Etschberg

Etschberg 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 Kusel Musikantenland (“Minstrels’ Land") in the Western Palatinate, in the northerly shelter of a ridge stretching southeastwards from the 402 m-high Odersberg (or Ödesberg). The Rödelsbach (brook) touches the village along the northern edge, then flowing east to the river Glan. Surrounded by gardens and meadows with many fruit trees, Etschberg lies in a relatively small municipal area with an elevation ranging from 220 to 320 m above sea level. The broader area is rich in woodlands. Within the municipal area, the highest elevation is 380 m above sea level. An outstanding view over the village and the mountains of the Westrich, an historic region that encompasses areas in both Germany and France, can be had from the 402-metre-high peak of the Kreuzberg, although that lies outside the municipal limits in the neighbouring municipality of Schellweiler. The municipal area measures 345 ha, of which 107 ha is wooded. Etschberg borders in the north on the municipality of Haschbach am Remigiusberg, in the east on the municipality of Theisbergstegen, in the south on the municipality of Rehweiler, in the southwest on the municipality of Hüffler and in the west on the municipality of Schellweiler. Originally, the houses in Etschberg stretched along a single road from the dale high up the slope. Since this road was from beginning to end rather steep and since in the days of draught animals this resulted in torment for the teams carting goods up the slope, a bypass road was built to the east around the village in the years 1924 to 1928. To this day, it is still called the neue Straße (“new road”). Besides agricultural estates from the 19th century, there are also workers’ houses, among which are so-called Musikantenhäuser (houses built by the travelling musicians, who were once quite numerous hereabouts).