Föckelberg

Föckelberg 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 Kusel-Altenglan, whose seat is in Kusel. The municipality lies in the Western Palatinate between roughly 400 and 450 m above sea level. Indeed, within Föckelberg's limits is found a peak of 562.5 m on the road leading from Mühlbach (an Ortsteil of Altenglan) to Neunkirchen and onwards round the peak to Gimsbach. This is the Potzberg, upon which stands the 35 m-tall Potzberg Tower. The distance to the Potzberg from the village is roughly 1 km as the crow flies and 2 km by road. From the village itself, there is an outstanding view of the mountainous countryside east of the Potzberg. Föckelberg shares the Wildpark Potzberg (game park) with Neunkirchen am Potzberg. The municipal area measures 209 ha, of which 95 ha is wooded and roughly 3 ha is settled. Föckelberg borders in the north on the municipality of Bosenbach, in the east on the municipality of Niederstaufenbach, in the southeast on the municipality of Oberstaufenbach, in the south on the municipality of Neunkirchen am Potzberg, in the west on the municipality of Rutsweiler am Glan and in the northwest on the municipality of Altenglan. Also belonging to Föckelberg is the outlying homestead of Potzberghotel. Föckelberg is a linear village – by some definitions, a “thorpe” – with a loose built-up area; from the Middle Ages onwards, it was a village characterized purely by agriculture. The homesteads stood either side of the road. When many quicksilver mines opened around the Potzberg's peak in the latter half of the 18th century, workers also settled in Föckelberg, and the population figure rose noticeably. Nevertheless, the built-up area did not expand appreciably, for the miners built their houses between the homesteads that were already standing. There has never been a church in Föckelberg.