The municipality lies in the northern Hunsrück in a side valley of the riverMoselle, only a few kilometres from the river. Lütz lies in the Lützbach valley, which has almost no road links. The village distinguishes itself with a row of outstanding timber-frame houses.
History
King Childebert II donated to the Bishopric of Verdun holdings between the Lützbach and the Baybach. The estate has no further mention, but it was likely traded with the Abbey of Echternach, which crops up in the historical record as a landholder in the area in the Late Middle Ages. On 1 January 912, Lütz had its first documentary mention when King Karl III donated his landholdings at Lutiaco to St. Maximin's Abbey. In a donation document from Heinrich von Trier about 1163, an estate on the "rivulus Luzze" is named. Also holding estates in Luzze in 1323 was the knight Heinrich von Eltz. Saint Maximin's Church was built in 1753. Ecclesiastically, the parish of Lütz belonged to the rural chapter of Zell within the Archbishopric of Trier, although it did not lie within Electoral-Trier territory. The church was first mentioned in 1220 in the Archbishop's directory of holdings. Parochially united with Lütz were the villages of Lahr, Lieg and Zilshausen. In 1749, a fire destroyed part of the village, and Saint Maximin's Church and the town hall had to be newly built. In the 14th century, Lütz lay under the lordship of the Lords of Eltz. Lütz was an Imperial Knightly holding and belonged until the annexation of the lands on the Rhine's left bank in the French Revolutionary Wars in 1794 to the Barons of Wiltberg. In 1815 Lütz 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 8 council members, who were elected by majority vote at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
Mayor
Lütz's mayor is Bernd Adel, and his deputies are Andreas Blatt, Horst Loroff and Bernd Lütz.
The German blazon reads: Im geteilten Schild, oben in Silber ein rotes Balkenkreuz, unten in Rot ein schwarzbewehrter und -gezungter wachsender goldener Löwe. The municipality's arms might in Englishheraldic language be described thus: In the divided shield, in the top in silver a red cross of a beam, below in red a gold-plated and black-growing growing lion. The red cross refers to the municipality's former allegiance to the Archbishopric of Trier and its continued status as part of the Diocese of Trier. As early as 1220, the parish of Lütz appeared in a directory of the archiepiscopal revenues. In 1515, patronage rights had found their way to the Archbishop of Trier. The charge in base, the "lion rampant" comes from arms formerly borne by the Lords of Eltz. Beginning in 1323, these lords held an estate and other holdings in Lütz. In 1521, Johann von Eltz was enfeoffed with the village's "administration of justice, lordly rights, revenues and levies". According to a 1656 Weistum, the Lords of Eltz held the high court jurisdiction in Lütz. The arms were designed by A. Friderichs of Zell and have been borne since 1 April 1987.
Culture and sightseeing
Buildings
The following are listed buildings or sites in Rhineland-Palatinate's Directory of Cultural Monuments:
Jewish graveyard – fenced area with 30 grave steles
Herrengrabenstraße, graveyard – Gothic Revival graveyard cross, 19th century
Hollstraße 2 – timber-frame house, plastered, 19th century
Kirchplatz 3 – former rectory and former school; timber-frame building, partly solid, plastered and slated, mansard roof, 1739
Kirchplatz 4 – old town hall; timber-frame building, partly solid, half-hipped roof, third fourth of the 18th century, oven
Mehlgasse 4 – timber-frame house, partly solid, hipped mansard roof, 18th or 19th century; whole complex with quarrystone barn
Mehlgasse 81 – timber-frame house, hipped mansard roof, 18th century
Schnellbachstraße 1 – timber-frame house, partly solid, 18th century
Schnellbachstraße 3, Mehlgasse 6 – solid building, partly with windows with Gothic soffit, marked 1551, timber-frame spire light possibly from the 17th century
Schnellbachstraße 113 – Hakenhof, 19th century; one-floor timber-frame house, barn
near the Gotteshäuser Hof – wayside chapel; quarrystone building, 19th century; grave cross
north of Lütz – wayside chapel; small vaulted aisleless church, 19th century
south of Lütz on the Lützbach – Bildstock; Gothic Revival Christ figure
Sport and leisure
The Hunsrück-Mosel-Radweg runs through the village. A hiking trail leads alongside the brook through the dale. A newly built educational path gives visitors knowledge about the slatemining that was formerly undertaken in the Lützbach valley. At the time, there were 11 mines with 19 galleries and also 5 trial galleries. Slate was mined here until 1953. The slate mine tailing heaps today offer rare animal and plant species a unique biotope.
