Weilmünster
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| Weilmünster | |
| Coat of arms | Location |
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| Administration | |
| Country |  Germany |
|---|---|
| State | Hesse |
| Admin. region | Gießen |
| District | Limburg-Weilburg |
| Mayor | Manfred Heep |
| Basic statistics | |
| Area | 77.42 km² (29.9 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 193 m (633 ft) |
| Population | 9,303 (31/12/2006) |
| - Density | 120 /km² (311 /sq mi) |
| Other information | |
| Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) |
| Licence plate | LM |
| Postal code | 35789 |
| Area code | 06472 |
| Website | www.weilmuenster.de |
| Location of Weilmünster within Limburg-Weilburg district | |
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Weilmünster is a municipality in the district Limburg-Weilburg in Hesse, Germany.
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[edit] Geography
[edit] Geographic location
The market town Weilmünster is situated on the north leaning of the Taunus in the valley of the Weil, a confluence of the Lahn. Bigger towns and cities close by are Wetzlar (12.5 miles) in the northeast, Limburg (15.5 miles) in the west and Frankfurt (31 miles) in the southeast.
[edit] Neighbour municipalities and districts
Weilmünster borders in the north with Weilburg (district Limburg-Weilburg) and Braunfels, in the east with Waldsolms (both Lahn-Dill-Kreis), in the south with Grävenwiesbach, Weilrod (both Hochtaunuskreis) and Selters, as well as Villmar and Weinbach in the west (all three in the district Limburg-Weilburg).
[edit] Structure of the town
Weilmünster has twelve districts: Audenschmiede, Aulenhausen, Dietenhausen, Ernsthausen, Essershausen, Laimbach, Langenbach, Laubuseschbach, Lützendorf, Möttau, Rohnstadt and Wolfenhausen. About 150 years ago, Heinzenberg also belonged to Weilmünster, but today it is part of Grävenwiesbach.
[edit] History
Weilmünster was first mentioned in 1217 as Wilmunstre, when it was already a rather big village with own church at this time. There are clues that the cloister in Fulda let this church erect in the 9th century. Today's church was built at the begin of the 16th century, its square peel around 1300.
Weilmünster belonged to Nassau after the distribution of the estates in 1806 to Nassau-Weilburg. From 1866 on, it was part of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau.
Industrialisation began at the end of the 16th century, when an Ironworks with blast furnace was isntalled. As a consequence, foundries and other metal-working businesses were founded. Yet, this industrial development was only of short while. Outlying Weilmünster fell behind, when the streets in the Lahn valley where expanded and the Lahn canalised. The construction of the Weilstraße in 1860 was too late. As was the railroad connection, which was completed in 1908.
The Sanatorium for mental disorders (Landesheil- und Pflegeanstalt Weilmünster) was founded in 1897. During the Nazi era mentally disabled were coercive sterilised and killed by systematically malnutrition or overdosed drugs. Between 1937 and 1945, more than 6,000 people died. Amongst these were all Jewish patients.
Preliminary proceedings against personnel of the sanatorium, accusing them of involvement in the euthanasia programme, were stopped in 1953.
[edit] Coat of Arms
"In silver a red church with two blue roofed steeples in side view, in a right-side blue with golden clapboards sprinkled upper corner a red-embattled golden Lion." The coat of arms in today's version had been awarded on the 1 July 1935 by the chief president of the province Hesse-Nassau und was approved by the Hessian Home Office on 30 September 1983. At the same time, with a separate certificate, the municipal Weilmünster was granted to call itself "market town".
The church in the coat of arms is an emulation of the Protestant church in Weilmünster. The golden lion with the seven clapboards was the coat of arms of the former duchy Nassau. Verifiable, today's coat of arms was introduced as an official seal shortly after the Thirty Years' War.
[edit] Sister cities
Le Cheylard, France, from 1963
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