and national jazz greats on several stages in the Idarpedestrian precinct.
Diamond grinders, facet and surface grinders and agate grinders demonstrate the most varied working techniques within the framework of theDeutscher Edelsteinschleifer- und Goldschmiedemarkt (“German Gemstone Grinders’ and Goldsmiths’ Market”).Goldsmiths and jewellery designers allow a look at their creative work in Oberstein's historic town centre below theFelsenkirche.
TheKama Festival was held from 1991 to 2007 on the lands of the Kammerwoog Conservation Area atWhitsun. It was the biggest open-air festival in Idar-Oberstein. The last festival took place in much reduced form in 2008.
A distinction is made betweenIdarer Spießbraten andObersteiner Spießbraten. The former is a kind ofSchwenkbraten, whereas the latter is a kind of rolled roast.Spießbraten is rooted fast among Idar-Oberstein's and the surrounding region's culinary and cultural customs.
When making the more often consumedIdarer Spießbraten, the meat – originallyprime rib, today often alsoroast beef or pork neck – is laid the day before cooking in raw onions, salt and pepper. The onions are good to eat while cooking at the fire with a beer. Locals favour beechwood for the fire, to give the roast its traditional flavour.
The variations on theSpießbraten recipe are also the subject of the town's slogan, which bears witness to a patronizing cosmopolitanism:Rossbeff fa die Idarer, Kamm fa die Uwersteener und Brot für die Welt – dialectal German for “Roast beef for the Idarers, pork neck for the Obersteiners and bread for the world.”
Also dialectally calledKrumbierewurscht, this was formerly “poor people’s food”, but today it is a speciality. Potatoes, pork, beef and onions are put through themincer and seasoned withsavoury, pepper and salt. It can be fed into the traditional gut, preserved in a jar or even eaten straightaway.
This is raw potato dumplings cooked and served together with carrots (sometimes known in German asMohrrüben, or dialectally in Idar-Oberstein asMurde) and pickled or smoked pork.
All together, Idar-Oberstein has roughly 219.3 ha of land given over to commerce. Three other areas in town, Dickesbacher Straße, Finkenberg Nord and Am Kreuz, hold a further 28 ha in reserve for economic expansion. The town also has at its disposal the rezoning areaGewerbepark Nahetal in the outlying centre of Nahbollenbach, comprising 23 ha.
TheBundesverband der Diamant- und Edelsteinindustrie e. V. (“Federal Association of the Diamond and Gemstone Industry”) has its seat in Idar-Oberstein. It represents the industry's interests in dealings with lawmakers as well as federal, state and municipal representatives. It advises members in areas such as environmental protection, problems incompetition, questions of nomenclature and so forth, and makes the necessary contacts as needed. To promote the designing and quality of jewellery and gemstones, the Association created the international competition revolving about the German Jewellery and Gemstone Prize.
TheBörsenhochhaus: View over Schleiferplatz
TheDeutsche Diamant- und Edelsteinbörse e. V. (“German Diamond and Gemstone Exchange”) was opened in 1974 as the world's first combined exchange for diamonds as well as coloured gemstones. It is one of the 25 exchanges in theWorld Federation of Diamond Bourses.
The firm Klein & Quenzer was among the best known producers ofcostume jewellery before it rose to become the biggest manufacturer of German medals and decorations during the two world wars.
TheWirtschaftsjunioren Idar-Oberstein were founded in 1972. Entrepreneurs and senior management join in this organization for economic, cultural and social purposes in the region.
The cookware manufacturer Fissler has its headquarters in town. The company became well known for its invention of the mobilefield kitchen in 1892. Giloy und Söhne, one of Europe's biggest diamond jewellery manufacturers, has its headquarters here, too.
For more than 20 years now, the International Trade Fair for Gemstones, Gemstone Jewellery and Gemstone Objects (“Intergem”) has been held in Idar-Oberstein. The fair takes place at theJahnhaus in the constituent community of Algenrodt, although as of 2008, a move to the planned exhibition hall in the new Nahetal commercial park (former US Army storage depot Nahbollenbach) was being considered.[citation needed]
TheIdar-Obersteiner Wirtschaftstage (“Economy Days”), initiated by the Idar-Oberstein Economic Promotional Association, are regarded in and around Idar-Oberstein as a regional fair.
