Dietkirchen
Encyclopedia
Dietkirchen an der Lahn is a borough
of Limburg an der Lahn
, seat of the district of Limburg-Weilburg
in the state of Hesse
, Germany
. The formerly independent village was incorporated into Limburg in 1971. The town is dominated by the St. Lubentius Basilica, which was the most important church building in the region in the Early Middle Ages
.
River. Its prominent feature is the towering limestone
bluff on which the St. Lubentius Basilica is built. The central city of Limburg is located in a widening of the Lahn Valley. Dietkirchen is situated at the eastern end of this widening, with the valley becoming narrow again near Runkel
.
The old village is characterized by a large height differential, with housing plots situated on terraces
formed by numerous retaining walls. The village itself is situated at an elevation of 120 to 170 meters. In the northern part of the borough, the landscape rises up to 180 meters, while in the southern part, on the banks of the Lahn below the church’s bluff, it drops to 115 meters.
With a surface area of 309.59 hectares (765 acre), Dietkirchen is the smallest borough of Limburg. Its surroundings consist almost exclusively of agricultural land, with the exception of the vegetation on the banks of the Lahn.
The borough is bordered to the north by the Runkel borough of Dehrn, in the east and south by Eschhofen, in the west by the central city of Limburg, and in the northwest by Offheim.
(2000 to 4000 BC), as well as the remains of a settlement assigned to the Urnfield culture
(1300 to 800 BC). Excavations in the Basilica suggest that before the Church was constructed the site on the limestone bluff had been a pagan cult and gathering place.
The Reckenforst, a judicial meeting place which exercised high jurisdiction over the wider environs in at least in the Early Middle Ages, was nearby. It was mentioned as early as 1217.
Dietkirchen is first mentioned in documents in 841 as "in ecclesia dietkircha". The village, however, is older. A low noble family, "the Dietkirchener Lords," resided there.
The meaning of the toponym is unclear. The second part, "kirchen" (German for church), refers, according to the unanimous opinion, to the St. Lubentius church. The problem is in the interpretation of the syllable "diet." Some historians speculate that it comes from Old High German
, and means "the people." The village’s name then meant "people's church" and refers to the prominent position of the Archdeaconate as a central church. Others advocate a pre-Germanic
meaning of "diet" referring to the important ford
on the Lahn below the church.
In the history of the village, the Christianization
of the Lahn region and the St. Lubentius Basilica play a special role. The legend that St. Lubentius himself ministered there is demonstrably wrong. The beginnings of Christianity in the Lahn region date approximately to between the 6th and the end of the 7th centuries. In this period was probably also the founding of the village.
basilica
of St. Lubentius is situated in the midst of a park-like cemetery. Its architecture is typical of the time, characterized by heavy members and generally cubic bulkiness, from which only the interior manages in places to break away. The aspirations of the architecture and the quality of the interior decoration remind one today of the important role St. Lubentius Basilica played in church politics.
The first mention of the collegiate church
of St. Lubentius dates to 841. It was built between 830 and 838. The parish
counted around 425 souls at the time. According to archaeological finds, it replaced an earlier stone parish church
built in about 720, which itself had replaced a wooden predecessor probably built as early as 580.
It became an archdeacon
ate of the Archdiocese of Trier, possibly as early as 900 and definitely by 1021. The entire part of the Diocese of Trier on right bank of the Rhine was managed from Dietkirchen. Six deaneries were subordinate to it.
Construction of the basilica may have already begun by 1021. The present structure was consecrated on August 5, 1225. Supposedly, the construction lasted only about ten years. In addition to St. Lubentius, St. Juliana was also selected as a patron of the church. In the Romanesque church lie the remains of St. Lubentius, around which many legends have formed. Probably his remains were transported from Kobern
on the Mosel River
to Dietkirchen before 841.
By no later than 1326 was the Deanery of Dietkirchen also possessed a separate land chapter
(German Landkapitel), a spiritual community analogous to a collegiate chapter. Its memorial book recorded its last entry in 1709, after the rest of the land chapters in the Archdeaconate had been dissolved in the Protestant Reformation
.
