Weilburg
Encyclopedia
Weilburg is, with just under 14,000 inhabitants, the third biggest town in Limburg-Weilburg
district in Hesse
, Germany
, after Limburg an der Lahn
and Bad Camberg
.
valley between the Westerwald
and the Taunus
just upstream from where the Weil
empties into the river Lahn and 80 km northeast of Koblenz
. The Old Town, built on and around a rocky hill, is almost encircled by the Lahn.
and Löhnberg
(both in Limburg-Weilburg), in the east on the town of Braunfels
(Lahn-Dill-Kreis
), in the south on the communities of Weilmünster
and Weinbach
as well as on the town of Runkel
, and in the west on the community of Beselich
(all in Limburg-Weilburg).
from the Scheuernberger Kopf (mountain) near Kirschhofen.
Weilburg was first mentioned in 906 in a chronicle by Abbot Regino of Prüm
as a fortification under the name of Wilineburch. Six years later King Conrad I
, whose father had been buried in the fortification after having fallen in battle while fighting the Babenbergers near Fritzlar
in 906, founded a church and an abbey. In 912, the St. Walpurgis-Chorherrenstift (monastery) was founded. The building, which was built on high ground, afforded the monastery control over the Lahn as well as the Hohe Straße (“High Road”) running from Frankfurt to Cologne
and the Via Publica from Flanders
to Bohemia
, which ran nearby.
In 918, the Wilineburg (castle) gained special historic importance when King Conrad I, lying on his deathbed, recommended to his brother Eberhard that he deliver the Imperial insignia to his bitterest rival, the Saxon duke Heinrich (Weilburger Testament).
From 993 to 1062, the town was bit by bit donated to the Bishopric of Worms
. About 1225, the Bishop of Worms pledged overlordship over the town to the House of Nassau, which in the end they bought up, granting the place a year later the same town rights held by Frankfurt. Count Johann I of Nassau built his residence here in 1355, renovated the castle and also built the town fortifications. In 1359, he had a stone bridge built across the Lahn.
The House of Nassau shaped the town’s history for several centuries. Count Johann Ernst (1664–1719), in particular, renovated and beautified his town of residence by expanding the high castle, building a park and changing the town’s face. Weilburg thus became one of the most fully preserved examples of a small German residence town from the time of absolutism
. From 1806, the town was the governmental seat of the newly created Duchy of Nassau. Only in 1816 did William, Duke of Nassau
move his residence to Biebrich
. In 1866, the Duchy of Nassau was annexed by Prussia
.
In the field of architectural history, Weilburg is known for its loam
buildings from the time before 1800. Wilhelm Jacob Wimpf, a “government lawyer”, was instrumental in furthering the so-called Pisee style of building in the town and its environs, yielding what is still Germany’s tallest loam building, a six-floor house.
In the Second World War, the town sustained only light damage. The middle façade of the castle’s orangery collapsed after an aerial bomb meant for the Weilburg railway station fell right in front of the gate and exploded. The railway station and the nearby Helbig brewery house were also damaged. While United States
troops were taking over the town on 27 March 1945, the fighting caused some light damage, although all the town’s bridges were blown up by retreating German troops.
Weilburg hosted the Hessentag festival from 17 to 26 June 2005.
s that once stood here.
Under the name Berinbach, the outlying centre of Bermbach was first mentioned in documents in 1253. Besides agriculture
, the villagers also worked at mining
. Ore was mined from pits in Bermbach’s municipal area up until 1914, when operations ceased.
The certification of an estate in 1196 by Pope Celestine III
is Drommershausen’s first mention in documents. There is historical evidence of an oil mill in 1666, and also, a blast furnace
for smelting ironstone
mined in the area is mentioned in 1679.
In 1325, under the name Gauderinbach, today’s outlying centre of Gaudernbach was first mentioned. At first, the place belonged to the Amt of Runkel
and the parish of Schupbach
. The chapel
consecrated to Saint Peter
was built in 1769. A school in the community was mentioned before 1618, although it is unknown how long it lasted. In a great fire in 1863, 68 buildings in Gaudernbach were destroyed. Besides agriculture and mining, villagers found income working in the Gaudernbach marble
quarry
.
In a document from 1235, the place name Hasilibach was first mentioned, later changing its name to Hasselbach. At the time of its first mention, the community belonged to the Trier Burgmann
Johann von Schupbach, who resided in Montabaur
.
Hirschhausen is first mentioned in documents in 1327, and can be found in writings from 1466 referred to as Herbishusen. In Hirschhausen’s municipal area there were many hematite
and limonite
pits, among which the “Anna” pit was one of the richest in the Lahn area. Worth mentioning is the eight-sided Lutheran church built in 1763 by 27 families from Hirschhausen. Near Hirschhausen, from the 15th to the mid 16th century, was the pilgrimage centre of Pfannstiel.
The outlying centre of Kirschhofen was first mentioned in documents in 1363 with the spelling Kyrchschyrben. The spelling Kirschhofen is known from 1684. Since 1978, Kirschhofen has been linked by footbridge to the outlying centre of Odersbach on the other side of the Lahn.
The constituent community of Kubach was first referred to in documents as parvulam cubach in one of Otto III’s
documents from 27 December 1000. It is assumed that Kubach had its own church as of 1516. The current church was finished in 1784.
Odersbach and Waldhausen are the two constituent communities which are first mentioned in documents before that of Weilburg’s in 906.
Waldhausen was first mentioned in documents in 881 in the Prüm Abbey’s Golden Book, in which it is known as Mark Ualthusa in a passage dealing with the settlement there and the Carolingian
forest holdings. Until 1960, the villagers earned their livelihood mainly in agriculture and mining.
