Wölferlingen 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.
Rhineland- ...
'' – 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 ...
in
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
Wölferlingen lies 8 km northeast 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 of ...
on the Westerwald Lake Plateau, a popular holiday and recreation area offering many hiking and cycling paths. The Wölferlinger Weiher (a 1.02-ha pond) is a protected natural area and is known for its rare bird and plant species. Wölferlingen belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Selters, a kind of collective municipality. Its seat is in the like-named town.
Constituent communities
The community has one outlying centre called Düringen.
History
In 1349, Wölferlingen had its first documentary mention as ''Wulferinc''. In 1359 it was called ''Wolfferingin'', then later ''Wölfringen'', ''Wolffryngen'' or ''Wulffringen'', and since 1622 ''Wölferlingen''. In 1399, a
chapel
A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...
was built on the spot where the
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* Chris ...
now stands, allowing Wölferlingen to mark two round-numbered birthdays in 1999. While Wölferlingen was formerly an agricultural community, it has nowadays developed into an almost purely residential community. Now, there is still one full-time farmer and there are agricultural side-businesses. Nevertheless, the 800-ha municipal area – 305 ha of which is wooded – is still fully worked by these farmers. There is hardly any unused land. The forest was once the community's main income earner, but this has now changed. In the long term, the community fathers are happy if the break-even point is reached in the forest.
Today the community forest's importance stands in the foreground as a surety for keeping the air clean, as water storage for the local people, an attraction for tourism, and not least of all as a common cultural resource.
Politics
The municipal council is made up of 13 council members, including the extraofficial mayor (''Bürgermeister''), who were elected in a
majority vote
A majority, also called a simple majority or absolute majority to distinguish it from related terms, is more than half of the total.Dictionary definitions of ''majority'' aMerriam-WebsterBundesstraße'' 8, leading from Limburg an der Lahn to Siegburg. The nearest
Autobahn
The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...
Mogendorf
Mogendorf is a municipality in Westerwaldkreis district, Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europ ...
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...
–
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 its na ...
). The nearest
InterCityExpress
The Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE ()) is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Germany. It also serves some destinations in Austria, Denmark (ceased in 2017 but planned to resume in 2022), France, Belgium, Switzerla ...
stop is the
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...