| Hattgenstein | |
| Image Coa: | Hattgenstein.jpg |
| Coordinates: | 49.6986°N 7.1603°W |
| Image Plan: | Hattgenstein in BIR.svg |
| State: | Rheinland-Pfalz |
| District: | Birkenfeld |
| Verbandsgemeinde: | Birkenfeld |
| Elevation: | 534 |
| Area: | 8.21 |
| Postal Code: | 55767 |
| Area Code: | 06782 |
| Licence: | BIR |
| Gemeindeschlüssel: | 07 1 34 034 |
| Mayor: | Udo Laube[1] |
| Leader Term: | 2019 - 24 |
Hattgenstein is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Birkenfeld, whose seat is in the like-named town.
The municipality lies at the edge of the Schwarzwälder Hochwald (forest) in the Hunsrück, and 72.2% of the municipal area is wooded. There is a widespread misconception that Hattgenstein, with its average elevation of 534 m above sea level, is the highest place in Rhineland-Palatinate, but this is not true. There are a few places, such as Stein-Neukirch in the High Westerwald and Nürburg in the Eifel, that are higher.[2]
To the northeast lies Schwollen, and to the south, Oberhambach.
Also belonging to Hattgenstein are the outlying homesteads of Helmhof, Waldfriede and Zur Zimmerei.[3]
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.[4]
Hattgenstein's mayor is Udo Laube, re-elected in 2019.[1]
The municipality's arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Over a base countercompony gules and argent, gules on a mount vert the Hattgenstein Glockenhaus argent with timber framing sable and doors and windows of the field.
The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Directory of Cultural Monuments:[5]
The Glockenhaus (“Bell House”) is Hattgenstein's main landmark. It was built in 1762 as a school building and a dwelling for the beadle.
Hattgensteiner Fels, a crag with a lookout tower near the sporting ground, is believed to be the village's namesake.
To the west runs Bundesstraße 269, and to the south, the Autobahn A 62 (Kaiserslautern–Trier). Available in nearby Neubrücke is a railway station on the Nahe Valley Railway (Bingen–Saarbrücken).