, France
, since 1958 Tortona
, Italy
, since 1964 Zevenaar
, Netherlands
, since 1966 Kežmarok
, Slovakia
, since 1990 Quattro Castella
, Italy
, since 2002 Colmar-Berg
, Luxembourg
, since 2004 Kızılcahamam
, Turkey
, since 2006
were first granted in 1906 on the occasion of the town’s one thousandth anniversary of its first mention in documents. They show a castle in silver on a blue background. The middle tower of the three has a red roof with a golden ball on the peak. The gate, which is shut and strewn with black, is overlaid with a blue inescutcheon, which itself bears the Nassau lion in gold. The arms are modelled on the town’s seal from 1329.
s in the coat of arms, with yellow standing for the gold, and white for the silver. Blue was the former ruling counts’ colour.
Along with this first seal, most likely made in the late 14th century, a smaller seal was also made. A replacement for this seal was introduced by 1650.
Moreover, a further seal to these three others, which all still exist, was made in 1905, and was likewise modelled on the first seal.
since 1935 and can only be visited by guided tour.
Housed in the castle’s former chancellery building is Weilburg’s Bergbau- und Stadtmuseum (“Mining and Town Museum”), which has at its disposal an exhibit area of 1 200 m². On display are exhibits on Weilburg’s town history and a wide assortment about mining in the town and the neighbouring areas. The museum, which has existed since 1972, making it Hesse’s oldest mining museum, has also installed in the castle hill a 200 m-long mining gallery exhibit in which the original mining machinery may be seen.
Since May 2008, one part of the museum has also housed roughly one hundred works of Chinese cut paper artworks. This display of Chinese cut paper outside China is thus far unique in the world.
In the outlying centre of Gaudernbach is found the Deutsche Baumaschinen-Modellmuseum (“German Building Machine Model Museum”). The museum was founded by the building company Walter Feickert GmbH in 1989. On display here are roughly 1,200 models of building machines and construction sites.
held since 1973 at the castle, the castle church or in the castle’s Renaissance
estate. They take place yearly in the summer.
At the Freienfels castle ruins, five kilometres from Weilburg, the Freienfelser Ritterspiele (knightly games) are held yearly about 1 May. This “living history”
event is well known countrywide.
The Weilburger Kirmes is known from historical records to have been kept since 1569. Many customs have been observed for a long time, such as the fair’s Anschießen, the endowment of prizes for shooting, first awarded in 1746 by the town and later through prize endowments by the citizens. The fair’s sponsor is the Weilburger Bürgergarde, a local club devoted to traditions and founded in 1813. Also now in this club’s hands is the continued observance of the traditional Weilburg Church Fair (Weilburger Kirchweih).
expansion under Johann-Ernst of Nassau-Weilburg, it takes in almost half of the Old Town. Also part of the castle is the Lutheran
Schlosskirche (“Castle Church”) from the early 18th century.
Even the buildings on the marketplace
with its Neptunbrunnen (a fountain from 1709) and those in the Old Town were built at the same time as the castle. However, there are also other timber-frame
(i.e. half-timbered) houses from the 16th to 19th century.
In the Old Graveyard there is a Calvary
Hill along with a Heilig-Grab-Kapelle (“Holy Sepulchre Chapel”) oriented towards the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
in Jerusalem.
For the Gymnasium
Philippinum Weilburg, a representative building was built in the 18th century, which now houses the district and town library.
In the 19th century, the town grew noticeably beyond its mediaeval
limits. On Limburger Straße, Bahnhofstraße and Frankfurter Straße, many loam
buildings (or Pisee-Bauten, after the style’s name, Pisee) were built. In particular, a row of façades in this style still stands on Bahnhofstraße. In Weilburg stands Germany’s tallest building in the Pisee style.
It is said that the Weilburger Tunnelensemble, a set of three tunnels, is unique in the world. These three bores, set one beside the other each have a different function. One is a railway tunnel, another a highway tunnel and the third a waterway tunnel for shipping traffic. This last building work is unique in Germany. The newest tunnel in the set is the Mühlbergtunnel on the Weilburg bypass, opened to the public in 2004.
Near the outlying centre of Drommershausen are found the ruins of the former monastery and Church of Our Dear Lady and St. John in Pfannstiel (a pilgrimage church), which figures in the history of the Order of Saint John. The monastery’s and pilgrimage church’s first documentary mention came in 1364. The monastery was put under the Nieder-Weisel commandry
near Butzbach
. In the course of the Reformation
, the monastery was dissolved in the 16th century.
Furthermore, in the outlying centre of Hirschhausen lies the Tiergarten Weilburg. It was originally the Weilburg Counts’ hunting ground, but today it is a game park visited by 70,000 people every year.
’s walls are set with countless calcite
crystals and calc-sinter. The crystals on the walls in this form are said to be unique in Germany. With a length of roughly 200 m, a breadth of up to 23 m and a height of up to 30 m the cave is believed to be Germany’s biggest single natural underground chamber.
, Limburg
, Weilburg, Wetzlar
and Gießen
) and belongs to the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund
. Until 1969, Weilburg was the terminus of the Weiltalbahn coming from Grävenwiesbach
. For this line’s needs a locomotive shed with a turntable was built at Weilburg’s railway station. After the line was abandoned, the buildings were torn down in the 1980s. Even the former goods and marshalling station has been converted into three sidings and a passing loop
.
Weilburg can be reached by Bundesstraße
n 49 and 456, which link it to Autobahnen A 3 (Cologne
–Frankfurt) from Limburg and A 45
(Dortmund
–Aschaffenburg
) from Wetzlar, as well as from the Frankfurt Rhine Main Region.
Bundesstraße 456 crosses the Lahn in Weilburg over the Oberlahnbrücke (“Upper Lahn Bridge”). This was built as part of the Weilburg bypass. Also crossing the Lahn in Weilburg are the Steinerne Brücke (“Stone Bridge”) and the Ahäuser Brücke (“Ahaus Bridge”) for motorized traffic, and the Ernst-Dienstbach-Steg, a footbridge.
school founded on 15 October 1540 by Count Philipp III of Nassau-Weilburg. Weilburg’s oldest school, the Gymnasium Philippinum, grew out of this forerunner school.
