Kurtscheid

Infobox German Location
Name = Kurtscheid
German_name =
Art =
image_photo = Kurtscheid.jpg
imagesize = 240px
image_caption = Entry of the village
Wappen = Wappen von Kurtscheid.pnglat_deg = 50 |lat_min = 32 |lat_sec = 12
lon_deg = 07 |lon_min = 27 |lon_sec = 57
Lageplan =
Bundesland = Rheinland-Pfalz
Landkreis = Neuwied
Verbandsgemeinde = Rengsdorf
Höhe = 383
Fläche = 5.10
Einwohner = 1004
Stand = 2007-03-31
PLZ = 56581
Vorwahl = 02634
Kfz = NR
Gemeindeschlüssel = 07 1 38 036
Adresse-Verband = Westerwaldstraße 32 - 34
56579 Rengsdorf
Website = [http://www.kurtscheid.de/ www.kurtscheid.de]
Bürgermeister = Heinz-Dieter Wagner
Bürgermeistertitel= Ortsbürgermeister
Partei = CDU

Kurtscheid is a municipality in the district of Neuwied, in northern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The village is part of the natural park Rhein-Westerwald. Kurtscheid is 401 metres above sea level and is hence the highest municipality in the district of Neuwied.

History

In 1314, the village was officially mentioned for the first time as "Curtsheit".

During the time of the protestant reformation, Kurtscheid was situated on the border of the County of Wied and the Archbishopric of Cologne. In 1546, the Count of Wied decided to select Lutheranism as general religion within his county. Following the agreement of the Peace Treaty of Augsburg, all inhabitants of his county had to convert their religion accordingly. While the citizens of Kurtscheid did not want to convert, they demolished 11 houses which were situated on the duke's territory and rebuild them on the archbishop's catholic part of the village. Kurtscheid stayed catholic and for the following centuries, a confessional border divided it from its protestant neighbours.

Politics

The parish council consists of 12 members and the honorary mayor.

"Seating in the elected council:"(Status: local elections on June 13th, 2004)

Coat of Arms

The crossed bars taken from the coat of arms of the County of Wied and the black cross coming from the Archbishopric of Cologne's coat remind of the century-long separation of Kurtscheid into parts belonging to the County of Wied and to Cologne, respectively. The mountain with three hills represents Kurtscheid's geographic position as highest municipality in the district of Neuwied. The golden colour symbolises agriculture life while the green colour indicates the grand amount of forrests on the municipality's territory. The silvern gear wheel represents both the former silver and iron ore mines and the today's industry within the village.

Economy and Infra structure

* The B 256 leading from Neuwied to Altenkirchen passes the village in the east
* The next slip road to the autobahn A3 is called "Neuwied"
* The next high speed train (ICE) train station is in "Montabaur", serving the link Cologne - Frankfurt