Municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Erpolzheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Geography
Location
The municipality lies in the Palatinate on the German Wine Route. Erpolzheim belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Freinsheim, whose seat is in the like-named town.
History
In 781, the municipality had its first documentary mention as Erbholfesheim.
Politics
Municipal council
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:[3]
|
SPD |
CDU |
FWG |
Total
|
| 2009 |
5 |
4 |
7 |
16 seats
|
| 2004 |
5 |
6 |
5 |
16 seats
|
Coat of arms
The German blazon reads: Von Blau und Silber gespalten, rechts ein halber rotbewehrter silberner Adler am Spalt, links eine aufgerichtete blaue Weintraube mit grünen Blättern.
The municipality’s arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Per pale azure issuant from the line of partition an eagle displayed argent armed and langued gules, and argent a bunch of grapes slipped proper reversed.
The village’s oldest known seal from the 16th century bears the eagle as a charge, the device also borne by the Counts of Leiningen, who held the local lordship. Late in that same century, the grapes were added to stand for winegrowing. Some later seals, however, showed another plant with three leaves. The current arms are based on seals from the 16th and 17th centuries. They have been borne since 17 July 1952.[4]
Culture and sightseeing
Regular events
Each year in May, a culinary walking tour is held for fruit, asparagus and wine with 16 sampling stops offering homemade treats amidst the blossoming fruit groves and vineyards.
Along the 6.5 km walking circuit one finds, besides asparagus dishes, also other specialities and Erpolzheim wines.
Each year on the second-last weekend in August, the Weinkerwe (wine fair) is held.
At the Erpolzheimer Martinsmarkt (market) in November, artists display their works in the open courtyards.
Economy and infrastructure
Wine
In Erpolzheim, the following wineries and wine estates can be found:
- Weingut Hubach
- Winzerhof Horst Koch
- Weingut Kohl
- Weingut Herbert Koob & Sohn
- Winzerhof Ruth Mayer
- Weingut Veddeler
Transport
Erpolzheim lies on the single-track Neustadt an der Weinstrasse - Bad Dürkheim - Freinsheim – Grünstadt railway line and it has a stop with a lovely railway station building, although it is not used as such, but rather as a house. In the village centre up by the church is a bus stop served by buses on the Busverkehr Rhein-Neckar (BRN) route 453.
