Morschheim

Morschheim
Municipality
View from the north
Coat of arms
Location of Morschheim within Donnersbergkreis district
Morschheim Show map of Germany Morschheim Show map of Rhineland-Palatinate
Coordinates: 49°41′53″N8°01′29″E / 49.69808°N 8.02476°E / 49.69808; 8.02476
Country	Germany
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
District	Donnersbergkreis
Municipal assoc.	Kirchheimbolanden
Government
•  Mayor (2019–24)	Timo Markus Wahl [1]
Area
• Total	6.51 km2 (2.51 sq mi)
Elevation	302 m (991 ft)
Population  (2022-12-31) [2]
• Total	769
• Density	120/km2 (310/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	67294
Dialling codes	06352
Vehicle registration	KIB

Morschheim is a municipality in the Donnersbergkreis district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

protestant church

Geography

Location

The village is located in the Selz valley at the border of the Palatinate and Rhenish Hesse. It borders Offenheim, Mauchenheim, Freimersheim, Ilbesheim, Bischheim, Kirchheimbolanden and Orbis.

Besides the village proper, the inhabited places Am Steinernen Berg and Bahnhof Morschheim (Morschheim station) are part of the municipality. ^[3]

Donnersberg and Morschheim Bahnhof (front left)

Climate

The weather is mostly sunny and warm, sometimes a bit dry. This is due to Morscheim's protected location east of the Donnersberg and its altitude of 302 m (990 ft). The so called Morscheim winds from the west have negative effects.

History

The oldest document mentioning Morschheim (Morscheym) is from 1157. Otterberg Abbey held estates in the village. ^[4]

Politics

Council

The village council is composed of 12 members who were elected in a personalized proportional representation in the local elections on June 9, 2024, and the honorary mayor as chairman. ^[5]

Heraldry

The coat of arms shows Saint Maurice holding an azure shield with an argent egale. Saint Maurice is the former patron saint of the church, the eagle symbolises the Leiningen family who owned the village in medieval times.

It dates back to a 15th century seal and was granted by the State Ministry of the Interior in 1950.

Infrastructure

Roads

The A63 highway runs southeast of the village. The next exits are Kirchheimbolanden (3 km) and Freimersheim (4 km).

Public transit

Morscheim had a train station along the Donnersberg Railway, that is no longer served by passenger trains. The next station is now in Kirchheimbolanden, 3 km (2 mi) away. Since June 2024 there is an hourly bus service to Alzey and Kirchheimbolanden. ^[6]

References

1. Direktwahlen 2019, Donnersbergkreis, Landeswahlleiter Rheinland-Pfalz, accessed 9 August 2021.
2. "Bevölkerungsstand 2022, Kreise, Gemeinden, Verbandsgemeinden" (PDF) (in German). Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz. 2023.
3. Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz (Hrsg.): Amtliches Verzeichnis der Gemeinden und Gemeindeteile. Stand: February 2022. p. 136 (PDF; 3.3 MB).
4. Jürgen Keddigkeit, Michael Werling, Rüdiger Schulz und Charlotte Lagemann: Otterberg, St. Maria. Zisterzienserabtei Otterburg. In: Jürgen Keddigkeit, Matthias Untermann, Sabine Klapp, Charlotte Lagemann, Hans Ammerich (Hg.): Pfälzisches Klosterlexikon. Handbuch der pfälzischen Klöster, Stifte und Kommenden, Band 3: M–R. Institut für pfälzische Geschichte und Volkskunde. Kaiserslautern 2015. ISBN 978-3-927754-78-2, S. 524–587 (538).
5. Timo M. Wahl (Wahlleiter) (2024-06-18). "Bekanntmachung des Ergebnisses der Wahl zum Gemeinderat Morschheim am 9. Juni 2024" (PDF; 4,32 MB). Amtsblatt Verbandsgemeinde Kirchheimbolanden, Ausgabe Nr. 25 vom 21.06.2024. Verbandsgemeinde Kirchheimbolanden. p. 442. Retrieved 2024-12-07.
6. "420 Alzey-Weinheim-Mauchenheim-Morschheim-Orbis-Kirchheimbolanden" (PDF). rnn.info. RNN. 2024-05-22. Retrieved 2024-10-12.