Breitscheid is a municipality 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 b ...

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

Breitscheid lies from 266 to 600 m above

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

on the eastern slope 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 ...

range at the point shared by three German states: Hesse,

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 ...

and

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

. Erdbach, a constituent community, lies in an interesting place with regards to

Earth's history The history of Earth concerns the development of planet Earth from its formation to the present day. Nearly all branches of natural science have contributed to understanding of the main events of Earth's past, characterized by constant geologic ...

, in the eastern part of the Westerwald, near that range's highest peak, Fuchskauten (657 m).

Geology

In the Erdbach area are noteworthy

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

deposits from various

geological time The geologic time scale, or geological time scale, (GTS) is a representation of time based on the rock record of Earth. It is a system of chronological dating that uses chronostratigraphy (the process of relating strata to time) and geochron ...

periods. "Erdbach limestone" from Lower Carboniferous times gave an era the name "Erdbachium". The Erdbach – the village's namesake brook – disappears into a karst system, and does not appear again for 1.5 km where it can be seen in a

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...

. Not far from there, the "Homberg"

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

reserve was instituted, which serves some university institutes from

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a po ...

to the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

as a research area. The older limestone formation near Breitscheid (main centre) stems from a subtropical

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. C ...

from the Devonian period (mid- Palaeozoic, 400,000,000 years ago). In the "stone chambers" of the Rolsbach valley, some gravesites from Hallstatt times (about 550 BC) were unearthed in 1884. In

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

, there is a special burial ornament called an "Erdbach coil

torc A torc, also spelled torq or torque, is a large rigid or stiff neck ring in metal, made either as a single piece or from strands twisted together. The great majority are open at the front, although some had hook and ring closures and a few had ...

" (''Erdbacher Wendelhalsring''). It is also believed that

Neanderthal Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. While the ...

people once lived nearby, but this belief awaits further discovery.

Neighbouring communities

Breitscheid borders in the north on the community of Burbach ( Siegen-Wittgenstein district in North Rhine-Westphalia), and the towns of

Haiger Haiger is a country town in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. The nearest city is Siegen, about 25 km north of Haiger. Geography Location Haiger lies about 5 km west of Dillenburg, and 20 km southeast of Siegen on the eastern ...

and

Dillenburg Dillenburg, officially Oranienstadt Dillenburg, is a town in Hesse's Gießen region in Germany. The town was formerly the seat of the old Dillkreis district, which is now part of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis. The town lies on the German- Dutch holiday road ...

, in the east on the town of Herborn, in the south on the community of

Driedorf Driedorf is a municipality in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Driedorf lies from 416 to 642 m above sea level on a tableland in the high Westerwald. Mademühlen Mademühlen has about 1,000 inhabitants and lies in the ...

(all in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis), and in the west on the communities of

Willingen Willingen (official name: ''Willingen (Upland)'') is a municipality in Waldeck-Frankenberg in northern Hesse, Germany, some 80 km west of Kassel. Geography Location Willingen is found in Waldeck-Frankenberg district in the Upland. Its mai ...

and Liebenscheid (both 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 ...

Constituent communities

Aside from the main centre, which bears the same name as the whole, there are outlying centres called Erdbach, Gusternhain, Medenbach and Rabenscheid. The community came into being on 1 January 1977 as part of Hesse's municipal reforms. The constituent communities were formerly independent municipalities.

Politics

Municipal council

The municipal elections on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results: Note: FWG is a citizens' coalition.

Main sights

* ''Töpfermuseum Breitscheid'' (Breitscheid

Pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and ...

Museum) displays the development of pottery and has pottery products on display from the last 250 years. * The old Fortress church in Breitscheid. * ''Erdbacher Höhlen'' (

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

s), karst caves and a karst spring.

References

* Museum "Zeitsprünge" (English: jumps in time) - geology, archaeology, history of cave discovering

External links

official Website of BreitscheidPrivate source for cave system and geology
* {{Authority control Lahn-Dill-Kreis