Several members of the Frei family of Dehrn, a regionally important house of lower nobility, were buried at the church.
Near the mouth of the Emsbach, a small stream that enters the Lahn between Dietkirchen and Eschhofen, there is a ford across the Lahn that was used intensively in the late Frankish period. The imperial postal service later used this crossing on its Frankfurt-Cologne route. The area is still known as the Postmauer (post wall) today.
began is not known, but it probably dates to the High Middle Ages
. Evidence of a fair
(German Jahrmarkt) on the Feast of St. Lubentius dates to the late 13th century, but it is clearly mentioned only in 1538. The market was an attraction for visitors from the surrounding area.
The historical market was renewed in 1991 at the initiative of then-mayor Kurt van der Burg and with the co-operation of all the clubs in the town. It now takes place every three years.
, a prisoner of war
camp was established on both sides of the road from Limburg to Dietkirchen. Barracks were built to hold up to 12,000 inmates. First, these were mainly English, Irish, and French soldiers, while toward the end of the war there were especially Russians and Poles. Italians were also imprisoned there. The camp reached its occupancy limit in May 1915. During the day, the prisoners worked in local businesses and surrounding farms.
On December 23, 1914, the first prisoner to die in the camp, Irishman
Fred Rick Reilly (born August 24, 1864, died December 20, 1914), was buried in the nearby graveyard with full military honors. In August 1916, the graveyard, which, together with the medical aid station, was located south of the road between Limburg and Dietkirchen, was expanded into a military cemetery. On the feast of Pentecost
, May 25, 1917, a three-meter-high Celtic cross
was erected to commemorate the Irish who had died in the camp. On August 3, a sculpture by French sculptor Eduard Colomo, himself a prisoner in Dietkirchen, was completed.
Until 1920, the camp served as a transit station for former German soldiers who had been released from Allied captivity. In 1923, all of the Russian dead and a Frenchman were exhumed and reinterred either in their homeland or at larger, central burial sites. From the First World War, a total of about 330 Russians, 130 French, 60 Italians, 47 British, 45 Irish, seven Serbs, two Belgians and a Romanian are still buried at the cemetery.
The camp cemetery was reused during World War II
for Soviet
prisoners of war who had died in the camp “Stammlager XII" in Diez. By the end of World War II, the number of Russian and Soviet soldiers buried there increased to an estimated 945. For that reason, the cemetery is locally known as the "Russian cemetery."
In 1954, the remains of three Russian prisoners of war, who were shot by men of the SS in the last days of the war in Oberweyer and had been buried there under the direction of the local mayor, were reburied in Dietkirchen. In 1959, at the site of the no-longer-maintained French monument, the city of Limburg erected a memorial stone for the Russian dead. Between 1998 and 2005, the entire cemetery was fundamentally renovated and brought to a dignified condition.
The twinning
of Limburg with Oudenburg
, Belgium
had its origin in an initiative of the municipality of Dietkirchen shortly before its incorporation into Limburg.
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
of Limburg an der Lahn
Limburg an der Lahn
Limburg an der Lahn is the district seat of Limburg-Weilburg in Hesse, Germany.-Location:Limburg lies in western Hesse between the Taunus and the Westerwald on the river Lahn....
, seat of the district of Limburg-Weilburg
Limburg-Weilburg
Limburg-Weilburg is a Kreis in the west of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Lahn-Dill, Hochtaunuskreis, Rheingau-Taunus, Rhein-Lahn, Westerwaldkreis.-History:...
in the state of Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. The formerly independent village was incorporated into Limburg in 1971. The town is dominated by the St. Lubentius Basilica, which was the most important church building in the region in the Early Middle Ages
Early Middle Ages
The Early Middle Ages was the period of European history lasting from the 5th century to approximately 1000. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages...
.
Geography
Dietkirchen is situated directly on the west (left) bank of the LahnLahn
The Lahn River is a -long, right tributary of the Rhine River in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia , Hesse , and Rhineland-Palatinate ....
