Neuwied
Encyclopedia
Neuwied is a town in the north of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate
, capital of the District of Neuwied
. Neuwied lies on the right bank of the Rhine, 12 km northwest of Koblenz
, on the railway from Frankfurt am Main to Cologne
. The town has 13 suburban administrative districts: Heimbach-Weis, Gladbach, Engers
, Oberbieber, Niederbieber, Torney, Segendorf, Altwied, Block, Irlich, Feldkirchen, Heddesdorf, and Rodenbach. The largest is Heimbach-Weis, with approximately 8000 inhabitants.
Founded by Count Frederick of Wied
in 1653, Neuwied was located near the village of Langendorf, destroyed during the Thirty Years' War
(1618–1648). It grew rapidly due to its religious toleration. Among those who sought refuge here was a colony of Moravian Brethren.
Near Neuwied, one of the largest Roman castra
on the Rhine has been excavated by archeologists.
In April 1797 the French
, under General Louis Lazare Hoche, defeated the Austria
ns near Neuwied, this being their first decisive success in the French Revolutionary Wars
.
Neuwied is the native town of paternal ancestors of John D. Rockefeller
, traced to the 16th century and possible French Huguenot
refugees. His father's line emigrated to the North American colonies, arriving in New York in 1710, the year of a massive immigration of nearly 2800 Palatine Germans, whose transportation of refugees from London was paid by Queen Anne
's government of England. Neuwied was also the birth town of William of Wied, who briefly held the title of King of Albania
in 1914.
The core of Neuwied and the former village of Heddesdorf, which belonged to the municipality before these districts were added, are not listed as districts themselves.
Since the inner city of Neuwied is situated on a former bed of the river Rhine, it is at great risk of flooding. It is one of very few towns in the region protected by anti-flood levees, a source of friction with communities downstream.
Neuwied is twinned with the London Borough of Bromley
.
(22), SPD
(17), FWG
(4), Grüne
(3), FDP (2). The mayor of Neuwied is the social democrat Nicolaus Roth.
By 1970 the figure had grown to 31,400 and following a major realignment incorporating several communities within the town, it jumped to 63,000.
As of June 30, 2005 there were officially 66,455 people living in Neuwied.
Neuwied is connected to the German network of Bundesstraße
n (national routes) (here: B9, B42 and B256). The Autobahnen (motorways) A3, A48 and A61 are quickly reachable from Neuwied.
in the south and Cologne central station
in the north. Via either of those stations, the German high speed rail
network and the InterCity network are accessible. Daytime service includes
It takes about 15 to 20 minutes to travel to Koblenz while Cologne is about 70 to 80 minutes away, Mainz
90 to 120 minutes, direct connection to Frankfurt is around 150 minutes, sometimes faster when changing to the IC/ICE network.
Public transport
within Neuwied relies on a bus network, offering (depending on line) 20, 30 or 60 minute schedules, the majority of lines are served by Transdev
.
All public transport (road and rail) is integrated into the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Mosel public transport association. Tickets are valid for all service, restricted by time and fare zones. For more information on timetables see http://www.vrminfo.de.
with: Bromley
, United Kingdom
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 ....
, capital of the District of Neuwied
Neuwied (district)
Neuwied is a district in the north of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are Rhein-Sieg, Altenkirchen, Westerwaldkreis, Mayen-Koblenz, Ahrweiler.-History:...
. Neuwied lies on the right bank of the Rhine, 12 km northwest of 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...
, on the railway from Frankfurt am Main to 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...
. The town has 13 suburban administrative districts: Heimbach-Weis, Gladbach, Engers
Engers
Engers is an district of Neuwied on the right banks of the river Rhine in Germany located next to Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinate.Engers has 5,367 inhabitants. It is highwater-endangered by its direct contact with the river Rhine.- City history :...
, Oberbieber, Niederbieber, Torney, Segendorf, Altwied, Block, Irlich, Feldkirchen, Heddesdorf, and Rodenbach. The largest is Heimbach-Weis, with approximately 8000 inhabitants.
