Geography

Weilmünster is among the most richly wooded places in Limburg-Weilburg. The forestry office looks after not only the State Forest but also twelve municipalities’ woodlands in the south of the Limburg-Weilburg and Lahn-Dill districts.

Location

The market community of Weilmünster lies on the north slope of the Taunus

Taunus

The Taunus is a low mountain range in Hesse, Germany that composes part of the Rhenish Slate Mountains. It is bounded by the river valleys of Rhine, Main and Lahn. On the opposite side of the Rhine, the mountains are continued by the Hunsrück...

 in the Weil valley, the Weil being a tributary to the Lahn

Lahn

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 ....

. The nearest major cities are Wetzlar

Wetzlar

Wetzlar is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. Located at 8° 30′ E, 50° 34′ N, Wetzlar straddles the river Lahn and is on the German Timber-Framework Road which passes mile upon mile of half-timbered houses. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis on the north edge of...

 (20 km) to the northeast, 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....

 (25 km) to the west and Frankfurt am Main (50 km) to the southeast.

Neighbouring communities

Weilmünster borders in the north on the towns of Weilburg

Weilburg

Weilburg is, with just under 14,000 inhabitants, the third biggest town in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany, after Limburg an der Lahn and Bad Camberg.- Location :...

 (Limburg-Weilburg) and Braunfels

Braunfels

Braunfels is a town in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. It is located on the German Framework Road.- Location :The climatic spa of Braunfels lies at a height of some 100 m above the Lahn valley...

, in the east on the community of Waldsolms

Waldsolms

-Neighbouring communities:Waldsolms borders in the north on the town of Braunfels and the community of Schöffengrund , in the east on the community of Langgöns , in the southeast on the town of Butzbach , in the south on the community of Grävenwiesbach and in the west on the community of Weilmünster...

 (both in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis

Lahn-Dill-Kreis

Lahn-Dill is a Kreis in the west of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Siegen-Wittgenstein, Marburg-Biedenkopf, Gießen, Wetteraukreis, Hochtaunuskreis, Limburg-Weilburg, Westerwaldkreis.-History:...

), in the south on the communities of Grävenwiesbach

Grävenwiesbach

Grävenwiesbach is a municipality in the Hochtaunuskreis in Hesse, Germany.- Location :Grävenwiesbach lies between 300 and 600 m above sea level north of the Taunus Ridge...

, Weilrod

Weilrod

Weilrod is a municipality made up of several villages in the northwest Hochtaunuskreis lying in the Weil Valley in Hesse, Germany.-Location:Weilrod lies north of the crest of the Taunus, from 210 to 600 m above sea level...

 (both in the Hochtaunuskreis

Hochtaunuskreis

The Hochtaunuskreis is a Kreis in the middle of Hesse, Germany and is part of the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Neighbouring districts are Lahn-Dill, Wetteraukreis, district-free Frankfurt, Main-Taunus, Rheingau-Taunus, Limburg-Weilburg.The Hochtaunuskreis and the Landkreis Starnberg...

) and Selters and in the west on the communities of Villmar

Villmar

Villmar is a market town in the Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany. The community is the centre for quarrying and processing the so-called Lahn Marble.-Location:...

 and Weinbach

Weinbach

- Location :Weinbach lies on the Lahn and the Weil between Wetzlar and Limburg an der Lahn.- Neighbouring communities :Weinbach borders in the north on the town of Weilburg, in the east on the community of Weilmünster, and in the west on the community of Villmar and the town of Runkel .-...

 (all three in Limburg-Weilburg).

Constituent communities

Weilmünster’s main centre, also called Weilmünster, is the biggest of the constituent communities in this community of roughly 10,000 inhabitants, to which a further eleven centres belong. The other Ortsteile are named Audenschmiede, Aulenhausen, Dietenhausen, Ernsthausen, Essershausen, Laimbach, Langenbach, Laubuseschbach, Lützendorf, Möttau, Rohnstadt and Wolfenhausen. Until about 150 years ago, Heinzenberg, which now belongs to Grävenwiesbach, was also one of Weilmünster’s constituent communities.