On schooldays, Weilburg’s educational institutions are attended by more than 8,000 young learners.
The following schools are to be found today in Weilburg:
Source: Magistrat der Stadt Weilburg (Hg.): Weilburg-Lexikon. Weilburg 2006
Paul von Hindenburg
, Adolf Hitler
, Hermann Göring
, Jakob Sprenger
and Prince Philipp of Hesse (Chief President of the Province of Hesse-Nassau) were all stripped of their civic honours in 1946 by order of the town council.
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...
, after 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....
and 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...
.
Location
The community lies in the LahnLahn
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 between the 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...
and the Taunus
Taunus
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...
just upstream from where the Weil
Weil River
The Weil is small 50 km long river in Hesse, Germany. It is a left tributary to the Lahn river and the city of Weilburg is located next to its mouth. The river flows exclusively through the Taunus mountain range with its source being located between the Kleiner Feldberg and Großer Feldberg...
empties into the river Lahn and 80 km northeast 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...
. The Old Town, built on and around a rocky hill, is almost encircled by the Lahn.
Neighbouring communities
Weilburg borders in the north on the communities of MerenbergMerenberg
-Location:Merenberg lies on the southern edge of the Westerwald between the district seat of Limburg and Weilburg.-Neighbouring communities:Merenberg borders in the north on the community of Mengerskirchen, in the east on the community of Löhnberg, in the south on the town of Weilburg, in the...
and Löhnberg
Löhnberg
Löhnberg is a community north of Weilburg in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany.- Neighbouring communities :Löhnberg borders in the north on the community of Greifenstein, in the east on the towns of Leun and Braunfels , in the south on the town of Weilburg, and in the west on the...
(both in Limburg-Weilburg), in the east on the town of Braunfels
Braunfels
Braunfels is a town in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. It is located on the German Framework Road.- Location :The climatic spa of Braunfels lies at a height of some 100 m above the Lahn valley...
(Lahn-Dill-Kreis
Lahn-Dill-Kreis
Lahn-Dill is a Kreis in the west of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Siegen-Wittgenstein, Marburg-Biedenkopf, Gießen, Wetteraukreis, Hochtaunuskreis, Limburg-Weilburg, Westerwaldkreis.-History:...
), in the south on the communities of Weilmünster
Weilmünster
- Geography :Weilmünster is among the most richly wooded places in Limburg-Weilburg. The forestry office looks after not only the State Forest but also twelve municipalities’ woodlands in the south of the Limburg-Weilburg and Lahn-Dill districts.- Location :...
and Weinbach
Weinbach
- Location :Weinbach lies on the Lahn and the Weil between Wetzlar and Limburg an der Lahn.- Neighbouring communities :Weinbach borders in the north on the town of Weilburg, in the east on the community of Weilmünster, and in the west on the community of Villmar and the town of Runkel .-...
as well as on the town of Runkel
Runkel
Runkel is a town on the Lahn River in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany.- Location :Runkel lies in the Lahn Valley on both sides of the river between the Westerwald and the Taunus, some eight kilometres east of Limburg....
, and in the west on the community of Beselich
Beselich
- Location :Beselich lies on the northeast edge of the Limburg Basin , on the edge of the Lahn valley, on the southeast slope of the Westerwald 220 m above sea level. Visible from far away is the Beselicher Kopf . The brooks Tiefenbach, Kerkerbach and Brandbach flow through the municipal area...
(all in Limburg-Weilburg).
Constituent communities
Besides the main town, in which just under 40% of the inhabitants live, the outlying centres of Ahausen, Bermbach, Drommershausen, Gaudernbach, Hasselbach, Hirschhausen, Kirschhofen, Kubach, Odersbach and Waldhausen also belong to Weilburg’s municipal area.History
It is believed that the earliest traces of settlers in the area around Weilburg are attested by finds from La Tène timesLa Tène culture
The La Tène culture was a European Iron Age culture named after the archaeological site of La Tène on the north side of Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland, where a rich cache of artifacts was discovered by Hansli Kopp in 1857....
from the Scheuernberger Kopf (mountain) near Kirschhofen.
Weilburg was first mentioned in 906 in a chronicle by Abbot Regino of Prüm
Regino of Prüm
Reginon or Regino of Prüm was a Benedictine abbot and medieval chronicler.-Biography:According to the statements of a later era, Regino was the son of noble parents and was born at the stronghold of Altrip on the Rhine near Speyer at an unknown date...
as a fortification under the name of Wilineburch. Six years later King Conrad I
Conrad I of Germany
Conrad I , called the Younger, was Duke of Franconia from 906 and King of Germany from 911 to 918, the only king of the Conradine dynasty...
, whose father had been buried in the fortification after having fallen in battle while fighting the Babenbergers near Fritzlar
Fritzlar
Fritzlar is a small German town in the Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse, north of Frankfurt, with a storied history. It can reasonably be argued that the town is the site where the Christianization of northern Germany began and the birthplace of the German empire as a political entity.The...
in 906, founded a church and an abbey. In 912, the St. Walpurgis-Chorherrenstift (monastery) was founded. The building, which was built on high ground, afforded the monastery control over the Lahn as well as the Hohe Straße (“High Road”) running from Frankfurt 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...
and the Via Publica from Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
to Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
, which ran nearby.
In 918, the Wilineburg (castle) gained special historic importance when King Conrad I, lying on his deathbed, recommended to his brother Eberhard that he deliver the Imperial insignia to his bitterest rival, the Saxon duke Heinrich (Weilburger Testament).
From 993 to 1062, the town was bit by bit donated to the Bishopric of Worms
Bishopric of Worms
The Bishopric of Worms was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire. Located on both banks of the Rhine around Worms just north of the union of that river with the Neckar, it was largely surrounded by the Palatinate. Worms had been the seat of a bishop from Roman times...
