Driedorf
Encyclopedia
Location
Driedorf lies from 416 to 642 m above sea levelSea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
on a tableland in the high 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...
.
Mademühlen
Mademühlen has about 1000 inhabitants and lies in the "Hessischer Westerwald" protected area and in the EuropeanEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
protected area network Natura 2000
Natura 2000
Natura 2000 is an ecological network of protected areas in the territory of the European Union.-Origins:In May 1992, the governments of the European Communities adopted legislation designed to protect the most seriously threatened habitats and species across Europe. This legislation is called the...
. It is on the upper reaches of the Rehbach, between two reservoirs.
Münchhausen
Münchhausen is the first village on the Ulmbach and is blessed with extensive woodlands, which afforded prosperity in earlier times.Neighbouring communities
Driedorf borders in the north on the community of BreitscheidBreitscheid (Hesse)
-Location:Breitscheid lies from 266 to 600 m above sea level on the eastern slope of the Westerwald range at the point shared by three German states: Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia....
, in the east on the town of 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 the south on the community of Greifenstein
Greifenstein
Greifenstein is a community in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. Its administrative seat is Beilstein. Greifenstein covers 67.43 km² on the eastern slope of the Westerwald range...
(all in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis), and in the west on the communities of Oberrod
Oberrod
Oberrod is an Ortsgemeinde – a community belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.-Location:...
, Rehe, Homberg, Waigandshain
Waigandshain
Waigandshain is an Ortsgemeinde – a community belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.-Location:...
, Nister-Möhrendorf
Nister-Möhrendorf
Nister-Möhrendorf is an Ortsgemeinde – a community belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.-Location:...
and Willingen (all 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
Besides the namesake centre, there are eight other centres in Driedorf named Mademühlen, Roth, Waldaubach, Münchhausen, Hohenroth, Heisterberg, Heiligenborn and Seilhofen.History
Driedorf had its first documentary mention in 1124.The greater community of Driedorf came into being in three stages as part of Hesse's municipal reforms in the 1970s. On 1 October 1971, the communities of Driedorf, Heisterberg, Hohenroth, and Heiligenborn united, and three months later, on 1 January 1972, Münchhausen followed. Five years to the day later, on 1 January 1977, Seilhofen, Waldaubach, Mademühlen and Roth were amalgamated with Driedorf by state law.
Mademühlen
This village's namesake was a row of mills (Mühlen = "mills" in GermanGerman 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....
) that for centuries stood along the upper reaches of the Rehbach. About 1800, it had a special mention in a description as being a rich farming village. The local poet Adolf Weiß (1861–1938) was from Mademühlen, and a memorial to him may still be visited today.
Münchhausen
The name Münchhausen makes it clear that it was founded by monks (Mönche = "monk" in German). Up until the beginning of the last century, in the church's eyes at least, it consisted of two places separated from each other by the Ulmbach. In 1989, Münchhausen celebrated 750 years of existence.Mayors
Friedhelm Kessler, who had been mayor of Driedorf before amalgamation, became the first mayor of the greater community, and held the office from 1977 to 1995. Since 1 January 1996, Wolfgang Schuster has been the mayor, and was reëlected in 2001 to a further six-year term.Municipal council
The municipal elections on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results:| SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany... |
13 seats |
| CDU 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... |
13 seats |
| FWG | 5 seats |
Note: FWG is a citizens' coalition.
Economy and infrastructure
For a few years, the Westerwald's wind has been being used to generate electricityElectricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
. Driedorf has 17 windfarm
WindFarm
WindFarm is wind energy software used to analyse, design, optimise and visualise wind farms. It calculates and optimises the energy yield subject to natural, planning and engineering constraints. WindFarm has the wind modelling software MS-Micro integrated. MS-Micro is based on the same...
s, 6 in Mademühlen, and the others distributed among the other centres which all together generate 13 GWh, amounting to 40% of the community's needs. Wind energy
Wind energy
Wind energy is the kinetic energy of air in motion; see also wind power.Total wind energy flowing through an imaginary area A during the time t is:E = ½ m v2 = ½ v 2...
has reduced the yearly CO2
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
output by about 7 000 t. The community, however, does not wish for any further windfarms.
Sightseeing
There are two lakes in Driedorf, the Stausee Driedorf, a man-made lake for flood control and hydroelectricHydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
generation between Driedorf (main town) and Mademühlen, and the Heisterberger Weiher just outside Heisterberg to the southeast. Also nearby is the Krombach Reservoir, also used for flood control and hydroelectric generation, which straddles the Hesse-Rhineland-Palatinate border.
Noteworthy is the 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 the Rehbach in Mademühlen. Built in the 11th century, it is Driedorf's oldest building.