Ernst, Germany


Ernst is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The winegrowing centre belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Cochem, whose seat is in the like-named town.

Geography

Location

The municipality lies in a bow in the river Moselle only 4 km from Cochem, going towards Trier. Over on the other side of the Moselle lies Valwig. Ernst's municipal area comprises 418 ha, of which 90 ha is vineyards and 227 ha is wooded. Ernst has 617 inhabitants who maintain their main residence in the municipality and another 40 who have a secondary residence there.

Constituent communities

Ernst's Ortsteile are Oberernst and Unterernst.

History

A grain grater from La Tène times may well be evidence that Ernst was already settled by 250 BC, and that it is therefore of Celtic origin. Even the earliest documentary mention of Ernst as Arnesche shows the village's Celtic beginnings. In AD 670, “Hilduin” bequeathed vineyards in Ernst to his brother-in-law. Ernst was made up of two constituent centres then, Oberernst and Niederernst, but was always a unified municipality. In the Middle Ages, lower court jurisdiction was exercised through the Valwig-Ernst court. When Ernst passed along with the Rhineland to Prussia, the Prussian government decreed that Oberernst, where the parish church and the old town hall stood, and Niederernst were to grow together into one centre, a project that, as can be seen today, was at least successful on the road alongside the Moselle, if nowhere else.
The municipality as it stands today takes its shape mainly from the building of the church and the laying out of the Moselstraße – the road alongside the Moselle – in the mid 19th century. Ernst has been a winegrowing centre for 2,000 years, with 14 full-time winemakers still at the trade today and another 10 who undertake it as a secondary occupation.
The landholder until the French Revolutionary occupation in 1794 was the Electorate of Trier. In 1815 both centres were assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia at the Congress of Vienna. Not long thereafter, they were merged to form one municipality. Since 1946, it has been part of the then newly founded state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

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 chairwoman.

Mayor

Ernst's mayor is Anke Beilstein, and her deputies are Petra Andrae and Bernd Schüller.

Coat of arms

The German blazon reads: Von Silber und Grün gespalten. In Silber ein rotes Balkenkreuz, in Grün 9 goldene Kugeln.
The municipality's arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Per pale argent a cross gules and vert nine bezants, two, one, two, one, two and one.
Ernst belonged until the late 18th century to the Electorate of Trier, hence the Electoral-Trier cross on the dexter side. Saint Quirinus bore nine balls in his arms, and was also the patron of the church in Niederernst. His attribute now appears on the sinister side of Ernst's arms. The arms were designed by Decku in Sankt Wendel.

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:
The St. Salvator parish church with its twin towers, built in 1845 in Romanesque Revival style with Rhenish slate, is Ernst's foremost landmark.

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

Bundesstraße 49 runs by the village, and Autobahn A 48 can be reached over either Landesstraße 98 or Bundesstraße 259.

Sundry

In 2005, Ernst was a winner in the contest Unser Dorf hat Zukunft.