The first part of the name, Kirchheim, dates back to 774. It became a town in 1368, and the Sponheim family improved its security with many towers and walls. William, Duke of Nassau, ancestor of the royal families of Belgium, Sweden, Denmark and Norway, and of the grand-ducal family of Luxembourg, was born in Kirchheimbolanden. It was also ruled by the First French Empire between 1792 and 1814, before passing to the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1815. It was a rural district centre in the Rheinkreis, which was renamed Pfalz (Palatinate) in 1835.
Etymology
The name Kirchheim was first mentioned in the Lorsch codex on 28 December 774, which can be traced back to the 7th century, where a parish church stood in present-day Kirchheimbolanden named St. Remigius.[b] The term Kirch is derived from the Old High German word for "church," while the suffix -heim was commonly used during the Frankish colonisation to denote a "home" or "settlement".[4] After Kirchheimbolanden gained town privileges in 1368, it was first mentioned as Kirchheim bei Bolanden in 1370, owing its name to the Lords of Bolanden [de].[5]
History
Middle ages
The place Kirchheim was first mentioned in 774, later it belonged to the Lords of Bolanden.
It is mentioned in the Wormser wall-building ordinance from around 900 as one of the places that shared responsibility for maintaining the city wall of Worms.[6] At the end of the 13th century, Kirchheim was inherited by the Sponheim branch line Bolanden-Dannenfels. Count Heinrich II. Von Sponheim-Bolanden raised the village to a town in 1368 and made it his residence. Via his granddaughter Anna von Hohenlohe[7] († 1410) and her husband Philipp I, Count of Nassau-Weilburg, Kirchheimbolanden and the entire Sponheim-Bolander family property finally fell to the Nassau House, which owned it until the end of the feudal period.
It experienced its greatest heyday under Prince Charles August (1719–1753) and especially under Carl Christian (1753–1788) of the House of Nassau-Weilburg and his rich, clever and musical wife Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau.
Due to the agreements made at the Congress of Vienna (1815) and an exchange contract with Austria, the region became part of the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1816. From 1818, Kirchheim was the seat of a land commissioner in the Bavarian Rhine circle.
From 1939, the place was part of and administrative seat of the district of the same name. After the Second World War, Kirchheimbolanden became part of the then newly formed state of Rhineland-Palatinate, within the French occupation zone. In the course of the first Rhineland-Palatinate administrative reform, the city moved in 1969 to the newly formed Donnersbergkreis and its seat; three years later, Kirchheimbolanden was incorporated into the also newly created community of the same name.
Geography
Location
Kirchheimbolanden lies in the Palatinate at the transition point of the Nordpfälzer Bergland to the Alzeyer Hügelland bordering to the east. The city centre is located about four kilometres (as the crow flies) northeast of Donnersberg on the slope of Wartberg, also known as Schillerhain. The Leiselsbach, a left tributary of the Pfrimm, rises in the urban area. The lowest point lies at 229 m above sea level, the highest at 496 m above sea level.
Elevation
The highest point of the district is the summit of the 502 meter high Eichelberg in the far west, further east the 430.7 meter high Kuhkopf extends. The development is on the slope of the Wartberg, alternatively called Schillerhain. In the northwest of the district rises the 399.7 meter high Albertskreuz and northwest of the settlement area the 354.1 meter high Steinkopf. The Hungerberg range of hills, up to 302 meters high, is located in the southeast.
Urban division
Kirchheimbolanden is divided into the city centre with the district Haide and the districts Ambach, Bolanderhof, Edenbornerhof, Hessenhütte, Neuhof, Rothenkircherhof and Schillerhain Further places of residence are railway station 2262, Brunnenberg, brickworks Ebert, Kohlhütte and Ziegelhütte.
Politics
The city council in Kirchheimbolanden consists of 24 council members, who were elected in a personalized proportional representation in the local elections on May 26, 2019, and the honorary city mayor as chairman.
The distribution of seats in the city council are:[8]
FWG = Free Voters City of Kirchheimbolanden e. V. (formerly voter group Schauß)
In 2019, the town gained international attention after Lisel Heise, a 100-year old former physical education teacher, ran for the local council and was elected.[9][10]
Blazon: "Divided; at the top of silver and black sheathed in three rows, at the bottom in green a black boar striding to the right."
Justification of the coat of arms: The coat of arms was awarded by King Ludwig I of Bavaria on January 30, 1844, and was last confirmed on June 18, 1976, by the district government, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse. It comes from a city seal from the 14th century. The chess (actually blue and gold) comes from the coat of arms of Count Heinrich II. Von Sponheim-Bolanden (Grafschaft Sponheim), who in 1368 obtained town rights from Emperor Charles IV in 1368. The boar is reminiscent of the Counts of Eberstein, former masters of Stauf Castle, who temporarily held local authority.
Louhans, Saône-et-Loire, France, since October 17, 1976 (A gift from the city is a stone pig (wild boar) from the coat of arms of Kirchheimbolanden which stands in front of the town hall.)
