Eckfeld

Municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

Coat of arms

Location of Eckfeld within Bernkastel-Wittlich district

(2019–24) Leo Schmitz^[1]Area

• Total12.74 km² (4.92 sq mi)Elevation

450 m (1,480 ft)Population

(2022-12-31)^[2]

• Total380 • Density30/km² (77/sq mi)Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET) • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)Postal codes

54531

Dialling codes06572Vehicle registrationWIL

Eckfeld is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

Geography

Eckfeld lies in the middle of the Vulkaneifel with its low-mountain landscape right near the Eifelmaare (sunken volcanoes). Nearby is the Eckfelder Trockenmaar (a dry maar) with its many palaeontological finds. Especially well known are small ancient horses and the world's oldest honeybee.

Eckfeld belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde Wittlich-Land.

History

The municipality had its first documentary mention in 973 in a donation document from Emperor Otto I at the Abbey of Echternach. Beginning in 1794, Eckfeld lay under French rule. In 1814 it was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia at the Congress of Vienna. Since 1947, it has been part of the then newly founded state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Politics

Municipal council

The council is made up of 8 council members, who were elected by majority vote at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.^[3]

Culture and sightseeing

Fossil finds at the 44.3-million-year-old Eckfelder Maar (for example the “Eckfeld Ancient Horse” and the “World’s Oldest Honeybee”) have been made available to the Maar Museum in Manderscheid by the Rhineland-Palatinate State Assembly for Natural History (Landessammlung für Naturkunde Rheinland-Pfalz).^[4]

Church and monastery

The tower at Saint Catherine's Church (Kirche St. Katharina) in Eckfeld was built in 1450 and expanded into a defensive tower. Built onto the tower in 1882 was a new nave.

To Eckfeld belongs the former Buchholz Monastery with the Church of the Visitation of Mary (Kirche Mariä Heimsuchung). Saint Catherine's Church in Eckfeld is, like the church in Pantenburg, a branch church of the Buchholz church.

References

^ Direktwahlen 2019, Landkreis Bernkastel-Wittlich, Landeswahlleiter Rheinland-Pfalz, accessed 6 August 2021.
^ "Bevölkerungsstand 2022, Kreise, Gemeinden, Verbandsgemeinden" (PDF) (in German). Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz. 2023.
^ Kommunalwahl Rheinland-Pfalz 2009, Gemeinderat
^ Details zum Eckfelder Maar

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eckfeld.

Brief portrait with film about Eckfeld Archived 2011-06-06 at the Wayback Machine at SWR Fernsehen (in German)
Panoramic image: “Eckfeld in late summer 2004” Archived 2011-07-19 at the Wayback Machine (in German)

Towns and municipalities in Bernkastel-Wittlich