Dornburg, Hesse

Dornburg

Coat of arms
Dornburg

Coordinates: 50°30′13″N 08°01′28″E / 50.50361°N 8.02444°E / 50.50361; 8.02444Coordinates: 50°30′13″N 08°01′28″E / 50.50361°N 8.02444°E / 50.50361; 8.02444
Country Germany
State Hesse
Admin. region Gießen
District Limburg-Weilburg
Government
  Mayor Andreas Höfner (CDU)
Area
  Total 33.21 km2 (12.82 sq mi)
Elevation 194 m (636 ft)
Population (2015-12-31)[1]
  Total 8,527
  Density 260/km2 (670/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 65599
Dialling codes 06436
Vehicle registration LM
Website www.dornburg.de

Dornburg is a community in the Westerwald in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany.

Geography

Neighbouring communities

Dornburg borders in the north and west on communities in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, with the other neighbours all lying in Limburg-Weilburg. Among them is the town of Hadamar, historically the seat of a county.

Constituent communities

Dornburg’s Ortsteile are Frickhofen (administrative seat; celebrates its 1,200-year jubilee in 2009), Langendernbach, Dorndorf (state-recognized health resort), Thalheim and Wilsenroth (state-recognized air spa)

History

The “Dornburg”, which gave the community its name after its forerunner communities were amalgamated in 1974, is a roughly 396-m-high elevation upon which are found the remains of a ringwall site from La Tène times (5th to 1st century BC). Within it lay a Celtic settlement rather like a town. On the Blasiusberg was a heathen worship place. The Christian chapel built there later served until 1734 as the parish church for eleven of the area’s villages.

The founding of the five villages that now make up the community of Dornburg goes back in some cases more than 1,200 years. Wilsenroth had its first documentary mention in 879 under the name Welsenderode – meaning the area cleared by Willesind – as did also Langendernbach when Count Gebhard in the Lahngau donated property here to the St. Severus Monastery in Gemünden.

Dorndorf’s first documentary mention under the name Torndorph stems from the year 772. Frickhofen (Fridechuba, roughly estate surrounded by peace) was founded sometime between 802 and 812.

In 1636, the Plague ravaged Dornburg. In Dorndorf only a single family survived.

Within the framework of administrative reform in Hesse on 1 February 1971, the community of Dornburg came into being through the amalgamation of the formerly autonomous villages of Frickhofen, Dorndorf and Wilsenroth, and then shortly thereafter Thalheim as well. Langendernbach left amalgamation to the last possible moment, the deadline on 1 July 1974. It nevertheless joined the community.

Politics

Dornburg town hall in Frickhofen

Community council

The municipal election held on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results:

Parties and voter communities %
2006
seats
2006
%
2001
seats
2001
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany 61.7 19 55.1 17
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany 24.1 8 27.0 8
FWG Dornburg Freie Wählergemeinschaft Dornburg 14.2 4 10.3 3
DBL Dornburger Bürgerliste 7.7 3
Total 100.0 31 100.0 31
voter turnout in % 51.2 60.8

Community executive

The Gemeindevorstand consists of the mayor (Bürgermeister) and 10 deputies (Beigeordneten). Here, too, the CDU currently holds an absolute majority.

Mayor

Dornburg’s mayor is Andreas Höfner (CDU).

Sightseeing

The Baroque Evangelical church in Langendernbach
St. Matthew’s Church in Langendernbach with the “800-year-old lime”
Remains of the Rödchensmauer, the Dornburg circular rampartl

Culture

In Dornburg there are various cultural offerings, mostly under the responsibility of local clubs. There is also a village museum in Wilsenroth that affords the visitor a glimpse of the local history and a chance to remember or learn what it was like to live, work and celebrate festivals in a Westerwald village in days of yore.

Further reading (culture)

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

Through Langendernbach runs Bundesstraße 54 (Siegen - Limburg).

Education

In Dornburg are found primary schools in the constituent communities of Dorndorf, Langendernbach, Thalheim and Wilsenroth. Frickhofen is home to the Mittelpunktschule St. Blasius with primary school, Hauptschule and Realschule sections.

Public institutions

Notable people

Notable people that were born or lived in Dornburg include:

References

  1. "Bevölkerung der hessischen Gemeinden". Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt (in German). August 2016.
  2. NZZ-Artikel: Relikte der Eiszeit - Permafrost in deutschen und tschechischen Mittelgebirgen auf www.nzz.ch

Further reading

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