Merenberg 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 ...
.
Geography
Location
Merenberg lies on the southern edge of 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 the district seat 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
Weilburg
Weilburg is, with just under 13,000 inhabitants, the third biggest town in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany, after Limburg an der Lahn and Bad Camberg.
Geography
Location
The community lies in the Lahn valley between the Wester ...
.
Neighbouring communities
Merenberg borders in the north on the community of
Mengerskirchen
Mengerskirchen is a municipality in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany.
Geography
Neighbouring communities
Mengerskirchen borders in the north on the community of Greifenstein (Lahn-Dill-Kreis), in the east on the community of Löhnberg ...
, in the east on the community of
Löhnberg
Löhnberg is a municipality north of Weilburg in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany.
Geography
Location
Löhnberg lies between Wetzlar and the district seat of Limburg an der Lahn.
Neighbouring communities
Löhnberg borders in the ...
, in the south on the town of
Weilburg
Weilburg is, with just under 13,000 inhabitants, the third biggest town in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany, after Limburg an der Lahn and Bad Camberg.
Geography
Location
The community lies in the Lahn valley between the Wester ...
, in the southwest on the community of
Beselich, and in the west on the community of
Waldbrunn (all in Limburg-Weilburg).
Constituent communities
The market community of Merenberg consists of the five centres of Merenberg, Barig-Selbenhausen, Allendorf, Reichenborn and Rückershausen.
History
On both the Almerskopf and the Höhburg are found remnants of settlements from
La Tène times.
In Merenberg stands the family
castle of the House of Merenberg, a noble family in the 12th and 13th centuries. In connection with this family, the community had its first documentary mention in 1129. In 1290, Merenberg was granted town rights and weekly market rights by King
Rudolph I, whereupon a town wall was built. In 1634 the castle was destroyed, and since then it has stood, as a ruin, as Merenberg’s landmark.
In the early 19th century, Merenberg was stripped of town rights. In the late 19th century, the
House of Nassau
The House of Nassau is a diversified aristocratic dynasty in Europe. It is named after the lordship associated with Nassau Castle, located in present-day Nassau, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The lords of Nassau were originally titled "Count ...
named the children from
Prince Nikolaus Wilhelm of Nassau's marriage to
Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...
's daughter the “
Counts of Merenberg
Count of Merenberg (German: ''Graf von Merenberg'') is a hereditary title of nobility that was bestowed in 1868 by the reigning Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, George Victor, upon the morganatic wife and male-line descendants of Prince Nikolaus ...
”.
In the course of administrative reform in Hesse, the formerly autonomous communities of Allendorf, Barig-Selbenhausen, Merenberg, Reichenborn and Rückershausen, which had all belonged to the old Oberlahnkreis (district), merged into the new collective community of Merenberg.
Allendorf had its first documentary mention in 1250, Rückershausen in 1370 and Reichenborn in 1435.
Politics
Community council
The municipal election held on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results:
Coat of arms
The community’s
arms
Arms or ARMS may refer to:
*Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body
Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to:
People
* Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader
Coat of arms or weapons
*Armaments or weapons
**Fi ...
are those formerly borne by the Lords of Merenberg, which were also represented in the old Oberlahnkreis district’s (seat: Weilburg) arms.
Sightseeing
Image:Merenberg Burg.JPG, Merenberg castle ruins
Image:Merenberg Stadttor.JPG, Historic town gate in Merenberg
Image:Merenberg Kirche.JPG, Historic Evangelical church in Merenberg
Image:Merenberg Abbekirch.JPG, Historic ''Appenkirche'' at the current graveyard
Image:Barig Selbenhausen.JPG, Barig-Selbenhausen
Economy and infrastructure
Besides the trade and crafts that are customary for such a place, there are a few small and medium-size industrial businesses. The main fields of activity are
mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, an ...
, plant engineering,
metalworking
Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on every scal ...
, plastics processing and
automation
Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...
. Merenberg’s best known business is the record label
ZYX Music
ZYX Music GmbH & Co. KG is a German record label that was founded in 1971 by Bernhard Mikulski. It is one of the most successful German record labels of the 1980s and 1990s. Until 1992, the label's name was Pop-Import Bernhard Mikulski. The labe ...
.
Transport
The community lies on ''
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'' ...
'' 49, which is currently (February 2006) being widened to four lanes between Limburg and
Wetzlar
Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important cultural, industrial and commercial center, the un ...
, and which links Merenberg to the long-distance road network.
Education
Merenberg has, with its ''Albert-Wagner-Schule'', 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 ...
and a
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 ...
. In 1958, it was dedicated as the first ''Mittelpunktschule'' (“midpoint school”, a central school, designed to eliminate smaller outlying schools) in Hesse. It was named after the administrative official and politician Albert Wagner. Merenberg lies in the feeder area of the ''Westerwaldschule'', a Hauptschule-
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''), ...
in Mengerskirchen-Waldernbach. Moreover, students from Merenberg attend other
secondary schools in
Weilburg
Weilburg is, with just under 13,000 inhabitants, the third biggest town in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany, after Limburg an der Lahn and Bad Camberg.
Geography
Location
The community lies in the Lahn valley between the Wester ...
.
Public institutions
* Kindertagesstätte "Villa Kunterbunt" Merenberg (
daycare
Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...
)
*
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 ...
"Tigerente" Barig-Selbenhausen
* Merenberg 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 1902 (includes Youth Fire Brigade)
* Allendorf Volunteer Fire Brigade, founded 1926 (includes Youth Fire Brigade)
* Barig-Selbenhausen Volunteer Fire Brigade, founded 1925 (includes Youth Fire Brigade)
* Reichenborn Volunteer Fire Brigade, founded 1925 (includes Youth Fire Brigade)
* Rückershausen Volunteer Fire Brigade, founded 1934 (includes Youth Fire Brigade)
Notable residents
*
Wilhelm Dörr (1921-1945), SS and concentration camp officer executed for war crimes
References
External links
Merenberg administration’s homepage*
{{Authority control
Limburg-Weilburg