Bornheim Lifestyle - 1050 Years of Music and Lifestyle

The History of Music in the Palatinate

Music was already being made in the year 976. In the Southern Palatinate, the same instruments were probably in use as in the rest of Europe. The region around Bornheim was familiar with travelling musicians and their music due to its proximity to trade routes leading to Speyer. The instruments included the bagpipe, the fiddle, and the lute. Among shepherds, flutes and the loud shawms were in daily use.

In monasteries and churches such as Speyer Cathedral, Gregorian chant dominated, a monophonic Latin church song. Early forms of the organ were already in use here in the 11th century. The harp was also known and appreciated in aristocratic circles as accompaniment to courtly love songs. Trumpets and horns were often used for representative purposes at court.

In Bornheim, music was mainly heard in the church in the form of chant. Later, in the 17th and 18th centuries, the organ became the central instrument. Secular music was played only on special occasions such as weddings, the Kerwe (church festival), or harvest thanksgiving. Travelling musicians brought not only new information but also popular dance music into the village.

In the 19th century, choirs were founded throughout the Palatinate as an expression of civic freedom and sociability. The Bornheim choral community can be traced back to the year 1850. The singing club Concordia e.V. Bornheim was founded in 1876 by teacher Treber and can therefore look back on 150 years of association activity. In addition to preserving song traditions, the club also promoted community life.

With the emergence of media such as radio and television, popular music spread rapidly throughout the country. Musical styles increasingly blended, from traditional brass band music and social dialect songs (Palatine songs) to schlager, rock ’n’ roll, and pop songs.

Since the advent of internet streaming services, practically everyone can compile their own playlist. However, the radio is still present—whether at home while cooking, in the car on the way to work, on the tractor while working in the fields, or while relaxing with a glass of Bornheim wine.