Kirchdorf (; )kirchdorf, n. to kirchenamt, n., Deutsches Wörterbuch, Vol. 11, Col. 797 or church village is a historical type of settlements in Germany. In the period when dispersed settlements were common in German rural areas, some settlements had a church and a priest that serviced the rural area in its vicinity.Gabriele Schwarz: Allgemeine Siedlungsgeographie. vol. 1. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1988, ISBN 3-11-007895-3, VI. Mittelpunkts-Siedlungen. 1. Mittelpunkte in Streusiedlungsgebieten, pp. 413–416, specifically p. 413.Deutsches Rechtswörterbuch (DRW): Kirchdorf
A number of places in Germany are named "Kirchdorf", also Chirihdorf (Old High German), Kirdorf, Kardorf, etc.
The church in a Kirchdorf is not a parish church; settlements with a parish church were called (parish village).Deutsches Rechtswörterbuch (DRW): Pfarrdorf.
A related term is Pfarrmarkt, a market town with a parish church.Deutsches Rechtswörterbuch (DRW): Pfarrmarkt
See also Kyrkstad
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