Laubach is a town of approximately 10,000 people in the

Gießen Giessen, spelled Gießen in German (), is a town in the German state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 univers ...

region of

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 ...

. Laubach is known as a ', a climatic health resort. It is situated east of Gießen. Surrounding Laubach are the towns of

Hungen Hungen () is a town in the district of Gießen, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated 20 km southeast of Gießen, and 18 km northeast of Friedberg. Surrounding towns are Laubach to the north, Nidda to the east, Wölfersheim to the south ...

, Grünberg,

Schotten Schotten is a town in the middle of Hesse, Germany. Larger towns nearby include Alsfeld in the north, Fulda in the east, Friedberg in the south and Gießen in the west. Geography Location The officially recognised climatic spa lies between 168 m ...

and

Lich In fantasy fiction, a lich (; from the Old English , meaning "corpse") is a type of undead creature. Various works of fantasy fiction, such as Clark Ashton Smith's " The Empire of the Necromancers" (1932), had used ''lich'' as a general term f ...

Points of interest

The dense Laubach Woods spread into the foothills of the

Vogelsberg Mountains The is a large volcanic mountain range in the German Central Uplands in the state of Hesse, separated from the Rhön Mountains by the Fulda river valley. Emerging approximately 19 million years ago, the Vogelsberg is Central Europe's largest ...

. With its many historic and colorful half-timbered (') buildings, Laubach is an area of interest to tourists. The main point of attraction is the castle, which is still owned by the count of

Solms-Laubach Solms-Laubach was a County of southern Hesse and eastern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The House of SolmsSee German article on the '' House of Solms'' or French article '' Maison de Solms. had its origins in Solms, Hesse. History Solms-Laubach ...

. It was built in the thirteenth century and expanded over the years. The Solms castle has one of the largest private libraries in Europe, with over 120,000 titles. An original Gutenberg Bible, on display in the Johann Gutenberg Museum in Mainz, came from this private collection. The castle grounds include a huge park with a swan lake, open to the public. The city's Evangelical Lutheran Church, formerly named St. Maria, has a Baroque organ. The oldest part of the church was built in the twelfth century. It was renovated in the eighteenth century. The former district courthouse ('), the city hall, and the Heimat Museum are together on the main street of Friedrichstrasse. The courthouse is now a residence for senior citizens. The is the local history museum, originally built near the town of in 1750 by Count August Solms-Laubach. The building was moved to its present location in 1832 and served as a school before it became a museum. The museum contains a permanent exhibit of the diary of city resident Friedrich Kellner.

Notable residents

* Friedrich Kellner (1885–1970) - Laubach's chief justice inspector during World War II, he wrote a 10-volume diary about the misdeeds of the Nazis, later published as a book, ''

My Opposition ''My Opposition'' (german: Mein Widerstand) is a diary secretly written by the German social democrat Friedrich Kellner (1885–1970) during World War II to describe life under Nazi Germany and to expose the propaganda and the crimes of the Nazi d ...

'' (german: Mein Widerstand). He became deputy mayor, first town councilman, and chairman of the regional branch of the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

. A Canadian documentary about Kellner was filmed on location in Laubach. * Felix Klipstein (1880–1941), artist - grew up in and Belgium, spending his academic years in France and Spain, where he did special studies in Velázquez. In 1909 he settled in Laubach with his wife, the writer Edith Blass. * Friedel Münch (1927–2014), head of Münch Motorcycle Works * Philipp Erasmus Reich (1717–1787), bookseller and publisher * Georg Friedrich Solms-Laubach (1899–1969) * Sophie von Solms-Laubach (1594–1651) *

Countess Monika zu Solms-Laubach Monika, Princess of Hanover, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg (born Countess Monika zu Solms-Laubach; 8 August 1929 – 4 June 2015) was a German noblewoman and philanthropist. She was the second wife of Ernest Augustus, Prince of Hanover. A membe ...

(1929–2015), Princess Consort of Hanover

Laubach in the media

Literature

Film

Gallery

Image:Laubach sheep.jpg, Sheep grazing, a part of Laubach's landscape Image:Innenstadt Laubach.jpg, Solms Castle and Laubach houses Image:1938 Laubach courthouse 300dpi.jpg, Laubach courthouse (') in 1938 Image:Friedrich Kellner Laubach Courthouse 1948.jpg, Chief Justice Inspector Friedrich Kellner (center), at the Laubach courthouse in 1948 File:2007-07 Ruthardshausen.jpg, The ruined church "St. Valentin" of the deserted village , July 2007

References

External links

Laubach Online
(municipal website) {{Authority control Giessen (district)