History

In 1217, Weilmünster had its first documentary mention as Wilmunstre. It was, however, by this time already a sizeable village with its own church. History hints that the Fulda Monastery, which had holdings in the village, had this church built sometime in the 9th century. The church that stands today was built in the early 16th century, and its square defensive tower sometime around 1300. As of 1601, a regular market

Market

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...

 is known to have been being held in Weilmünster. The community belonged to Nassau

House of Nassau

The House of Nassau is a diversified aristocratic dynasty in Europe. It is named after the lordship associated with Nassau Castle, located in present-day Nassau, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The lords of Nassau were originally titled Count of Nassau, then elevated to the princely class as...

, and after the division of inheritance to Nassau-Weilburg. From 1806 it belonged to the Duchy of Nassau. In 1866 it passed to Prussia

Prussia

Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

, becoming part of the Province of Hesse-Nassau.

Industrialization began early. In the early 16th century there was an ironworks

Ironworks

An ironworks or iron works is a building or site where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and/or steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e...

 with a blast furnace

Blast furnace

A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron.In a blast furnace, fuel and ore and flux are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical reactions...

 in Weilmünster. Later came foundries

Foundry

A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...

 and other metalworking businesses. This industrial development, however, was short-lived. While the road through the Lahn valley was expanded and the Lahn was channelled, Weilmünster, which lay off these arteries, fell behind. The building of the Weilstraße (“Weil Road”) in 1860 came too late, and the railway only reached Weilmünster in 1908.

In 1421, there was a forest smithy

Smithy

Smithy may refer to:* Forge, also called a smithy, the workplace of a smith or a blacksmith* Smith , sometimes referred to as a smithy, a person involved in the shaping of metal objects...

 in Audenschmiede. It developed itself into a nationally important smithy that, in 1798 passed into the ownership of the Buderus firm when it was founded, and until 1930 it was one of the firm’s most important locations.

During Nazi Germany

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...

, the mentally ill

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,...

 and handicapped of the 1897 Landesheil- und Pflegeanstalt Weilmünster (State Medical and Care Facility) were forcibly sterilized

Compulsory sterilization

Compulsory sterilization also known as forced sterilization programs are government policies which attempt to force people to undergo surgical sterilization...

 and systematically underfed or killed with drug overdoses. From 1937 to 1945, more than 6,000 people died there, among them all Jewish patients. Preliminary proceedings against the facility’s staff for having taken part in the Nazi murder of the sick were suspended in 1953. The two synthetic oil plants at Lützendorf and Lützendorf-Mucheln were bombing targets of the Oil Campaign of World War II.

The old community of Weilmünster in the former district of the Oberlahnkreis was merged in the 1970s with other communities into the greater community of Weilmünster.

Of today’s constituent communities, Möttau had its first documentary mention in 802, Laubuseschbach in 897, Wolfenhausen in 1194, Essershausen in 1233, Lützendorf in 1234, Dietenhausen in 1301, Ernsthausen in 1309, Laimbach in 1344, Langenbach in 1335, Rohnstadt in 1355 and Aulenhausen in 1565.

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	41.2	13	40.5	13
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...	43.1	13	43.3	13
BL	Bürgerliste FWG-F.D.P.	15.7	5	10.9	3
GREENS	Bündnis 90/Die Grünen	–	–	5.2	2
Total		100.0	31	100.0	31
Voter turnout in %		48.4		56.9

