Niederhosenbach is an Ortsgemeinde â a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality â in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde Herrstein-Rhaunen, whose seat is in Herrstein.
The municipality lies north of the river Nahe between Kirn and Herrstein. The municipal area is 43.4% wooded.
Niederhosenbach's neighbours are Herrstein, Breitenthal, Wickenrodt, Sonnschied, Griebelschied and Bergen.
Also belonging to Niederhosenbach are the outlying homesteads of âÂÂAuf dem BüchelchenâÂÂ, âÂÂHeupenmühleâ and âÂÂZwischen den SeenâÂÂ.
South of Niederhosenbach, on the Hosenbach's left bank before the âÂÂAllholzâ woods and opposite the Etzelberg (mountain) once stood a village named Hitzelhosenbach. A plaque at the site recalls the now long-vanished village. Standing at the spot where the road from Niederhosenbach to Fischbach crosses the brook was the Etzelberger Mühle (mill), which burnt down in 1913.
The council is made up of 8 council members, who were elected by majority vote at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
Niederhosenbach's mayor is Markus Schnurr.
The German blazon reads:
The municipality's arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Per bend sinister argent a bend wavy abased above which the letters N and H in bend, and chequy gules and argent issuant from base a mount of three sable.
The letters N and H on the dexter (armsbearer's right, viewer's left) side refer to the municipality's name, as does the wavy bend (slanted stripe; the ending âÂÂbach means âÂÂbrookâ in German), while the âÂÂchequyâ field on the sinister (armsbearer's left, viewer's right) side is a reference to the village's former allegiance to the County of Sponheim, and the mount of three â a charge called a Dreiberg in German heraldry â stands for the Amt within the County of Sponheim in which Niederhosenbach lay, namely Herrstein (whose name literally means âÂÂLordstoneâÂÂ). Niederhosenbach even today lies in a Verbandsgemeinde of that same name.
The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-PalatinateâÂÂs Directory of Cultural Monuments:
Running southeast of the municipality is BundesstraÃÂe 41. Serving nearby Fischbach is a railway station on the Nahe Valley Railway (BingenâÂÂSaarbrücken).