Welcherath

Welcherath is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Kelberg, whose seat is in the like-named municipality.GeographyLocationThe municipality lies in the Vulkaneifel, a part of the Eifel known for its volcanic history, geographical and geological features, and even ongoing activity today, including gases that sometimes well up from the earth.HistoryWelcherath had its first documentary mention in an undated document from Archbishop of Trier Ruotbert (931–56), although at least one writer claims that this document is actually a falsification from about 1100. This would mean that Welcherath’s first documentary mention actually came somewhat later than is locally and popularly believed, and, given the document’s allegedly false contents, it would also profoundly alter the date on which Welcherath became a parish in its own right to 1654, a full 700 years later than this alleged forgery would suggest.In 1138, the village belonged to Laach Abbey. In feudal times, the village was held by the County of Virneburg. Under Prussian administration, Welcherath was a municipality in the Bürgermeisterei (“Mayoralty”) of Kelberg in the Adenau district. In the course of administrative restructuring in Rhineland-Palatinate in 1970, the village was grouped along with the others in the Amt of Kelberg into the Daun district, which has since been given the name Vulkaneifel.