Driedorf is a municipality in the
Lahn-Dill-Kreis
Lahn-Dill is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the west of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Siegen-Wittgenstein, Marburg-Biedenkopf, Gießen, Wetteraukreis, Hochtaunuskreis, Limburg-Weilburg, Westerwaldkreis.
History
The southern district belo ...
in
Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...
,
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 ...
.
Geography
Location
Driedorf lies from 416 to 642 m above
sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...
on a
tableland
A table or tableland is a butte, flank of a mountain, or mountain, that has a flat top.
This kind of landform has numerous names, including:
* Butte
* Mesa
*
* Potrero
* Tepui
* Terrace
* Tuya
A tuya is a flat-topped, steep-sided vo ...
in the high
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 ...
.
Mademühlen
Mademühlen
Mademühlen is a village in the municipality of Driedorf in the Westerwald hill region in Lahn-Dill-Kreis in the German state of Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), ...
has about 1,000 inhabitants and lies in the "Hessischer Westerwald" protected area and in the
European
European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to:
In general
* ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe
** Ethnic groups in Europe
** Demographics of Europe
** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...
protected area network
Natura 2000. It is on the upper reaches of the Rehbach, between two
reservoir
A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation.
Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...
s.
Münchhausen
Münchhausen is the first village on the Ulmbach and is blessed with extensive woodlands, which afforded prosperity in earlier times.
Neighbouring communities
Driedorf borders in the north on the community of
Breitscheid, in the east on the town of
Herborn, in the south on the community of
Greifenstein
Greifenstein is a municipality in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. Its administrative seat is Beilstein. Greifenstein covers 67.43 km² on the eastern slope of the Westerwald range. It was named for the castle of the same name in th ...
(all in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis), and in the west on the communities of
Oberrod,
Rehe,
Homberg,
Waigandshain,
Nister-Möhrendorf and
Willingen
Willingen (official name: ''Willingen (Upland)'') is a municipality in Waldeck-Frankenberg in northern Hesse, Germany, some 80 km west of Kassel.
Geography
Location
Willingen is found in Waldeck-Frankenberg district in the Upland. Its main ...
(all 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 ...
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 ...
).
Constituent communities
Besides the namesake centre, there are eight other centres in Driedorf named Mademühlen, Roth, Waldaubach, Münchhausen, Hohenroth, Heisterberg, Heiligenborn and Seilhofen.
History
Driedorf had its first documentary mention in 1124.
The greater community of Driedorf came into being in three stages as part of Hesse's municipal reforms in the 1970s. On 1 October 1971, the communities of Driedorf, Heisterberg, Hohenroth, and Heiligenborn united, and three months later, on 1 January 1972, Münchhausen followed. Five years to the day later, on 1 January 1977, Seilhofen, Waldaubach, Mademühlen and Roth were amalgamated with Driedorf by state law.
Mademühlen
This village's namesake was a row of mills (''Mühlen'' = "mills" in
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
) that for centuries stood along the upper reaches of the Rehbach. About 1800, it had a special mention in a description as being a rich farming village. The local poet Adolf Weiß (1861–1938) was from Mademühlen, and a memorial to him may still be visited today.
Münchhausen
The name Münchhausen makes it clear that it was founded by monks (''Mönche'' = "monk" in German). Up until the beginning of the last century, in the church's eyes at least, it consisted of two places separated from each other by the Ulmbach. In 1989, Münchhausen celebrated 750 years of existence.
Politics
Mayors
*1977–1995: Friedhelm Kessler, who had been mayor of Driedorf before amalgamation
*1996–2007: Wolfgang Schuster (SPD)
*2007–2010: Wolfgang Kühn (SPD)
*2010–2016: Dirk Hardt (SPD)
*2016–incumbent: Carsten Braun (CDU)
Municipal council
The municipal elections on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results:
Note: FWG is a citizens' coalition.
Economy and infrastructure
For a few years, the Westerwald's wind has been being used to generate
electricity
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...
. Driedorf has 17
windfarm
A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turb ...
s, 6 in Mademühlen, and the others distributed among the other centres which all together generate 13 GWh, amounting to 40% of the community's needs.
Wind energy
Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller impact on the environment than burning fossil fuels. Historically, w ...
has reduced the yearly
CO2 output by about 7 000 t. The community, however, does not wish for any further windfarms.
Sightseeing
There are two lakes in Driedorf, the ''Stausee Driedorf'', a man-made lake for flood control and
hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...
generation between Driedorf (main town) and Mademühlen, and the ''Heisterberger Weiher'' just outside Heisterberg to the southeast. Also nearby is the Krombach Reservoir, also used for flood control and hydroelectric generation, which straddles the Hesse-Rhineland-Palatinate border.
Noteworthy is the
Evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...
Church on the Rehbach in Mademühlen. Built in the 11th century, it is Driedorf's oldest building.
References
External links
*
Mademühlen*
{{Authority control
Lahn-Dill-Kreis