{{Infobox German location | type = Ortsgemeinde | image_coa = DEU Birkheim COA.svg | coordinates = {{coord|50|7|0.70|N|7|37|18.24|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | image_plan = Birkheim in SIM.svg | state = Rheinland-Pfalz | district = Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis | Verbandsgemeinde = Hunsrück-Mittelrhein | elevation = 463 | area = 2.3 | postal_code = 56291 | area_code = 06746 | licence = SIM | Gemeindeschlüssel = 07 1 40 016 | website = | mayor = Rainer Retz<ref name=mayor>[https://www.wahlen.rlp.de/de/kw/wahlen/kd/gebiete/1400000000000.html Direktwahlen 2019, Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis], Landeswahlleiter Rheinland-Pfalz, accessed 4 August 2021.</ref> | leader_term = 2019&ndash;24 | party = }} thumb|Parish hall thumb|Church '''Birkheim''' ({{IPA|de|ˈbɪʁkhaɪm}}) is an {{lang|de|Ortsgemeinde}} – a municipality belonging to a {{lang|de|Verbandsgemeinde}}, a kind of collective municipality – in the Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district) in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' Hunsrück-Mittelrhein, whose seat is in Emmelshausen.

==Geography==

===Location=== The municipality lies in the eastern Hunsrück between the Middle Rhine and Autobahn A&nbsp;61. Birkheim’s 132 inhabitants live in an area of 220&nbsp;ha at an elevation of 450&nbsp;m above sea level.<ref>[http://www.emmelshausen.de/vg_emmelshausen/Gemeinden/Birkheim/ Birkheim’s population, area and elevation]</ref>

== History ==

In 1310, Birkheim had its first documentary mention as ''Bircheym'' and lay under Electoral-Trier hegemony. Beginning in 1794, Birkheim lay under French rule. In 1815 it was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia at the Congress of Vienna. Since 1946, it has been part of the then newly founded state of Rhineland-Palatinate.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}

==Politics==

===Municipal council=== The council is made up of 6 council members, who were elected by majority vote at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.<ref>[http://www.wahlen.rlp.de/kw/wahlen/2009/gemeinderatswahlen/ergebnisse/1400201600.html Kommunalwahl Rheinland-Pfalz 2009, Gemeinderat]</ref>

===Mayor=== Birkheim’s mayor is Rainer Retz.<ref name=mayor/>

=== Coat of arms ===

The German blazon reads: ''In Silber, halblinks und schrägrechts durch blaue Wellenbalken geteilt, vorn ein rotes Balkenkreuz, hinten oben ein grünes Birkenblatt, unten ein schwarzes Wasserrad''.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}

The municipality’s arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Argent a bend sinister wavy and couped at the nombril point a bend azure to sinister base, in dexter chief a cross gules throughout, in sinister a birchleaf palewise slipped vert and in base a waterwheel spoked of six sable.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}

The cross refers to the village’s former allegiance to the Electorate of Trier in the Holy Roman Empire. The waterwheel refers to the Friedrich Neubauer gristmill, known as ''Fritze Mühle'', which was destroyed in the 1920s. The birchleaf is a canting charge for the municipality’s name, Birkheim (''Birke'' is German for birch). The wavy bend sinister and half bend represent local streams, the longer being the Niederbach, which once formed the boundary between the Electorate of Trier and the ''Vogtei'' of Pfalzfeld, and the shorter the Quänkelbach, which runs through the village and empties into the Niederbach.<ref>[http://www.emmelshausen.de/vg_emmelshausen/Gemeinden/Birkheim/ Description and explanation of Birkheim’s arms]</ref>

==Culture and sightseeing==

===Buildings=== The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Directory of Cultural Monuments: * Saint John of Nepomuk’s Catholic Chapel (branch chapel; ''Filialkapelle St. Johann Nepomuk''), Hauptstraße 17 – aisleless church, marked 1897, west tower 1960 * Hauptstraße 5 – ''Quereinhaus'' (a combination residential and commercial house divided for these two purposes down the middle, perpendicularly to the street); timber-frame building, partly solid and slated, early 19th century<ref>[https://denkmallisten.gdke-rlp.de/Rhein-Hunsrueck-Kreis.pdf Directory of Cultural Monuments in Rhein-Hunsrück district]</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [http://www.swr.de/landesschau-rp/hierzuland/-/id=100766/nid=100766/did=3450816/5lukfj/index.html Brief portrait of Birkheim with film] at SWR Fernsehen {{in lang|de}}

{{Cities and towns in Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis (district)}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Municipalities in Rhineland-Palatinate Category:Rhein-Hunsrück-Kreis