Solms () is a town west of

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 ...

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 ...

Hessen Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a 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 historic cities are Da ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

with around 13,500 inhabitants. In the constituent community of Burgsolms once stood the ancestral

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

of the Counts and Princes of

Solms Solms () is a town west of Wetzlar in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis, Hessen, Germany with around 13,500 inhabitants. In the constituent community of Burgsolms once stood the ancestral castle of the Counts and Princes of House of Solms, Solms. Geography Lo ...

Geography

Location

Solms lies right in the

Lahn The Lahn () is a , right (or eastern) tributary of the Rhine in Germany. Its course passes through the States of Germany, federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia (23.0 km), Hesse (165.6 km), and Rhineland-Palatinate (57.0 km). ...

valley at the mouth of the eponymous little river Solmsbach and is nestled between the foothills of both the

Taunus The Taunus () is a mountain range in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, located north west of Frankfurt and north of Wiesbaden. The tallest peak in the range is '' Großer Feldberg'' at 878 m; other notable peaks are '' Kleiner Feldberg' ...

and

Westerwald The Westerwald (; literally 'Western forest') is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the States of Germany, German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Ma ...

at heights from 140 to 400 m above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. It is about 7 km west of

and 30 km northeast 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 Hesse between the Taunus and the Westerwald on the river Lahn. The t ...

Neighbouring communities

Solms borders in the north on the community of

Ehringshausen Ehringshausen is a municipality in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Ehringshausen lies in the valley of the Dill between Wetzlar and Herborn. Neighbouring communities Ehringshausen borders in the north on the community ...

and the town of

Aßlar Aßlar (or Asslar, ) is a town near Wetzlar in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Aßlar lies in the foothills of the Westerwald range and on the river Dill, which empties into the Lahn in neighbouring Wetzlar, about 5& ...

, in the east on the town of

, in the southeast on the community of

Schöffengrund Schöffengrund is a municipality in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Schöffengrund lies only a few kilometres south of Wetzlar in the Hochtaunus Nature Park. Neighbouring communities Schöffengrund borders in the north ...

, in the southwest on the town of

Braunfels Braunfels () is a town in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. It is located on the German Timber-Frame Road. Geography Location The climatic spa of Braunfels lies at a height of some 100 m above the Lahn valley. It is 9 km southwes ...

and in the west on the town of Leun (all in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis).

Constituent communities

The town consists of the following centres: *Albshausen * Burgsolms * Niederbiel * Oberbiel * Oberndorf Solms is a town west of

in the

with around 13,500 inhabitants. In the constituent community of Burgsolms once stood the ancestral

of the Counts and Princes of

Politics

Town council

The municipal elections in 2011 yielded the following results: Note: FWG is a citizens' coalition.

Town of Solms Youth Council

Since 2002 there has been a ''Town of Solms Youth Council'' serving as the town's official board representing youth's interests and needs. It is elected every two years by children and youths who either live in the town or go to the

comprehensive school A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis ...

Partnerships

The town of Solms maintains partnerships with the following places: * Liezen,

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

La Grand-Combe La Grand-Combe (; ) is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. Geography The town lies on the opposite bank of the river Gardon d'Alès from Les Salles-du-Gardon. It is 13 km upstream and north of Alès in the Cévennes of ...

Gard Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

* Schmiedefeld am Rennsteig,

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

Economy and infrastructure

Oberbiel is home to two commercial-industrial areas. A shipping company has set up shop at the newer one, while the older one, on an island in the river Lahn, was established in the early 20th century. It was originally home to a brad factory, a wireworks and a

ball bearing A ball bearing is a type of rolling-element bearing that uses balls to maintain the separation between the bearing races. The purpose of a ball bearing is to reduce rotational friction and support radial and axial loads. It achieves this ...

factory.

History

Solms had its first documentary mention in 788 in a donation document from the Lorsch Monastery. The villages that nowadays form the town of Solms belonged for centuries to the County of Solms, an independent state within the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

, elevated to a county in 1223, until it was dissolved in 1806. Early branches of the House of SolmsSee German article '' House of Solms'' or French article '' Maison de Solms. were Burgsolms (extinguished 1415), Konigsberg (near Biebertal, extinguished 1364), Old and New Hohensolms (at

Hohenahr Hohenahr () is a municipality in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Hohenahr lies in the Lahn-Dill Highland at a height of between 260 and 440 m above sea level. Its constituent communities of Ahrdt and Mudersbach are on th ...

