Alflen is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Ulmen, whose seat is in the like-named town. Geography The raised part of the village is called Kirch-Alflen for the church there (the first syllable comes from Kirche, which means “church” in German), and may well be the older part of the village. Beyond the river Litzbach lies the Überdorf (“Upper Village”) in a hollow. History In Alflona, the Karden ecclesiastical foundation owned, according to the directory of holdings compiled about 1100, an estate along with lands worked by compulsory labour and rights to two thirds of the parish's tithes. This holding was confirmed by Pope Alexander III in 1178. The foundation still held the tithing rights until the late 18th century. Named in the document issued by Pope Eugene III for the Abbey of Echternach in 1148 was, among other things, a lesser holding near Alflue or Afflue; another such reference crops up from 1161. The parish church, first mentioned about 1100, was listed at the turn of the 13th century in Electoral Trier's Liber annalium; it was, along with its parochial area, subject to the collegiate church in Karden. About 1330, it was once again mentioned, this time in the Taxa generalis (another Trier directory of holdings). Further mentions are to be found from 1475 and 1656 in the Karden and Zell Archdeaconries’ protocols, and others came in 1592 and the 1552 register also mentioning John the Baptist’s patronage. Saint Bartholomew is also mentioned as a secondary patron. Beginning in 1794, Alflen lay under French rule. In 1815 it was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia at the Congress of Vienna. Since 1946, it has been part of the then newly founded state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Politics Municipal council The council is made up of 12 council members, who were elected by majority vote at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman. Mayor Alflen’s mayor is Berthold Schäfer. Coat of arms The German blazon reads: In grünem Schildhaupt eine silberne Urne, in Silber eine eingeschweifte rote Spitze, darin ein goldener Sparrenschrägbalken, vorne ein rotes Hifthorn, hinten eine schwarze Muschel. The municipality’s arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Tierced in mantle, dexter argent a bugle-horn gules, sinister argent an escallop