Willmenrod is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a community belonging to a ''

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 ...

'' – 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 ...

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 ...

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

Willmenrod lies in the valley of the Elbach between the 475-m-high Watzenhahn and the Stromberg in the middle 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 ...

Geology

The landscape is characterized by

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90 ...

and

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

deposits. Until after the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

, basalt was still being

quarried A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

in Willmenrod and broken up into chips and crushed stone in the community. One hundred and twenty hectares of the municipal area is wooded.

Neighbouring communities

Willmenrod borders in the north on Sainscheid and

Westerburg Westerburg () is a small town of roughly 6,000 inhabitants in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The town is named after the castle built on a hill above the mediaeval town centre (''Burg'' is German for “castle”) Geograph ...

, in the east on Wengenroth and Berzhahn, in the south on Girkenroth and Dorndorf and in the west on Weltersburg and Guckheim.

Climate

Despite the claim to the contrary in the folksong ''Oh du schöner Westerwald'', the wind does not whistle quite so cold. Rather, a moderate climate holds sway here. In winter, the snow is limited, in summer, it is only seldom unbearably hot and when there is stormy weather, the two mountain ridges keep the wind off the community's location.

History

In 1212, Willmenrod had its first documentary mention as ''Wernbolderode''. Since 1712 it has borne its current name. In 1805, almost the whole village was burnt down in a great fire. Owing to the thatched roofs and tight rows of houses that prevailed then, such a catastrophe was very nearly inevitable. Owing to the community's location on the Elbbach, which afforded a great deal of waterpower, it was possible to run five mills here.

Religion

Willmenrod is overwhelmingly

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

Population development

For a few years, the population figure has been swinging between 650 and 700.

Politics

Community council

The council is made up of 13 council members, including the extraofficial mayor (''Bürgermeister''), who were elected in a majority vote in a municipal election on 13 June 2004.

Coat of arms

The waterwheel in 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 ...

stands for the five mills which were formerly of great importance. The lozenges stand for the lesser noble house of Willmenrod. The blue wavy fess stands for the Elbbach's special importance. The various

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

s stand for the community's changing overlords.

Culture and sightseeing

Clubs

Willmenrod has a

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 ...

, a

sport club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

, a fruit-growing and gardening club and a mixed

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

Notable people

* Television cook

Clemens Wilmenrod Clemens Wilmenrod (July 24, 1906 – April 12, 1967) was the first German television cook. His pseudonym was derived from the municipality Willmenrod in the Westerwald region, where he was born as Carl Clemens Hahn. Wilmenrod is considered th ...

, who took his stage name from the community's name, and is buried in the graveyard here

References

External links

* Gudrun Fünter
''Willmenrod - Ein Ortsporträt''
Municipalities in Rhineland-Palatinate Westerwaldkreis {{Westerwaldkreis-geo-stub