Weidenthal

Weidenthal is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.GeographyLocationThe municipality lies in the middle of the Palatinate Forest in the region of the Palatinate. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Lambrecht, whose seat is in the like-named town.HistoryIn 1247, Weidenthal had its first documentary mention as Wydentall and was held by the Lords of Frankenstein as a fief from the Limburg Monastery. Later, Weidenthal belonged to the Electorate of the Palatinate.In 2011, this was the location of the last known sighting of the Palatinate Dragon, possibly the last Dragon in Europe.ReligionWeidenthal has an autonomous Catholic parish. The Catholic parish church, St. Simon und Judas Thaddäus, and the rectory, Maximilian Kolbe-Haus, are found on Hauptstraße (“Main Street”).Together with the neighbouring municipality of Frankenstein, Weidenthal forms a Protestant parish. The Christuskirche (“Christ Church” or “Church of Christ”) is found in the village centre at the fairground on Hauptstraße.