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Weimar (Lahn)
Encyclopedia
Weimar is a community in the south of Marburg-Biedenkopf district in Gießen administrative region, Hesse
, Germany
. The community's administrative seat is the centre of Niederweimar.
in the Lahn
valley and west with the Allna valley on into the Gladenbach Highland and comprises an area of about 47 km². Other than Marburg, the community also borders on Ebsdorfergrund
to the east, on Fronhausen
to the south, on Lohra
to the southwest, and in the far west on the town of Gladenbach
.
word (holy, sanctified) and the Old High German word (lake, swamp or moor) put together.
Allna had its first documentary mention as early as 807 and is thereby the earliest named centre in the community. Alongside this, however, Kehna, Oberweimar and Niederweimar, simply from their names, are said to be the oldest centres in the municipal area. The founding of the Martinskirche (church) in Oberweimar is assumed to have happened before Saint Boniface
's time, namely about 600, in the time when Irish
-Scottish
monk
s were undertaking missionary
work in the area.
Over the last few years, as the gravel
quarry
at Niederweimar has been expanded, great Neolithic
settlements have been found, which have since been kept in protective pits.
_-_ortsteile.jpg)
Before the current community was founded, the places within it belonged to court regions (Gerichtsbezirke) which also had administrative functions. Allna, Oberweimar, Weiershausen, Kehna, Nesselbrunn, Niederwalgern and Wolfshausen belonged to the Gericht Reizberg. The Reizberg court itself was built on a mountain lying near Oberweimar. Argenstein, Wenkbach and Roth were grouped into the Gericht Schenkisch Eigen of the Schenken (≈stewards) of Schweinsberg. Stedebach was under the Teutonic Knights
' ownership while Niederweimar was a landgrave
's personal court region (Eigengericht).
church), Niederweimar (Weimar Lake) and Oberweimar (Evangelical
church). On 1 July 1972, after much drawn-out procedural business, Roth (renovated synagogue
), Weiershausen and Wenkbach
(Evangelical Wehrkirche – a church built to look like a fort – and Catholic church) joined the community. As a result of Hesse's municipal reforms on 1 July 1974, the community was enlarged by having Argenstein (mill
), Kehna (court ensemble), Nesselbrunn, Niederwalgern (Wehrkirche), Stedebach and Wolfshausen added to it.
_2006.png)
might be described thus: Party per pale gules and argent, a rose counterchanged. The arms were bestowed on Weimar twice, on 25 January 1971 and again on 2 July 1975. The rose was chosen to stand for the community's flourishing.http://www.ngw.nl/int/dld/w/weimarl.htm
Among other buildings in the community worth seeing are the "fortress church" in Wenkbach
and churches in Niederweimar, Niederwalgern, Allna and Roth. The watermill
in Argenstein and the synagogue
in Roth are also worth a visit, as are the half-timbered
houses to be found in some centres.
s, there are all kinds of music clubs in Weimar, even a trombone
choir and the Wenkbach civic and cultural club's orchestra
.
, the clubs from Niederwalgern, Wenkbach, Roth and Argenstein form an association and compete as FSG Südkreis. The TSV (Turn- und Sportverein, that is, gymnastic and sport club) Niederweimar has its own team. Other sports have clubs, too: tennis
is offered, for example, at SG Niederwalgern/Wenkbach as well as at TV Weimar in Wolfshausen. Table tennis
can be played in, among other places, in Wenkbach in the department specially set up for it at the civic and cultural club.
und Pauly are located there. Scattered throughout the other centres are further businesses, mostly small and in handicrafts.
, which has still not been built into a four-lane highway, and Bundesstraße 255 going towards Gladenbach
and Herborn
. In Niederwalgern and Niederweimar are found stops on the Main-Weser Railway
between Kassel
and Frankfurt am Main at which stop regional and regional express trains (the latter only in Niederwalgern). Various bus
lines join the community's several centres together and to neighbouring communities.
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 community's administrative seat is the centre of Niederweimar.
