Cochem () is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Situated on the banks of the Moselle River, it is the administrative seat of the Cochem-Zell district and its largest town with around 5,300 inhabitants. The town is known for its riverside setting, historic old town, and the hilltop , which overlooks the Moselle valley.
First mentioned in the Early Middle Ages, Cochem developed as a regional centre of trade and viticulture within the Electorate of Trier. The town suffered significant destruction during the Nine Years' War in 1689 and was later rebuilt.
Cochem is an important centre for tourism in the Moselle wine region, while wine production continues to play a significant role in the local economy.
Geography
Cochem lies at an elevation of some 83 m above sea level and the municipal area measures 21.2 km2.Facts and figures The town centre with the outlying centre of Sehl upstream lies on the Moselle's left bank, while the constituent centre of Cond lies on its right. A further constituent centre, Brauheck, with its commercial area, air force barracks and new town development, lies in the heights of the Eifel on Bundesstraße 259, some from the town centre. Emptying into the Moselle in Cochem are the Kraklebach, the Ebernacher Bach, the Sehlerbach, the Falzbach, the Märtscheltbach and the Enthetbach.
History Cochem was settled as early as Celtic and Roman times. In 866, it had its first documentary mention as Villa cuchema. Other names yielded by history are Cuhckeme and Chuckeme in 893, Cochemo in 1051, Chuchumo in 1056, Kuchema in 1130, Cuchemo in 1136, Cocheme in 1144, then Cuchme, and into the 18th century Cochheim or Cocheim. Cochem was an Imperial estate. It was pledged by King Adolf of Nassau in 1294 to the Archbishopric of Trier and remained Electoral-Trier territory until the French occupation began in 1794. In 1332, Cochem was granted town rights, and shortly thereafter, the town fortifications, which still stand today, were built. Between 1423 and 1425, the town was stricken with a Plague epidemic. In 1623, Elector Lothar von Metternich brought about the founding of a Capuchin monastery. In the Thirty Years' War, the town was besieged, but not conquered. In 1689, during the Nine Years' War, King Louis XIV's troops first burnt the Winneburg (castle) down and then conquered the town of Cochem with its castle. Reconstruction was long and drawn out. Beginning in 1794, Cochem lay under French rule. In 1815, it was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia at the Congress of Vienna.
Louis Fréderic Jacques Ravené bought the ruin of the former Imperial castle in 1866 and began its reconstruction. Only after a bridge was built across the Moselle at Cochem in 1927 were the two fishing villages of Cond and Sehl amalgamated with the town in the course of administrative reform in 1932. This bridge, called the "Skagerrak Bridge", was dedicated on 23 January 1927. In the Second World War, great parts of Cochem's old town were destroyed. Also during the war, the operations staff of the underground subcamp of Zeisig of the Natzweiler concentration camp between the villages of Bruttig and Treis was located here. At its height, 13,000 people were imprisoned. They provided slave labour for Bosch, which made spark plugs, ignition systems, and glow plugs, which were important to the German war effort, under brutal conditions.Edward Victor. Alphabetical List of Camps, Subcamps and Other Camps.www.edwardvictor.com/Holocaust/List %20 of %20 camps. htm
Since 1946, Cochem has been part of the then newly founded state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Politics
Town council The council is made up of 22 council members, who were elected at the municipal election held on 26 May 2019, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
The municipal election held on 26 May 2019 yielded the following results:Kommunalwahl Rheinland-Pfalz 2019, Stadtrat
SPD CDU Grüne CBG FWG Total 2019 6 9 3 2 3 22 seats 2014 6 9 2 3 2 22 seats 2009 6 9 2 3 2 22 seats 2004 6 10 1 3 2 22 seats 1999 6 11 1 2 2 22 seats 1994 7 10 3 2 – 22 seats 1989 6 10 2 3 – 21 seats 1984 7 9 – 5 – 21 seats 1979 7 11 – 3 – 21 seats 1974 5 10 – 6 – 21 seats
Mayor Cochem's mayor is since 2018 Walter Schmitz, and his deputies are Josef Heimes, Wilfried Gerdes and Heinz Bremm.Cochem's mayorMayor's deputies Wilhelm Schmitz, 1919–1923 Karl Stier, 1925–1934 Aloys Elsen, 1934–1945 Jakob Rudolf Pauly, 1945–1949 Ferdinand Hillebrand, 1949–1956 Willy Massoth, (1911–1978), 1957–1969, first full-time mayor Anno Vey, 1969–1975 Horst Hoffmann, 1975–1995 Herbert Hilken, 1995–2011 Wolfgang Lambertz, 2011–2018 Walter Schmitz, (opted 2018)
Coat of arms The town's arms might be described thus: Per pale argent a cross gules and gules issuant from dexter a sinister hand of the first vested sable holding two keys in saltire Or, the wards to chief.
