Gillenbeuren 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 municipality lies in a dale in the southern Eifel. History In 1220, Gillenbeuren had its first documentary mention. At that time, a chapel was built, and the village was called Gildonburun. In the St. Florin Foundation (Koblenz) provost's exchange agreement on 17 March 1250 it is mentioned that the Foundation held the tithing rights to Gillenbeuren, until then held by his chapter. The village was also held by the Count of Manderscheid-Blankenheim as a fief. In 1280, Elisabeth von "Wuninberch" (Winneburg) and her son Wirich sold a year's returns in Gillenbeuren. Still standing today at the graveyard is an old stone cross, chiselled into which is the name Goelebaevren. In the Taxa generalis subsidorum cleri Trevirensis from about 1330, Gillenbeuren is listed as a parish of the rural chapter of Zell. In 1462, "Johann Herr zu Winnenburg und Beilstein" ("John, Lord at Winnenburg and Beilstein") pledged the village of Gillenbeuren to Count Wilhelm von Blankenheim. In 1475, the Prince-Archbishop-Elector of Trier besought the Counts Dietrich and Cuno von Manderscheid-Blankenheim, in connection with their feud with the Lords of Winneburg-Beilstein, not to challenge him: the village was to be held by the Margrave of Baden, who was the Prince-Archbishop-Elector's brother, the Provost at the St. Florin Foundation in Koblenz and also, at least in the Prince-Archbishop-Elector's view, the rightful landholder under Electoral-Trier overlordship. In 1534, Philipp zu Winnenburg und Beilstein's guardians and the parish priest at that time, Peter Krebs from Gillenbeuren, found themselves at odds. The dispute involved a few feudal estates belonging to the St. Florin Foundation, which also drew tithes from Gillenbeuren and had the right to name parish priests. Saint Martin's status as patron saint has been mentioned since 1552. The name Gillenbeuren appeared in the 1475 visitation protocols of Archdeacon Heinrich von Finstingen from Karden as well as in the 1552 register with the canons of the St. Florin Foundation at Koblenz. Furthermore, the name Gillenbeuren can be found in the 1592 visitation under Archbishop of Trier Johann VIII von Schönenberg, and also in the Karden Archdeaconate's 1656 report. In 1833, there was a great fire in Gillenbeuren that left great neediness in its wake. A