Großkarlbach

Großkarlbach lies near the western edge of the Upper Rhine Plain and flowing through it is the river Eckbach. It is in the northwest of the Rhine-Neckar urban agglomeration. In the municipality's west rise the hills of what was once called the Unterhaardt, which since the 1970s has been considered part of the new Mittelhaardt-Deutsche Weinstraße winegrowing region. Großkarlbach belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Leiningerland, whose seat is in Grünstadt, although that town is itself not in the Verbandsgemeinde.

Clockwise from the north, these are Laumersheim, Gerolsheim, Weisenheim am Sand, Freinsheim and Bissersheim.

In 2007, 50.8% of the inhabitants were Evangelical and 20.6% Catholic. The rest belonged to other faiths or adhered to none.[3]

The council is made up of 16 council members, who were elected at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.

The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:[4]

The German blazon reads: In Grün ein silberner Wellenpfahl.

The municipality's arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Vert a pale wavy argent.

The arms were approved by the now abolished Regierungsbezirk Rheinhessen-Pfalz in Neustadt in 1984, and they go back to a court seal from 1501. The “pale wavy” (wavy vertical stripe) is a canting charge for the placename's ending, —bach, which means “brook”.[5]

In Großkarlbach, five of the formerly seven mills are still standing. The Dorfmühle (“Village mill”) has housed since restoration work was finished in 2007 the Mühlenmuseum Leiningerland (“Leiningerland Mill Museum”), the mayor's office and the municipal archive as well as meeting rooms for youth, seniors and conferences.[6]

Great wineries with their timber-frame houses characterize the municipality. Other points of interest are the 48 m-tall tower at the Evangelical church in the village centre and the pottery factory, where such things as flowerpots are made.

In the contest Unser Dorf soll schöner werden (“Our village should become lovelier”), Großkarlbach won a bronze plaque in 1987.

In Großkarlbach, a few traditional festivals are held. Among them are the Kändelgassenfest (a wine festival) on the last weekend in July, the Kerwerummel in September (church consecration festival, or kermis) and a small Christmas market. Also worth mentioning is the Lange Nacht des Jazz (“Long Night of Jazz”), which first took place in 2002 and in 2006 was part of Federal President Horst Köhler’s Deutschland – Land der Ideen (“Germany – Land of Ideas”) campaign. Furthermore, there are many smaller events staged by local clubs.

The municipality lies near the German Wine Route in the holiday region of Leiningerland (the lands once held by the Counts of Leiningen). There are holiday homes and two hotels. The most important branch of agriculture is winegrowing.

Großkarlbach is linked to the Autobahn A 6 (Saarbrücken–Mannheim) through the Grünstadt interchange 5 km away.

Until 1939, Großkarlbach was the terminus of a narrow-gauge railway known locally as the Lokalbahn or Bembel. It ran by way of Dirmstein and Heßheim to Frankenthal and also had access to Ludwigshafen over tram tracks.