Mayors

• Faust, Andreas 1835–1874
• Eppstein, Johann Christian 1867–1875, 1876–1880, 1880–1891
• Dienst, Philipp Friedrich 1891–1896
• Eppstein, Philipp 1896–1900
• Klein, Philipp Heinrich 1900–1926
• Müller, August 1926–1933
• Färber, August 1933–1941
• Weil, Hermann 1941–1945
• Weil, Albert 1945
• Metzler, Adolf 1945–1946
• Weil, Albert 1946–1948
• Weinbrenner, Friedrich 1948 (first deputy)
• Benz, Albert 1948–1951
• Dr. Kottek 1951–1952 (first deputy)
• Benz, Wilhelm 1952–1958
• Windmeier, Waldemar 1958–1988
• Pfeiffer, Klaus 1988–1994
• Heep, Manfred since 1994

Coat of arms

The community’s arms

Coat 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...

 in their current form were conferred on 1 July 1935 by the Chief President (Oberpräsident) of the Province of Hesse-Nassau and on 30 September 1983 they were confirmed by the Hessian Minister of the Interior. At the same time, through a separate document, the community of Weilmünster (Oberlahnkreis) was granted the right to bear the title Marktflecken (“Market Community”).

The church in the arms is modelled on the Weilmünster Evangelical

Evangelical Church in Germany

The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...

 church. The golden lion with the seven billets was the coat of arms borne by the former Duchy of Nassau. It is known that today’s arms were already borne shortly after 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....

 as an official seal.

Flag

The community’s flag has two coloured stripes in orange and blue, alternating at a point one third the way down the flag, which has the proportions 5:2. The point where the colours alternate is overlaid with the community’s coat of arms. The colours recall the colours flown by the former Duchy of Nassau.

Town partnerships

  Le Cheylard

Le Cheylard

Le Cheylard is a commune in the Ardèche department in southern France.-Population:-External links:*...

, Ardèche

Ardèche

Ardèche is a department in south-central France named after the Ardèche River.- History :The area has been inhabited by humans at least since the Upper Paleolithic, as attested by the famous cave paintings at Chauvet Pont d'Arc. The plateau of the Ardeche River has extensive standing stones ,...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 since 1963.

Since 1963 the market town Weilmünster is associated with the southern French municipality of Le Cheylard.
However, the first contacts between representatives of both municipalities go back till 1959.
At that time many towns and municipalities tried to make a contribution to the reconciliation with the former war opponent of France in which they closed partnerships with French municipalities. Weilmünster elected Le Cheylard in the north of the department Ardeche in the Central Massif. This provincial town is situated at the mouth of the Thorne in the Eyrieux, a tributary of the Rhone, about 60 km to the west of Valence.
After the union celebrations in 1963 a regular exchange of groups of schoolchildren took place. Choirs, sports teams and official delegations from both municipalities visited the respective twin town. The people get a look received insight into the normal life of the families of the country in the neighbourhood. This led to numerous private friendships between the families. Only this can protect the continuity of town twinning.
After more than 40 years of partnership, it only stays alive, the union was confirmed and renewed since 1963 first in 5/30/2003 in Le Cheylard and in 5/21/2004 in Weilmünster with big participation of the population in attractive ceremonies.
The official local committees can support and promote, but the partnership remains vividly only if many citizens are interested in our twin town in future.

Culture and sightseeing

• Old Nassau Amtshaus
• Evangelical
  Evangelical Church in Germany
  The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...
  
   church with Wehrturm (“Defence Tower”)
• 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
• "Kirbergturm" (lookout tower)

Transport

Weilmünster lies on Bundesstraße

Bundesstraße

Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...

456 on which Weilburg

Weilburg

Weilburg is, with just under 14,000 inhabitants, the third biggest town in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany, after Limburg an der Lahn and Bad Camberg.- Location :...

 and Bad Homburg vor der Höhe can be reached. The distance to Frankfurt Airport

Frankfurt Airport

Frankfurt Airport may refer to:Airports of Frankfurt, Germany:*Frankfurt Airport , the largest airport in Germany*Frankfurt Egelsbach Airport, a general aviation airport*Frankfurt-Hahn Airport , a converted U.S...

 is roughly 60 km.

