As early as 1107, the municipality was mentioned under the name Leia. About 1489, slate mining near Altlay was mentioned. Beginning in 1794, Altlay lay under French rule. In 1815 it was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia at the Congress of Vienna. Since 1946, it has been part of the then newly founded state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Under the Verwaltungsvereinfachungsgesetz of 18 July 1970, with effect from 7 November 1970, the municipality was grouped into the Verbandsgemeinde of Zell.
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.
Mayor
Altlay’s mayor is Wolfgang Klein, and his deputies are Werner Boos and Edgar Engelbach.
Culture and sightseeing
Buildings
The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
Hauptstraße 43 – estate complex along the street, timber-frame house, partly solid or slated, 18th/19th century; whole complex with commercial wings.
Kuhtrift 10 – estate complex along the street, timber-frame house, partly solid, 19th century.
Bleesmühle – timber-frame house, early 19th century.
Economy and infrastructure
Slate mining
In the Altlayer Bach valley, slate was quarried on the surface after underground mining was given up in the 20th century. Underground mining, however, is once again being done now that new deposits have been opened that would have been too costly to work from the surface and would have adversely affected the appearance of the landscape. The great amount of mining spoil can also now be used to backfill earlier underground mineworks. In a Sponheim document from 20 June 1489, slate mining “near Altlay” is confirmed as having been undertaken as early as that time.
Also mined in Altlay for centuries were nonferrous metal ores. Until 1959 at the Adolph-Helene pit, the Barbarasegen trade union mined, among others, lead, zinc, silver and copper ores. According to estimates, 384 000 t of ore was mined. There was also a narrow gauge railway from the pit to Zell for shipping the ore that had been dug up. In 1957, the Adolph-Helene pit was let to the Stolberger Zinkmining company, but they closed the operation only two years later. Falling metal ore prices had led to unprofitability. Although the prices later rose once more, the pit was deemed unworthy of opening again. Today only remnants of the old industrial facilities can be seen. The headframe was torn down in the 1960s. The other buildings have fallen into ruins.