, extinguished in the 14th century) and

. The still existing lines are the princely branches of Solms-Braunfels, Solms-Hohensolms-Lich with their seat in

Lich In fantasy fiction, a lich () is a type of undead creature with magical powers. Various works of fantasy fiction, such as Clark Ashton Smith's " The Empire of the Necromancers" (1932), had used ''lich'' as a general term for any corpse, animat ...

and Solms-Baruth, furthermore the Counts of

Solms-Laubach Solms-Laubach was a County of southern Hesse and eastern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The House of Solms had its origins in Solms, Hesse. History Solms-Laubach was originally created as a partition of Solms-Lich. In 1537 Philip, Count of S ...

with their

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

Laubach Laubach () is a town of approximately 10,000 people in the Gießen (region), Gießen region of Hesse, Germany. Laubach is known as a ', a climatic health resort. It is situated east of Gießen. Surrounding Laubach are the towns of Hungen, Grünbe ...

, Solms-Rödelheim-Assenheim with their seat in Assenheim, Solms-Sonnewalde and Solms-Wildenfels. The Burgsolms castle at Solms, ancestral seat of the family since around 1100, was destroyed in 1384 by a coalition of nearby towns under the leadership of

, forcing count John to move to

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 Greifenstein Castle (Hesse), ...

castle. After a short while being part of the

Duchy of Nassau The Duchy of Nassau (German language, German: ''Herzogtum Nassau'') was an independent state between 1806 and 1866, located in what became the Germany, German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse. It was a States of the Confederation of th ...

, Solms passed to

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

in 1815. As part of Hesse's municipal reforms, the communities of Albshausen and Oberbiel voluntarily merged on 1 July 1971 to form ''Bielhausen'', while Burgsolms and Oberndorf did the same to form ''Solms''. By state law, these two new communities were amalgamated with Niederbiel on 1 January 1977 to make the new greater community of Solms, which in 1978 was granted town rights. A new residential area has been being built on the western edge of Oberbiel since the 1990s.

Sightseeing

* Kloster Altenberg (Altenberg Monastery) - ''Burial place of the blessed Gertrud von Altenberg (1227-1297), Saint Elisabeth's daughter'' * Grube Fortuna (Oberbiel) - '' Visitors' Mine including a light and mine railway museum'' ''(Iron ore was mined here until 1983.)'' *Stone Bench (Oberbiel Forest) - ''A secluded place, that may have originally served as a hunting post'' * Jewish Cemetery (Burgsolms) - ''Tombstones from 1705 to 1939'' *Gallows of Solms (Forest between Burgsolms/Oberndorf and Albshausen) - ''Memorial against death penalty: Erected in stone in 1750, the gallows has never been used for an execution.'' *Schäferburg ("Shepherd's castle", Niederbiel) - ''Log cabin and barbecue area on the edge of the forest (Westerwald side) overlooking the city and the Lahn valley'' *Former Hunting Lodge Dr. Roth, later a children's home (Albshausen) - A kind of counterpart to Niederbiel's "Schäferburg" on the Taunus side (built around 1920) *Old Station Braunfels-Oberndorf (Oberndorf) - Representative building on the disused Solmsbach-valley-route to Brandoberndorf

Images

Burgsolms-Braunfels.jpg, The churches of Burgsolms in front of

castle Oberndorf Kirche mit Himmel.jpg, Oberndorf Kloster Altenberg - panoramio.jpg, Altenberg Abbey Pfingstmontag 2019 im Feld- und Grubenbahnmuseum Fortuna 06.jpg, Visitors' Mine Fortuna Jüdischer Friedhof Solms.jpg, Jewish Cemetery Solmser Galgen.jpg, alt=Gallows, Gallows Evangelische Kirche Solms-Albshausen.jpg, Albshausen church Kirche Solms-Niederbiel.jpg, Niederbiel church

References

External links

''Grube Fortuna'' homepage
{{Authority control 1258 disestablishments in Europe States and territories established in 1129 Youth councils Lahn-Dill-Kreis