Hadamar
Encyclopedia
Hadamar is a small town in Limburg-Weilburg
district in Hesse
, Germany
.
Hadamar is known for its Clinic for Forensic
Psychiatry
/Centre for Social Psychiatry, lying at the edge of town, in whose outlying buildings is also found the Hadamar Memorial. This memorializes the murder of people with handicap
s and mental illness
es during National Socialist
times at the NS-Tötungsanstalt Hadamar
.
between Cologne
and Frankfurt am Main on the southern edge of the Westerwald
at elevations from 120 to 390 m above sea level
.
, Elbtal
and Waldbrunn
, in the east on the community of Beselich
, in the south on the town of Limburg
and the community of Elz
(all in Limburg-Weilburg) and in the west on the community of Hundsangen
(in the Westerwaldkreis
in Rhineland-Palatinate
).
One of the oldest witnesses to the Hadamar region’s settlement is the cist
(see also Megaliths) stemming from the Wartberg culture
, and therefore some 5,000 years old, in Hadamar-Niederzeuzheim. A further grave was found in Oberzeuzheim, but it was taken apart and reassembled in the castle garden at Hachenburg
(Westerwaldkreis
).
Out of all today’s constituent communities, Oberweyer and Niederweyer were the first to be mentioned in documents, in 772. The town’s name itself did not have its first documentary mention until 832 in a Carolingian
exchange document. It is believed that the name Hadamar springs from the Germanic
words hadu and mar, meaning “fought-over pool”. On the spot where now stands the Renaissance
palace on the banks of the Elbbach, Cistercian monks from Eberbach Abbey
in the Rheingau
worked a model farm in the 13th century which Count Emich von Nassau-Hadamar bought in 1320 and converted into a moat
ed castle
. In 1324, Emperor Ludwig IV
granted him Frankfurt town rights for his residence. A yearly fair is known to have existed in 1430.
After a devastating fire in the 16th century, there were great changes to the town’s appearance in the 17th century. The town had Count, later Prince, Johann Ludwig von Nassau-Hadamar (1590–1653) to thank for the new building work. He had the old moated castle expanded as his residence into a Renaissance palace, and he laid out the Baroque
new town’s streets in a grid pattern with broad marketplace
s and public fountains. The Prince called the Franciscan
s to town, supported the building of the monastery with endowments and saw to the establishment of the Society of Jesus
in Hadamar in 1630.
Johann Ludwig von Nassau-Hadamar managed to bring his lordly domain some importance when the Emperor named him Commissioner-General of the negotiations surrounding the Peace of Westphalia
, which eventually put an end to the Thirty Years' War
. He was the first to sign the document for the peace treaty. In 1650, he was made Prince, whereby Hadamar became a residence town. After several conversions, Johann Ludwig became Catholic again in 1629 and arranged for Jesuits to live in Hadamar who instituted a Gymnasium
in 1652. Prince Johann Ludwig is the namesake of the comprehensive school
that has grown out of this Jesuit Gymnasium, and which still exists today in Hadamar.
“Hadamar Baroque” earned importance in the field of altar
building art. The terms “Hadamar Baroque” and “Hadamar school” (Hadamarer Barock and Hadamarer Schule in German
) are indeed quite commonly used in the area of the former Principality of Nassau-Hadamar, though how it arose and spread, along with its meaning and connections to art history are largely unknown. Archival finds about 70 to 80 years ago yielded isolated clues. New findings are to a significant extent especially Ludwig Baron Döry’s work through his publications since the 1970s. The four sculptors who were among the best of the “Hadamar school” were Martin Volk, Johann Valentin Neudecker the Elder, Johann Neudecker the Younger and Johann Theodor Thüringer. Not long ago, streets in the main town were named after them.
The Corrigendenanstalt, the forerunner of today’s Centre for Social Psychiatry, was built in 1883 beside the former Franciscan monastery on the Mönchberg. The architect was Building Councillor (Baurat) Eduard Zais, who clearly laid the new facility out using one of his earlier works, the Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie Eichberg, designed about 30 years earlier, as a model. The institution served as a workhouse
for interning and reeducating vagrants
in the Regierungsbezirk
of Wiesbaden and had 236 places for men and 80 for women. In the neighbouring former monastery at the same time, an institution for rural paupers (Landarme) from Hadamar and the outlying countryside was founded that was less strictly run and seldom had more than a dozen inmates. In 1906, the Corrigendenanstalt was converted into a care facility for the mentally ill.
