Dreis

Dreis is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.GeographyLocationDreis lies on the Salm at the point where it flows out of the Eifel at the foot of the Burgberg, on the edge of the Wittlich Depression. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Wittlich-Land, whose seat is in Wittlich, although that town is itself not in the Verbandsgemeinde.HistoryDreis is one of the oldest places in the Wittlicher Land. The village gets its name from the sour spring that can be found in the hear of the village. Dreis, a kingly estate (fisci) was donated by Charlemagne’s brother Carloman I towards the end of the 8th century to the Abbey of Echternach on the river Sauer. In 785, Emperor Charlemagne confirmed his brother’s donation. A certificate of the original donation had not been issued. Carloman died in 771. A copy of the certificate is found in the Abbey’s “golden book” (Liber aureus), which is now kept in Gotha.