Bergen, Rhineland-Palatinate

Bergen
Coat of arms
Bergen
Location of Bergen within Birkenfeld district
Coordinates: 49°46′52″N 7°25′04″E / 49.78111°N 7.41778°E / 49.78111; 7.41778Coordinates: 49°46′52″N 7°25′04″E / 49.78111°N 7.41778°E / 49.78111; 7.41778
Country	Germany
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
District	Birkenfeld
Municipal assoc.	Herrstein
Government
• Mayor	Gerhard Friedt
Area
• Total	10.42 km2 (4.02 sq mi)
Elevation	400 m (1,300 ft)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	432
• Density	41/km2 (110/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	55608
Dialling codes	06752
Vehicle registration	BIR
Website	www.bergen-nahe.de

Bergen 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 Herrstein, whose seat is in the like-named municipality.

The municipality lies in the Hunsrück, 3 km west of Kirn and 9 km northeast of Idar-Oberstein.

The greater part of municipal area is covered by a 4.5 km² forest, and most of the rest of this rural village’s land is taken up by cropland.

In 926, Bergen had its first documentary mention. To the southwest once lay the now vanished village of Staufenberg.

After the Second World War, the village still had more than sixty businesses that were active in agriculture. Nowadays there are only seven, most of which are run as sidelines.

Until 1969, Bergen still had its own primary school; after it closed that year, schoolchildren were transferred to the nearby town of Kirn in Bad Kreuznach district. In 1995, the Verbandsgemeinde of Herrstein opened a two-group kindergarten with an intake capacity of 50 three- to six-year-olds. This is meant to serve not only Bergen, but also the neighbouring municipalities of Berschweiler, Griebelschied and Sonnschied.

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.