Thalfang | |
|---|---|
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
Location of Thalfang within Bernkastel-Wittlich district  | |
  Thalfang  Thalfang | |
| Coordinates:49°45′21″N06°59′48″E / 49.75583°N 6.99667°E /49.75583; 6.99667 | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Rhineland-Palatinate |
| District | Bernkastel-Wittlich |
| Municipal assoc. | Thalfang am Erbeskopf |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2019–24) | Burkhard Graul[1] (SPD) |
| Area | |
• Total | 19.44 km2 (7.51 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 460 m (1,510 ft) |
| Population (2022-12-31)[2] | |
• Total | 1,831 |
| • Density | 94/km2 (240/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Postal codes | 54424 |
| Dialling codes | 06504 |
| Vehicle registration | WIL |
| Website | www.vg-thalfang.de |
The climatic spa (Luftkurort) ofThalfang is anOrtsgemeinde – amunicipality belonging to aVerbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in theBernkastel-Wittlichdistrict inRhineland-Palatinate,Germany. It is the seat of theVerbandsgemeinde of Thalfang am Erbeskopf.
The municipality lies in the westernHunsrück on theHunsrückhöhenstraße (“Hunsrück Heights Road”, a scenic road across the Hunsrück built originally as a military road onHermann Göring’s orders), some 7 km northwest of theErbeskopf. Thalfang lies roughly 25 km southeast ofWittlich and 25 km east ofTrier. Through the municipality flows the Thalfanger Bach.
Thalfang’s only outlyingOrtsteil is Bäsch.
In 632, Thalfang had its first documentary mention. Beginning in the 12th century, Thalfang belonged to theMark Dhronecken.
On amap of the Archbishopric of Trier from 1645, the village is shown asThalfinck.
Only underFrench rule was theMark Dhronecken dissolved, and the Mayoralties (Mairies) ofTalling and Thalfang came into being. To the Mayoralty of Thalfang also belonged the villages of Bäsch,Burtscheid,Deuselbach, Dhronecken,Etgert,Hilscheid,Immert,Malborn,Rorodt and a place called Röderbach, which was forsaken about 1900. However, only 19 years later, once thePrussians held sway in the region, the Mayoralties of Talling and Thalfang were united into an entity called theAmt of Thalfang. Since 1947, Thalfang has belonged to thestate ofRhineland-Palatinate. On 7 June 1969, theOrtsgemeinde of Bäsch was amalgamated with Thalfang. In the years from 1969 to 1972, theOrtsgemeinden ofGräfendhron,Horath,Merschbach,Büdlich,Breit andHeidenburg were grouped together with Thalfang to form theVerbandsgemeinde of Thalfang am Erbeskopf.
Among other historical events it might be noted thatErich Honecker, later theEast German leader, worked as a roofer in the 1920s during the construction of what was then to be the new town hall.
The council is made up of 16 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:[3]
| Year | SPD | CDU | FDP | FL | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 16 seats |
| 2004 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 16 seats |
| 1999 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 16 seats |
The municipality'sarms might be described thus: Argent a cross abased and to dexter gules, surmounting the centre of which two salmon addorsed of the field between four crosses Or, in sinister chief, an arched church gateway with gates closed sable.
The red cross on the silver field refers to the former allegiance to theElectorate of Trier. The two salmon among the four golden crosses are drawn from the arms formerly borne by the Counts of Salm (Salm means “salmon” inGerman). They refer to Count Ernst, the only one of the Waldgraves and Rhinegraves from this family who is buried at the graveyard in Thalfang; the salmon motif is also carved into his gravestone. TheRost (“grille”), the way into the churchyard, stands as a symbol for the oldest building in Thalfang.
Thalfang is headquarters to theHochwald Nahrungsmittel-Werke (“foodworks”), the biggest commercial enterprise in the Trier region and one of Germany's biggest dairy businesses.
Thalfang lies on theHunsrückhöhenstraße betweenHermeskeil andMorbach.
The idyllic location and the proximity to tourist destinations such as theMoselle,Trier and theErbeskopf, as well as the relatively short distance toLuxembourg andFrance, make Thalfang a popular holiday destination.
Thalfang's foremost son is the rabbi and philosopherSamuel Hirsch (1815–1889). The German engineer and chemist Wilhelm Kathol died in Thalfang in 1944.
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