Mertesheim

Mertesheim is an "Ortsgemeinde" – a municipality belonging to a "Verbandsgemeinde", a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Geography.
Location.
The municipality lies in the northwest of the Rhine-Neckar urban agglomeration and belongs to the "Verbandsgemeinde" of Leiningerland, whose seat is in Grünstadt, although that town is itself not in the "Verbandsgemeinde".
History.
In 771, "Meldrisheim" had its first documentary mention. Until 1969 it belonged to the now abolished district of Frankenthal. Currently it is in the district of Bad Dürkheim, and it joined the newly formed "Verbandsgemeinde" of Grünstadt-Land in 1972.
Religion.
In 2007, 43.5% of the inhabitants were Catholic and 35.3% Evangelical. The rest belonged to other faiths or adhered to none.
Politics.
Municipal council.
The council is made up of 8 council members, who were elected by majority vote at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
Mayors.
As part of the 2014 local elections, no candidate approached to direct elections to the Mayors. According to the arrangements in Rhineland-Palatinate in local elections measures in existence [7] has been selected for the new city mayor Doris Nitzsche by the local council. It replaced Tony Schuck in that office from that held this since 2007.
Coat of arms.
The German blazon reads: "In Rot auf grünem Dreiberg ein schreitender widersehender silberner Hirsch mit einem goldenen Wiederkreuz statt des Geweihs."
The municipality's arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Gules on a mount of three in base vert a stag passant reguardant argent unguled Or with a cross crosslet of the same instead of attires.
The German blazon, however, does not mention the stag's golden hooves (“unguled Or”).
The arms were approved in 1926 by the Bavarian State Ministry of the Interior and date from a 16th-century seal.
Economy and infrastructure.
Transport.
Mertesheim lies on the Eis Valley Railway, which runs between Grünstadt and Ramsen and is served by scheduled "Regionalbahn" trains. Public transport is integrated into the VRN, whose fares therefore apply.