River. Its prominent feature is the towering limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
bluff on which the St. Lubentius Basilica is built. The central city of Limburg is located in a widening of the Lahn Valley. Dietkirchen is situated at the eastern end of this widening, with the valley becoming narrow again near Runkel
Runkel
Runkel is a town on the Lahn River in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany.- Location :Runkel lies in the Lahn Valley on both sides of the river between the Westerwald and the Taunus, some eight kilometres east of Limburg....
.
The old village is characterized by a large height differential, with housing plots situated on terraces
Terrace (agriculture)
Terraces are used in farming to cultivate sloped land. Graduated terrace steps are commonly used to farm on hilly or mountainous terrain. Terraced fields decrease erosion and surface runoff, and are effective for growing crops requiring much water, such as rice...
formed by numerous retaining walls. The village itself is situated at an elevation of 120 to 170 meters. In the northern part of the borough, the landscape rises up to 180 meters, while in the southern part, on the banks of the Lahn below the church’s bluff, it drops to 115 meters.
With a surface area of 309.59 hectares (765 acre), Dietkirchen is the smallest borough of Limburg. Its surroundings consist almost exclusively of agricultural land, with the exception of the vegetation on the banks of the Lahn.
The borough is bordered to the north by the Runkel borough of Dehrn, in the east and south by Eschhofen, in the west by the central city of Limburg, and in the northwest by Offheim.
Early History
In the area of the St. Lubentius Basilica, archaeologists have discovered traces of a cult site from the Copper AgeCopper Age
The Chalcolithic |stone]]") period or Copper Age, also known as the Eneolithic/Æneolithic , is a phase of the Bronze Age in which the addition of tin to copper to form bronze during smelting remained yet unknown by the metallurgists of the times...
(2000 to 4000 BC), as well as the remains of a settlement assigned to the Urnfield culture
Urnfield culture
The Urnfield culture was a late Bronze Age culture of central Europe. The name comes from the custom of cremating the dead and placing their ashes in urns which were then buried in fields...
(1300 to 800 BC). Excavations in the Basilica suggest that before the Church was constructed the site on the limestone bluff had been a pagan cult and gathering place.
The Reckenforst, a judicial meeting place which exercised high jurisdiction over the wider environs in at least in the Early Middle Ages, was nearby. It was mentioned as early as 1217.
Dietkirchen is first mentioned in documents in 841 as "in ecclesia dietkircha". The village, however, is older. A low noble family, "the Dietkirchener Lords," resided there.
The meaning of the toponym is unclear. The second part, "kirchen" (German for church), refers, according to the unanimous opinion, to the St. Lubentius church. The problem is in the interpretation of the syllable "diet." Some historians speculate that it comes from Old High German
Old High German
The term Old High German refers to the earliest stage of the German language and it conventionally covers the period from around 500 to 1050. Coherent written texts do not appear until the second half of the 8th century, and some treat the period before 750 as 'prehistoric' and date the start of...
, and means "the people." The village’s name then meant "people's church" and refers to the prominent position of the Archdeaconate as a central church. Others advocate a pre-Germanic
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...
meaning of "diet" referring to the important ford
Ford (crossing)
A ford is a shallow place with good footing where a river or stream may be crossed by wading or in a vehicle. A ford is mostly a natural phenomenon, in contrast to a low water crossing, which is an artificial bridge that allows crossing a river or stream when water is low.The names of many towns...
on the Lahn below the church.
In the history of the village, the Christianization
Christianization
The historical phenomenon of Christianization is the conversion of individuals to Christianity or the conversion of entire peoples at once...
of the Lahn region and the St. Lubentius Basilica play a special role. The legend that St. Lubentius himself ministered there is demonstrably wrong. The beginnings of Christianity in the Lahn region date approximately to between the 6th and the end of the 7th centuries. In this period was probably also the founding of the village.
St. Lubentius Basilica
The RomanesqueRomanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
of St. Lubentius is situated in the midst of a park-like cemetery. Its architecture is typical of the time, characterized by heavy members and generally cubic bulkiness, from which only the interior manages in places to break away. The aspirations of the architecture and the quality of the interior decoration remind one today of the important role St. Lubentius Basilica played in church politics.