Founded by Count Frederick of Wied
Wied
Wied was a County of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, located on the river Wied where it meets the Rhine. Wied emerged as a County earlier than many other German states. From 1243–1462, Wied was united with an Isenburgian County as Isenburg-Wied. Wied was partitioned twice: between itself and...
in 1653, Neuwied was located near the village of Langendorf, destroyed during 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....
(1618–1648). It grew rapidly due to its religious toleration. Among those who sought refuge here was a colony of Moravian Brethren.
Near Neuwied, one of the largest Roman castra
Castra
The Latin word castra, with its singular castrum, was used by the ancient Romans to mean buildings or plots of land reserved to or constructed for use as a military defensive position. The word appears in both Oscan and Umbrian as well as in Latin. It may have descended from Indo-European to Italic...
on the Rhine has been excavated by archeologists.
In April 1797 the French
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...
, under General Louis Lazare Hoche, defeated the Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
ns near Neuwied, this being their first decisive success in the French Revolutionary Wars
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
.
Neuwied is the native town of paternal ancestors of John D. Rockefeller
John D. Rockefeller
John Davison Rockefeller was an American oil industrialist, investor, and philanthropist. He was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, which dominated the oil industry and was the first great U.S. business trust. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of...
, traced to the 16th century and possible French Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
refugees. His father's line emigrated to the North American colonies, arriving in New York in 1710, the year of a massive immigration of nearly 2800 Palatine Germans, whose transportation of refugees from London was paid by Queen Anne
Anne
Anne, alternatively spelled Ane or Ann is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah or Hanani, meaning 'He [= God] has favoured me', the name of the mother of the prophet Samuel. Anne is a common name in France.It is sometimes used as a male...
's government of England. Neuwied was also the birth town of William of Wied, who briefly held the title of King of Albania
King of Albania
While the medieval Angevin Kingdom of Albania was a monarchy, it did not encompass the entirety of the modern state of Albania. The latter has been a kingdom on two occasions. The first time was after it was declared independent in 1912...
in 1914.
Geography
Parts of the 86,5 square kilometre area are divided into the suburban districts of:- Altwied
- Block
- EngersEngersEngers is an district of Neuwied on the right banks of the river Rhine in Germany located next to Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinate.Engers has 5,367 inhabitants. It is highwater-endangered by its direct contact with the river Rhine.- City history :...
- Feldkirchen
- Gladbach
- Heimbach-Weis
- Irlich
- Niederbieber
- Oberbieber
- Rodenbach
- Segendorf
- Torney
The core of Neuwied and the former village of Heddesdorf, which belonged to the municipality before these districts were added, are not listed as districts themselves.
Since the inner city of Neuwied is situated on a former bed of the river Rhine, it is at great risk of flooding. It is one of very few towns in the region protected by anti-flood levees, a source of friction with communities downstream.
Neuwied is twinned with the London Borough of Bromley
Bromley
Bromley is a large suburban town in south east London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Bromley. It was historically a market town, and prior to 1963 was in the county of Kent and formed the administrative centre of the Municipal Borough of Bromley...
.
Politics
The June 2004 municipal council elections led to the following distribution of seats: CDUChristian 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...
(22), SPD
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
(17), FWG
Free Voters
Free Voters is a German concept in which an association of persons participates in an election without having the status of a registered political party. Usually it is a locally organized group of voters in the form of a registered association . In most cases, Free Voters are active only at the...
(4), Grüne
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...
(3), FDP (2). The mayor of Neuwied is the social democrat Nicolaus Roth.
Population
Originally there were only a few thousand people living in Neuwied with the number not growing significantly because of wars and famines. With the industrialization in the 19th century the number of inhabitants increased from 5,600 in 1831 to 18,000 in 1905.By 1970 the figure had grown to 31,400 and following a major realignment incorporating several communities within the town, it jumped to 63,000.
As of June 30, 2005 there were officially 66,455 people living in Neuwied.
Infrastructure
Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
n (national routes) (here: B9, B42 and B256). The Autobahnen (motorways) A3, A48 and A61 are quickly reachable from Neuwied.