The town of Cochem and its castle were held by the Archbishops of Trier beginning in 1298. They also granted Cochem town rights in 1332. The charges in the town's arms are thus purely references to its long history with the Electorate of Trier. The red cross on the dexter (armsbearer's right, viewer's left) side is Trier's old armorial bearing, and the keys on the sinister (armsbearer's left, viewer's right) side are Saint Peter's attribute, thus representing Trier's patron. This composition appeared in the earliest known town seal, from the early 15th century, which likely dates from a bit earlier, the late 14th century.Description and explanation of Cochem's arms
Town partnerships Cochem fosters partnerships with the following places:Town partnerships Avallon, Yonne, France since 1966 Malmedy, Liège, Belgium since 1975 Moritzburg, Meißen, Saxony since 1990 Yizhou District, Hechi, China since 2017
Political development After both the town council and the Verbandsgemeinde council approved the motion on 23 October 2008, the until then Verbandsgemeinde-free town of Cochem became part of the Verbandsgemeinde of Cochem-Land on 7 June 2009. In connection with this, the state government also enacted a law on 18 February 2009 that deals with, among other things, the transfer of ownership of certain properties from the town to the Verbandsgemeinde.Landesgesetz zum freiwilligen Zusammenschluss der verbandsfreien Stadt Cochem und der Verbandsgemeinde Cochem-Land vom 18. Februar 2009 The Verbandsgemeinde also changed its name with the amalgamation of Cochem, becoming the Verbandsgemeinde of Cochem.
Culture and sightseeing
Buildings The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate's Directory of Cultural Monuments:
Cochem (main centre) Bahnhofsvorplatz 1 – new railway station, 1900–1902; picturesquely grouped three-floor quarrystone building, Renaissance Revival, with smaller wings and additions, partly timber-frame; old railway station, 1880, quarrystone and brick building, partly timber-frame; railway lands, brick building; whole complex Bernstraße 2 – rectory or parish house; Baroque Revival timber-frame house, partly solid, mansard roof, about 1910 Bernstraße 3 – timber-frame house, partly solid, mansard roof, 18th century Bernstraße 9 – four-floor timber-frame house, partly solid, 17th century Bernstraße 22/24 – walkway through to the Moselle at Baroque building with hipped mansard roof, 1749 Bernstraße 31 – three-floor solid building, from 1775 and 1896 (conversion) Branntweingässchen 2 – timber-frame house on quarrystone pedestal, 17th century Brückenstraße 3, Endertstraße 4 – Hotel "Alte Torschenke"; building with mansard roof with gables set slantwise, about 1910 Burgfrieden 3 – former Electoral-Trier courthouse; two three-floor timber-frame houses, partly solid, latter half of the 17th century Burgfrieden 11 – brick building, 19th century; side towards the Moselle: four-floor quarrystone building with oriel, 19th or 20th century Burgfrieden 13/14 – side towards the street: timber-frame house in mixed building styles, plastered; side towards the Moselle: timber-frame house with balcony Burgfrieden 18 – three-floor Late Classicist house, earlier half of the 19th century Endertstraße 2 – "Alte Torschenke" ("Old Gateway Inn"); three-floor timber-frame house, partly solid, from 1626; hearth heating plates; Saint Roch, 17th or 18th century Endertstraße 7 – Late Historicist quarrystone building, Renaissance Revival, from 1899 Endertstraße/Brückenstraße (monumental