9th to 10th century Between 830 and 850 Guntersblum, had its first documentary mention as
Chunteres Frumere in the
Lorsch codex: a kingly bondsman had to pay the royal court interest in the form of two
Fuder (very roughly, 2 000 L) of wine. On 13 June 897 came the municipality’s first datable documentary mention, this time under the name
Cundheresprumare (“Gunter’s Plum Garden”). In this document, King
Zwentibold confirmed to the monks at
Saint Maximin's Abbey at
Trier that they had holdings at their disposal in Guntersblum. Between 922 and 927, the Archbishop of Cologne endowed this monastery to the Holy Virgins and
Saint Ursula’s Monastery in Cologne with holdings, among other things several
arpents of fields in Guntersblum.
13th to 18th century In 1215, the
Xanten Monastery leased its income from the church at Guntersblum (yearly 12
Fuder of wine, 100
Malter of
rye and 50
Malter of
wheat) to the knight Herbord von Albig and his son Cuselin. In 1237, the Monastery sold the church patronage rights and the whole of its holdings in Guntersblum to the
Worms Cathedral Monastery. The goods were shared between the brothers Friedrich III of Leiningen and Emich IV of Leiningen-Landeck. The latter acquired the Electoral-Cologne feudal estate in Guntersblum. Before 1242, Friedrich III of Leiningen was enfeoffed by the Archbishops of Cologne (the village’s owners) with the
Vogtei over Guntersblum. Beginning then, Guntersblum remained under Leiningen lordship and belonged until 1316 to the
House of Leiningen: :until 1466 to the House of Leiningen-Hardenburg. :until 1572 to the House of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hardenburg. :until 1658 to the House of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg (in Heidesheim). :until 1766 to the House of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg in Guntersblum. :until 1787 to the House of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hardenburg. :from 1787 to the House of Leiningen-Guntersblum. :late 1797 – End of Leiningen lordship; Rhine’s left bank annexed to
France. A document now at the
University of Pennsylvania Libraries shows a succession of
Jewish private tutorship in Guntersblum as early as 1742.
19th century In 1814 and 1815 came the
Congress of Vienna and along with it, the end of French rule. In 1815 and 1816, the Province of
Rhenish Hesse (
Rheinhessen) came into being and was annexed to the
Grand Duchy of Hesse, thereby making Guntersblum Hessian. In 1828 and 1829, work on straightening the
Rhine was done, part of which involved the creation of the Kühkopf (“Cow’s Head”), an island, formerly joined to the left bank as the land inside an oxbow. In 1852, Guntersblum became part of the new Oppenheim district. In 1853, the
Hessische Ludwigsbahn (
railway) from
Mainz to
Worms was built.
20th century In 1930, the last occupation troops from the
First World War left Guntersblum. In March 1945,
American tank units rolled through Rhenish Hesse and also Guntersblum. After the
Second World War, Guntersblum grew in the course of the
great economic upswing throughout Germany to more than double its former size. Given the way the
Allied occupiers set their occupation zones up, the Kühkopf area became part of Hesse. In 1969, Guntersblum was made part of the newly formed
Regierungsbezirk of Rheinhessen-Pfalz and, within that, part of the newly formed
Mainz-Bingen district. In 1972, Guntersblum became the seat of the like-named
Verbandsgemeinde, which merged into the
Verbandsgemeinde Rhein-Selz in 2014.
Religion Evangelical parish The church was built about 1100 as a three-naved basilica with two towers. Then, the Xanten Monastery owned the church patronage rights and made
Saint Viktor the church's patron saint. In 1617 and 1618, the nave was torn down because it was in an ill state of repair. In 1619, new building work began. Owing to the
Thirty Years' War, the work on the new church was not finished until sometime between 1685 and 1688. In 1702, the south tower fell down. Its replacement is the one with the clock, built between 1839 and 1842. Both the church's towers are particularly noteworthy. The style of such eight-sided vaults on a square foundation most likely originated in
Persia and further developed in 7th-century
Armenia. This “Oriental relationship” has led to the towers being called the “Saracen Towers”. Towers in this style have only five representatives in Germany (compare Alsheim, Dittelsheim-Heßloch, St. Paulus (Worms),
Wetzlar). Among the church's other peculiarities is the
Gothic baptismal font. It is believed to date from about 1490 and is one of the so-called Lion Fonts (
Löwentaufsteine).
Catholic parish, Saint Viktor’s For some 100 years, the two denominations shared a house of worship. Eventually the civic community helped the
Catholics build their own “Saint Viktor’s Church” (
Sankt Viktorskirche) in 1844 and 1845. The church building went up on land belonging to the parish across the street from the Town Hall. The festive consecration was undertaken by Bishop Petrus Leopold Kaiser from Mainz on 16 November 1845. The consecration document hangs in the church's sacristy. In July 1965, the parish priest was able to move into the parish-owned
rectory across from the Catholic Church. In 1982 and 1983, the Catholic parish built itself a parish hall, to a great extent through its own means and donations, which Canon Fahney dedicated on 13 March 1983. The priest who has been leading the Guntersblum Catholic parish, Father Alphons Mohr, celebrated the 50th anniversary of his entry into the priesthood not long ago. == Politics ==