The first mention of the collegiate church
Collegiate church
In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons; a non-monastic, or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by a dean or provost...
of St. Lubentius dates to 841. It was built between 830 and 838. The parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
counted around 425 souls at the time. According to archaeological finds, it replaced an earlier stone parish church
Parish church
A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
built in about 720, which itself had replaced a wooden predecessor probably built as early as 580.
It became an archdeacon
Archdeacon
An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in Anglicanism, Syrian Malabar Nasrani, Chaldean Catholic, and some other Christian denominations, above that of most clergy and below a bishop. In the High Middle Ages it was the most senior diocesan position below a bishop in the Roman Catholic Church...
ate of the Archdiocese of Trier, possibly as early as 900 and definitely by 1021. The entire part of the Diocese of Trier on right bank of the Rhine was managed from Dietkirchen. Six deaneries were subordinate to it.
Construction of the basilica may have already begun by 1021. The present structure was consecrated on August 5, 1225. Supposedly, the construction lasted only about ten years. In addition to St. Lubentius, St. Juliana was also selected as a patron of the church. In the Romanesque church lie the remains of St. Lubentius, around which many legends have formed. Probably his remains were transported from Kobern
Kobern-Gondorf
Kobern-Gondorf is a municipality in the district of Mayen-Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany....
on the Mosel River
Moselle River
The Moselle is a river flowing through France, Luxembourg, and Germany. It is a left tributary of the Rhine, joining the Rhine at Koblenz. A small part of Belgium is also drained by the Mosel through the Our....
to Dietkirchen before 841.
By no later than 1326 was the Deanery of Dietkirchen also possessed a separate land chapter
Chapter (religion)
Chapter designates certain corporate ecclesiastical bodies in the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Nordic Lutheran churches....
(German Landkapitel), a spiritual community analogous to a collegiate chapter. Its memorial book recorded its last entry in 1709, after the rest of the land chapters in the Archdeaconate had been dissolved in the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
.
Several members of the Frei family of Dehrn, a regionally important house of lower nobility, were buried at the church.
Lahn crossings
The Lahn Ferry at Dietkirchen was mentioned already between 1048 and 1098. The operation of this ferry was given as a feudal right. The ferry service ended in 1959. As a replacement, a 145 meter long and 3.30 meter wide wooden bicycle and pedestrian bridge was built beneath the rock in 1989. Regional bike paths R7 and R8 cross the Lahn via this bridge.Near the mouth of the Emsbach, a small stream that enters the Lahn between Dietkirchen and Eschhofen, there is a ford across the Lahn that was used intensively in the late Frankish period. The imperial postal service later used this crossing on its Frankfurt-Cologne route. The area is still known as the Postmauer (post wall) today.
Dietkirchen Market
When the Dietkirchen MarketMarket
A market is one of many varieties of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations and infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering their goods or services in exchange for money from buyers...
began is not known, but it probably dates to the High Middle Ages
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages was the period of European history around the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries . The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and followed by the Late Middle Ages, which by convention end around 1500....
. Evidence of a fair
Fair
A fair or fayre is a gathering of people to display or trade produce or other goods, to parade or display animals and often to enjoy associated carnival or funfair entertainment. It is normally of the essence of a fair that it is temporary; some last only an afternoon while others may ten weeks. ...
(German Jahrmarkt) on the Feast of St. Lubentius dates to the late 13th century, but it is clearly mentioned only in 1538. The market was an attraction for visitors from the surrounding area.
The historical market was renewed in 1991 at the initiative of then-mayor Kurt van der Burg and with the co-operation of all the clubs in the town. It now takes place every three years.
Prisoner of war camp and military cemetery
At the end of 1914, during World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, a prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
camp was established on both sides of the road from Limburg to Dietkirchen. Barracks were built to hold up to 12,000 inmates. First, these were mainly English, Irish, and French soldiers, while toward the end of the war there were especially Russians and Poles. Italians were also imprisoned there. The camp reached its occupancy limit in May 1915. During the day, the prisoners worked in local businesses and surrounding farms.