zone) – Kaiser-Wilhelm-Tunnel: bridge and teaching workshop used by the repair works; tunnel portal, sandstone, from 1877 and 1879; bridge: stone block building; teaching workshop: two-floor quarrystone pedestal and steel framework floor, about 1900 Endertstraße 146 – Saint Anthony's Chapel (Kapelle St Anton); small aisleless church, partly timber-frame, half-hipped roof, 17th century Capuchin Monastery and Church (monumental zone) – church and sickroom, 1625–1628, church lengthened in 1692, aisleless church with lady's chapel, Baroque décor; monastery founded in 1623, cloister's east and north wings, about 1630, west wing 1692; guest building 1753; Way of the Cross to the town, 1758; attached old elementary school, about 1910 Graveyard (monumental zone) – laid out towards the end of the 19th century, warriors' memorial 1864/1866/1870/1871 and warriors' memorial 1914/18, 1920s; graveyard cross from 1850; three metal crosses, 19th century; gravestones from the 19th century Heiligenhäuschen (a small, shrinelike structure consecrated to a saint or saints) – plastered building with three niches, 1710, endower's coat of arms from Archbishop Johann VIII Hugo von Orsbeck; wayside cross, 18th century Herrenstraße 24 – three-floor timber-frame house, partly solid, early 17th century Kelberger Straße (monumental zone) – Jewish graveyard in an enclosed area with a gate with a pointed arch, 64 grave steles from 1879 to the 1940s Hinter Kempen – chapel, 19th century Kelberger Straße 40 – Villa Schönblick; Late Historicist quarrystone building, hipped roof, late 19th century; prominent location above the town, opposite the castle Kirchgasse 4 – three-floor timber-frame house, partly solid, 18th century Klosterberg 3 – old elementary school, hipped roof, about 1910 Löhrstraße 3 – three-floor timber-frame house, partly solid, from 1599, conversions beginning in the 18th century; in the quarrystone wall a grave cross, 18th century Löhrstraße 15 – three-floor timber-frame house, partly solid, about 1700 or from the 18th century; side house (no number) timber-frame house, partly solid Markt – town hall; building with mansard roof, after destruction in 1689 underwent reconstruction until 1739, completed by Philipp Honorius Ravensteyn Markt – fountain, basalt basin, from 1767, architect Nikolaus Lauxen Markt 4 – four-floor timber-frame building, partly solid, from 1610 and 1990 Markt 5 – four-floor timber-frame house, partly solid, mansard roof, late 17th century Markt 6/7 – four-floor timber-frame building, partly solid, latter half of the 17th century Markt 9 – coat of arms, from 1699 Markt 11 – three-floor timber-frame building, partly solid, plastered, from 1690 Markt 15 – three-floor solid building, partly timber-frame, about 1690; in the back remnants of a solid building, 16th century, timber-frame parts newer Moselpromenade 1 – see Bernstraße 22/24 Moselpromenade 9 – gateway arch, 14th century; see Town wall (monumental zone) Moselpromenade 11/12 – three-floor quarrystone building, crow-stepped gable, from 1654, expansion from 1894 or 1899 Moselpromenade 18 – solid building with timber-frame gable, late 19th century, heavily altered by commercial modifications Moselpromenade 27 – two four-floor timber-frame houses, plastered, late 17th or early 18th century Moselpromenade 28 – Late Historicist hotel; three-floor quarrystone building, Renaissance Revival, from 1893 Moselpromenade 37 – plastered building, partly timber-frame, early 20th century Moselpromenade 39 – see Burgfrieden 11