The municipality lies in the Schwarzwälder Hochwald in the Hunsrück, roughly 14 km northwest of Idar-Oberstein and 12 km north of Birkenfeld.
Constituent communities
Also belonging to Allenbach is the homestead of Hüttgeswasen.
History
In 1265, Allenbach had its first documentary mention as Ellenbach. At that time, it belonged to the County of Sponheim. In 1601, the Allenbacher Schloss was built through the conversion of the old Castle Ellenburg, and this still stands in the middle of the village today. In February 1898, the castle was bought by a salesman from Idar named Max Purper. Near the castle stands the EvangelicalCastle Church, which since 1832 has housed a Stumm organ. Until administrative restructuring in Rhineland-Palatinate in 1969, this Hunsrück village belonged to the now abolished Bernkastel district, whose seat was at Bernkastel-Kues. For 12 years, the Hüttgeswasen homestead at Allenbach was home to Johann Peter Petri, better known as Schwarzer Peter. He was a lumberjack and a charcoal maker, but also earned notoriety as a robber, becoming outlaw Schinderhannes’s sidekick. It is said that in prison, he devised the gameSchwarzer Peter, which is much like old maid.
Politics
Municipal council
The council is made up of 12 council members, who were elected by majority vote at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
Mayors
The Mayor’s office, bearing the title Ortsvorsteher until 1932 and Ortsbürgermeister since, has been held by the following persons:
The German blazon reads: In schräglinks geteiltem Schild vorne in Blau eine goldene Burg mit schwarzen Fenstern und einer Tür, aus der ein zweigeteilter silberner Wellenbalken zeigt, hinten rot-silbernes Schach. The municipality’s arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Per bend sinister azure a castle Or with windows and door sable, issuant from the door a bend and a bend sinister, both wavy, argent, and chequy gules and argent. The charge on the dexter side, the castle, is a device seen in Allenbach’s old 18th-century seal, while the “chequy” pattern on the sinister side is a reference to the village's former allegiance to the “Hinder” County of Sponheim.
Culture and sightseeing
Buildings
The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
Hauptstraße 62 – house with stable on ground floor, partly slated, about 1900
In der Hintergasse 4 – stately commercial building; three-rowed stable, roomy barn with bonded roof, marked 1864
In der Schied 11 – miller's equipment and dwelling, 19th century
In der Schied 12 – former Sponheim residential castle; two- to three-floor building with hipped roof, essentially late mediaeval, altered several times, especially in 1511 and from 1898 to 1900, architects Wilhelm Müller and Franz Rummel, Frankfurt; characterizes village's appearance
Other sites
Celtic wall complex on the Ringkopf near Allenbach
Castle church at Allenbach in the middle of the village
