Lich, Hesse

Lich

Coat of arms
Lich

Coordinates: 50°31′18″N 8°49′15″E / 50.52167°N 8.82083°E / 50.52167; 8.82083Coordinates: 50°31′18″N 8°49′15″E / 50.52167°N 8.82083°E / 50.52167; 8.82083
Country Germany
State Hesse
Admin. region Gießen
District Gießen
Government
 • Mayor Bernd Klein (SPD)
Area
 • Total 77.64 km2 (29.98 sq mi)
Population (2013-12-31)[1]
 • Total 13,009
 • Density 170/km2 (430/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 35423
Dialling codes 06404, 06004
Vehicle registration GI
Website www.lich.de

Lich is a town in the district of Gießen, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated 12 km southeast of Gießen.

Geography

The town is located alongside the river Wetter halfway between Taunus and Vogelsberg; the northern and eastern parts of the town belong to the natural area of the Vogelsberg Mountains , the southern and western to the Wetterau.

Constituent communities

Besides the main town, which bears the same name as the whole municipality, the following surrounding communities belong to Lich since the 1970s Hessen government act:

  • Langsdorf
  • Muschenheim
  • Nieder-Bessingen
  • Ober-Bessingen

History

Lich in the Topographia Hassiae from Matthäus Merian 1655
Remnants of the Limes in the Lich surrounding

The region is known to be settled for more than 100 000 years. Tools found on several places in and around Lich could be dated to the Neanderthal period, others to the Aurignacian culture, Linear Pottery culture, the Bronze Age, the Hallstatt culture and the La Tène culture.

When building the Upper Germanic Limes during the regency of the Roman Emperor Domitian the Romans founded also the Castra Arnsburg, located near the nowadays Arnsburg Abbey. It is the most northern known Castra along the Limes.

The first known mentioning of Lich dates back to 790 in the Lorsch codex. In 1300 the town was awarded a market character by Emperor Albert I of Germany. Originally belonging to the County of Hagen-Münzenberg it got to the Counts of Falkenstein following the marriage of Isengard of Münzenberg to Philip IV of Bolanden-Falkenstein. As an inheritance Lich was given to the House of Solms in the middle of the 14th century. The House of Solms splittet in several branches during the centuries – one of them is the branch Solms-Hohensolms-Lich, which is seated in Lich up to now.

There were no remarkable devastations in Lich during several wars from Thirty Years' War up to World War II. In 1993, the town hosted the 33rd Hessentag state festival.

Twin cities

Lich is twinned with the following communities:

It is also friendly associated to

Landmarks

Gallery from Lich

Education

There are three Elementary Schools, a Comprehensive School, a Special School for children with learning disabilities and a Nursing school associated to the Asklepios Klinik Lich. The Gießen district Folk High School is also located in Lich.

Economy

The Licher brewery.

Lich is the home of the brewery and leading regional brand Licher (Bitburger Holding). There are also more than 400 years of tradition in organ building, today represented by the Förster & Nicolaus Orgelbauanstalt and the Otto Heuss GmbH. The Hofapotheke (Court Pharmacy) was founded in 1703.

Notable People

Notable People born in Lich

Notable People connected to Lich

References

  1. ↑ "Die Bevölkerung der hessischen Gemeinden". Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt (in German). September 2014.
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