. About 1225, the Bishop of Worms pledged overlordship over the town to the House of Nassau, which in the end they bought up, granting the place a year later the same town rights held by Frankfurt. Count Johann I of Nassau built his residence here in 1355, renovated the castle and also built the town fortifications. In 1359, he had a stone bridge built across the Lahn.
The House of Nassau shaped the town’s history for several centuries. Count Johann Ernst (1664–1719), in particular, renovated and beautified his town of residence by expanding the high castle, building a park and changing the town’s face. Weilburg thus became one of the most fully preserved examples of a small German residence town from the time of absolutism
Absolutism (European history)
Absolutism or The Age of Absolutism is a historiographical term used to describe a form of monarchical power that is unrestrained by all other institutions, such as churches, legislatures, or social elites...
. From 1806, the town was the governmental seat of the newly created Duchy of Nassau. Only in 1816 did William, Duke of Nassau
William, Duke of Nassau
Wilhelm, Duke of Nassau, Prince of Nassau-Weilburg was the father of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Queen Sophia .-Biography:Wilhelm was the eldest son of Frederick...
move his residence to Biebrich
Wiesbaden-Biebrich
Biebrich is a borough of the city of Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany. With over 36,000 inhabitants, it is the most-populated of Wiesbaden's boroughs. It is located south of the city center on the Rhine River, opposite the Mainz borough of Mombach...
. In 1866, the Duchy of Nassau was annexed by Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
.
In the field of architectural history, Weilburg is known for its loam
Loam
Loam is soil composed of sand, silt, and clay in relatively even concentration . Loam soils generally contain more nutrients and humus than sandy soils, have better infiltration and drainage than silty soils, and are easier to till than clay soils...
buildings from the time before 1800. Wilhelm Jacob Wimpf, a “government lawyer”, was instrumental in furthering the so-called Pisee style of building in the town and its environs, yielding what is still Germany’s tallest loam building, a six-floor house.
National Socialism and the Second World War
In 1933, as in other German cities and towns, the National Socialists seized power. Shortly before this, the Nazis in the region had had strong showings in elections. The last mayor chosen by a democratically based town council, Diffenhardt, was ousted in a no-confidence vote instigated by the Nazis in the summer of 1933.In the Second World War, the town sustained only light damage. The middle façade of the castle’s orangery collapsed after an aerial bomb meant for the Weilburg railway station fell right in front of the gate and exploded. The railway station and the nearby Helbig brewery house were also damaged. While United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
troops were taking over the town on 27 March 1945, the fighting caused some light damage, although all the town’s bridges were blown up by retreating German troops.
Municipal centre
Weilburg was the old Oberlahnkreis’s seat from the district’s founding in 1867. Weilburg lost this function when, in the course of administrative reform in Hesse, both the Oberlahnkreis and the Limburg district were abolished and the new Limburg-Weilburg district came into being on 1 July 1974, with Limburg as its seat. To this day, however, a district administration outpost can be found at the former district administrator’s office on Limburger Straße.Weilburg hosted the Hessentag festival from 17 to 26 June 2005.
Constituent communities’ history
Ahausen is first mentioned in documents in 1320. The cluster village lies right on the Lahn where the Grundbach empties into it, which explains why the three millGristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
s that once stood here.
Under the name Berinbach, the outlying centre of Bermbach was first mentioned in documents in 1253. Besides agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
, the villagers also worked at mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
. Ore was mined from pits in Bermbach’s municipal area up until 1914, when operations ceased.
The certification of an estate in 1196 by Pope Celestine III
Pope Celestine III
Pope Celestine III , born Giacinto Bobone, was elected Pope on March 21, 1191, and reigned until his death. He was born into the noble Orsini family in Rome, though he was only a cardinal deacon before becoming Pope...
is Drommershausen’s first mention in documents. There is historical evidence of an oil mill in 1666, and also, a blast furnace
Blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron.In a blast furnace, fuel and ore and flux are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical reactions...
for smelting ironstone
Ironstone
Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical repacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron compound from which iron either can be or once was smelted commercially. This term is customarily restricted to hard coarsely...
mined in the area is mentioned in 1679.
In 1325, under the name Gauderinbach, today’s outlying centre of Gaudernbach was first mentioned. At first, the place belonged to the Amt of Runkel
Runkel
Runkel is a town on the Lahn River in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany.- Location :Runkel lies in the Lahn Valley on both sides of the river between the Westerwald and the Taunus, some eight kilometres east of Limburg....
and the parish of Schupbach
Schüpbach
Schüpbach may refer to;*Gertrud Schüpbach Swiss-American molecular biologist*Hannes Schüpbach Swiss artist...
. The chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
consecrated to Saint Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
was built in 1769. A school in the community was mentioned before 1618, although it is unknown how long it lasted. In a great fire in 1863, 68 buildings in Gaudernbach were destroyed. Besides agriculture and mining, villagers found income working in the Gaudernbach marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
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...
.
In a document from 1235, the place name Hasilibach was first mentioned, later changing its name to Hasselbach. At the time of its first mention, the community belonged to the Trier Burgmann
Burgmann
A Burgmann was a member of the low aristocracy in the Middle Ages who guarded and defended castles. They were hired by a lord of the castle to take on the burghut, the guarding and defense of a castle....
Johann von Schupbach, who resided in Montabaur
Montabaur
Montabaur is a town and the district seat of the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. At the same time, it is also the administrative centre of the Verbandsgemeinde of Montabaur – a kind of collective municipality – to which 24 other communities belong...
.
Hirschhausen is first mentioned in documents in 1327, and can be found in writings from 1466 referred to as Herbishusen. In Hirschhausen’s municipal area there were many hematite
Hematite
Hematite, also spelled as haematite, is the mineral form of iron oxide , one of several iron oxides. Hematite crystallizes in the rhombohedral system, and it has the same crystal structure as ilmenite and corundum...
and limonite
Limonite
Limonite is an ore consisting in a mixture of hydrated iron oxide-hydroxide of varying composition. The generic formula is frequently written as FeO·nH2O, although this is not entirely accurate as limonite often contains a varying amount of oxide compared to hydroxide.Together with hematite, it has...
pits, among which the “Anna” pit was one of the richest in the Lahn area. Worth mentioning is the eight-sided Lutheran church built in 1763 by 27 families from Hirschhausen. Near Hirschhausen, from the 15th to the mid 16th century, was the pilgrimage centre of Pfannstiel.
