Wahnwegen

Wahnwegen is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Glan-Münchweiler, whose seat is in the like-named municipality.

Geography

Location

The municipality lies at the foot of the 437 m-high Hühnerkopf in the Saubeertal (valley) in the Western Palatinate. Wahnwegen’s elevation is roughly 310 m above sea level and the village lies in the Bledesbach’s headwaters, northeast of the Hühnerkopf (“Chickenhead” – a mountain) with its stone quarries, although these lie within Herschweiler-Pettersheim’s limits. A relatively narrow strip of land roughly 3 km long and barely 1 km wide forms Wahnwegen’s municipal area, broadening out somewhat towards the north. The local area is rich in forests, especially to the south, where the Hodenbach rises, flowing southwestwards to the Henschbach. The dale through which the Hodenbach flows is well known as a hiking and recreation area. Here in the municipal area’s south, mountains reach 375 m above sea level. Farther north, right at the municipality’s western limit, looms the Bosten (or the Boster) at 406 m (or 409 m) above sea level, the municipality’s highest point (the differing names and elevations arise from a disagreement between sources). The municipality’s lowest point lies near the sewage treatment plant on the way out of the village going towards Hüffler. The municipal area measures 463 ha, of which 80 ha is wooded.