Kaiserslautern American
Page 6
May 20, 2022
TALK OF THE TOWN: Enkenbach-Alsenborn and Hochspeyer by Gina Hutchins-Inman 86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs Many members of the Kaiserslautern Military Community have found temporary or even permanent homes in one of the many villages or towns surrounding Kaiserslautern and in the heart of the Palatinate Forest. Talk of the Town is a series highlighting the union communities within the County of Kaiserslautern, the City of Kaiserslautern and the Union Community of Winnweiler in neighboring Donnersberg County. The series aims to inform American service members and their families about the communities they’re joining during their time in the KMC. A Union Community is an administrative territorial community composed of a group of individual towns or villages. Each month we will feature a different community and provide facts about its history, heritage, and the local experiences it offers. The next stop in our series about our home away from home, leads us to the Union Community of Enkenbach-
Alsenborn and Hochspeyer, situated on the northern tip of the Palatinate Forest and also borders Donnersberg County. Originally EnkenbachAlsenborn, consisted of the towns of Enkenbach, Alsenborn, Mehlingen, Baalborn, Neuhemsbach and Sembach and was a separate union community. In July 2014 it was combined with the community of Hochspeyer, consisting of the towns of Hochspeyer, Fischbach, Frankenstein and Waldleiningen. Today the union community has 19,700 inhabitants and about 400 American families live throughout the community. Andreas Alter, Mayor of the Union Community has been in office since July 2014 and would like to extend a warm welcome (see page 7). Stone age, iron works and glass recycling Findings from the neo-stone age and mounds from the Iron Age suggest that the area was populated in pre-historic times. Varying traces along an old transit road indicate that there were different settlements here throughout early history. Alsenborn was first officially
mentioned in chronicles in the year 872 close to the source of the Alsenz stream. A monastery was founded in the nearby village of Enkenbach, meaning “stream of the enkens,” which means herdsmen, in 1148. Construction of the Klosterkirche, a monastery church, began in the year 1225 and was completed in about 1272. The sandstone church remains to be the most prominent landmark to date. As a favorable traffic network to Kaiserslautern and connection to the railroad system, Enkenbach flourished in the iron and metal industry as well as trade, which led to an increase in population in 1871. In 1969 both villages were combined under the name Enkenbach-Alsenborn. From 1953 to 1995 the community was also partially home to Sembach Air Base, the 86th Fighter Wing and 17th Air Force. In the meantime, the area has been developed into a commercial center with quick access to A63 and various enterprises, such as Becker, the largest waste disposal company in the region, a glass recycling firm, a storage area for heavy Army vehicles and also a K-9 Hotel for dogs.
Perfume, circus and the center of the world The Parfuemmuseum in Baalborn offers a glimpse of the art of creating perfumes and was designed based on the famous book “The Perfume.” It leads its visitors into a cellar decorated with flacons with tender rose and lavender scents, a distillery and ingredients for a multitude of fragrances in a 17th century setting. The Bajasseum, a tiny museum resembling a circus tent centers on the theme and is located in Alsenborn. The town is commonly referred to as the “home of rope dancers” or “Bajasse” based on many people who made livings as musicians, marionette players, acrobats or animal tamers, and roamed the countryside as circus folk during the summers in the late 19th century. The Weltachse (world axis), or center point of earth can be found between Johanniskreuz and Waldleiningen deep in the forest. At least this is what Paul Münch, a local poet, proclaimed it as and the stone to mark this fact was inaugurated in 1964. Every year it is “smeared and protected” in a solemn ceremony in an effort to save the planet.
There are a number of natural fountains within the community and both the Billesweiher and Schwarzweiher lakes are perfect venues for leisurely strolls in the forest. Castle ruins in Diemerstein and Frankenstein from the 12th and 13th centuries speak of medieval times and a chapel with a mighty belltower in Neuhemsbach that can be seen from afar marks the remains of a former castle. Klosterkirche St. Norbert is the keenest landmark in the union community. The sandstone church in its late Gothic style is a unique mixture of ornamental Roman and Gothic elements. The former monastery garden was transformed into a relaxing herb and flower garden, with a fountain and an adjacent playground along “Wäschbach” (washing stream) used for laundry in former times. From maneuvers to fields of heather Until 1912 the area around Mehlingen was completely covered with forest. The Army administration in Kaiserslautern was then granted a drill ground at Kleiner Fröhnerhof and in 1938 first maneuvers took place
Burgruine Frankenstein (ruins of Castle Frankenstein)
Klosterkirche Enkenbach (Minster/monastery church in Enkenbach)
Parfüm-Museum (perfume museum)
All photos courtesy of Verbandsgemeinde Enkenbach-Alsenborn