Gemstones from throughout the world are to be found in Idar-Oberstein, but the whole industry was begun by finds in the local area. These includeagate,jasper androck crystal.
Since 1938, Idar-Oberstein has been agarrison town. During the 19th and 20th centuries,French and German soldiers in turn were stationed here. With the coming of theWehrmacht, new barracks were built. After theSecond World War, theStraßburgkaserne (“Strasbourg Barracks”) were at first used by theUnited States Army. French troops were stationed at theKlotzbergkaserne, and then as of 1956, theBundeswehrartillery school. This moved in the late 1960s to the newly builtRilchenbergkaserne. Since that time, thousands of artillerymen have undergone their basic and advanced military training here. In September 2003, new boarding school buildings and teaching rooms were dedicated so that today's artillery school has at its disposal both up-to-date lodging capacity and a training centre with all the modern equipment. Included among the teaching methods are audio, video and simulation techniques. Stationed at theKlotzbergkaserne until 31 March 2003 was theBeobachtungspanzerartillerielehrbataillon (“Observational Armoured Artillery Teaching Battalion”) 51, after whose dissolution in the course of Bundeswehr reform, the language training centre for officer cadets moved in. For businesses in Idar-Oberstein and environs, the Bundeswehr is a major economic factor as both an employer and a client. Since 1988, there has been a “sponsorship” between the town of Idar-Oberstein and the artillery school, and to highlight the relationship, town council decided in 1988 to put up a second roadsign that read “Hauptstadt der deutschen Artillerie” (“German Artillery Capital”). After objections from local business, among others the localchamber of commerce, and from some of the townsfolk, too, it was decided that the town would not go to the trouble of installing such signs after all.[13] In 2006, the officer cadet battalion was disbanded.
Local transport in Idar-Oberstein was run from 1900 to 1956 bytrams, and from 1932 to 1969 bytrolleybuses. Today's network is made up of six bus routes run by theVerkehrsgesellschaft Idar-ObersteinGmbH, which belongs to the Rhenus Veniro Group. Furthermore, Idar-Oberstein is the starting point for Regio bus routes toBaumholder andBirkenfeld. There is also a direct bus link toFrankfurt-Hahn Airport. The most important road link in town isBundesstraße 41; although there is no directAutobahn link, theA 62 (Kaiserslautern–Trier) can be reached throughinterchanges at Birkenfeld (B 41) orFreisen.
In the 1980s, the river Nahe was covered over with a four-lane highway,Bundesstraße 41, mentioned above, putting the river underground, beneath the town. This is unique in Germany and has greatly changed the town's appearance in this area. The first plans for this development (officially theNahehochstraße) lay before planners as early as 1958, but they set off a wave of criticism that was felt far beyond the town's limits. On the theme of “Highway over the Nahe – yes or no”,Südwestfunk broadcast atalk show in the 1980s. The project was meant to relieve traffic congestion in the inner town on the B 41, which at the time ran through what is now a narrow pedestrian precinct through the middle of the Old Town. Work on the project began in 1980, and lasted five years, after which theNahehochstraße was at last completed. The Nahe had thus been channelled into a two-kilometre-long tunnel. A timber-frame house nearby, theSachsenhaus, was torn down and put into storage, its pieces numbered. Its reconstruction has been indefinitely postponed. In 1986, theNaheüberbauung, as it is commonly known, was opened to traffic. For its 20th anniversary, there was an exhibition at the Idar-ObersteinStadthaus (civic centre) with photo galleries about the planning, building and completion of the project.
