Alzey

Alzey
Town
View of Alzey castle
Coat of arms
Location of Alzey within Alzey-Worms district
Alzey Alzey
Coordinates:49°44′45″N8°6′55″E
Country	Germany
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
District	Alzey-Worms
Subdivisions	4
Government
•Mayor(2022–30)	Steffen Jung(SPD)
Area
• Total	35.21 km2(13.59 sq mi)
Elevation	194 m (636 ft)
Population (2022-12-31)
• Total	19,265
• Density	550/km2(1,400/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00(CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00(CEST)
Postal codes	55219–55232
Dialling codes	06731
Vehicle registration	AZ
Website	alzey.de

Alzey(German pronunciation:[ˈaltsaɪ]) is aVerband-free town – one belonging to noVerbandsgemeinde– in theAlzey-Wormsdistrict inRhineland-Palatinate,Germany.It is the fifth-largest town inRhenish Hesse,afterMainz,Worms,Ingelheim am RheinandBingen.

Alzey is one of theNibelungenstädte– towns associated with theNibelungenlied– because it is represented in this work by the characterVolker von Alzey.Hence, Alzey is also known asVolkerstadt.

Geography

Location

Alzey lies inRhenish Hesseon the western edge of the northern part of theUpper Rhine Plain.It is surrounded by the northern part of theAlzey Hills,which meets the Rhenish Hesse Hills towards the south and theNorth Palatine Uplandstowards the east. The town is found some 30 km southwest ofMainzand some 22 km (as the crow flies,in each case) northwest ofWorms.Through Alzey, in places underground, flows the riverSelz,a left-bank tributary to theRhine.

Climate

Yearlyprecipitationin Alzey amounts to 586 mm, which is rather low, falling into the lowest fourth of the precipitation chart for all of Germany. At 18% of theGerman Weather Service's weather stations, even lower figures are recorded. The driest month is February. The most rainfall comes in June. In that month, precipitation is 1.9 times what it is in February. Precipitation varies moderately. At 41% of the weather stations, lower seasonal swings are recorded.

History

From the Neolithic to the early first millennium

Volker von Alzey(right) fromLegends about Theodoric the Great

Copper etching byMatthäus Merian1645

The earliest traces of settlement in the Alzey area go back as far as theNeolithic.Alzey was founded as avicus(village)in theRomanprovince ofGermania Superiorin the lands surrounding Mogontiacum (Mainz).

The name of Alzey is first mentioned on aNymphenstein(a Roman altar stone dedicated to nymphs),dedicated on 22 November 223 by theVicani Altiaienses( "Villagers of Alzey" ).The nameAltiaiacould well originate from the name of an older, pre-RomanCelticsettlement of about 400 BC, although the name's exact origins have not been passed down to the present day. Over the ruins of the Roman village, which was destroyed about 350, afort,Castra Alteium,was built about 390. In 406 and 407, theBurgundians,together with theVandals,crossed theRhineand settled in Mainz, Alzey and Worms as Roman confederates. The area was secured for them by treaty. In 436, the Burgundian kingdom was destroyed by theWestern Romanmagister militumFlavius Aëtiuswith help fromHunnishtroops. These events were worked into theNibelungenliedand form the origin of the legendary figure Volker von Alzey, thegleemanin theNibelungenlied.After 450, Alzey passed to theAlamanniand theFrankswhen they took over the land. AfterClovis I's death in 511, the Frankish Empire fell apart into separate smaller kingdoms, and Alzey became part ofAustrasia,whose capital was atMetz.Following the unification of the Frankish kingdoms in the mid-8th century, Alzey was assigned by the 843Treaty of Verdunto theKingdom of the East Franks,a forerunner of the German Empire. In 897, Alzey was first mentioned as an Imperial fief.

12th century to early 20th century

In 1156, Alzey belonged to theElectorate of the Palatinate,andKonrad von Staufenattained the rank of Count Palatine in the Imperial castle, which had been completed in 1118. In 1277, Alzey attained the rank of town fromRudolf von Habsburg.In 1620, CountSpinolasided with theCatholicEmperor in theThirty Years' Waragainst theProtestantElectorate of the Palatinate and also conquered Alzey. In 1689, the town and the castle, under theFrenchtroops' scorched-earth policy, were burnt down in theNine Years' War,whenLouis XIV'sarmies had to leave areas conquered earlier. In 1798, areas west of the Rhine, among them those that until this time had been parts of the Electorate of the Palatinate, were annexed toFrance.Alzey belonged until 1814 to the Department ofMont-Tonnerre(or Donnersberg inGerman). In 1816, Alzey was attached to theGrand Duchy of Hesse.In 1909, the winemaking school (now theLandesanstalt für Rebenzüchtung) was founded. Its first head was Georg Scheu, after whom the grape varietyScheurebeis named.

