Kirchberg in the Hunsrück

In the summer of 370 AD, Kirchberg was one of the stops of the poet Decimus Magnus Ausonius on his coach journey from Mainz to Trier along the ancient Roman road named after him, "Via Ausonia". It must have been a hot summer because Ausonius wrote: I traveled upon the dry village Denzen ("vicus Dumnissus"), where the surrounding fields thirsted for water. What Ausonius alluded to was the exposed position of the village, which is situated high atop a mountain and thus, in times of prolonged drought, certainly had problems supplying enough water to the fields. Because Dumnissus is mentioned by Ausonius (Dumnissus=Kirchberg-Denzen), Kirchberg is considered to be the oldest, continuously inhabited settlement in the Hunsrück region. Actually, Kirchberg was already listed, under its Celtic name Dumno, on an even older map, as has been handed down to us by the Tabula Peutingeriana. The Roman name can be found in a record from the year 995, where a Frankish royal estate by the name of Domnissa ("paedium Domnissa") is mentioned. It was only 250 years later (1129) that Kirchberg got its present name, Chiriberg ("church on the hill"). This name aptly describes the unique, exposed location of the town, which is visible when approaching from any direction.

Photo: As the oldest town in Hunsrück, Kirchberg is an economic and cultural center of the region with its historic market, St. Michael's Church (in the background), and the magnificent timber-framed houses.