Irmenach | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms | |
Location of Irmenach within Bernkastel-Wittlich district  | |
  Irmenach  Irmenach | |
| Coordinates:49°55′27″N7°11′14″E / 49.92417°N 7.18722°E /49.92417; 7.18722 | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Rhineland-Palatinate |
| District | Bernkastel-Wittlich |
| Municipal assoc. | Traben-Trarbach |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2019–24) | Martin Kirst[1] (SPD) |
| Area | |
• Total | 16.38 km2 (6.32 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 445 m (1,460 ft) |
| Population (2022-12-31)[2] | |
• Total | 643 |
| • Density | 39/km2 (100/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Postal codes | 56843 |
| Dialling codes | 06541 |
| Vehicle registration | WIL |
Irmenach is anOrtsgemeinde – amunicipality belonging to aVerbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in theBernkastel-Wittlichdistrict inRhineland-Palatinate,Germany.
The municipality lies in theHunsrück east ofBernkastel-Kues at an elevation of 445 m abovesea level.[3] It belongs to theVerbandsgemeinde of Traben-Trarbach, whose seat is in thelike-named town.
Irmenach'sOrtsteile are Irmenach and Beuren, which lie only about a kilometre from each other.
Irmenach's and Beuren's beginnings are shrouded in darkness. There are known to have been settlers in the area as early asRoman times. An old local tradition has it that the name Irmenach goes back toSaint Irmina, which is, however, hardly likely. A far greater likelihood is that it came fromHerminiachus (“Herminius’s Estate”), in which Herminius was aCeltic nobleman who hadLatinized his name. Originally, Irmenach formed, together with Beuren and Thalkleinich, now an outlying centre ofKleinich, the greater municipality of Irmenach, which existed until 1828.
No later than the 14th century, and quite likely earlier, there were a church in Irmenach and a chapel in Beuren, to whose upkeep the inhabitants of Thalkleinich also had to contribute, even if their ecclesiastical needs were being satisfied by the one in Kleinich, which was only a few hundred metres away. A priest is witnessed for Irmenach no later than 1351, as was a pastor in 1413.
The Irmenach church might originally have been Saint Peter's Church, even though the old local lore held that it was consecrated to Saint “Irmel” (Irmina) or that at the very least there was an altar consecrated to Irmina. Whatever the truth is, it seems that there were pilgrimages to the Irmenach church. Of the older church buildings, the lowest part of the tower may be all that is left; this may date from about 1200, whereas the tower and the nave were built later. Preserved to this day, however, are the old bells (sample pealⓘ) from 1423, 1514 (poured by Hans von Breisig) and 1555 (poured by Johann von Trier). In 1871 and 1872, a new nave was built in Irmenach, as the one that had stood until then had become too small for the community. This was not accomplished before an acrimonious dispute between the two centres, for the Beuren dwellers were of the opinion that any new church building should happen in their village. When the old church was torn down, the paintings, of which there is no doubt there were many, were all lost; such artworks can still be found atLötzbeuren andRaversbeuren. The historical Stummorgan from 1776, though, was preserved.
The Beuren chapel was consecrated toSaint Anthony, thus meaning that it would go back to the 12th century at the earliest. In the chapel in pre-Reformation times was a picture of the saint, which is likewise witnessed as the object of pilgrimages. Of the chapel, only the tower still stands today, for the nave was torn down about 1950, supposedly because it was falling into disrepair.
Irmenach belonged to the “Hinder”County of Sponheim and thus shared its history. In particular, its proximity to theGrevenburg (castle) often led to occupation by enemy armies, under which the villagers suffered greatly. In 1557, theReformation was introduced into Irmenach, as it was throughout the County. Ever since, Irmenach has been anEvangelical (Lutheran) community. Nevertheless, there might have been a few families who were underElectoral-Trier serfdom and who therefore remainedCatholic, even if – unlike what happened in other municipalities – asimultaneum was never instituted at the church. Only in recent times has the Catholic share of the population grown somewhat with newcomers.
With the partition of the “Hinder”County of Sponheim in 1776, Irmenach ended up, as did the wholeOberamt ofTrarbach, with theHouse of Palatinate-Birkenfeld, until eventually the County ceased to exist with theFrench conquest in 1794. Beginning in 1815, Irmenach belonged toPrussia and was grouped into the Mayoralty ofBüchenbeuren in the newly formed district of Zell. After that district's dissolution in 1969, Irmenach belonged for a short time to theRhein-Hunsrück-Kreis. When theVerbandsgemeinde of Büchenbeuren was also dissolved in 1970, with a foreseen merger of the whole entity into theVerbandsgemeinde of Kirchberg, the two municipalities of Irmenach and Beuren managed to have themselves, with effect from 7 November 1970, transferred to the newly formedVerbandsgemeinde of Traben-Trarbach in theBernkastel-Wittlichdistrict. By decree of theRegierungsbezirk government inTrier, from 30 October 1974, the two until then self-administering municipalities of Irmenach and Beuren were dissolved and merged into a single one. The double name “Irmenach-Beuren”, however – used by almost all the municipality's clubs – was not adopted as the new municipality's name as well.
Since 1979, the parishes of Irmenach,Lötzbeuren andRaversbeuren have shared the same pastor. In 2012 the three parishes joined to form the new parish “Irmenach-Lötzbeuren-Raversbeuren”. The pastoral seat is in Lötzbeuren. The parish belongs to the church district of Simmern-Trarbach.
The municipal council is made up of 12 council members, who were elected byproportional 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:[4]
| SPD | CDU | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 8 | 4 | 12 seats |
| 2004 | 7 | 5 | 12 seats |
The municipality'sarms might be described thus: Gules a plough argent between three crosses pattée Or, one and two.
In Irmenach, a lively club life prevails. Besides the volunteer fire brigade and many local clubs, there is theTurn- und Sportverein Irmenach-Beuren e.V. (a gymnastic and sport club founded in 1913), which together with theTuSKleinich andTuSHorbruch forms the successfulhandball team Irmenach-Kleinich-Horbuch, which played for a number of years in the Regional Handball League (Handball-Regionalliga).
Over the ages,agriculture was the main income earner. Irmenach and Beuren were long said to be the Hunsrück's richest farming villages. Although there were still many small agricultural operations run as sidelines even into the 1980s, the number of operations today has – following the general trend – shrunk to only a handful.
Besides farming,slate was mined for a long time. In the Irmenach area are many slate mines, some of which already existed in the 17th century. As Johann Hofmann wrote in 1669: “Foremost, there are in the same mountain ranges a great many slate quarries / wherefrom the countryside’s inhabitants have as great an income / as perhaps others might not obtain from their fruitful fields”.[5] According to local lore, Irmenach slate was used in the building of, among others, theReichstag inBerlin andBrussels Cathedral. In the late 1960s, the last slate quarry was closed as recovery had become unprofitable.
The biggest employer sincethe War ended has been the Hans Kirst firm, located in Irmenach, which today makes horse box stalls.
One important economic factor, however, has always beenFrankfurt-Hahn Airport.
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