Blankenrath  Blankenrath 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. The municipality lies in the Hunsrück, near "Bundesstraße" 421. Its lowest elevation is 400 m above sea level and its highest 450 m above sea level. Yearly precipitation in Blankenrath amounts to 856 mm, which is rather high, falling into the highest third of the precipitation chart for all Germany. At 73% of the German Weather Service's weather stations, lower figures are recorded. The driest month is February. The most rainfall comes in June. In that month, precipitation is 1.4 times what it is in February. Precipitation varies minimally and is quite evenly spread over the year. Only 4% of German weather stations report lower seasonal . The name “Blankenrath” means bare, white clearing. It is called, after a former daily reality in the municipality, “The clearing at the white stone” (meant here is the former quarry on the mill path). Blankenrath's history reaches back to the 9th and 10th centuries, to a time when sickness and wars gave rise to a need for people to seek homes away from the crowded river valleys, such as the nearby Moselle valley. According to local lore, the village arose out of three estates, named the Metzenhof, the Geiershof and the Rumershof. Witnessed in history, however, is Gerlach von Braunshorn's enfeoffment with the Blankenrath court in 1347 by Count Johann von Kleve. In 1362, upon Gerlach's death, it passed by marriage into the Winneburg Counts’ ownership. Later, the landlordship was shared by the Electorate of Trier, the Counts of Sponheim and the Counts of Beilstein. This arrangement began when two of Gerlach's grandsons, namely Gerlach and Cuno von Winneburg, acquired their grandfather's old rights. They could not keep them, however, nor meet their obligations owing to a crushing debt load.