In National Socialist times
, beginning in 1941 at the NS-Tötungsanstalt Hadamar as it is nowadays called in German
(literally: “Hadamar Nazi Killing Facility”), the then state health and care facility on the Mönchberg, at least 14,494 handicapped or mentally ill people, along with those known as “Half-Jews” under the Nuremberg Laws
and Ostarbeiter (“Eastern workers”) were murder
ed. Today a memorial recalls these crimes. On the grounds today stands the Clinic for Forensic Psychiatry. Most of Hadamar’s Jews were murdered in camps that were farther away. In 1942 alone, 19 Jewish inhabitants were taken away and murdered.
After the Second World War, German-speaking refugee families from the Sudetenland
came to live here. They brought with them their glass
crafts and founded businesses, which in turn led to the founding of the now Germany-wide famous Erwin-Stein-Glasfachschule, a vocational school in which glass craftsmen and -women, and also stained glass
makers from all over Germany are trained. The school enjoys an outstanding reputation far beyond Germany’s borders. There are plans to open a glass museum in the renovated princely dwelling at the Hadamar palace.
In Hadamar is also found the “Musical Boarding School”, since 1969 the rehearsal seat of the Limburger Domsingknaben
and since 1998 of the department of church music of the Bishopric of Limburg.
Throughout the town, one comes across witnesses to the past. Among these are the Fürstenschloss (princely residence) with its old stone bridge
, the Liebfrauenkirche (church) with a bell
from the time of the Thirty Years' War
, the Stadtkirche (“Town Church”) with the old Franciscan monastery, the former Jesuit monastery on the Mönchberg, the renovated “Old Town Hall”, the synagogue
, the historic marketplace
s, and some old timber-frame
houses. In many ways it can still be clearly seen that the town was a princely seat, a court seat, administrative seat and a market town for centuries for a broad outlying area.
have their roots in a seal image that was already being used in the town of Hadamar and in the outlying countryside by the late 15th century. The crosses in the arms stand for peace and the crossed swords for might.
buildings have been preserved, among them the Town Hall (Rathaus) built in 1639 and the Jesuit boarding school
(early 17th century) at the Limburg Gate (Limburger Pforte). That's why Hadamar is located on the German Framework Road
.
The Gothic
Liebfrauenkirche on the Elbbach was built before 1376 and until 1818 served as the town church. The bell that rings in the churchtower comes from the time of the Thirty Years' War
, making it one of Germany’s oldest bells still in use. The Baroque
Church of St. Johannes Nepomuk, currently serving as the town church, is part of the Jesuit residence (built 1756-1758). The Ägidienkirche (“Saint Giles’s Church”) on the Mönchberg was part of the Franciscan monastery from 1632 to 1816. Thirty-one members of the House of Nassau-Hadamar are buried here. Above the Old Town is the Baroque Herzenbergkapelle (a chapel
built about 1676) in which the Hadamar Princes’ hearts are buried. All the churches are decorated in the “Hadamar Baroque” style.
The synagogue
is likewise preserved. Today the building houses a permanent exhibit about Jewish life.
At the edge of the Old Town, right on the Elbbach stands the former Nassau residence, Schloss Hadamar, in whose stable
is housed the town museum
. Within the town, two old bridge
s have also been preserved, the Steinerne Brücke (“Stone Bridge”) and the St. Wendelinbrücke.
At the Herzenbergkapelle, a rose
garden has been laid out. In an area of some 3 000 m², roughly 2,000 rose plants of over 160 varieties have been planted.
54 from Siegen
to Limburg
.
Hadamar lies on the Oberwesterwaldbahn (railway) to Limburg and Au
. From there, the cities of Cologne
, Koblenz
, Frankfurt am Main and Wiesbaden
may be reached directly.
Secondary school
education is to be had at the Fürst-Johann-Ludwig-Schule, a comprehensive school
with Hauptschule
, Realschule
and Gymnasium
branches. The school’s feeder area reaches far beyond the town’s limits.
Moreover, Hadamar is a centre for glazier
training. The Federal vocational school of the glazier’s craft and the Erwin-Stein-Schule (state glass vocational school) are located here. The Erwin-Stein-Schule is named after Erwin Stein, one of the fathers of the Hessian state constitution.
Hadamar is seat of the “Musical Boarding School”, where the Limburger Domsingknaben
are trained.
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:...
district in 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...
.
Hadamar is known for its Clinic for Forensic
Forensics
Forensic science is the application of a broad spectrum of sciences to answer questions of interest to a legal system. This may be in relation to a crime or a civil action...
Psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
/Centre for Social Psychiatry, lying at the edge of town, in whose outlying buildings is also found the Hadamar Memorial. This memorializes the murder of people with handicap
Disability
A disability may be physical, cognitive, mental, sensory, emotional, developmental or some combination of these.Many people would rather be referred to as a person with a disability instead of handicapped...
s and mental illness
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
es during National Socialist
National Socialist German Workers Party
The National Socialist German Workers' Party , commonly known in English as the Nazi Party, was a political party in Germany between 1920 and 1945. Its predecessor, the German Workers' Party , existed from 1919 to 1920...
times at the NS-Tötungsanstalt Hadamar
Hadamar Clinic
The Hadamar Euthanasia Centre was a psychiatric hospital in the German town of Hadamar, used by the Nazis as the site of their T-4 Euthanasia Programme, which performed mass sterilizations and mass murder of "undesirable" members of Nazi society, specifically those with physical and mental...
.
Location
Hadamar lies 7 km north of LimburgLimburg 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....
between Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
and Frankfurt am Main on the southern edge of the Westerwald
Westerwald
The Westerwald is a low mountain range on the right bank of the River Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhine Massif...
at elevations from 120 to 390 m above sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
.
Neighbouring communities
Hadamar borders in the north on the communities of DornburgDornburg, Hesse
Dornburg is a community in the Westerwald in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany.- Neighbouring communities :Dornburg borders in the north and west on communities in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, with the other neighbours all lying in Limburg-Weilburg...
, Elbtal
Elbtal
-Constituent communities:Elbtal’s Ortsteile are Dorchheim , Elbgrund, Hangenmeilingen, und Heuchelheim.-History:The hills on either side of the Elbbach were already inhabited by the New Stone Age, as shown by the many finds of stone tools...
and Waldbrunn
Waldbrunn, Hesse
Waldbrunn is a community in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany.-Location:The community lies in the southern Westerwald. Within the municipal area rises the Kerkerbach, which flows through the centres of Fussingen and Lahr...
, in the east on the community of Beselich
Beselich
- Location :Beselich lies on the northeast edge of the Limburg Basin , on the edge of the Lahn valley, on the southeast slope of the Westerwald 220 m above sea level. Visible from far away is the Beselicher Kopf . The brooks Tiefenbach, Kerkerbach and Brandbach flow through the municipal area...
, in the south on the town of Limburg
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....
and the community of Elz
Elz, Hesse
Elz is a community in Limburg-Weilburg district in western Hesse, Germany, on the boundary with Rhineland-Palatinate.- Location :Elz lies at an elevation of 110 to 291 m north of the Lahn in the Limburg Basin with the municipal area reaching into the heights on its western edge and thereby...
(all in Limburg-Weilburg) and in the west on the community of Hundsangen
Hundsangen
Hundsangen is an Ortsgemeinde – a community belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.-Location:...
(in the Westerwaldkreis
Westerwaldkreis
The Westerwaldkreis is a district in the east of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
in Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
).
Constituent communities
The town consists of eight formerly autonomous communities.- Hadamar (main town)
- Niederhadamar
- Niederzeuzheim
- Oberzeuzheim
- Steinbach
- Oberweyer
- Niederweyer
- Faulbach
History
Cist
A cist from ) is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. Examples can be found across Europe and in the Middle East....
(see also Megaliths) stemming from the Wartberg culture
Wartberg culture
The Wartberg culture , sometimes: Wartberg group or Collared bottle culture is a prehistoric culture of the later Central European Neolithic...
, and therefore some 5,000 years old, in Hadamar-Niederzeuzheim. A further grave was found in Oberzeuzheim, but it was taken apart and reassembled in the castle garden at Hachenburg
Hachenburg
-Geography:The town lies in the Westerwald between Koblenz and Siegen, roughly 10 km west of Bad Marienberg on the river Nister. Hachenburg is the administrative seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Hachenburg, a kind of collective municipality .-The castle and the town:The castle , former seat of...
(Westerwaldkreis
Westerwaldkreis
The Westerwaldkreis is a district in the east of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
).
