Schönenberg-Kübelberg, Germany

The municipality of Schönenberg-Kübelberg lies in the Western Palatinate near the boundary with the Saarland some 15 km south of Kusel, and 10 km northeast of Homburg. The two Ortsteile lie at the edge of the Landstuhler Bruch (a hollow). Kübelberg on the long mountain ridge south of the Klingbach runs seamlessly into Schönenberg to the east, while Schönenberg also melds without a break with the outlying centre of Sand. Within the municipality, the land rises from 241 m above sea level at the edge of the brook up to 264 m near the church in Kübelberg. Outside the built-up area, the highest elevations in the municipal area reach some 300 m above sea level in the Steinwald and Peterswald (forests).

Schönenberg-Kübelberg borders in the north on the municipality of Brücken, in the northeast on the municipality of Gries, in the east on the municipality of Bruchmühlbach-Miesau, in the south on the municipality of Waldmohr, in the west on the municipality of Dunzweiler and in the northwest on the municipality of Dittweiler.

Schönenberg-Kübelberg's Ortsteile are Schönenberg, Kübelberg, Schmittweiler and Sand. Also belonging to Schönenberg-Kübelberg are the outlying homesteads of Heidhof, Elmerthof and Klingenmühle.

Owing to its central location in the south of Kusel district, Schönenberg-Kübelberg has grown into a local supply and service centre. There are several hypermarkets and discount stores as well as many one-line businesses filling household and craft needs, a car dealership with workshops, a big motor vehicle scrapping and salvaging business, craft businesses in building and architectural engineering, a construction company, a building supply wholesaler, bank branches and professionals such as lawyers and physicians.

In both Schönenberg and Kübelberg, the villagers earned their livelihoods mainly from agriculture, although there were also craftsmen and peat cutters. Beginning in the 19th century, there was a gradual shift that led to agriculture directly feeding ever fewer people, and many farm boys seeking work in industry. Unlike many other villages, which offer very little in the way of job opportunities, Schönenberg-Kübelberg has developed considerable industry of its own. Nevertheless, many working people must commute to work, to the industrial operations in Kaiserslautern and to the mines in the Saarland, even to smaller centres like Landstuhl and Homburg. After the Second World War, many jobs became available in the course of the stationing of US Forces at Ramstein Air Base and Miesau Army Depot. This development spurred a strong upswing in the population.

The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:

Saint Valentine’s Catholic Parish Church (Pfarrkirche St. Valentinus), Kirchengasse 5 – Baroque aisleless church, 1702–1709, marked 1790, tower raised 1826; Stumm organ from 1841, expansion-conversion 1963

Kirchengasse 1–6 (monumental zone) – distinctive village square appearance around the Catholic church with the former Catholic schoolhouse (no. 3), the former nurses’ residence (no. 4), rectory (no. 6), wayside cross and a small Quereinhaus (a combination residential and commercial house divided for these two purposes down the middle, perpendicularly to the street; no. 1)

Near Saarbrücker Straße 71 – warriors’ memorial 1914-1918 and 1939-1945, 1935 by Richard Menges, Kaiserslautern, expansion 1956

Miesauer Straße 39 – one-floor Quereinhaus with knee wall, 1898, in the righthand corner stable and shed

Höcherbergstraße 2 – former school; sandstone-framed plastered building, 1879 architect possibly Regional Building Director (Bezirksbauschaffner) Rottmüller, Homburg; characterizes village's appearance

Höcherbergstraße 5 – Quereinhaus, dwelling wing with knee wall about 1780, commercial wing, partly timber-frame, between 1806 and 1842

Lindenstraße 2 – stately Quereinhaus, marked 1844, in the righthand corner a pigsty; characterizes village's appearance