The outlying centre of Kirschhofen was first mentioned in documents in 1363 with the spelling Kyrchschyrben. The spelling Kirschhofen is known from 1684. Since 1978, Kirschhofen has been linked by footbridge to the outlying centre of Odersbach on the other side of the Lahn.
The constituent community of Kubach was first referred to in documents as parvulam cubach in one of Otto III’s
Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto III , a King of Germany, was the fourth ruler of the Saxon or Ottonian dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire. He was elected King in 983 on the death of his father Otto II and was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 996.-Early reign:...
documents from 27 December 1000. It is assumed that Kubach had its own church as of 1516. The current church was finished in 1784.
Odersbach and Waldhausen are the two constituent communities which are first mentioned in documents before that of Weilburg’s in 906.
Waldhausen was first mentioned in documents in 881 in the Prüm Abbey’s Golden Book, in which it is known as Mark Ualthusa in a passage dealing with the settlement there and the Carolingian
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD. The name "Carolingian", Medieval Latin karolingi, an altered form of an unattested Old High German *karling, kerling The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the...
forest holdings. Until 1960, the villagers earned their livelihood mainly in agriculture and mining.
Town 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 | 35.4 | 13 | 32.8 | 12 |
| 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... |
40.2 | 15 | 40.9 | 15 |
| GRÜNE | Bündnis 90/Die Grünen | 6.5 | 2 | 5.3 | 2 |
| 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 | 3 | 6.4 | 2 |
| FWG | Freie Wählergemeinschaft | 11.3 | 4 | 14.6 | 6 |
| Total | 100.0 | 37 | 100.0 | 37 | |
| Voter turnout in % | 43.4 | 53.2 | |||
Town partnerships
PrivasPrivas
Privas is a commune of France, capital of the Ardèche department. It is the second-smallest administrative center of any department in France, larger than only the commune of Foix. It is the fifth-largest commune in the Ardèche, behind Annonay, Aubenas, Guilherand-Granges, and Tournon-sur-Rhône. It...
, France
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...
, since 1958 Tortona
Tortona
Tortona is a comune of Piemonte, in the Province of Alessandria, Italy. Tortona is sited on the right bank of the Scrivia between the plain of Marengo and the foothills of the Ligurian Apennines.-History:...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, since 1964 Zevenaar
Zevenaar
Zevenaar is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands, near the border with Germany.- Population centres :*Angerlo*Babberich*Giesbeek*Lathum*Ooy*Oud Zevenaar*Zevenaar...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, since 1966 Kežmarok
Kežmarok
Kežmarok is a town in the Spiš region of eastern Slovakia , on the Poprad River.-History:...
, Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
, since 1990 Quattro Castella
Quattro Castella
Quattro Castella is a comune in the Province of Reggio Emilia in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about 70 km west of Bologna and about 15 km southwest of Reggio Emilia....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, since 2002 Colmar-Berg
Colmar-Berg
Colmar-Berg is a commune and town in central Luxembourg, in the canton of Mersch. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Attert and Alzette....
, Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, since 2004 Kızılcahamam
Kizilcahamam
Kızılcahamam is a town and district of Ankara Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey, 70 km north of the city of Ankara, near the motorway to Istanbul. According to 2010 census, population of the district is 25,203 of which 16,726 live in the town of Kızılcahamam...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, since 2006
Coat of arms
The town’s 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...
were first granted in 1906 on the occasion of the town’s one thousandth anniversary of its first mention in documents. They show a castle in silver on a blue background. The middle tower of the three has a red roof with a golden ball on the peak. The gate, which is shut and strewn with black, is overlaid with a blue inescutcheon, which itself bears the Nassau lion in gold. The arms are modelled on the town’s seal from 1329.
Flag
Weilburg’s town flag is a horizontal tricolour in yellow, blue and white. The colours are drawn from the tinctureTincture (heraldry)
In heraldry, tinctures are the colours used to emblazon a coat of arms. These can be divided into several categories including light tinctures called metals, dark tinctures called colours, nonstandard colours called stains, furs, and "proper". A charge tinctured proper is coloured as it would be...
s in the coat of arms, with yellow standing for the gold, and white for the silver. Blue was the former ruling counts’ colour.
Seal
Weilburg’s town seal is first known to have appeared in a document dating from 1327, although it seems likely that it was first acquired on the occasion of the granting of town rights in 1295. The seal bears the inscription “SIGILLUM CIVITATIS IN WILBURC” (“Seal of the Citizenry in Weilburg”). The design itself shows a town wall with two corner towers of the same height, between which is a taller tower with a pointed roof, and in the middle of the town wall a town gate with a coat of arms.Along with this first seal, most likely made in the late 14th century, a smaller seal was also made. A replacement for this seal was introduced by 1650.
Moreover, a further seal to these three others, which all still exist, was made in 1905, and was likewise modelled on the first seal.
Museums
The Schloss Weilburg (residential castle) has been a museumMuseum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
since 1935 and can only be visited by guided tour.
Housed in the castle’s former chancellery building is Weilburg’s Bergbau- und Stadtmuseum (“Mining and Town Museum”), which has at its disposal an exhibit area of 1 200 m². On display are exhibits on Weilburg’s town history and a wide assortment about mining in the town and the neighbouring areas. The museum, which has existed since 1972, making it Hesse’s oldest mining museum, has also installed in the castle hill a 200 m-long mining gallery exhibit in which the original mining machinery may be seen.
