Gries () is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Kusel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Oberes Glantal, whose seat is in Schönenberg-Kübelberg.
Geography
Location
The municipality lies at the edge of the North Palatine Uplands (part of the Saar-Nahe Uplands), on the south slope of the 314 m-high Schlossberg, which has an outstanding view, in the Western Palatinate. To the south lies the Ohmbach valley with its 10-18 ha Ohmbach Reservoir, and to the east, the river Glan has carved a prominent bend into the uplands. Gries lies in a gently sloping spot whose elevation ranges from 270 to 310 m above sea level. Northwest of the village is another high hill called the Löwenberg. East of the village at the municipal limit with the neighbouring municipality of Bruchmühlbach-Miesau (Ortsteil of Elschbach), the Ohmbach empties into the river Glan, which thence, going upstream, forms the said limit between the two municipalities. North of the village, almost all the way to the neighbouring village of Börsborn, lies the Lebecksmühle, where for centuries the waterwheel turned, and which later became a popular country public house, although nowadays it is a private house. Woods stretch out south of the village at the reservoir's shore, with a grove of sequoias, and also in the northern municipal area. Near the reservoir's shore stands a festival hall with a kiosk, and nearby is a grilling facility with a pavilion. The village is surrounded by a well-developed network of farm lanes, hiking trails and cycle paths. The municipal area measures 400 ha, of which 50 ha is wooded.
Neighbouring municipalities
Gries borders in the north on the municipality of Börsborn, in the northeast on the municipality of Nanzdietschweiler, in the east on the municipality of Hütschenhausen, in the southeast on the municipality of Bruchmühlbach-Miesau (outlying centre of Elschbach, in the Kaiserslautern district), in the south on the municipality of Schönenberg-Kübelberg (outlying centre of Sand) and in the west on the municipality of Brücken.
Constituent communities
Also belonging to Gries is the outlying homestead of Lebecksmühle.
Municipality’s layout
The municipality of Gries is among the Kusel district's bigger villages. The oldest part of the built-up area arose along the middle part of what is today Hauptstraße (“Main Street”), which runs from the heights to the reservoir's west shore in a broad bow. Likewise older building is found on Triftstraße, with the old schoolhouse (now a community centre and clubhouse), on Schlossbergstraße, Friedhofstraße, Goethestraße, on the north side of Raiffeisenring and Bahnhofstraße. This last street's name means “Railway Station Street”, and indeed it does lead to the former railway station between Elschbach and Sand. The graveyard with its consecration hall and Protestant church (built in 1964) is framed by Raiffeisenring and Friedhofstraße. The Catholic youth centre, at which church services are also held once a week, stands in the village's north end on Sportplatzstraße. Stretching round the older parts of the village are areas with newer building, at the ends of Hauptstraße, on Schillerstraße, Schillerstraße and the south side of Raiffeisenring as well as in the Eckenfeld and the Rechental. In the Schlossberg's heights lies the sporting ground with its clubhouse.
History
Antiquity
As long ago as prehistoric times, the vicinity was inhabited by man, bearing witness to which are barrows from the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Archaeological finds made at digs long ago have today for the most part disappeared, although a few are still kept at the Museum des Historischen Vereins der Pfalz (Museum of the Historical Society of the Palatinate) in Speyer. There are no finds from Roman times that can be definitively linked to Gries, although there have been some in neighbouring municipal areas, foremost among these Miesau’s.