Third Reich

OnKristallnacht(9 November 1938), the Alzeysynagoguewas destroyed and the fittings were burnt in front of the building. The ruin was removed in the 1950s. A rescuedTorahscroll can nowadays be found in the museum. On 8 January 1945, inWorld War II,the town narrowly missed being destroyed when 36Boeing B-17 bombershad been sent to take out a railway bridge in Alzey. Owing to bad weather and a landmark misinterpretation – the crew mistook the top of the old watchtower for the church steeple – the bombers ended up dropping their load on the Wartberg, a nearby hill, giving rise to the legend of the Wartbergturm – the old tower – as Alzey's saviour.

Since 1945

Since 1947, Alzey has no longer been Hessian, but rather it became the seat of Alzey District in the newly formed state ofRhineland-Palatinate.

Since the merger of the old Alzey and Worms Districts in 1969, Alzey has been the seat of the newAlzey-WormsDistrict and the seat of theVerbandsgemeindeof Alzey-Land,although as aVerband-free town, it does not actually belong to theVerbandsgemeinde.

Amalgamations

On 22 April 1972, the formerly autonomous centres of Weinheim, Heimersheim and Dautenheim were amalgamated with Alzey. The outlying centre of Schafhausen had already been aStadtteil(constituent community) of Alzey since theMiddle Ages.

Religion

On 31 January 2008, the townsfolk's religious affiliations broke down thus:

• 8,927Evangelical
• 3,684Catholic
• 2,996 none or no affiliation established in public law
• 1,322 other affiliations established in public law
• 6,809 other
• 988 no data
• sundry
• 50 Alzey FreeReligious-HumanistAssociation
• 4Old Catholic
• 2Jewish
• 1 Mainz Free Religious-Humanist Association

Jewish History

The town's Jewish congregation is dated to the 14th century. In 1349, during theBlack Death,the town's Jews were murdered in the cause of ablood libel.A few years after, the community renewed and a document from 1377 depicted a Jew named Yitschak of Alzey who sued the town ofWormsfor not paying its debt to him.In 1389, a "Jew Alley" is first mentioned, depicting a kind ofGhettowith a gate, which closes at night.

Synagoge-Alzey

Jews appeared once again in town only by the 17th century, and the first synagogue was built only by 1791.Several documents from around 1670, depict disputes between Joseph Simon Jessel, a Jew who lived in Alzey and the town butchers, regarding his wish to open a business. On another dispute between him and a neighbor who sold his house to Jessel but refused to evacuate, the verdict blamed both sides - Jessel for it was "unthinkable that a Jew will hit a Christian", and the neighbor for not evacuating the house.Nevertheless, theCount of Palatine Zweibrückenprotected the Jews, whose high taxes were a dominant factor of his income. In 1789, there were 21 Jewish households in town. During the 18th century, most of the town Jews were established if not rich. in 1710, a Jew called Simcha Deidesheimer founded a largeMatzofactory that existed until 1925 and exported its products toFranceandItaly.In addition, two brothers named Levy opened a porcelain factory in town in 1770. The community had alocal cemeteryAlzey was the hometown of well-known familyBelmont;In 1844, Jewish Shimon Belmont (the ancestor of American politiciansAugust BelmontandAugust Belmont JR.was elected as the president of the 'Narhalle' carnival, which he initiated, intended for the town's high classes. He donated some money to the cemetery and other community facilities. Eight of Alzey Jews died as soldiers duringWorld War I. According to town municipality, 76 Jews were expelled from the town toNazi concentration campsaroundEurope. In 1954, oneJewreturned to Alzey.

Politics

Town council

The council is made up of 32 part-time council members who were elected at the municipal election held on 26 May 2019, and the full-time mayor as chairman. The seats are apportioned thus:

	SPD	CDU	FDP	Greens	LINKE	FWG	Total
2009	11	9	2	2	1	7	32 seats
2004	12	11	1	2	-	6	32 seats

Mayors

• (1982–1990) Walter Zuber (SPD)
• (1990–2006) Knut Benkert (SPD)
• (2006–2022) Christoph Burkhard (independent CDU candidate)
• (2022–) Steffen Jung (SPD)

Coat of arms

The town'sarmsmight be described thus: Per fess sable a demi-lion rampant Or armed, langued and crowned gules, and argent a vielle bendwise of the third.

