Essershausen is a village ( ''Ortsteil'') of the municipality of

Weilmünster Weilmünster is a municipality in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany. 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 municipal ...

in the district of

Limburg-Weilburg Limburg-Weilburg is a Kreis (district) in the west of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Lahn-Dill, Hochtaunuskreis, Rheingau-Taunus, Rhein-Lahn, Westerwaldkreis. History *1867 the ''Oberlahnkreis'', capital Weilburg was created *1886 t ...

in central

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

. It has around 200 inhabitants (2021).

History

The village was first mentioned in a document in 1233 as the seat of an imperial knight. At that time the village was called Eschershusen. The place was known under the names Eichschershusen, Eschershusen, Achesshusen, Eschersshusen, Eschershausen and Essershausen to today's Essershausen. The knight lived in a farm in the middle of the valley, surrounded by a moat. The modernly built-over castle hill in Weiltal has been preserved. A second castle complex was located northeast of the village on a mountain spur surrounded by the Gundersbach on the extension of the Bermbacher Weg in the forest. Visible from the forest path are the

neck ditch A neck ditch (), sometimes called a throat ditch,
at www.roadstoruins.com. Accessed on 3 Jan 2012. is a dry

mountain spur above the Gundersbach. A document from 1391 showed that the bishops of Worms rewarded Konrad von Essershausen with a castle, church and mill in Essershausen. In the course of the general decline of

chivalry Chivalry, or the chivalric language, is an informal and varying code of conduct that developed in Europe between 1170 and 1220. It is associated with the medieval Christianity, Christian institution of knighthood, with knights being members of ...

, the Essershausen knightship disappeared. The village came under the rule of the

Counts of Nassau Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

, to whom it belonged for centuries. The local church was built in 1391. In 1520 the village was made a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

. The parish includes Bermbach, Laimbach and Edelsberg. From the middle of the 19th century until after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be c ...

was mined near the town in a mine called "Fritz". In the course of the territorial reform in Hesse, on 31 December 1970 the former market town of Weilmünster in the Oberlahn district merged voluntarily with the previously independent municipalities of

Aulenhausen Aulenhausen is a village ( ''Ortsteil'') of the municipality of Weilmünster in the district of Limburg-Weilburg in central Hesse. It has around 240 inhabitants (2021). Geography The village is largely surrounded by forest in the eastern Hinter ...

Dietenhausen Dietenhausen is a village ( ''Ortsteil'') of the municipality of Weilmünster in the district of Limburg-Weilburg in central Hesse. It has around 400 inhabitants (2021). Geography The village is located in the eastern Hintertaunus in the Taunus ...

, Ernsthausen,

Laimbach Laimbach is a village ( ''Ortsteil'') of the municipality of Weilmünster in the district of Limburg-Weilburg in central Hesse. It has around 230 inhabitants (2021). Geography The village is located in a side valley of the Weil river in the east ...

, Langenbach,

Laubuseschbach Laubuseschbach is a village ( ''Ortsteil'') of the municipality of Weilmünster in the district of Limburg-Weilburg in central Hesse. It has around 1400 inhabitants (2021). Geography Laubuseschbach is located in the eastern Hintertaunus in the ...

Lützendorf Lützendorf is a village ( ''Ortsteil'') of the municipality of Weilmünster in the district of Limburg-Weilburg in central Hesse. It has around 200 inhabitants (2021). History In surviving documents, Lützendorf was mentioned under the following ...

Möttau Möttau is a village (Village, ''Ortsteil'') of the municipality of Weilmünster in the district of Limburg-Weilburg in central Hesse. It has around 300 inhabitants (2021). Geography Möttau is located in the eastern Hintertaunus, northeast of the ...

Rohnstadt Rohnstadt is a village ( ''Ortsteil'') of the municipality of Weilmünster in the district of Limburg-Weilburg in central Hesse. It has around 260 inhabitants (2021). Geography Rohnstadt is located in the eastern Hintertaunus, about three kilomet ...

and

Wolfenhausen Wolfenhausen is a village ( ''Ortsteil'') of the municipality of Weilmünster in the district of Limburg-Weilburg in central Hesse. It has around 1000 inhabitants (2021). Geography Wolfenhausen is located in the eastern Hintertaunus in the Tau ...

to form the new enlarged municipality of Weilmünster. Essershausen was added on 31 December 1971. Own districts were established for the former municipalities, and they are still represented politically with an own ''Ortsbeirat'' and ''Ortsvorsteher'' within the larger municipality.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, 213 residents lived in Essershausen on May 9, 2011. Of these, 18 (8.5%) were foreigners. In terms of age, 24 residents were under 18, 90 were between 18 and 49, 54 were between 50 and 64 and 45 residents were older. The residents lived in 93 households.

Sights

There are a number of historic buildings and sites, like the old school building and the local church. Essershausen, Kirche.jpg, Essershausen church Essershausen, Brückenstraße 8.JPG, Old school building Essershausen, Brückenstraße 4.jpg, Old houses in ''Brückenstraße '' Essershausen, Freienfelser Straße 7.JPG, Old houses in ''Freienfelser Straße'' Essershausen, Fachwerkscheune Brückenstraße 1.JPG, Old barn Essershausen, Brückenstraße 15.jpg, Old train station Essershausen, Stollenportal der Grube Fritz.JPG, Old mine

Community life

There is the village community center on ''Brückenstraße'', the sports field in ''Weilwiesen'', a children's playground and cycling and hiking trails. Since 1934, the Essershausen Volunteer Fire Department (''Freiwillige Feuerwehr Essershausen'') has been providing fire protection and general assistance in this area.

References

{{Reflist Villages in Hesse