Belg

Belg 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 of Kirchberg, whose seat is in the like-named town.

Geography

Location

The municipality lies in the central Hunsrück, right on the Hunsrückhöhenstraße (“Hunsrück Heights Road”, a scenic road across the Hunsrück built originally as a military road on Hermann Göring’s orders; the stretch running through Belg is nowadays designated Bundesstraße 327).

History

In 1295, Belg had its first documentary mention in connection with the Counts of Sponheim. This noble house enfeoffed two others with estates. As early as the 11th century, slate was being mined in the Belger Bachtal (valley), and 15 mines were still being worked into the 20th century.

Beginning in 1794, Belg 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.