Hünfelden is a municipality in

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 the ...

district in

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...

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 ...

. Hünfelden lies on the ''Hühnerstraße'', an historic part of ''

Bundesstraße ''Bundesstraße'' (German for "federal highway"), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways. Germany Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km. German ''Bundesstraßen'' ...

'' 417.

Geography

Location

Hünfelden lies in the

Taunus The Taunus is a mountain range in Hesse, Germany, located north of Frankfurt. The tallest peak in the range is '' Großer Feldberg'' at 878 m; other notable peaks are ''Kleiner Feldberg'' (825 m) and '' Altkönig'' (798 m). The Taunus range span ...

north of

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

, 9 km southeast of

Limburg an der Lahn Limburg an der Lahn (officially abbreviated ''Limburg a. d. Lahn'') is the district seat of Limburg-Weilburg in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Limburg lies in western Hessen between the Taunus and the Westerwald on the river Lahn. The t ...

Neighbouring communities

Hünfelden borders in the north on the town of

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 the community of

Brechen Brechen is a municipality in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Brechen lies in the southeastern part of the Limburg Basin between the Taunus and the Westerwald. The sparsely wooded land of loess hills is crossed he ...

, in the east on the community of

Selters Selters is a German brand of natural mineral water sourced from wells in the area of Selters in Hesse, at the Taunus mountains. The water has been known since the Bronze Age and famous as a natural soda water because of its high concentration ...

and the town of

Bad Camberg Bad or BAD may refer to: Common meanings *Evil, the opposite of moral good * Erroneous, inaccurate or incorrect * Unhealthy, or counter to well-being * Antagonist, the threat or obstacle of moral good Acronyms * BAD-2, a Soviet armored troll ...

(all in Limburg-Weilburg), in the south on the communities of

Hünstetten Hünstetten is a municipality in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Neighbouring communities Hünstetten borders in the north on the community of Hünfelden, in the northeast on the town of Bad ...

and

Aarbergen Aarbergen is a municipality in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Aarbergen lies on the river Aar south of Limburg an der Lahn and between the Taunus ridge and the river L ...

(both in

Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis Rheingau-Taunus is a Kreis (district) in the west of Hesse, Germany. Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis is part of the Darmstadt region; its main administrative seat is Bad Schwalbach. Outposted sections of the local administration are located in Idstein and R ...

), and in the west on the ''

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. Rhinelan ...

n'' (a kind of collective municipality) of

Aar-Einrich Aar-Einrich is a ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") in the Rhein-Lahn-Kreis, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Its seat is in Katzenelnbogen. It was formed on 1 July 2019 by the merger of the former ''Verbandsgemeinden'' Hahnstätten ...

and Diez (both in

Rhein-Lahn-Kreis Rhein-Lahn-Kreis is a district (''Kreis'') in the east of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from north clockwise) Westerwaldkreis, Limburg-Weilburg, Rheingau-Taunus, Mainz-Bingen, Rhein-Hunsrück, Mayen-Koblenz, and the di ...

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

The community consists of seven ''

Ortsteil A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

e'', each formerly autonomous, listed here with population figures as at 1 January 2008. *Kirberg: 2394 *Dauborn: 2764 *Mensfelden: 1339 *Heringen: 1055 *Nauheim: 997 *Ohren: 811 *Neesbach: 805

History

The community of Hünfelden came into being within the framework of administrative reform in Hesse on 1 October 1971 through the voluntary merger of the then autonomous communities of Dauborn, Heringen, Kirberg, Mensfelden, Nauheim, Neesbach and Ohren. The name “Hünfelden” was chosen then because of the great number of cromlechs – ''Hünengräber'' 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 ...

– from Hallstatt times around the centres of Heringen and Ohren. At the time of founding, the community’s population was 6,952. Among Hünfelden’s constituent communities, Mensfelden can claim the earliest documentary mention, which came in 775. Dauborn, Heringen and the now long-vanished village of Bubenheim, which lay in the area of today’s Kirberg, followed in 790 in the

Prüm Abbey Prüm Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey in Prüm, now in the diocese of Trier (Germany), founded by the Frankish widow Bertrada the elder and her son Charibert, Count of Laon, in 721. The first abbot was Angloardus. The Abbey ruled over a va ...

