Lirstal

Lirstal is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kelberg, whose seat is in the like-named municipality.

Geography

Location

The municipality lies in the Vulkaneifel, a part of the Eifel known for its volcanic history, geographical and geological features, and even ongoing activity today, including gases that sometimes well up from the earth.

History

In 1336, Lirstal had its first documentary mention. At that time, the village was called Leppelzal. The name has been written many different ways over the centuries since then, as shown in this table:

The name underwent its last change in spelling, from “Lierstall” to “Lirstal”, on 23 November 1966, mainly to thwart vandals who kept altering the signposts and other public notices that bore the old spelling – in a most uncomplimentary way.

Lirstal belonged from the beginning until 1794 to the County of Virneburg.