Hünfelden
Encyclopedia
Hünfelden is a community in Limburg-Weilburg
district in Hesse
, Germany
. Hünfelden lies on the Hühnerstraße, an historic part of Bundesstraße
417.
north of Wiesbaden
, 9 km southeast of Limburg an der Lahn
.
and the community of Brechen
, in the east on the community of Selters and the town of Bad Camberg
(all in Limburg-Weilburg), in the south on the communities of Hünstetten
and Aarbergen
(both in Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis
), and in the west on the Verbandsgemeinde
n (a kind of collective municipality) of Hahnstätten
and Diez
(both in Rhein-Lahn-Kreis
in Rhineland-Palatinate
).
– Hünengräber in German
– from Hallstatt times
around the centres of Heringen and Ohren. At the time of founding, the community’s population was 6,952.
Among Hünfelden’s constituent communities, Mensfelden can claim the earliest documentary mention, which came in 775. Dauborn, Heringen and the now long-vanished village of Bubenheim, which lay in the area of today’s Kirberg, followed in 790 in the Prüm Abbey
’s golden book. Through Hünfelden’s current municipal area ran the Via Publica as well as the Hühnerstraße (roads). In 1355, a castle
was built in Kirberg.
In 1235, the Cistercian convent of Gnadenthal was founded, which in 1590 was furnished with a great Abbess’s house. After the Reformation
, the site became Nassau stately domain. Since 1969, the Christian
community “Jesusbruderschaft” (“Jesus Brotherhood”) has existed there.
and Limburg an der Lahn
(Bundesstraße 417) as well as with the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region over A 3 (Cologne
–Frankfurt) through the Limburg-Süd and Bad Camberg interchange
s. At the same time, though, it has kept a very quiet and rural character.
and Realschule
with a Gymnasium
branch.
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...
. Hünfelden lies on the Hühnerstraße, an historic part of Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
417.
Location
Hünfelden lies in the TaunusTaunus
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...
north of 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...
, 9 km southeast of Limburg an der Lahn
Limburg an der Lahn
Limburg an der Lahn is the district seat of Limburg-Weilburg in Hesse, Germany.-Location:Limburg lies in western Hesse between the Taunus and the Westerwald on the river Lahn....
.
Neighbouring communities
Hünfelden borders in the north on the town 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....
and the community of Brechen
Brechen
-Location:Brechen lies in the southeastern part of the Limburg Basin between the Taunus and the Westerwald. The sparsely wooded land of loess hills is crossed here from southeast to northwest by the Emsbach, which is fed near Niederbrechen by the Wörsbach and drains the area down to the Lahn...
, in the east on the community of Selters and the town of Bad Camberg
Bad Camberg
Bad Camberg is, with 15,000 inhabitants, the second biggest town in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany, as well as the southernmost town in the Regierungsbezirk of Gießen...
(all in Limburg-Weilburg), in the south on the communities of Hünstetten
Hünstetten
Hünstetten is a community in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany.-Location:Hünstetten lies in the Taunus north of the main ridge between Limburg and the state capital Wiesbaden.-Neighbouring communities:...
and Aarbergen
Aarbergen
Aarbergen is a community in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany.- Location :Aarbergen lies on the river Aar south of Limburg an der Lahn and between the Taunus ridge and the river Lahn in the Lower Taunus, or western Hintertaunus .The community is found...
(both in Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis
Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis
Rheingau-Taunus is a Kreis in the west of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Limburg-Weilburg, Hochtaunuskreis, Main-Taunus, district-free Wiesbaden, Mainz-Bingen, Rhein-Lahn.-Geography:...
), and in the west on the Verbandsgemeinde
Verbandsgemeinde
A Verbandsgemeinde is an administrative unit in the German Bundesländer of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt.-Rhineland-Palatinate:...
n (a kind of collective municipality) of Hahnstätten
Hahnstätten (Verbandsgemeinde)
Hahnstätten is a Verbandsgemeinde in the Rhein-Lahn-Kreis, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Its seat is in Hahnstätten.The Verbandsgemeinde Hahnstätten consists of the following Ortsgemeinden :...
and Diez
Diez (Verbandsgemeinde)
Diez is a Verbandsgemeinde in the Rhein-Lahn-Kreis, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Its seat is in Diez.The Verbandsgemeinde Diez consists of the following Ortsgemeinden :...
(both in Rhein-Lahn-Kreis
Rhein-Lahn-Kreis
Rhein-Lahn is a district in the east of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are Westerwaldkreis, Limburg-Weilburg, Rheingau-Taunus, Mainz-Bingen, Rhein-Hunsrück, Mayen-Koblenz, and the district-free city Koblenz.-History:With the Congress of Vienna the area was added to the duchy...
