Gondershausen

Gondershausen is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Emmelshausen, whose seat is in the like-named town.GeographyLocationThe municipality lies in the northernmost part of the Hunsrück between the Baybach and Ehrbach valleys to the north and south, and the Rhine and the Moselle in the east and west.HistoryBarrows in Schorfeld, Steinmelt, Lampenheck and Scheidwald bear witness to early human habitation in the Gondershausen area in Hallstatt times (1000-400 BC). Vessels and ironware have also been unearthed locally at some of the newer barrows. These date from La Tène times (400-100 BC). By about 50 BC, the most influential culture was the Roman Empire. The Romans built watermains and were the first to use bricks in the region. Eventually, they also brought the first contact with Christianity.