Out of all today’s constituent communities, Oberweyer and Niederweyer were the first to be mentioned in documents, in 772. The town’s name itself did not have its first documentary mention until 832 in a Carolingian
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD. The name "Carolingian", Medieval Latin karolingi, an altered form of an unattested Old High German *karling, kerling The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the...
exchange document. It is believed that the name Hadamar springs from the 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...
words hadu and mar, meaning “fought-over pool”. On the spot where now stands the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
palace on the banks of the Elbbach, Cistercian monks from Eberbach Abbey
Eberbach Abbey
Eberbach Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery near Eltville am Rhein in the Rheingau, Germany. On account of its impressive Romanesque and early Gothic buildings it is considered one of the most significant architectural heritage sites in Hesse, Germany...
in the Rheingau
Rheingau
The Rheingau is the hill country on the north side of the Rhine River between Wiesbaden and Lorch near Frankfurt, reaching from the western Taunus to the Rhine. It lies in the state of Hesse and is part of the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis administrative district...
worked a model farm in the 13th century which Count Emich von Nassau-Hadamar bought in 1320 and converted into a moat
Moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
ed castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
. In 1324, Emperor Ludwig IV
Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Louis IV , called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was the King of Germany from 1314, the King of Italy from 1327 and the Holy Roman Emperor from 1328....
granted him Frankfurt town rights for his residence. A yearly fair is known to have existed in 1430.
After a devastating fire in the 16th century, there were great changes to the town’s appearance in the 17th century. The town had Count, later Prince, Johann Ludwig von Nassau-Hadamar (1590–1653) to thank for the new building work. He had the old moated castle expanded as his residence into a Renaissance palace, and he laid out the Baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
new town’s streets in a grid pattern with broad marketplace
Marketplace
A marketplace is the space, actual, virtual or metaphorical, in which a market operates. The term is also used in a trademark law context to denote the actual consumer environment, ie. the 'real world' in which products and services are provided and consumed.-Marketplaces and street markets:A...
s and public fountains. The Prince called the Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
s to town, supported the building of the monastery with endowments and saw to the establishment of the Society of Jesus
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
in Hadamar in 1630.
Johann Ludwig von Nassau-Hadamar managed to bring his lordly domain some importance when the Emperor named him Commissioner-General of the negotiations surrounding the Peace of Westphalia
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the...
, which eventually put an end to the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
. He was the first to sign the document for the peace treaty. In 1650, he was made Prince, whereby Hadamar became a residence town. After several conversions, Johann Ludwig became Catholic again in 1629 and arranged for Jesuits to live in Hadamar who instituted a Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
in 1652. Prince Johann Ludwig is the namesake of the comprehensive school
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
that has grown out of this Jesuit Gymnasium, and which still exists today in Hadamar.
“Hadamar Baroque” earned importance in the field of altar
Altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
building art. The terms “Hadamar Baroque” and “Hadamar school” (Hadamarer Barock and Hadamarer Schule in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
) are indeed quite commonly used in the area of the former Principality of Nassau-Hadamar, though how it arose and spread, along with its meaning and connections to art history are largely unknown. Archival finds about 70 to 80 years ago yielded isolated clues. New findings are to a significant extent especially Ludwig Baron Döry’s work through his publications since the 1970s. The four sculptors who were among the best of the “Hadamar school” were Martin Volk, Johann Valentin Neudecker the Elder, Johann Neudecker the Younger and Johann Theodor Thüringer. Not long ago, streets in the main town were named after them.
The Corrigendenanstalt, the forerunner of today’s Centre for Social Psychiatry, was built in 1883 beside the former Franciscan monastery on the Mönchberg. The architect was Building Councillor (Baurat) Eduard Zais, who clearly laid the new facility out using one of his earlier works, the Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie Eichberg, designed about 30 years earlier, as a model. The institution served as a workhouse
Workhouse
In England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...
for interning and reeducating vagrants
Vagrancy (people)
A vagrant is a person in poverty, who wanders from place to place without a home or regular employment or income.-Definition:A vagrant is "a person without a settled home or regular work who wanders from place to place and lives by begging;" vagrancy is the condition of such persons.-History:In...
in the Regierungsbezirk
Regierungsbezirk
In Germany, a Government District, in German: Regierungsbezirk – is a subdivision of certain federal states .They are above the Kreise, Landkreise, and kreisfreie Städte...
of Wiesbaden and had 236 places for men and 80 for women. In the neighbouring former monastery at the same time, an institution for rural paupers (Landarme) from Hadamar and the outlying countryside was founded that was less strictly run and seldom had more than a dozen inmates. In 1906, the Corrigendenanstalt was converted into a care facility for the mentally ill.
