Enspel

Enspel is an Ortsgemeinde – a community belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.GeographyLocationEnspel lies 10 km northwest of Westerburg on a bank on the west slope of the Stöffel, a basalt mountain. The community’s structure is based on the nearby basalt quarries which were worked beginning about 1900. Worth seeing are the mighty crevices and outcrops in the Stöffel. Since 1972 Enspel has belonged to what was then the newly founded Verbandsgemeinde of Westerburg, a kind of collective municipality.HistoryIn 1261, Enspel had its first documentary mention. In the 20th century, the famous Stöffelmaus was found. This was a fossil of a now extinct gliding rodent, Eomys quercyi.PoliticsCommunity councilThe council is made up of 9 council members, including the extraofficial mayor, who were elected in a majority vote in a municipal election on 7 June 2009.