The lion recalls the town's former overlord, theElectorate of the Palatinate.Thevielle,a kind offiddle,stands for the noble families by the name of Truchseß, or Truchsess (Volker von Alzey),Winter and Wilch,who were formerly resident in the town.

Town partnerships

• Harpenden,Hertfordshire,England,United Kingdomsince 1963
• Josselin,Morbihan,Francesince 1973
• Lembeye,Pyrénées-Atlantiques,France, with the outlying centre of Weinheim, since 1980
• Rechnitz,Burgenland,Austriasince 1981
• Kościan,Greater Poland Voivodeship,Polandsince 1990
• Kamenz,Saxonysince 1990

Culture and sightseeing

Awards and prizes

The town of Alzey regularly bestows the following awards and prizes:

• Elisabeth-Langgässer-Literaturpreis(since 1988 every three years)
• Georg-Scheu-Plakette(yearly at the winemakers' festival)

Music

The town's links with wine are even shown in theAlser Lied,a town song, which is always sung on the Friday of the opening of the winemakers' festival. One version sung by former mayor Walter Zuber could be found on the jukebox at the Alzey traditional pub,Zur Gretelfor a decade.

Theatre

• Gerry-Jansen-Theater

Museums

• Geschichtsmuseum der Stadt Alzey(Town of Alzey History Museum)

Buildings

• 
  Alzey Rossmarkt(Horse Market)
• 
  Alzeyer Fischmarkt(Fish Market)
• 
  Wartbergturm
• 
  Alzeyer Schloss (castle)
• 
  Kleine Kirche ( "Little Church" )

The Old Town

Alzey has a well-kept old town with manytimber-framehouses, restaurants, cafés and shops, surrounded by ruins of themediaevaltown wall. The town's midpoint is theRossmarkt( "Horse Market" ) with the bronze horse by artist Gernot Rumpf. A sculpture of anondinebyKarlheinz Oswaldstands at theFischmarkt( "Fish Market" ) in front of the old town hall.

Sport

TheWartbergstadionis the town's biggest sporting facility. It has a type-B competition running track with a large grass playing field, a 400 m loop track,track and fieldareas (plastic) and stands. Here can also be found the leisure swimming poolWartbergbad.Nearby there is a riding club with stalls, paddocks and a riding hall, and a tennis club with seven clay courts.

Moreover, Alzey has at its disposal a newly built artificial-turf playing field, which is used mainly by thehockeyandfootballclubs and an American Football club. There is also a multipurpose sporting ground and at schools several more hard courts.

Regular events

Weinbergshäuschen Wanderung

The so-calledWeinbergshäuschen Wanderung( "Vineyard Cottage Hike" ), orWingertshaisje Wanderungin the local speech, is a hike through the hilly Rhenish-Hessian countryside between Alzey and the outlying centres of Weinheim and Heimersheim. It is held each September on the first Sunday in that month. Along the network of paths, vineyard cottages are operated between 11:00 and 18:00 by winemaking estates and clubs. On offer at these times are both cold and warm foods and drinks, including the Rhenish-Hessian wine typical of the region.

Winemakers' festival

TheWinzerfestis held each year on the third weekend in September and lasts from Friday to the following Tuesday. It is the biggest event of its kind in Alzey. On the wine andsektterrace are presented selected regional wines. Parallel with this is a yearly market with rides and games of all kinds.

Culinary specialities

Being the centre of a winegrowing region, the specialities are first and foremost wines and dishes that are made with wine, such as theBackesgrumbeere,a seasoned potato casserole with bacon, wine and sour cream, which is found throughoutRhenish Hesse.The winegrowing engineer Georg Scheu named a variety of grapevine after his workplace, thePerle von Alzey.

Economy and infrastructure

The town's main branches of industry arewinegrowing,the resident specialized clinic, the building firm Wilhelm Faber GmbH & Co. KG, aSchleckerdistribution centre, aPlusdistribution centre, an administrative seat of thehypermarket chain real,-andLufthansadaughter companiesLufthansa Technik AERO AlzeyandLSG Sky Food.Moreover, Alzey is the region's service provision centre with a very broad array, for the town's size, of shopping, which is concentrated mainly in the industrial area.

Agriculture

Alzey is characterized by winegrowing and with 769 ha of vineyards currently worked, 69% withwhite winevarieties and 31% withred,it ranks sixth in size among winegrowing centres inRhineland-Palatinate,and afterWorms(1 490 ha) andNierstein(783 ha), it is the third biggest winegrowing centre inRhenish Hesse.

Transport

Alzey is found near theAutobahnkreuz Alzey,anAutobahninterchangeat which the two AutobahnenA 61(Venlo,Koblenz,Bingen,Alzey,Ludwigshafen,Hockenheim) andA 63(Mainz,Alzey,Kaiserslautern) cross.

