Rockenfeld is an abandoned village in the Feldkirchen district of Neuwied, Germany. [1]
The names Rockenfeller and Rockefeller are derived from Rockenfeld. [2] It is said that the ancestors of the Rockefeller family (including John and Nelson) came from Rockenfeld. [1] [2] [3]
The abandoned village Rockenfeld lies at 330 m above sea level on a mountain range rising from north to south between the valleys of the creek Rockenfelder Bach in the west and a tributary of the Nonnenbach in the east. The forest district Forst Wied borders to the east. The only road connection is K1 (Kreisstraße 1), which leads down to Rheinbrohl over a length of eight kilometres into the Rhine Valley .
The proximity of the place to the course of the Limes Germanicus, which delimited the Roman Empire, and the remains of a Roman fortlet "Am Forsthofweg" less than 1 km from Rockenfeld, would indicate an early settlement of the area.
It is reported that in later times, not only the burgraves of Hammerstein and the electoral principality of Trier, but also the house of counts of Wied and the St Thomas's Abbey at Andernach had a court in Rockenfeld. [4]
The village was first documented in 1280 as Rukenvelt, whereas Ruken would mean ridge and velt designate field. The name thus relates to the village's location on the first mountain ridge between the Rhine valley and the Westerwald. [5]
Until 1693, it belonged to Gönnersdorf (today part of Feldkirchen/Neuwied). In 1846, 11 families lived in the village; starting from 1885, an official school was established, which was closed in 1935.
At the end of World War II, 50 people still lived in Rockenfeld. [1] Due to constant emigration, the local council decided to dissolve the community in 1965. [1] In 1969, the abandoned houses and courtyards were burned down by the fire brigade. [6] In 1995 the last house was demolished.
Today (2023), Rockenfeld is a deserted area with a memorial from 1962/63 and a commemorative stone as the only remains, situated within the Rhine-Westerwald Nature Park. [7]
For about 30 years, the tradition of the Rockenfeld fair (Rockenfelder Kirmes) has been established, a party organized on this site every year on May 1, by the Junggesellenverein association of Rheinbrohl. In addition to various drinks, it offers the traditional pea soup as well as sausages and other dishes. The event is particularly appreciated by hikers and cyclists. [8]
The Westerwald is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Massif. Its highest elevation, at 657 m above sea level, is the Fuchskaute in the High Westerwald.
Neuwied is a town in the north of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, capital of the District of Neuwied. Neuwied lies on the east bank of the Rhine, 12 km northwest of Koblenz, on the railway from Frankfurt am Main to Cologne. The town has 13 suburban administrative districts: Heimbach-Weis, Gladbach, Engers, Oberbieber, Niederbieber, Torney, Segendorf, Altwied, Block, Irlich, Feldkirchen, Heddesdorf and Rodenbach. The largest is Heimbach-Weis, with approximately 8000 inhabitants.
Altenkirchen is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the North Rhine-Westphalian districts Rhein-Sieg, Oberbergischer Kreis, Olpe and Siegen-Wittgenstein, and the districts of Westerwaldkreis and Neuwied.
Neuwied is a district (Kreis) in the north of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are Rhein-Sieg, Altenkirchen, Westerwaldkreis, Mayen-Koblenz, Ahrweiler.
Wied-Neuwied was a German statelet in northeastern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, located northeast of the Rhine River flanking the northern side of the city of Neuwied. Wied-Neuwied emerged from the partitioning of Wied. Its status was elevated from county to principality in 1784. It was mediatised to Nassau and Prussia in 1806.
Unkel is a town in the district of Neuwied, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, near Remagen, about 20 km southeast of Bonn.
Waldbreitbach is a municipality in the district of Neuwied, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated in the Westerwald, on the river Wied, approx. 16 km north of Neuwied.
Runkel is a town on the river Lahn in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany.
Döttesfeld is a municipality located in the Neuwied district of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The Community belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde Puderbach, which has its seat in the municipality of Puderbach. Döttesfeld has a state-recognized health resort.
Melsbach is a municipality in the district of Neuwied, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Since 2018, it is part of the Verbandsgemeinde Rengsdorf-Waldbreitbach.
Rheinbrohl is a municipality in the territorial collectivity of Bad Hönningen, in the district of Neuwied, in Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany. On its Rhine bank is the starting point of the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes, the fortification of 550 km length which delimited the Roman Empire. At this place near the Rhine is the reconstruction of a Roman watchtower.
Wied is an Ortsgemeinde – a community belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Notscheid is a locality in the municipality Sankt Katharinen in the district of Neuwied in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Neuwied station is, along with Engers station, a hub of public transport in the town of Neuwied in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate and it is located in its west. The station is located on the East Rhine Railway and is the starting point of the Neuwied–Koblenz railway. In the station forecourt there is a bus station. The station is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 3 station.
Engers station is a through station and a former railway junction in the district of Engers in the town of Neuwied in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is on the East Rhine Railway and was formerly also the beginning of a line to Au (Sieg) and had a large freight yard.
As well as being a low mountain range, the Westerwald is also a natural region in the system of natural regional division of Germany. Within that it is a major unit group with the number "32". According to this system the major unit group of the Westerwald belongs to the basement plate (Grundgebirgsschollenland), which describes the type of mountain-building process by which it was formed. The major unit group extends across the states of Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate. It is roughly bounded by the valleys of the Lahn, Rhine and Sieg, whereby the hills immediately south of the Heller and Sieg are not considered to be part of it.
The Rhine-Westerwald Nature Park is a nature park in Germany that covers an area of around 470 km2 to the east of the River Rhine and in the north of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate between Neuwied and Unkel. It extends from the Rhine over its eastern bank terraces up to the first hill ridge of the Lower Westerwald. The Rhine-Westerwald Nature Park is over 60 years old, making it one of the oldest in Germany. It was founded in 1962 and celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2012. Its legal owner is the society of Naturpark Rhein-Westerwald.
Hammerstein Castle is the ruin of a 10th-century mountain castle in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, the oldest in this entire Middle Rhine Valley. The ruin of one of its watchtowers still overlooks the Rhine at an altitude of 195 m, near the village of Hammerstein. The Rheinsteig hiking trail passes close to the ruins which can be reached via a small path.
The village of Gönnersdorf, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, extends on the hills north of the Rhine above the village of Fahr, which lies directly on the river. Gönnersdorf as well as Fahr are today part of the locality of Feldkirchen, itself incorporated into the town of Neuwied.
The ancient village of Fahr bordering the Rhine river is today part of the Feldkirchen district belonging to the town of Neuwied in northern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The name probably came from the old name Vare or Uff Fähr in local dialect, which relates to today's German word Fähre.
