of the then newly founded state of Rhineland-Palatinate, there were 1,283 inhabitants. By 1985, this had risen threefold (3,661). The figure is now just under 4,000. On 1 January 1969, one section of the municipality of Daxweiler with 70 inhabitants was transferred to Rheinböllen. On 17 March 1974, the hitherto self-administering municipality of Kleinweidelbach with 113 inhabitants was amalgamated with Rheinböllen. On 5 September 2009, Rheinböllen was raised to town by the Rhineland-Palatinate state government. Former Jewish presence Until the time of the "Thousand-Year Reich", Rheinböllen was among the places in the Simmern district that had considerable Jewish populations. The earliest trace of Jewish settlement in the town goes back to the mid 19th century. In 1842, seventeen "Israelite" (so the document styles them) children were attending the Catholic school. The oldest gravestone that can be deciphered at the Jewish graveyard on the road to Bacharach gives 11 September 1867 as Gottlieb Rauner's date of death. About 1900, there were eight Jewish families in town, all of whom earned livelihoods in retail business or trade. Older people in Rheinböllen can still remember names such as Hessel, Michels, Süßmann, Keller, Grünewald and Kann. The only Jewish institution in the municipality was a small synagogue on Bacharacher Straße. It is preserved. The memorial plaque there tells of the time in the town's history that was brought to an abrupt end by the Nazis. Population development What follows is a table of the town's population figures for selected years since the early 19th century (each time at 31 December): Politics Town council The council is made up of 20 council members, who were elected by proportional representation at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman. The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results: Mayor Rheinböllen's mayor is Bernadette Jourdant (formerly Oberthür), and her deputies are Bernd Raab, Siegmund Kappel and Erich Rott. Coat of arms The German blazon reads: In Schwarz ein wachsender goldener, rotgezungter und -bewehrter ¾ Löwe. The town's arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Sable, issuant from base a lion rampant Or armed and langued gules. Rheinböllen was the main centre in the so-called "Old Court" (Altes Gericht), the old Comital-Palatine holding on the Hunsrück. The lion "issuant from base" (a lion rampant is usually centred in the field with his whole body showing) is a