Dernbach (Westerwald) is a local community (
Ortsgemeinde
A Verbandsgemeinde (; plural Verbandsgemeinden) is a low-level administrative division, administrative unit in the Germany, German States of Germany, federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt. A Verbandsgemeinde is typically compose ...
) in the district of
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 ...
in
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 ...
, and part of the municipal association
Verbandsgemeinde Wirges. The village is known throughout the country by the
three-way interchange
In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, using ...
A48/A3, called ''Dernbacher Dreieck'', and well known worldwide by the international congregation
Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ
The Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ (PHJC) is a female congregation of the Catholic Church. It originated in Dernbach (Westerwald), where the generalate is still located. Their organization for ''associates'' (like Fiat Spiritus) is also open to m ...
, called ''Dernbacher Schwestern''.
Etymology
Unlike many other surrounding villages, Dernbach has not a
Franconian, but a
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
toponym
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...
. Several communities and families have the same name, so it has become customary to say "Dernbach bei Montabaur", to avoid confusion.
Geography
Location
Dernbach is located north of the city of
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 w ...
within the wooded hills of the national nature reserve "Naturpark Nassau". Surrounding villages are Ebernhahn, Wirges, Staudt, Eschelbach and Elgendorf.
Geology
Due to its subterranean natural resources, such as iron ore, silver and lead deposits, Dernbach was characterized by intensive mining for a long time. This very day only some typical place names (Silberstollen, Alte Grube, Schöne Aussicht) remind us of this.
Climate
Dernbach has a temperate-oceanic climate with cool winters and warm summers. Its average annual temperature is 8,9 °C (48 °F).
In January the mean temperature is -2,0 °C (28 °F), while the mean temperature in July is 22 °C (71 °F). Temperatures can vary significantly over the course of a month with warmer and colder weather. Precipitation is spread evenly throughout the year with a light peak in summer due to showers and thunderstorms.
History
![Courtyard of Dernbach (2001)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Courtyard_of_Dernbach_%282001%29.jpg)
Under its former name "Derinbach", the rural commune was mentioned in a document for the first time in 1220 AD. The medieval village structure was dominated by an impressive knight's castle (build around 1200 AD) and a much older chapel, built after 1136 AD in late Romanesque style. The knightly family of Dernbach, related to the noble House of Isenburg in terms of ministeriality, guarded and defended the nearby residence of the Archbishop and Prince-elector of Trier in Montabaur (castellum Humbacense) after his return from a Crusade in the Holy Land (1217 AD). As the male line of the family died (around 1400 AD), the famous Hilchen von Lorch inherited the Dernbach castle and owned it for almost 300 years. After the end of the Holy Roman Empire the medieval moated fortress in Dernbach was converted into a courtyard (1812/15 AD) by the House of Nassau. The ancient chapel dedicated to St. Lawrence was demolished in 1901, when for the first time a parish church was erected in Dernbach. The famous assembly of sculptures (early 15th century) which belonged to the chapel, the so-called 'Dernbacher Beweinung', a group made out of clay, was transferred to Limburg, where it now can be seen in the diocesan museum.
Maria Katharina Kasper
Maria Katharina Kasper (26 May 1820 – 2 February 1898) – born Katharina but in religion known as Schwester / sister Maria – was a German Roman Catholic religious sister and the founder of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ. Kasper enter ...
![Katharina Kasper (1820 - 1898)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Katharina_Kasper_%281820_-_1898%29.jpg)
The village owes its popularity primarily to the extraordinary life and work of the blessed
Maria Katharina Kasper
Maria Katharina Kasper (26 May 1820 – 2 February 1898) – born Katharina but in religion known as Schwester / sister Maria – was a German Roman Catholic religious sister and the founder of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ. Kasper enter ...
(May 26, 1820 – February 2, 1898 AD). Born and grown up in Dernbach as a child of small farmers, she everywhere noticed the misery and distress of the fellow human being and she was not willing to accept this for the rest of her life. Whenever possible, she went to the catholic school, above all because of the religious education. As a young woman she founded a pious association of young people, to help those in need. Finally the child's vision of a monastic life generously serving the poor and the sick became real in 1851 AD, when she founded the first new congregation of sisters in the 1827 newly established diocese of Limburg (Lahn). In the following years further stations were established in and outside of Dernbach. When the foundress died (2 February 1898), the congregation
Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ
The Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ (PHJC) is a female congregation of the Catholic Church. It originated in Dernbach (Westerwald), where the generalate is still located. Their organization for ''associates'' (like Fiat Spiritus) is also open to m ...
had 193 branches all over the world. In the early 20th century the international religious order grew up to more than 4,500 nuns, in Germany, Netherlands, England, USA – just to mention a few countries. Maria Katharina Kasper was beatified on April 16, 1978 by
Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...
, as the miracle needed for her beatification was reaffirmed. The motherhouse – today a modern building complex – houses the so-called (the order's highest administrative center), and the German
provincialate, i.e. the order's administrative center for its province Germany. It is situated next to the Parish Church in the centre of the village. The order's current leadership consist out of sisters from India, Germany and the USA. On March 6, 2018, the Vatican announced the recognition of a new miracle. It ist said to have happened in 2011/12 at her intercession in India. She was canonized by Pope Francis in Rome on October 14, 2018.
Historical population
Community council
The council is made up of 21 council members, including the extraofficial mayor (''Bürgermeister''), who were elected in a
majority vote in a municipal election on 7 June 2009.
Economy and infrastructure
Education
300 years of school history document the tremendous importance of education for Dernbach and its long-term development. The challenge of a growing population in the long run could be met by investing in classrooms and school buildings. The "Pfarrer-Giessendorf-Schule" from the 1960s, renovated just a few years ago, today is a primary school. Meanwhile, a private school is located at the site too.
Transport
The nearest highway entry/exit
A 3 (
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
–
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
) is ''Montabaur'', some 3 km away. The next
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 at
Montabaur station
Montabaur station is a station at the 89.1 kilometre point of the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed railway and on the Limburg–Siershahn railway (Lower Westerwald Railway) in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The station, which is served by ...
on the
Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed rail line, crossing the A3/A48 interchange through the modern Dernbach Tunnel, built in the late 20th century. The regional rail service
Lower Westerwald Railway (''Unterwesterwaldbahn''), connecting
Limburg
Limburg or Limbourg may refer to:
Regions
* Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium
* Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands
* Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...
and
Siershahn
Siershahn is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a community belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'' – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
History
Clay finds from La Tène times have been unearthed here. In 1211, Siershahn had its first do ...
, stops at the old village station in Dernbach, built in 1902.
Public institutions
* The ''Herz-Jesu-Krankenhaus'', a hospital founded in 1904 and expanded in 1972.
* The ''Altenheim St. Josef'', a retirement home founded in the 1990s.
* The ''Hospiz St. Thomas'', a hospice founded in 2017.
Sons and daughters of the town
* Maria Katharina Kasper (1820–1898),
canonized
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of Cult (religious practice), public veneration and enterin ...
founder of an order, the ''Arme Dienstmägde Jesu Christi'' (“Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ”)
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Westerwaldkreis