Alzey stationhas direct connections toMainz Central StationbyRegional-ExpressandRegionalbahnservices on theAlzey–Mainz railway,and on theRheinhessenbahn(railway) toBingenandWorms.The Donnersbergbahn has connected Alzey withKirchheimbolandenagain since 1999. On weekends and holidays, trips on the Elsass-Express ( "Alsace Express" ) toWissembourgare possible.

The town belongs to theVRN.This tariff can also be used for trips to and from theRhein-Nahe-Nahverkehrsverbund(RNN) area as far as Alzey.

Public institutions

• DRK Krankenhaus Alzey (hospital)
• Rheinhessen-Fachklinik Alzey (specialized clinic)
• Seat ofAlzey-Worms district council
• Seat of theVerbandsgemeindeof Alzey-Land
• Seat of the branch office of the Bingen-Alzey finance office

Education

• Primary schools:
  • Albert-Schweitzer-Schule
  • Nibelungenschule
  • St. Marienschule
• Secondary school:
  • Gustav-Heinemann-Schulzentrum with:
    • Hauptschule
    • Realschule
  • Elisabeth LanggässerGymnasium
  • Gymnasium am Römerkastell
  • Staatliches Aufbaugymnasium (state training Gymnasium)
• Other:
  • two special schools (Volkerschule and Schule im Rotental)
  • District music school
  • Berufsbildende Schule Alzey (vocational school)
  • Rheinhessen Fachklinik nursing school

Famous people

Honorary citizens

Schnatz vum Kroneplatz

• Georg Scheu
• Willi Bechtolsheimer
• Kurt Neumann
• Walter Zuber
• Karl-Heinz Kipp

Sons and daughters of the town

• Felix Adler(1851–1933), philosopher and son of RabbiSamuel Adler
• August Belmont(1816–1890), German-American banker and politician. He was from the well known Jewish family Belmont in Alzey as a son of Simon Isaac, who had taken the name Belmont underNapoleon's name law.
• Gisela Biedermann(born 1948), Liechtensteiner physician and politician
• Heinrich Claß(1868–1953) was from 1908 to 1939 chairman of theAlldeutscher Verband,the influential nationalistic club in Imperial Germany. Claß was known for, among other things, works published under thepseudonymsDaniel Frymann and Einhart, in which he propagated his extreme nationalistic and expansionist politics.
• Karl-Heinz Kipp(1924–2017), entrepreneur, founder of the Massa-Märkte (now belonging to the Metro Group), ranked 154 on Forbes's list of wealthiest people (2008) with an estimated fortune of US$6,300,000,000.
• Elisabeth Langgässer(1899–1950), writer
• Gunther Metz(born 1967), former professional footballer, active in 1 FC Kaiserslautern and Karlsruher SC in the 1990s, today co-trainer of the Lauterer Amateure.
• Tarkan Tevetoğlu,(born 1972), Turkish pop musician with more than 15 million CDs sold. In Germany he is particularly well known for the title "Şımarık".

Famous people associated with the town

Ludwig Bamberger

• Dr.Samuel Adler(1809–1891) was from 1842 to 1857Rabbiof Alzey's Jewish community. He was a supporter of the liberal movement in German Jewry and advocated, for example, the use of German in Jewish worship and a greater role for women. Dr. Adler went as a rabbi to the Temple Emanu-El in New York and became head of the USA's leading Jewish Reform community. Services held by Samuel Adler continued to be in his preferred German. His library is as far as has been possible maintained at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati.
• Ludwig Bamberger(1823–1899), was a revolutionary, banker and politician. He belonged to the Democrats, who faced down Prussian troops at the Schlosspark in Kirchheimbolanden in 1848. Sentenced to deathin absentia,Bamberger later became a banker (founding member ofDeutsche Bank) and one of the leading liberal politicians after the German Empire was founded in 1871. He is described as the "Father" of the German Mark (founding of an independent issuing bank). He was for many years a Member of the Reichstag for the electoral district of Bingen-Alzey (from 1871 to 1893) and married Anna Belmont from Alzey.

Further reading

Volker Gallé / Christine Hinkel / Manfred Hinkel / Gisela Kleinknecht / Wulf Kleinknecht:Alzeyer Köpfe.Sutton Verlag, Erfurt 2007,ISBN978-3-86680-098-4

External links

• Official website(in German)
• Auswandererliste nach Südbrasilien zu dem Landkreis Alzey-Worms(German) Institut für Geschichtliche Landeskunde an der Universität Mainz.