Since May 2008, one part of the museum has also housed roughly one hundred works of Chinese cut paper artworks. This display of Chinese cut paper outside China is thus far unique in the world.
In the outlying centre of Gaudernbach is found the Deutsche Baumaschinen-Modellmuseum (“German Building Machine Model Museum”). The museum was founded by the building company Walter Feickert GmbH in 1989. On display here are roughly 1,200 models of building machines and construction sites.
Regular events
The Weilburger Schlosskonzerte is a series of concerts with mostly classical musicClassical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
held since 1973 at the castle, the castle church or in the castle’s Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
estate. They take place yearly in the summer.
At the Freienfels castle ruins, five kilometres from Weilburg, the Freienfelser Ritterspiele (knightly games) are held yearly about 1 May. This “living history”
Historical reenactment
Historical reenactment is an educational activity in which participants attempt torecreate some aspects of a historical event or period. This may be as narrow as a specific moment from a battle, such as the reenactment of Pickett's Charge at the Great Reunion of 1913, or as broad as an entire...
event is well known countrywide.
The Weilburger Kirmes is known from historical records to have been kept since 1569. Many customs have been observed for a long time, such as the fair’s Anschießen, the endowment of prizes for shooting, first awarded in 1746 by the town and later through prize endowments by the citizens. The fair’s sponsor is the Weilburger Bürgergarde, a local club devoted to traditions and founded in 1813. Also now in this club’s hands is the continued observance of the traditional Weilburg Church Fair (Weilburger Kirchweih).
Buildings
Weilburg was for many years a residence town and governmental seat of the House of Nassau-Weilburg. Even today, the inner town is still characterized by buildings from that time. The most important building is the castle, Schloss Weilburg from the 14th century. It was converted in the 16th and 18th centuries. The Renaissance parts, known as the Kernschloss (main or central castle) is counted among the best preserved Renaissance castles in Hesse. After the BaroqueBaroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
expansion under Johann-Ernst of Nassau-Weilburg, it takes in almost half of the Old Town. Also part of the castle is the Lutheran
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...
Schlosskirche (“Castle Church”) from the early 18th century.
Even the buildings on the marketplace
Marketplace
A marketplace is the space, actual, virtual or metaphorical, in which a market operates. The term is also used in a trademark law context to denote the actual consumer environment, ie. the 'real world' in which products and services are provided and consumed.-Marketplaces and street markets:A...
with its Neptunbrunnen (a fountain from 1709) and those in the Old Town were built at the same time as the castle. However, there are also other timber-frame
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...
(i.e. half-timbered) houses from the 16th to 19th century.
In the Old Graveyard there is a Calvary
Calvary
Calvary or Golgotha was the site, outside of ancient Jerusalem’s early first century walls, at which the crucifixion of Jesus is said to have occurred. Calvary and Golgotha are the English names for the site used in Western Christianity...
Hill along with a Heilig-Grab-Kapelle (“Holy Sepulchre Chapel”) oriented towards the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also called the Church of the Resurrection by Eastern Christians, is a church within the walled Old City of Jerusalem. It is a few steps away from the Muristan....
in Jerusalem.
For the 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...
Philippinum Weilburg, a representative building was built in the 18th century, which now houses the district and town library.
In the 19th century, the town grew noticeably beyond its mediaeval
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...
limits. On Limburger Straße, Bahnhofstraße and Frankfurter Straße, many loam
Loam
Loam is soil composed of sand, silt, and clay in relatively even concentration . Loam soils generally contain more nutrients and humus than sandy soils, have better infiltration and drainage than silty soils, and are easier to till than clay soils...
buildings (or Pisee-Bauten, after the style’s name, Pisee) were built. In particular, a row of façades in this style still stands on Bahnhofstraße. In Weilburg stands Germany’s tallest building in the Pisee style.
It is said that the Weilburger Tunnelensemble, a set of three tunnels, is unique in the world. These three bores, set one beside the other each have a different function. One is a railway tunnel, another a highway tunnel and the third a waterway tunnel for shipping traffic. This last building work is unique in Germany. The newest tunnel in the set is the Mühlbergtunnel on the Weilburg bypass, opened to the public in 2004.
Near the outlying centre of Drommershausen are found the ruins of the former monastery and Church of Our Dear Lady and St. John in Pfannstiel (a pilgrimage church), which figures in the history of the Order of Saint John. The monastery’s and pilgrimage church’s first documentary mention came in 1364. The monastery was put under the Nieder-Weisel commandry
Commandry (feudalism)
Commandry , or commandery , was the smallest division of the European landed estate or manor under the control of a commendator, or commander, of an order of knights...
near Butzbach
Butzbach
Butzbach is a town in the Wetteraukreis district in Hesse, Germany. It is located approx. 16 km south of Gießen and 35 km north of Frankfurt am Main....
. In the course of 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 monastery was dissolved in the 16th century.
Parks
The castle in Weilburg has at its disposal a castle park that stretches over several terraces along the Lahn.Furthermore, in the outlying centre of Hirschhausen lies the Tiergarten Weilburg. It was originally the Weilburg Counts’ hunting ground, but today it is a game park visited by 70,000 people every year.
Natural monuments
In the outlying centre of Kubach is found the Kristallhöhle, or Crystal Cave. Great parts of this cleft caveCave
A cave or cavern is a natural underground space large enough for a human to enter. The term applies to natural cavities some part of which is in total darkness. The word cave also includes smaller spaces like rock shelters, sea caves, and grottos.Speleology is the science of exploration and study...
’s walls are set with countless calcite
Calcite
Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate . The other polymorphs are the minerals aragonite and vaterite. Aragonite will change to calcite at 380-470°C, and vaterite is even less stable.-Properties:...
crystals and calc-sinter. The crystals on the walls in this form are said to be unique in Germany. With a length of roughly 200 m, a breadth of up to 23 m and a height of up to 30 m the cave is believed to be Germany’s biggest single natural underground chamber.
Transport
The town lies on the Lahn Valley Railway (serving KoblenzKoblenz 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...
