Eisenschmitt

Coat of arms

Eisenschmitt

Location of Eisenschmitt within Bernkastel-Wittlich district

Coordinates: 50°2′36″N 6°43′16″E / 50.04333°N 6.72111°ECoordinates: 50°2′36″N 6°43′16″E / 50.04333°N 6.72111°E

Country

Government

• Mayor

Georg Fritzsche

Area

• Total

10.84 km² (4.19 sq mi)

Elevation

320 m (1,050 ft)

Population (2015-12-31)

• Total

312

• Density

29/km² (75/sq mi)

CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)

54533

06567

WIL

Website

www.eisenschmitt.de

Eisenschmitt is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

Eisenschmitt lies on the river Salm. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde Wittlich-Land.

Eisenschmitt’s Ortsteile are Eisenschmitt and the outlying centre of Eichelhütte, lying down the Salm. Not much farther downstream stands Himmerod Abbey, which is within Großlittgen’s municipal limits.

In 1372, Eisenschmitt had its first documentary mention as Yssensmyt uff der Salmen. The plentiful iron ore deposits, the production of charcoal in the surrounding woods to fire the furnaces and the feasibility of using the Salm’s waterpower for smelting were great enough to run ironworks for a long time. This in turn brought about the settlement of ironworkers and thereby the founding and growth of a village.

Beginning in 1794, Eisenschmitt lay under French rule. In 1814 it was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia at the Congress of Vienna. In 1835, Eisenschmitt had roughly 1,350 inhabitants, the highest population figure in its history. As the 19th century wore on, however, an end was brought to the iron industry in the Salm valley by new production processes and more productive as well as bigger ironworks in the industrial areas on the Lower Rhine and the Ruhr, which moreover could be worked with the more economical coal instead of with charcoal.

Since 1947, Eisenschmitt has been part of the then newly founded state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

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Wikipedia