Geography
The municipal area stretches south from MarburgMarburg
Marburg is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany, on the River Lahn. It is the main town of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district and its population, as of March 2010, was 79,911.- Founding and early history :...
in 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 ....
valley and west with the Allna valley on into the Gladenbach Highland and comprises an area of about 47 km². Other than Marburg, the community also borders on Ebsdorfergrund
Ebsdorfergrund
Ebsdorfergrund is a community consisting of 11 villages in the southeast of Marburg-Biedenkopf district in Hesse, Germany.The community's municipal area extends over the Ebsdorfer Grund in the valley of the Zwester Ohm and the areas around its edges, connecting the Amöneburg Basin with the middle...
to the east, on Fronhausen
Fronhausen
Fronhausen is a community in the south of Marburg-Biedenkopf district in the administrative region of Gießen in Hessen, Germany.The municipal area stretches along the district's southern boundary in the Lahn valley and its environs between Marburg and Gießen, and borders in the north on the...
to the south, on Lohra
Lohra
Lohra is a community in Marburg-Biedenkopf district in the administrative region of Gießen in Hesse, Germany.-Geography:Lohra's municipal area, measuring 49 km², stretches across the middle Salzböde valley and the Versgrund...
to the southwest, and in the far west on the town of Gladenbach
Gladenbach
-Location:The town of Gladenbach lies on the eastern edge of the Westerwald in the Hessian Highland . This part of the Lahn-Dill Highland is often also called the Gladenbach Uplands...
.
History
The name Weimar is believed to come from the Old GermanicGermanic 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...
word (holy, sanctified) and the Old High German word (lake, swamp or moor) put together.
Allna had its first documentary mention as early as 807 and is thereby the earliest named centre in the community. Alongside this, however, Kehna, Oberweimar and Niederweimar, simply from their names, are said to be the oldest centres in the municipal area. The founding of the Martinskirche (church) in Oberweimar is assumed to have happened before Saint Boniface
Saint Boniface
Saint Boniface , the Apostle of the Germans, born Winfrid, Wynfrith, or Wynfryth in the kingdom of Wessex, probably at Crediton , was a missionary who propagated Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century. He is the patron saint of Germany and the first archbishop of Mainz...
's time, namely about 600, in the time when Irish
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...
-Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
s were undertaking missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
work in the area.
Over the last few years, as the gravel
Gravel
Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...
quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
at Niederweimar has been expanded, great Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
settlements have been found, which have since been kept in protective pits.
Earlier divisions
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
' ownership while Niederweimar was a landgrave
Landgrave
Landgrave was a title used in the Holy Roman Empire and later on by its former territories. The title refers to a count who had feudal duty directly to the Holy Roman Emperor...
's personal court region (Eigengericht).
Greater Weimar community
At its founding on 1 January 1971, the community of Weimar consisted of Allna (half-timberedTimber 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...
church), Niederweimar (Weimar Lake) and Oberweimar (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). On 1 July 1972, after much drawn-out procedural business, Roth (renovated 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...
), Weiershausen and Wenkbach
Wenkbach
Wenkbach is a village in Hesse, Germany and part of the municipality of Weimar . It is situated 10 km south of Marburg and 20 km north of Gießen. Wenkbach has about 680 inhabitants....
(Evangelical Wehrkirche – a church built to look like a fort – and Catholic church) joined the community. As a result of Hesse's municipal reforms on 1 July 1974, the community was enlarged by having Argenstein (mill
Mill (grinding)
A grinding mill is a unit operation designed to break a solid material into smaller pieces. There are many different types of grinding mills and many types of materials processed in them. Historically mills were powered by hand , working animal , wind or water...
), Kehna (court ensemble), Nesselbrunn, Niederwalgern (Wehrkirche), Stedebach and Wolfshausen added to it.
Municipal council
| Parties and voter coalitions | Share in % | Seats | |
| CDU | Christian Democratic Union Christian Democratic Union (Germany) The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum... |
35.2 | 11 |
| 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... |
35.0 | 11 |
| FBW | Freie Bürgerliste Weimar (citizens' coalition) | 14.6 | 4 |
| Greens | Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir... |
8.6 | 3 |
| FDP | Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party (Germany) The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government... |
6.6 | 2 |
| total | 100 | 31 | |
Mayor
Since 2004, Weimar's mayor has been Volker Muth (SPD). He beat Karl Krantz (CDU) who had held the office since the greater community was founded.Coat of arms
The community's coat of 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...