’s golden book. Through Hünfelden’s current municipal area ran the ''Via Publica'' as well as the ''Hühnerstraße'' (roads). In 1355, a castle was built in Kirberg. In 1235, the

Cistercian convent Cistercian nuns are female members of the Cistercian Order, a religious order belonging to the Roman Catholic branch of the Catholic Church. History The first Cistercian monastery for women, Le Tart Abbey, was established at Tart-l'Abbaye in t ...

of Gnadenthal was founded, which in 1590 was furnished with a great Abbess’s house. After the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, the site became Nassau stately domain. Since 1969, the Christian community “Jesusbruderschaft” (“Jesus Brotherhood”) has existed there.

Politics

Community council

The municipal election held on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results:

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

* Kirberg castle ruins * Restored

timber-frame Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

buildings and former town hall in Kirberg * ''Stein’sches Haus'' in Kirberg * Former Gnadenthal convent Image:Kirberg Steinsches Haus.jpg, ''Stein’sches Haus'' in Kirberg Image:Dauborn Kirche.jpg, Dauborn church Image:Mensfelden Kirche Sueden.jpg, Mensfelden churchtower Image:Heringen_Rathaus.jpg, Former town hall and former postal station in Heringen Image:Nauheim alter Schule.jpg, Old school in Nauheim Image:Ohren Schule.jpg, Old school in Ohren Image:Neesbach Kirche.jpg, Neesbach church Image:Kirberg - Burg.jpg, Kirberg castle ruins Image:Kirberg - Rathaus.jpg, Former town hall of Kirberg Image:Dauborn Hofzeile.jpg, Row of buildings in Dauborn

Museums

* ''Heimatmuseum'' (local lore) in Kirberg.

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

Hünfelden has developed itself into a popular residential community, as it has at its disposal good transport connections with

and

(''Bundesstraße'' 417) as well as with the

Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region The Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region, often simply referred to as Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main area or Rhine-Main area (German: ''Rhein-Main-Gebiet'' or ''Frankfurt/Rhein-Main'', abbreviated FRM), is the second-largest metropolitan re ...

over A 3 (

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

–

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 it ...

) through the Limburg-Süd and Bad Camberg interchanges. At the same time, though, it has kept a very quiet and rural character.

Education

The ''Freiherr-vom-Stein-Schule'' is a

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

Hauptschule A ''Hauptschule'' (, "general school") is a secondary school in Germany, starting after four years of elementary schooling (''Grundschule''), which offers Lower Secondary Education (Level 2) according to the International Standard Classification ...

and

Realschule ''Realschule'' () is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), ...

with a Gymnasium branch.

Public institutions

Kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th ce ...

Kirberg * Kindergarten Dauborn * Kindergarten Heringen * Kindergarten Mensfelden * Kindergarten Nauheim * Kindergarten Neesbach * Kindergarten Ohren * Kirberg Volunteer

Fire Brigade A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression se ...

, founded 1905 (includes Youth Fire Brigade) * Dauborn Volunteer Fire Brigade, founded 1906 (includes Youth Fire Brigade) * Heringen Volunteer Fire Brigade, founded 1909 (includes Youth Fire Brigade) * Mensfelden Volunteer Fire Brigade, founded 1935 (includes Youth Fire Brigade) * Nauheim Volunteer Fire Brigade, founded 1934 (includes Youth Fire Brigade) * Neesbach Volunteer Fire Brigade, founded 1934 (includes Youth Fire Brigade) * Ohren Volunteer Fire Brigade, founded 1934 (includes Youth Fire Brigade)

Famous people

* Wilhelm Bender, Chairman of the board of

Fraport Fraport AG Frankfurt Airport Services Worldwide,Community’s website
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