Liebshausen

Liebshausen 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.

Liebshausen
Municipality
Coat of arms
Location of Liebshausen within Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis district
Liebshausen Liebshausen
Coordinates: 50°2′00″N 7°37′50″E
Country	Germany
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
District	Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis
Municipal assoc.	Simmern-Rheinböllen
Government
• Mayor (2019–24)	Matthias Merscher
Area
• Total	5.85 km2 (2.26 sq mi)
Elevation	460 m (1,510 ft)
Population  (2022-12-31)
• Total	494
• Density	84/km2 (220/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	55494
Dialling codes	06764
Vehicle registration	SIM
Website	www.liebshausen.de

Antoniushalle, Liebshausen

Geography

Location

The municipality lies in the Hunsrück roughly 4 km northwest of Rheinböllen and 10 km west-southwest of the Rhine at Bacharach. Liebshausen lies just west of the Autobahn A 61. The municipal area measures 548 ha, of which 5 ha is wooded.

History

In 1006, Liebshausen had its first documentary mention on the occasion of a church consecration in Mörschbach. Beginning in 1794, Liebshausen lay under French rule. In 1814 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.

Liebshausen was said in the late 18th century to be a favourite hideout among robbers and horse thieves. It was here that the robber Philipp Ludwig Mosebach (“Jäger-Philipp”, Jäger being German for “hunter” or “rifleman”), a clergyman’s ne’er-do-well son and the leader of the Hunsrück-Bande, a lawless gang, stayed. Mosebach was eventually put to death in Koblenz. The notorious outlaw Johannes Bückler, or “Schinderhannes”, to use the nickname by which he is best known, came early on in his career of lawlessness to Liebshausen, where he was wounded in a brawl at an inn when somebody fired a shotgun at him.

Population development

What follows is a table of population figures for Liebshausen from selected years since the Congress of Vienna (at 31 December each time):

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1815 260 —     1835 371 +42.7% 1871 356 −4.0% 1905 352 −1.1% 1939 400 +13.6% 1950 411 +2.8% 1961 378 −8.0%	Year Pop. ±% 1965 358 −5.3% 1970 424 +18.4% 1975 369 −13.0% 1980 345 −6.5% 1985 334 −3.2% 1987 345 +3.3% 1990 342 −0.9%	Year Pop. ±% 1995 414 +21.1% 2000 480 +15.9% 2005 523 +9.0% 2006 519 −0.8% 2009 505 −2.7%
Source: Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz

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

Liebshausen’s mayor is Matthias Merscher.

Coat of arms

The municipality’s arms might be described thus: Tierced in mantle dexter argent a cross gules, sinister Or an eagle displayed sable armed and langued of the second, and in base azure a bell hanging from its yoke of the first.

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

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

• Saint Anthony the Hermit’s Catholic Church (branch church; Filialkirche Hl. Antonius Eremit), Hauptstraße 10 – 1821–1825, architect Royal Building Inspector Maeber, thereafter F. Nebel, Koblenz, belltower 1873, new building work on nave 1950; in the quire a Crucifix, Body of Christ from early 17th century
• Hauptstraße 9 – former inn "Caspar"; timber-frame building, partly solid or slated, mid 19th century

External links

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