In National Socialist times
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, beginning in 1941 at the NS-Tötungsanstalt Hadamar as it is nowadays called in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
(literally: “Hadamar Nazi Killing Facility”), the then state health and care facility on the Mönchberg, at least 14,494 handicapped or mentally ill people, along with those known as “Half-Jews” under the Nuremberg Laws
Nuremberg Laws
The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 were antisemitic laws in Nazi Germany introduced at the annual Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party. After the takeover of power in 1933 by Hitler, Nazism became an official ideology incorporating scientific racism and antisemitism...
and Ostarbeiter (“Eastern workers”) were murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
ed. Today a memorial recalls these crimes. On the grounds today stands the Clinic for Forensic Psychiatry. Most of Hadamar’s Jews were murdered in camps that were farther away. In 1942 alone, 19 Jewish inhabitants were taken away and murdered.
After the Second World War, German-speaking refugee families from the Sudetenland
Sudetenland
Sudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the northern, southwest and western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia being within Czechoslovakia.The...
came to live here. They brought with them their glass
Glass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
crafts and founded businesses, which in turn led to the founding of the now Germany-wide famous Erwin-Stein-Glasfachschule, a vocational school in which glass craftsmen and -women, and also stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
makers from all over Germany are trained. The school enjoys an outstanding reputation far beyond Germany’s borders. There are plans to open a glass museum in the renovated princely dwelling at the Hadamar palace.
In Hadamar is also found the “Musical Boarding School”, since 1969 the rehearsal seat of the Limburger Domsingknaben
Limburger Domsingknaben
Limburg Cathedral Boys' Choir is a famous boys' choir from Limburg, Germany. Their home is the musical boarding school in Hadamar, next to Limburg. The choir was founded in 1967 by the former bishop of Limburg, Dr. Wilhelm Kempf. The main task of the choir is the musical creation of the service on...
and since 1998 of the department of church music of the Bishopric of Limburg.
Throughout the town, one comes across witnesses to the past. Among these are the Fürstenschloss (princely residence) with its old stone bridge
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...
, the Liebfrauenkirche (church) with a bell
Bell (instrument)
A bell is a simple sound-making device. The bell is a percussion instrument and an idiophone. Its form is usually a hollow, cup-shaped object, which resonates upon being struck...
from the time of the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, the Stadtkirche (“Town Church”) with the old Franciscan monastery, the former Jesuit monastery on the Mönchberg, the renovated “Old Town Hall”, the synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
, the historic marketplace
Marketplace
A marketplace is the space, actual, virtual or metaphorical, in which a market operates. The term is also used in a trademark law context to denote the actual consumer environment, ie. the 'real world' in which products and services are provided and consumed.-Marketplaces and street markets:A...
s, and some old timber-frame
Timber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
houses. In many ways it can still be clearly seen that the town was a princely seat, a court seat, administrative seat and a market town for centuries for a broad outlying area.
Politics
The municipal election held on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results:| Parties and voter communities | % 2006 |
seats 2006 |
% 2001 |
seats 2001 |
|
| CDU | Christian Democratic Union of Germany | 37.0 | 14 | 50.6 | 19 |
| SPD | Social Democratic Party of Germany Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany... |
17.3 | 6 | 29.7 | 11 |
| FWG | Freie Wählergemeinschaft Hadamar | 23.6 | 9 | 19.7 | 7 |
| WfH | Wir für Hadamar | 22.1 | 8 | – | – |
| Total | 100.0 | 37 | 100.0 | 37 | |
| voter turnout in % | 44.5 | 48.0 | |||
Coat of arms
Hadamar’s armsCoat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
have their roots in a seal image that was already being used in the town of Hadamar and in the outlying countryside by the late 15th century. The crosses in the arms stand for peace and the crossed swords for might.
Main sights
In the Old Town (Altstadt), many timber-frameTimber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
buildings have been preserved, among them the Town Hall (Rathaus) built in 1639 and the Jesuit boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
(early 17th century) at the Limburg Gate (Limburger Pforte). That's why Hadamar is located on the German Framework Road
German Framework Road
The German Timber-Frame Road is a German tourist route leading from the river Elbe in the north to Lake Constance in the south. Along the road you can find nearly 100 cities and towns with remarkable timber-framed houses...
.
The Gothic
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
Liebfrauenkirche on the Elbbach was built before 1376 and until 1818 served as the town church. The bell that rings in the churchtower comes from the time of the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, making it one of Germany’s oldest bells still in use. The Baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
Church of St. Johannes Nepomuk, currently serving as the town church, is part of the Jesuit residence (built 1756-1758). The Ägidienkirche (“Saint Giles’s Church”) on the Mönchberg was part of the Franciscan monastery from 1632 to 1816. Thirty-one members of the House of Nassau-Hadamar are buried here. Above the Old Town is the Baroque Herzenbergkapelle (a chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
built about 1676) in which the Hadamar Princes’ hearts are buried. All the churches are decorated in the “Hadamar Baroque” style.
The synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
is likewise preserved. Today the building houses a permanent exhibit about Jewish life.
At the edge of the Old Town, right on the Elbbach stands the former Nassau residence, Schloss Hadamar, in whose stable
Stable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...
is housed the town museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
. Within the town, two old bridge
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...
s have also been preserved, the Steinerne Brücke (“Stone Bridge”) and the St. Wendelinbrücke.
At the Herzenbergkapelle, a rose
Rose
A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...
garden has been laid out. In an area of some 3 000 m², roughly 2,000 rose plants of over 160 varieties have been planted.
Transport
The town of Hadamar lies on BundesstraßeBundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
54 from Siegen
Siegen
Siegen is a city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia.It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg region...
to Limburg
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....
.
Hadamar lies on the Oberwesterwaldbahn (railway) to Limburg and Au
Windeck
Windeck is a municipality in the Rhein-Sieg district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the river Sieg, approx. 35 km east of Bonn and 35 km west of Siegen. Many think the municipality is named after the ruined castle of Windeck. But in fact the first place to be...
. From there, the cities of Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, Koblenz
Koblenz
Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...
, Frankfurt am Main and Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
may be reached directly.
Education
There are five primary schools in town, one each in Hadamar, Niederhadamar, Niederzeuzheim, Oberzeuzheim and Steinbach.Secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
education is to be had at the Fürst-Johann-Ludwig-Schule, a comprehensive school
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
with Hauptschule
Hauptschule
A Hauptschule is a secondary school in Germany and Austria, starting after 4 years of elementary schooling, which offers Lower Secondary Education according to the International Standard Classification of Education...
, Realschule
Realschule
The Realschule is a type of secondary school in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia , Denmark , Sweden , Hungary and in the Russian Empire .-History:The Realschule was an outgrowth of the rationalism and empiricism of the seventeenth and...
and Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
branches. The school’s feeder area reaches far beyond the town’s limits.
Moreover, Hadamar is a centre for glazier
Glazier
A Glazier is a construction professional who selects, cuts, installs, replaces, and removes residential, commercial, and artistic glass. Glaziers also install aluminum storefront frames and entrances, glass handrails and balustrades, shower enclosures, curtain wall framing and glass and mirror...
training. The Federal vocational school of the glazier’s craft and the Erwin-Stein-Schule (state glass vocational school) are located here. The Erwin-Stein-Schule is named after Erwin Stein, one of the fathers of the Hessian state constitution.
Hadamar is seat of the “Musical Boarding School”, where the Limburger Domsingknaben
Limburger Domsingknaben
Limburg Cathedral Boys' Choir is a famous boys' choir from Limburg, Germany. Their home is the musical boarding school in Hadamar, next to Limburg. The choir was founded in 1967 by the former bishop of Limburg, Dr. Wilhelm Kempf. The main task of the choir is the musical creation of the service on...
are trained.
People
- Johann Wilhelm Bausch (b. 17 March 1774 in Hadamar-Steinbach; d. 9 April 1840) 1834-1840 Bishop of Limburg
- Karl Wilhelm Diefenbach (1851–1913), painter
- Christian EgenolffChristian EgenolffChristian Egenolff or Egenolph , also known as Christian Egenolff, the Elder, was the first important printer and publisher operating from Frankfurt-am-Main, and best-known for his and re-issue of books by Adam Ries, Erasmus von Rotterdam and Ulrich von Hutten...
(1502–1555), Frankfurt’s first independent book printer - Ernst Moritz Engert (1892–1986), silhouette artist and painter
- Karl Faust (1874–1952), German botanist
- Maria Mathi (1889–1961), writer
- Peter Melander von Holzappel (1589–1648), commander in the Thirty Years' WarThirty Years' WarThe Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
- Prince Johann Ludwig von Nassau-Hadamar (1590–1653), regent, Imperial commissioner and signer of the peace agreement for the Peace of WestphaliaPeace of WestphaliaThe Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the...
- Gustav RickerGustav RickerGustav Wilhelm August Josef Ricker was a German physician and pathologist born in Hadamar, Hesse-Nassau....
(1870–1948), physician and scientist - Ruth Stock-Homburg (b. 1972), currently Germany’s youngest business studies professor