Sankt Aldegund 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 Zell, whose seat is in the municipality of Zell an der Mosel. Sankt Aldegund is a winegrowing and holidaymaking centre. Geography The municipality lies on the river Moselle roughly halfway between Trier and Koblenz. History In 1097, Sankt Aldegund had its first documentary mention as Sanctam Aldegundam. It is known that the place was settled as far back as Roman times from the foundations of a Roman villa rustica south of the village, and also from a woman's grave from Constantine the Great’s time (Emperor from AD 306 to 337, in early Christian times) unearthed in 1953 during vineyard work. The grave also yielded up valuable grave goods made of glass and ceramic, among them a blue glass bowl shaped like a little ship, whose fine execution had never before been seen in a find north of the Alps. The municipality’s namesake is the Merovingian prince’s daughter and abbess Aldegonde (or Aldegundis), who in the 7th century lived and worked in Maubeuge, and who was canonized shortly after dying of breast cancer. The old village school, mentioned in 1523, was used as a one-room school until 1781. Beginning in 1794, Sankt Aldegund 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. Under the Verwaltungsvereinfachungsgesetz (“Administration Simplification Law”) of 18 July 1970, with effect from 7 November 1970, the municipality was grouped into the Verbandsgemeinde of Zell. 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 Sankt Aldegund's mayor is Günter Treis. Coat of arms The municipality's arms might be described thus: Or in base an inescutcheon argent charged with a cross gules, behind which standing Saint Aldegonde vested sable, in her dexter hand an abbess's staff, in her sinister hand a book of the third garnished of the first. Culture and sightseeing Buildings The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate’s Directory of Cultural Monuments: Saint Bartholomew’s Old Catholic Parish Church (Alte Pfarrkirche St. Bartholomäus), Alte Kirchgasse 6a –