On December 23, 1914, the first prisoner to die in the camp, Irishman
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
Fred Rick Reilly (born August 24, 1864, died December 20, 1914), was buried in the nearby graveyard with full military honors. In August 1916, the graveyard, which, together with the medical aid station, was located south of the road between Limburg and Dietkirchen, was expanded into a military cemetery. On the feast of Pentecost
Pentecost
Pentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...
, May 25, 1917, a three-meter-high Celtic cross
Celtic cross
A Celtic cross is a symbol that combines a cross with a ring surrounding the intersection. In the Celtic Christian world it was combined with the Christian cross and this design was often used for high crosses – a free-standing cross made of stone and often richly decorated...
was erected to commemorate the Irish who had died in the camp. On August 3, a sculpture by French sculptor Eduard Colomo, himself a prisoner in Dietkirchen, was completed.
Until 1920, the camp served as a transit station for former German soldiers who had been released from Allied captivity. In 1923, all of the Russian dead and a Frenchman were exhumed and reinterred either in their homeland or at larger, central burial sites. From the First World War, a total of about 330 Russians, 130 French, 60 Italians, 47 British, 45 Irish, seven Serbs, two Belgians and a Romanian are still buried at the cemetery.
The camp cemetery was reused during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
for Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
prisoners of war who had died in the camp “Stammlager XII" in Diez. By the end of World War II, the number of Russian and Soviet soldiers buried there increased to an estimated 945. For that reason, the cemetery is locally known as the "Russian cemetery."
In 1954, the remains of three Russian prisoners of war, who were shot by men of the SS in the last days of the war in Oberweyer and had been buried there under the direction of the local mayor, were reburied in Dietkirchen. In 1959, at the site of the no-longer-maintained French monument, the city of Limburg erected a memorial stone for the Russian dead. Between 1998 and 2005, the entire cemetery was fundamentally renovated and brought to a dignified condition.
Incorporation into Limburg
In 1971, within the framework of territorial reform in Hesse, Dietkirchen lost its independence and became the first of the surrounding villages to be incorporated into the City of Limburg. Since 2001, Dietkirchen has been part of the Hessian village renewal program. Supported by funding from this program, several old agriculture buildings, particularly on Brunnenstraße and Limburgerstraße, were renovated and converted into homes.City Partnership
The twinningTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
of Limburg with Oudenburg
Oudenburg
Oudenburg Latin: Aldenburgensis is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Oudenburg itself and the towns of Ettelgem, Roksem and Westkerke. On January 1, 2006 Oudenburg had a total population of 8,929...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
had its origin in an initiative of the municipality of Dietkirchen shortly before its incorporation into Limburg.
Sources
- Wolf-Heino Struck : Das Stift St. Lubentius in Dietkirchen (The College of St. Lubentius in Dietkirchen), Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1986 (Part of the series Germania Sacra).
- Marie-Luise Crone: Dietkirchen, Geschichte eines Dorfes im Schatten des St. Lubentiusstifts (Dietkirchen, History of a Village in the shadow of St. Lubentius Church), Magistrat der Kreisstadt Limburg an der Lahn, 1991, ISBN 3-9802789-0-5.
- Wilhelm Schäfer: Die Baugeschichte der Stiftskirche St. Lubentius zu Dietkirchen im Lahntal (The architectural history of the Collegiate Church of St. Lubentius of Dietkirchen in the Lahn Valley), self-published by the Historical Commission for Nassau, Wiesbaden 1966.
- Schulchronik Dietkirchen: 1825 - 1969 (School Chronicle of Dietkirchen: 1825 - 1969), Magistrat der Kreisstadt Limburg an der Lahn, 2002.
- Lorenz Müller: St. Lubentius und Dietkirchen an der Lahn, Eine Untersuchung (St. Lubentius and Dietkirchen an der Lahn, An investigation), self-published by the author, 1969.
- Wilhelm Schäfer: Die Stiftskirche St. Lubentius und Juliana zu Dietkirchen im Lahntal (The Collegiate Church of St. Lubentius and Juliana of Dietkirchen in the Lahn Valley), Darmstadt 1964.
- Wolf-Heino Struck: Das Nekrologium II des St. Lubentius-Stiftes zu Dietkirchen ad Lahn, Mainz, Ges. f. Mittelrhein. Kirchengeschichte, 1969.