The Weiltalbahn, the former railway line from Weilburg to Grävenwiesbach (and on to Frankfurt) led through Weilmünster. Besides the railway station itself, the resort institution had its own halt. Within the community, a spur branched off this line to Laubuseschbach.

Since then, all the tracks have been torn up without a trace, and the railway’s right-of-way has in great parts been used to build the Weil Valley Bicycle Path. The spur line, too, can now be used by hikers, cyclists or inline skaters. In Weilmünster, the last witnesses to the railway are the old station building and the walled-up tunnel portals. The stone arches of the viaduct stood until August 2007 when they had to give way to a road-widening project.

Within the framework of the reactivation of the Grävenwiesbach-Brandoberndorf railway line, a new connection to the rail network was considered for Weilmünster; however, there was no concrete followup to these plans.

Business

The Weilmünster Clinic is, with 680 staff, the greater community’s biggest employer. The second biggest is the car supplier Reum in Audenschmiede. There are many family businesses here. There are a roadbuilding company, a furniture shop and a great number of small businesses and handicraft enterprises. Weilmünster’s main centre supplies medical, shopping and school services, and it is also there that the community nursing station and the local history parlour can be found.

Education

Weilmünster is home to a primary school which serves as a “midpoint school”, a coöperative 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 with years 5 to 9. Students from Weilmünster attend higher schools in Weilburg

Weilburg

Weilburg is, with just under 14,000 inhabitants, the third biggest town in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany, after Limburg an der Lahn and Bad Camberg.- Location :...

.

Public institutions

• Weilmünster Volunteer Fire Brigade, founded 1910 (includes youth fire brigade)
• Aulenhausen Volunteer Fire Brigade, founded 1934 (includes youth fire brigade)
• Dietenhausen Volunteer Fire Brigade, founded 1934 (includes youth fire brigade)
• Ernsthausen Volunteer Fire Brigade, founded 1932 (includes youth fire brigade)
• Essershausen Volunteer Fire Brigade, founded 1934
• Laimbach Volunteer Fire Brigade, founded 1934 (includes youth fire brigade)
• Langenbach Volunteer Fire Brigade, founded 1934 (includes youth fire brigade)
• Laubuseschbach Volunteer Fire Brigade, founded 1934 (includes youth fire brigade)
• Rohnstadt Volunteer Fire Brigade, founded 1934 (includes youth fire brigade)
• Wolfenhausen Volunteer Fire Brigade, founded 1932 (includes youth fire brigade)

Regular events

Weilmünster has held market rights for more than 400 years and makes lively use of trade and market even today. People still flock to the community’s three yearly markets, the Frühlingsmarkt (“Spring Market”, held in March), the Bauernmarkt (“Farmers’ Market”) and the Martinimarkt.

Moreover, sporting events such as the Weiltal-Marathon in April, and the autofreie Weiltal (“carfree Weil valley”, held on a Sunday in August) keep drawing visitors to the community, as is also the case with the Weiltalweg and the new recreational vehicle campsite. Other events include:

• the Weiltal-Familien-Radtour (cycling tour) in collaboration with the Weilmünster Transport and Beautification Club, in June;
• the Apfellauf (“Apple Walk”) in collaboration with the Kelterei Heil (wine pressing workshop), in July;
• the Weinfest, also in July;
• Kirmes (with farmers’ market), in September;
• the Martinimarkt Weilmünster, in November.

Sons and daughters of the town

• Ernst Loew, Member of the Landtag and first Kreisbeigeordneter (“district deputy”)

Sources

• Erco von Dietze: Archiv Evangelische Kirchengemeinde Weilmünster I. 1565-1975. Findbuch. 1989
• Erco von Dietze: Archiv Evangelische Kirchengemeinde Weilmünster II. (Ernsthausen) 1766-1976. Findbuch. 1989

External links

• Weiltalweg