Benzweiler

Benzweiler is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde Simmern-Rheinböllen, whose seat is in Simmern. Benzweiler is a tourism municipality (Fremdenverkehrsgemeinde).

Benzweiler seen from the southeast

Benzweiler
Municipality
Location of Benzweiler within Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis district
Benzweiler Show map of Germany Benzweiler Show map of Rhineland-Palatinate
Coordinates: 50°1′16.3″N 7°36′17.95″E
Country	Germany
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
District	Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis
Municipal assoc.	Simmern-Rheinböllen
Government
• Mayor (2019–24)	Hans-Joachim Kunz[1]
Area
• Total	3.19 km2 (1.23 sq mi)
Elevation	389 m (1,276 ft)
Population  (2022-12-31)[2]
• Total	214
• Density	67/km2 (170/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	55494
Dialling codes	06766
Vehicle registration	SIM
Website	www.benzweiler.de

Geography

Location

The municipality lies in the Hunsrück.

History

Six barrows northeast of the village make it plain that Celts settled here in antiquity. Beginning in 1794, Benzweiler 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.

Population development

These are population figures for Benzweiler (for 31 December each time):

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1815 126 —     1835 178 +41.3% 1871 193 +8.4% 1905 194 +0.5% 1939 169 −12.9% 1950 178 +5.3%	Year Pop. ±% 1961 156 −12.4% 1965 159 +1.9% 1970 168 +5.7% 1975 162 −3.6% 1980 169 +4.3% 1985 164 −3.0%	Year Pop. ±% 1987 176 +7.3% 1990 187 +6.2% 1995 201 +7.5% 2000 213 +6.0% 2005 209 −1.9% 2009 213 +1.9%
Source: Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz

Politics

Municipal council

The council is made up of 6 council members, who were elected at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.

Mayor

Benzweiler's mayor is Hans-Joachim Kunz.^[1]

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:

• Hauptstraße 4 – building with half-hipped roof, partly timber framing sided, about 1820

References

1. Direktwahlen 2019, Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis, Landeswahlleiter Rheinland-Pfalz, accessed 4 August 2021.
2. "Bevölkerungsstand 2022, Kreise, Gemeinden, Verbandsgemeinden" (PDF) (in German). Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz. 2023.

External links

• Municipality’s official webpage (in German)
• Brief portrait of Benzweiler with film at SWR Fernsehen (in German)