Stein-Neukirch
Encyclopedia
Stein-Neukirch is an Ortsgemeinde – a community belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
– in the Westerwaldkreis
in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
.
between Siegen
in the north and Limburg
in the south. At 605 m above sea level
, it is the Westerwald’s highest community. Stegskopf and Salzburger Kopf are at 654 m and 653 m respectively Stein-Neukirch’s landmark mountains.
) originally functioned as a resistance and fortress church. Later it was the community’s ecclesiastical-cultural hub on the high plateau of the Westerwald. In the Middle Ages
, Neukirch was a court seat, and formed with the High Westerwald’s two other court regions, Marienberg and Emmerichenhain, the “Lordship over the Westerwald”, long governed by the House of Nassau.
in a municipal election on 13 June 2004.
columns in the community’s arms
stand for the constituent community of Stein (whose name in German means “stone”), and the churches stand for the constituent community of Neukirch, making this an example of canting arms
(that is, the charge
s in the arms suggest the community’s name, Stein-Neukirch).
n 54, linking Limburg an der Lahn with Siegen, and 414, leading from Driedorf
-Hohenroth to Hachenburg
, cross each other. The nearest Autobahn interchange
is Haiger
/Burbach on the A 45
(Dortmund
–Hanau
), some 14 km away. The nearest InterCityExpress
stop is the railway station at Montabaur on the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed rail line.
Verbandsgemeinde
A Verbandsgemeinde is an administrative unit in the German Bundesländer of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt.-Rhineland-Palatinate:...
– 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 ....
, 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...
.
Location
The community of Stein-Neukirch lies in the WesterwaldWesterwald
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...
between Siegen
Siegen
Siegen is a city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia.It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg region...
in the north and 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....
in the south. At 605 m above sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
, it is the Westerwald’s highest community. Stegskopf and Salzburger Kopf are at 654 m and 653 m respectively Stein-Neukirch’s landmark mountains.
History
The church in the constituent community of Neukirch had its first documentary mention in 1231. The “new church” (“neue Kirche” 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....
) originally functioned as a resistance and fortress church. Later it was the community’s ecclesiastical-cultural hub on the high plateau of the Westerwald. In the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, Neukirch was a court seat, and formed with the High Westerwald’s two other court regions, Marienberg and Emmerichenhain, the “Lordship over the Westerwald”, long governed by the House of Nassau.
Community council
The council is made up of 8 council members who were elected in a majority votePlurality voting system
The plurality voting system is a single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member constituencies...
in a municipal election on 13 June 2004.
Coat of arms
The basaltBasalt
Basalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
columns in 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...
stand for the constituent community of Stein (whose name in German means “stone”), and the churches stand for the constituent community of Neukirch, making this an example of canting arms
Canting arms
Canting arms are heraldic bearings that represent the bearer's name in a visual pun or rebus. The term cant came into the English language from Anglo-Norman cant, meaning song or singing, from Latin cantāre, and English cognates include canticle, chant, accent, incantation and recant.Canting arms –...
(that is, the charge
Charge (heraldry)
In heraldry, a charge is any emblem or device occupying the field of an escutcheon . This may be a geometric design or a symbolic representation of a person, animal, plant, object or other device...
s in the arms suggest the community’s name, Stein-Neukirch).
Regular events
On the first weekend in August, the Stein-Neukirch kermis is held. Neukirch Market is very popular and is celebrated traditionally.Transport
Right near the community, BundesstraßeBundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
n 54, linking Limburg an der Lahn with Siegen, and 414, leading from Driedorf
Driedorf
-Location:Driedorf lies from 416 to 642 m above sea level on a tableland in the high Westerwald.-Mademühlen:Mademühlen has about 1000 inhabitants and lies in the "Hessischer Westerwald" protected area and in the European protected area network Natura 2000...
-Hohenroth to Hachenburg
Hachenburg
-Geography:The town lies in the Westerwald between Koblenz and Siegen, roughly 10 km west of Bad Marienberg on the river Nister. Hachenburg is the administrative seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Hachenburg, a kind of collective municipality .-The castle and the town:The castle , former seat of...
, cross each other. The nearest Autobahn 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...
is Haiger
Haiger
Haiger is a country town in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. The nearest city is Siegen, about 25 km north of Haiger.-Location:Haiger lies about 5 km west of Dillenburg, and 20 km southeast of Siegen on the eastern edge of the Westerwald range, near where the three states of...
/Burbach on the A 45
Bundesautobahn 45
is an autobahn in Germany, connecting Dortmund in the west with Aschaffenburg in the southwest. It is colloquially known by its byname Sauerlandlinie, which derives from the Sauerland, the landscape which said autobahn is running through between the cities of Hagen and Siegen. Many people think of...
(Dortmund
Dortmund
Dortmund is a city in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 585,045 makes it the 7th largest city in Germany and the 34th largest in the European Union....
–Hanau
Hanau
Hanau is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt am Main. Its station is a major railway junction.- Geography :...
), some 14 km away. The nearest InterCityExpress
InterCityExpress
The Intercity-Express or ICE is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Germany and neighbouring countries. It is the highest service category offered by DB Fernverkehr and is the flagship of Deutsche Bahn...
stop is the railway station at Montabaur on the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed rail line.