Krottelbach is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Oberes Glantal.
Geography
Location
The municipality lies in the Western Palatinate near the state boundary with the Saarland. Krottelbach lies on the upper reaches of its namesake brook, the Krottelbach, which rises in the woods west of the village. Several tributary brooks flow from side valleys, forming a radial pattern and emptying into the Krottelbach within the municipality. Almost all these surrounding side valleys are settled, giving the village a somewhat star-shaped built-up area. The lowest houses in Krottelbach stand roughly 270 m above sea level, whereas higher locations reach 280 m. The valley slopes are steep, and in the west reach an elevation of 445 m above sea level at the Kaiserberg. This wooded area with the Hoher Fels (“High Crag”) and the hiker's cabin belonging to the Pfälzerwaldverein (a hiking club) is said to be a popular hiking area. The municipal area measures 555 ha, of which 161 ha is wooded.
Neighbouring municipalities
Krottelbach borders in the north and east on the municipality of Herschweiler-Pettersheim, in the southeast on the municipality of Ohmbach, in the southwest on the municipality of Frohnhofen, in the west on the town of Sankt Wendel (Saarland) and in the northwest on the municipality of Langenbach. Krottelbach also meets the municipality of Altenkirchen at a single point in the south.
Municipality’s layout
Anyone reaching Krottelbach from upstream, to the east, finds himself going along the main through street, called Hauptstraße (“Main Street”). In the village centre, Hauptstraße turns towards the south into the Kahlmer Graben. From the village centre with its Hauptstraße and Ringstraße, a whole series of other roads branches off: Friedhofstraße (“Graveyard Road”), Rödelsbachstraße, Straße “Zum hohen Fels” (“Road to the High Crag”), Flurstraße, Maiwaldstraße, Hirtenweg and Bubacher Straße. The hiker's cabin is found in the western wooded area on the extension of Straße “Zum hohen Fels”, while on the extension of Maiwaldstraße is found the sporting ground.
History
Antiquity
The local area was settled in prehistoric times, as witnessed by the many barrows, mainly in neighbouring municipalities. This is also true of the Gallo-Roman epoch, which also left its traces behind. An extensive Gallo-Roman settlement spread out just across the state boundary in the Heidenbösch in Bubach, an outlying centre of the town of Sankt Wendel.