, Limburg
Limburg (Lahn) station
Limburg station is a station of the city of Limburg an der Lahn in the German state of Hesse. It is on the Lahn Valley Railway , running between Koblenz and Gießen. The only section of this that is electrified in the Limburg area is between Limburg freight yard and Eschhofen station...
, Weilburg, Wetzlar
Wetzlar station
Wetzlar station is a through station in the city of Wetzlar in the German state of Hesse on the Dill and Lahn Valley Railways. It is the most important public transport node in Wetzlar together with the adjacent bus station.-History:...
and Gießen
Gießen station
Gießen railway station is the main railway station in Gießen, Hesse, Germany. The station is a Category 2 station is used by 20,000 passengers daily. The station was opened on 25 August 1850 and is located on the Main-Weser Railway and Dill railway . The current station reception building was...
) and belongs to the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund
Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund
The Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund is an organised transport network in the German state of Hesse, centred around the city of Frankfurt am Main. Its head office is located in Hofheim im Taunus...
. Until 1969, Weilburg was the terminus of the Weiltalbahn coming from Grävenwiesbach
Grävenwiesbach
Grävenwiesbach is a municipality in the Hochtaunuskreis in Hesse, Germany.- Location :Grävenwiesbach lies between 300 and 600 m above sea level north of the Taunus Ridge...
. For this line’s needs a locomotive shed with a turntable was built at Weilburg’s railway station. After the line was abandoned, the buildings were torn down in the 1980s. Even the former goods and marshalling station has been converted into three sidings and a passing loop
Rail siding
A siding, in rail terminology, is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line or branch line or spur. It may connect to through track or to other sidings at either end...
.
Weilburg can be reached by Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
n 49 and 456, which link it to Autobahnen 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) from Limburg and 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....
–Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg is a city in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not considered part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is the administrative seat.Aschaffenburg is known as the Tor zum Spessart or "gate to the Spessart"...
) from Wetzlar, as well as from the Frankfurt Rhine Main Region.
Bundesstraße 456 crosses the Lahn in Weilburg over the Oberlahnbrücke (“Upper Lahn Bridge”). This was built as part of the Weilburg bypass. Also crossing the Lahn in Weilburg are the Steinerne Brücke (“Stone Bridge”) and the Ahäuser Brücke (“Ahaus Bridge”) for motorized traffic, and the Ernst-Dienstbach-Steg, a footbridge.
Education
Weilburg has a centuries-old tradition as a school town. As early as 1231, a Scholaster (monastic schoolmaster) is mentioned and in 1360 the monastery school itself. The school’s successor was the EvangelicalEvangelical 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...
school founded on 15 October 1540 by Count Philipp III of Nassau-Weilburg. Weilburg’s oldest school, the Gymnasium Philippinum, grew out of this forerunner school.
On schooldays, Weilburg’s educational institutions are attended by more than 8,000 young learners.
The following schools are to be found today in Weilburg:
- Christian-Spielmann-Schule (primary school); for pupils from parts of the municipal area on the Taunus side and the constituent communities of Bermbach, Hirschhausen, Kirschhofen and Kubach; named after the historian Christian Spielmann.
- Pestalozzischule (primary school); for pupils from parts of the municipal area on the Westerwald side and the constituent communities of Gaudernbach, Hasselbach, Odersbach and Waldhausen.
- Heinrich-von-Gagern-Schule (HauptschuleHauptschuleA 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 RealschuleRealschuleThe 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...
); for pupils from Limburg-Weilburg and the Lahn-Dill-Kreis. - Jakob-Mankel-Schule (integrated comprehensive schoolComprehensive schoolA comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
since 1994, and until 2008 the only one in the district); offers the Hauptschule, Realschule and GymnasiumGymnasium (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...
streams in integrated form up to the 10th class. - Gymnasium Philippinum (Gymnasium); is the oldest school in Weilburg and is attended by pupils from places in the former Oberlahnkreis and from the Lahn-Dill-Kreis.
- Walderbachschule (school for practically teachable pupils); is a special school with the goal of helping pupils, independently of their individual handicaps, attain the greatest possible satisfaction from their lives.
- Windhofschule (school for children with learning difficulties and those with physical handicaps); is a special school and a special paedagogical counselling and advocacy centre. The Windhofschule offers handicapped pupils the opportunity of a school life participating together with able-bodied pupils.
- Wilhelm-Knapp-Schule (vocational schooling centre); unites ten kinds of school in the field of vocational schooling, among them the branches of the vocational Gymnasium, the Fachoberschule (technical college) and the Higher Trade School.
- Staatliche Technikerschule Weilburg (“State Technician School”)
- Amt für Lehrerbildung (“Office for Teacher Training”)
- Hessisches Forstliches Bildungszentrum (FBZ, “Hessian Forestry Education Centre)
- Dachdeckerzentrum Hessen (“Hesse Roofer Centre”)
- Kreisvolkshochschule Limburg-Weilburg e.V. (district folk high schoolFolk high schoolFolk high schools are institutions for adult education that generally do not grant academic degrees, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal...
) - Weilburger Musikschule
Honorary citizens
Note: The listing is chronological by date of conferral.- Wilhelm Farr (b. 8 July 1833 in Freiensen; d. 10 February 1907 in Weilburg)
- businessman, politician, mayor
- honoured 1903
- Farr was a successful businessman in Weilburg. After stints on town council from 1870 and for three years in the Prussian assembly from 1876, he was elected mayor in 1885. He held the office until 1888 and bequeathed the town on his death a great sum for non-commercial purposes.
- Gustav Karthaus (b. 21 March 1859 in Grumbach; d. 8 February 1934 in Weilburg)
- administrative official, mayor
- honoured 1927
- After Karthaus had already served four and a half years in Melsungen as mayor, he then reached the top job in the town of Weilburg on 1 October 1905. During his 21 years in office he more than anything else set himself the task of improving infrastructure. The waterworks were modernized, and with the building of a power station, so was the electrical system. In 1913, the new barracks were built. He had many of the town’s streets developed and introduced town expansion with building areas on the Zeppenfeld and the Karlsberg. He moreover dedicated himself to dealing with the town’s social problems by supporting its relief organizations. On the occasion of his retirement on 31 December 1926, he was made an honorary citizen.