For its efforts, Idar-Oberstein won an award in 1988 in a contest staged by German town planners: First Prize for Most Consequential Blighting of an Historic Townscape.[14]
Idar-Oberstein/Göttschied Airfield lies north of the town between the constituent community of Göttschied and the municipalities of Gerach and Hintertiefenbach at an elevation of 480 m abovesea level (1,575 feet). ItsICAO location indicator is EDRG. The grasslanding strip's orientation is 06/24, and it is 650 m long and 50 m wide. The allowable landing weight is 2 000 kg; however, with PPR (“prior permission required”), aircraft of up to 3 700 kg may land. The airport is designed forhelicopters,motor gliders,gliders,ultralights and, also with PPR,skydivers.
Offered here on weekends are sightseeing flights by motorized aircraft, motor glider, glider and ultralight.
Idar-Oberstein is home to every kind of educational institution, and since 1986, it has been aHochschule location. The internationally renowned programme ofGemstone and Jewellery Design of the Faculty of Design at theUniversity of Applied Sciences Trier is the only place in Europe where artistically-scientifically oriented studies in design in the field of gemstones and jewellery can be undertaken. It is found together with the professional school centre and the town's onlyRealschule at theSchulzentrum Vollmersbachtal. There are severalHauptschulen throughout the town. There are moreover fourGymnasien: the Göttenbach-Gymnasium and the Gymnasium an der Heinzenwies can be attended beginning at the fifth class, while the Technisches Gymnasium and theWirtschaftsgymnasium only admit students beginning in the eleventh class.
TheUniversity of Mainz maintains theInstitut für Edelsteinforschung (Institute for Gemstone Research) in Idar-Oberstein. The Gemstone Research Department belongs to the subject area ofmineralogy in the Faculty ofEarth Sciences.
The University of Applied Sciences Trier offers at its Idar-Oberstein location a programme in Gemstone and Jewellery Design.
TheDeutsche Gemmologische Gesellschaft e. V. (“DGemG”, German Gemological Association) was founded in 1932 and developed into an internationally renowned institution of technical-scientificgemmology. Successful participation in the DGemG courses in gemmology and diamond studies leads to diploma certification of performance on examinations that qualify the graduate to apply for membership in the DGemG (F. G. G. – the F is for the German wordFachmitgliedschaft, or “professional membership”). Thus far, more than 30,000 participants from 75 countries have attended the DGemG programme, which is designed with the demands of the gemstone and jewellery industry in mind.
The Forschungsinstitut für mineralische und metallische Werkstoffe Edelsteine/Edelmetalle GmbH (FEE; Research Institute for Mineral and Metallic Materials Gemstones/Precious Metals), too, has its seat in Idar-Oberstein. The FEE specializes in growing crystals and manufacturing optical elements forlasers.
The Deutsche Diamantprüflabor GmbH (DPL; German Diamond Testing Laboratory) has been assessing since 1970 the quality ofcut diamonds. As the first laboratory of its kind in Germany (and second in the world), the DPL has been officially certified by the German Testing Accreditation System inBerlin as being able to carry out competent quality assessment of diamonds with regards to colour, size, cut and proportion in accordance with internationally recognized standards.
In 1997, aLufthansaAirbus A319-114 (registration number D-AILN) was christened “Idar-Oberstein”. It entered service on 12 September of that year. The aircraft was for a time leased to the firmGermanwings, but has since been reincorporated into Lufthansa's fleet.
^Acte du Congrès de Vienne du 9 juin 1815, Art. 25:Possessions prussiennes sur la rive gauche du Rhin
^Acte du Congrès de Vienne du 9 juin 1815, Art. 49:Territoires réservés pour les maisons d’Oldenbourg, de Saxe-Cobourg, de Mecklenbourg-Strelitz, et le comte de Pappenheim
^Gesetz über Groß-Hamburg und andere Gebietsbereinigungen vom 26. Januar 1937, Artikel II, § 8 (1)
^Second place went toItzehoe, where in the 1970s, the historic town centre was renovated and the bow of the riverStör running through it was filled in and built over. cf. Dagmar Vorbeck, in: Stadt Itzehoe (Hrsg.):Itzehoe. Geschichte einer Stadt in Schleswig-Holstein, Bd. II, S. 390.
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