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 community consists of seven Ortsteile, each formerly autonomous, listed here with population figures as at 1 January 2008.- Kirberg: 2394
- Dauborn: 2764
- Mensfelden: 1339
- Heringen: 1055
- Nauheim: 997
- Ohren: 811
- Neesbach: 805
History
The community of Hünfelden came into being within the framework of administrative reform in Hesse on 1 October 1971 through the voluntary merger of the then autonomous communities of Dauborn, Heringen, Kirberg, Mensfelden, Nauheim, Neesbach and Ohren. The name “Hünfelden” was chosen then because of the great number of cromlechsDolmen
A dolmen—also known as a portal tomb, portal grave, dolmain , cromlech , anta , Hünengrab/Hünenbett , Adamra , Ispun , Hunebed , dös , goindol or quoit—is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of...
– Hünengräber 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....
– from Hallstatt times
Hallstatt culture
The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Central European culture from the 8th to 6th centuries BC , developing out of the Urnfield culture of the 12th century BC and followed in much of Central Europe by the La Tène culture.By the 6th century BC, the Hallstatt culture extended for some...
around the centres of Heringen and Ohren. At the time of founding, the community’s population was 6,952.
Among Hünfelden’s constituent communities, Mensfelden can claim the earliest documentary mention, which came in 775. Dauborn, Heringen and the now long-vanished village of Bubenheim, which lay in the area of today’s Kirberg, followed in 790 in the Prüm Abbey
Prüm Abbey
Prüm Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey in Prüm/Lorraine, now in the diocese of Trier , founded by a Frankish widow Bertrada, and her son Charibert, count of Laon, on 23 June 720. The first abbot was Angloardus....
’s golden book. Through Hünfelden’s current municipal area ran the Via Publica as well as the Hühnerstraße (roads). In 1355, a 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...
was built in Kirberg.
In 1235, the Cistercian convent of Gnadenthal was founded, which in 1590 was furnished with a great Abbess’s house. After the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
, the site became Nassau stately domain. Since 1969, the Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
community “Jesusbruderschaft” (“Jesus Brotherhood”) has existed there.
Community council
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 | 40.5 | 15 | 35.9 | 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... |
40.8 | 15 | 39.5 | 15 |
| 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... |
2.5 | 1 | 1.6 | 1 |
| FBH | Freie Bürgerliste Hünfelden | 16.1 | 6 | 19.9 | 7 |
| GRÜNE | Bündnis 90/Die Grünen | – | – | 3.1 | 1 |
| Total | 100.0 | 37 | 100.0 | 37 | |
| voter turnout in % | 45.6 | 51.4 | |||
Buildings
- Kirberg castle ruins
- Restored timber-frameTimber framingTimber 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 and former town hall in Kirberg - Stein’sches Haus in Kirberg
- Former Gnadenthal convent
Transport
Hünfelden has developed itself into a popular residential community, as it has at its disposal good transport connections with WiesbadenWiesbaden
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...
and Limburg an der Lahn
Limburg an der Lahn
Limburg an der Lahn is the district seat of Limburg-Weilburg in Hesse, Germany.-Location:Limburg lies in western Hesse between the Taunus and the Westerwald on the river Lahn....
(Bundesstraße 417) as well as with the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region over A 3 (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...
–Frankfurt) through the Limburg-Süd and Bad Camberg interchange
Interchange (road)
In the field of road transport, an interchange is a road junction that typically uses grade separation, and one or more ramps, to permit traffic on at least one highway to pass through the junction without directly crossing any other traffic stream. It differs from a standard intersection, at which...
s. At the same time, though, it has kept a very quiet and rural character.
Education
The Freiherr-vom-Stein-Schule is a primary school, HauptschuleHauptschule
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...
and 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...
with 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...
branch.
Public institutions
- KindergartenKindergartenA kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
Kirberg - Kindergarten Dauborn
- Kindergarten Heringen
- Kindergarten Mensfelden
- Kindergarten Nauheim
- Kindergarten Neesbach
- Kindergarten Ohren
- Kirberg Volunteer Fire Brigade, founded 1905 (includes Youth Fire Brigade)
- Dauborn Volunteer Fire Brigade, founded 1906 (includes Youth Fire Brigade)
- Heringen Volunteer Fire Brigade, founded 1909 (includes Youth Fire Brigade)
- Mensfelden Volunteer Fire Brigade, founded 1935 (includes Youth Fire Brigade)
- Nauheim Volunteer Fire Brigade, founded 1934 (includes Youth Fire Brigade)
- Neesbach Volunteer Fire Brigade, founded 1934 (includes Youth Fire Brigade)
- Ohren Volunteer Fire Brigade, founded 1934 (includes Youth Fire Brigade)
Famous people
- Wilhelm Bender, Chairman of the board of FraportFraportFraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide is a German transport company which operates the Frankfurt International Airport serving Frankfurt am Main and holds interests in the operation of several other airports around the world. In the past the firm also managed the smaller Frankfurt-Hahn...
AG - Frank Gerhardt, composer (b. 1967)
- Andreas Felger, painter (b. 1935)
- Hildegard Pfaff, (b. 1952), Hessian politician (SPD)
- Karlheinz Weimar (b. 1950), since 1999 Hessian Finance Minister