Breitenau is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a community belonging to a ''

Verbandsgemeinde A Verbandsgemeinde (; plural Verbandsgemeinden) is a low-level administrative unit in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt. A Verbandsgemeinde is typically composed of a small group of villages or towns. Rhineland- ...

'' – in the

Westerwaldkreis The Westerwaldkreis ("District of Westerwald") is a district (''Kreis'') in the north-east of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighbouring districts are (from north clockwise) Altenkirchen, Lahn-Dill, Limburg-Weilburg, Rhein-Lahn, the district-free ...

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Breitenau belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Ransbach-Baumbach, a kind of collective municipality.

Geography

The community lies in the

Westerwald The Westerwald (; literally 'Western forest') 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 Rhenish Massif ( or Rhenish ...

between

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...

and

Siegen Siegen () is a city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly sho ...

on the rim of the Rhein-Westerwald Nature Park (''Naturpark Rhein-Westerwald'').

History

The village had its first mention in 1265 as ''Bredenowe''. From 1343 until 1664 it belonged to the county of Isenburg, and then it passed to the

Electorate of Trier The Electorate of Trier (german: Kurfürstentum Trier or ' or Trèves) was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from the end of the 9th to the early 19th century. It was the temporal possession of the prince- ...

. In 1802 it passed to the

Duchy of Nassau The Duchy of Nassau (German: ''Herzogtum Nassau'') was an independent state between 1806 and 1866, located in what is now the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse. It was a member of the Confederation of the Rhine and later of the G ...

, and eventually, in 1866, to

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

Politics

The municipal council is made up of 12 council members, including the honorary and presiding mayor (''Ortsbürgermeister''), who were elected in a majority vote in a municipal election on 7 June 2009.

Music

Now having become an integral part of the community's, and indeed the whole Haiderbach's, life, the "St. Georgsbläser Haiderbach e.V." were founded in 1976. The club, with its 45-strong wind

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

, is a fixture in community life and promotes musical talent among children and youths who live on the Haiderbach through a training orchestra, a youth orchestra,

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

groups and early musical training. Besides appearances within the Haiderbach communities, such as at the traditional

kermis Kermesse, or kermis, or kirmess, is a Dutch language term derived from 'kerk' (church) and 'mis' (mass) that became borrowed in English, French, Spanish and many other languages, originally denoting the mass said on the anniversary of the foundati ...

, the St. Georgsbläser can always be heard at great shooting festivals, kermis parades and concerts. The yearly high point is the "Singende, klingende Haiderbach" with the Haiderbach Choir Association and the church choir, which always takes place on the first Saturday in April.

Economy and infrastructure

The A 3 with its ''

Mogendorf Mogendorf is a municipality in Westerwaldkreis district, Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europ ...

'' interchange (AS 38) lies 6 km away. The nearest

InterCityExpress The Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE ()) is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Germany. It also serves some destinations in Austria, Denmark (ceased in 2017 but planned to resume in 2022), France, Belgium, Switzerla ...

stop is the

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

at Montabaur on the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed rail line.

Notable residents

George J. Rath, founder of the

Rath Packing Company The Rath Packing Company was a meatpacking company located in Waterloo, Iowa, between 1891 and 1985. Background George John Rath (variously referred to as George Rath and John George Rath) was born in 1821 in Breitenau, Württemberg province, Ge ...

, a defunct American meat packing company that lasted from 1891 to 1985

References

External links

Breitenau
Westerwaldkreis {{Westerwaldkreis-geo-stub