- Friedrich Brinkmann (b. 25 August 1877 in Weilburg; d. 26 July 1960 in Weilburg)
- butchery master
- honoured 1953
- Brinkmann had taken over his father’s estate butcher’s shop in the upper Langgasse in 1900. At this time, he began to involve himself in a whole series of honorary offices, serving as honorary chief master (Ehrenobermeister) of the butchers’ guild, former master of the Wiesbaden crafts chamber and honorary member of the Weilburg volunteer fire brigade. From 1902 until his death he was a captain of the Weilburg Bürgergarde, one of Nassau’s oldest tradition clubs.
Source: Magistrat der Stadt Weilburg (Hg.): Weilburg-Lexikon. Weilburg 2006
Paul von Hindenburg
Paul von Hindenburg
Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg , known universally as Paul von Hindenburg was a Prussian-German field marshal, statesman, and politician, and served as the second President of Germany from 1925 to 1934....
, Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
, Hermann Göring
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...
, Jakob Sprenger
Jakob Sprenger
Jakob Sprenger was a Nazi politician.Sprenger was born in Oberhausen near Bad Bergzabern in the Palatinate. In 1922, the postal inspector Sprenger became a member of the Nazi Party...
and Prince Philipp of Hesse (Chief President of the Province of Hesse-Nassau) were all stripped of their civic honours in 1946 by order of the town council.
Others
- Conrad I, the Younger (b. unknown; d. 23 December 918 in Weilburg; buried in FuldaFuldaFulda is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district .- Early Middle Ages :...
), was from 906 DukeDukeA duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...
of FranconiaDuchy of FranconiaThe Duchy of Franconia was one of the stem duchies of Germany during the formative period of the Holy Roman Empire in the 10th century, part of former Frankish Austrasia.But unlike the others Franconia did not evolve into a stable political entity...
and from 911 to 918 KingKing- Centers of population :* King, Ontario, CanadaIn USA:* King, Indiana* King, North Carolina* King, Lincoln County, Wisconsin* King, Waupaca County, Wisconsin* King County, Washington- Moving-image works :Television:...
of East Francia. - Friedrich Ludwig von SckellFriedrich Ludwig von SckellFriedrich Ludwig von Sckell was a German landscape gardener from Weilburg an der Lahn.Sckell was trained in the Court Market Garden in Schwetzingen near Mannheim and worked after his apprenticeship in Bruchsal, Paris, and Versailles. From 1773 to 1777, he was in England busying himself with...
(b. 13 September 1750 in Weilburg) one of the most important garden designers, founder of the “classical phase” of the landscaped English garden in Germany. - Wilhelm Jacob Wimpf (b. 15 November 1767 in Weilburg, d. 11 April 1839 in Weilburg), entrepreneur and pioneer of loam building
- Carl Boos (b. 8 September 1806); architect; built, among other things, the Marktkirche (“Market Church”) in Wiesbaden
- Heinrich von GagernHeinrich von GagernHeinrich Wilhelm August Freiherr von Gagern was a statesman who argued for the unification of Germany.The third son of Hans Christoph Ernst, Baron von Gagern, a liberal statesman from Hesse, Heinrich von Gagern was born at Bayreuth, educated at the military academy at Munich, and, as an officer in...
(b 1798 in Bayreuth, d. 22 May 1880 in DarmstadtDarmstadtDarmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
), grew up in Weilburg and did his AbiturAbiturAbitur is a designation used in Germany, Finland and Estonia for final exams that pupils take at the end of their secondary education, usually after 12 or 13 years of schooling, see also for Germany Abitur after twelve years.The Zeugnis der Allgemeinen Hochschulreife, often referred to as...
at the Gymnasium Philippinum in town, 1848 PresidentPresidentA president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of the Frankfurt ParliamentFrankfurt ParliamentThe Frankfurt Assembly was the first freely elected parliament for all of Germany. Session was held from May 18, 1848 to May 31, 1849 in the Paulskirche at Frankfurt am Main...
. - Gert Fritz Unger (d. 3 August 2005 in Weilburg), writerWriterA writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and westernWestern (genre)The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
author - Ulrike MeinhofUlrike MeinhofUlrike Marie Meinhof was a German left-wing militant. She co-founded the Red Army Faction in 1970 after having previously worked as a journalist for the monthly left-wing magazine Konkret. She was arrested in 1972, and eventually charged with numerous murders and the formation of a criminal...
came to Weilburg in 1952, where she attended the Gymnasium Philippinum up to her Abitur in 1955. - Heinrich Heinlein (b. 3 December 1803 in Weilburg), painter
- Erwin Schmidt (b. 20 July 1886 in Weilburg; d. 31 August 1956 in Weilburg), Heimatforscher (“homeland researcher”)
- Richard Hoin (b. 23 July 1879 in Odersbach; d. 14 October 1944 in Odersbach) politician and resistance fighter
- Willy Heigl (b. 25 March 1904 in Dillenburg; d. 15 March 1973), first democratic mayor of Weilburg after the Third Reich
- Thomas Valentin (b. 13 January 1922 in Weilburg; d. 22 November 1980 in Lippstadt) writer
Further reading
- Bernd Modrow, Claudia Gröschel: Fürstliches Vergnügen. 400 Jahre Gartenkultur in Hessen. Verlag Schnell + Steiner, Regensburg 2002, ISBN 3-7954-1487-3
- Magistrat der Stadt Weilburg an der Lahn (Hg.); Weilburg an der Lahn. 700 Jahre Stadtrechte 1295-1995, Weilburg 1995, ISBN 3-926617-14-4