Public Transport
Within the bounds of Neuwied are two railway stations, Neuwied and Engers on the Right Rhine line, and a third station is under consideration by the state agency for northern commuter railway services (SPNV Nord), which is responsible for the service on the railway lines connecting to Koblenz central stationKoblenz Hauptbahnhof
is the Hauptbahnhof for the city of Koblenz in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is the focal point of rail transport in the Rhine-Moselle-Lahn area. It is a through station in southern Koblenz built below Fort Großfürst Konstantin and opened in 1902 in the Neustadt , which was built...
in the south and Cologne central station
Köln Hauptbahnhof
Köln Hauptbahnhof is the central railway station in Cologne, Germany.The station is an important local, national and international hub, with many ICE, Thalys and Intercity trains calling there, as well as regional RegionalExpress, RegionalBahn and local S-Bahn trains...
in the north. Via either of those stations, the German high speed rail
High-speed rail in Germany
Construction on the first German high-speed lines began shortly after that of the French LGVs . Legal battles caused significant delays, so that the InterCityExpress trains were deployed ten years after the TGV network was established...
network and the InterCity network are accessible. Daytime service includes
- a Deutsche BahnDeutsche BahnDeutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
hourly semi-fast train (RegionalExpressRegionalExpressThe term Regional-Express denotes a type of regional train in Germany and Austria .It is best compared to a semi-fast train, as it calls at fewer stations than Regionalbahn or S-Bahn trains, but stops more often than InterCity services...
) Koblenz-Engers-Neuwied-Cologne-MönchengladbachMönchengladbachMönchengladbach , formerly known as Münchengladbach, is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located west of the Rhine half way between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border....
and back, - and a Deutsche BahnDeutsche BahnDeutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
hourly all-stops service (RegionalBahnRegionalBahnThe Regionalbahn is a type of local passenger train in Germany.-Service:Regionalbahn trains usually call at all stations on a given line, with the exception of RB trains within S-Bahn networks, these may only call at selected stations...
) Koblenz-Neuwied-Cologne-StommelnStommelnStommeln is a village in the north-west of Cologne, Germany. It has got over 8000 inhabitants.- Geography :Stommeln is part of the Town of Pulheim. Its most recognisable feature is the old mill.Belonging to Stommeln:Stommelerbusch...
(-MönchengladbachMönchengladbachMönchengladbach , formerly known as Münchengladbach, is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located west of the Rhine half way between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border....
) and back, which is also available in the evening hours. - A VIAS hourly semi-fast train (StadtExpressStadt-ExpressThe Stadt-Express , formerly City-Bahn , was a category of train in the Deutsche Bahn, that linked conurbations in Germany with the outer reaches of the surrounding countryside...
) Neuwied-Koblenz-LahnsteinLahnsteinLahnstein is a verband-free town of Rhein-Lahn-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated at the confluence of the Lahn River with the Rhine, approximately south of Koblenz...
-WiesbadenWiesbadenWiesbaden 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...
(-FrankfurtFrankfurtFrankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
) and back, running also in evening hours.
It takes about 15 to 20 minutes to travel to Koblenz while Cologne is about 70 to 80 minutes away, Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
90 to 120 minutes, direct connection to Frankfurt is around 150 minutes, sometimes faster when changing to the IC/ICE network.
Public transport
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
within Neuwied relies on a bus network, offering (depending on line) 20, 30 or 60 minute schedules, the majority of lines are served by Transdev
Transdev
Transdev was a major international public transport group based in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris, France and operating in several countries. Originally created as Société centrale pour l'équipement du territoire in 1955 and developing transportation activities since 1973, Transdev was a subsidiary...
.
All public transport (road and rail) is integrated into the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Mosel public transport association. Tickets are valid for all service, restricted by time and fare zones. For more information on timetables see http://www.vrminfo.de.
International relations
Neuwied is twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with: Bromley
Bromley
Bromley is a large suburban town in south east London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Bromley. It was historically a market town, and prior to 1963 was in the county of Kent and formed the administrative centre of the Municipal Borough of Bromley...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...