might be described thus: Party per pale gules and argent, a rose counterchanged. The arms were bestowed on Weimar twice, on 25 January 1971 and again on 2 July 1975. The rose was chosen to stand for the community's flourishing.http://www.ngw.nl/int/dld/w/weimarl.htm
Buildings
Wenkbach
Wenkbach is a village in Hesse, Germany and part of the municipality of Weimar . It is situated 10 km south of Marburg and 20 km north of Gießen. Wenkbach has about 680 inhabitants....
and churches in Niederweimar, Niederwalgern, Allna and Roth. The watermill
Watermill
A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...
in Argenstein and 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...
in Roth are also worth a visit, as are the half-timbered
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 to be found in some centres.
Music
Various clubs in the constituent communities offer a range of different kinds of music. As well as several singing clubs and choirChoir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
s, there are all kinds of music clubs in Weimar, even a trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
choir and the Wenkbach civic and cultural club's orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
.
Sport
The community's biggest sport clubs are the SG Niederwalgern/Wenkbach, the SC Roth/Argenstein and the TSV Niederweimar. In footballFootball (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
, the clubs from Niederwalgern, Wenkbach, Roth and Argenstein form an association and compete as FSG Südkreis. The TSV (Turn- und Sportverein, that is, gymnastic and sport club) Niederweimar has its own team. Other sports have clubs, too: tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
is offered, for example, at SG Niederwalgern/Wenkbach as well as at TV Weimar in Wolfshausen. Table tennis
Table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...
can be played in, among other places, in Wenkbach in the department specially set up for it at the civic and cultural club.
Economy
The community's biggest industrial park is found in the southern end of Wenkbach. The firms YKKYKK
YKK may refer to:* Kitkatla Water Aerodrome , Kitkatla, British Columbia, Canada* YKK Group, a Japanese group of manufacturing companies, notably zippers* Yekîtîya Komunîstên Kurdistan, a former Kurdish communist group in Turkey...
und Pauly are located there. Scattered throughout the other centres are further businesses, mostly small and in handicrafts.
Transport
Through the community run two Federal Highways, Bundesstraße 3 from Marburg to GießenGießen
Gießen, also spelt Giessen is a town in the German federal state of Hesse, capital of both the district of Gießen and the administrative region of Gießen...
, which has still not been built into a four-lane highway, and Bundesstraße 255 going towards Gladenbach
Gladenbach
-Location:The town of Gladenbach lies on the eastern edge of the Westerwald in the Hessian Highland . This part of the Lahn-Dill Highland is often also called the Gladenbach Uplands...
and Herborn
Herborn
Herborn is a historic town on the Dill in the Lahn-Dill district of Hesse in Germany. Before World War I, it was granted its own title as Nassauisches Rothenburg. The symbol or mascot of this town is a bear. Scenic attractions include its half-timbered houses; Herborn is located on the German...
. In Niederwalgern and Niederweimar are found stops on the Main-Weser Railway
Main-Weser Railway
The Main-Weser Railway is the railway line in central Germany that runs from Frankfurt am Main via Gießen to Kassel and named after the railway company that built the line and also operated it until 1880. It was opened between 1849 and 1852 and was one of the first railways in Germany.- Route...
between Kassel
Kassel
Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...
and Frankfurt am Main at which stop regional and regional express trains (the latter only in Niederwalgern). Various bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
lines join the community's several centres together and to neighbouring communities.
Leisure
Smaller facilities such as playgrounds can be found in most of the constituent communities, but the only facility well known outside the region is the Seepark ("lake park"), offering a lake with swimming and a recreational area.Famous inhabitants
- Walter SchlesingerWalter SchlesingerWalter Schlesinger was a German historian of medieval social and economic institutions, particularly the history of power and the nobility, colonization and settlement of the Slavic frontiers and urban development...
(1908-1984) - famous historianHistorianA historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, lived and died in Wolfshausen - Dirk Wolf (1972- ) - footballer, formerly with, among others, Eintracht FrankfurtEintracht FrankfurtEintracht Frankfurt is a German sports club, based in Frankfurt, Hesse that is best known for its association football club.- Club origins :...
, grew up in Argenstein