Elbtal

Coat of arms

Elbtal

Location of Elbtal within Limburg-Weilburg district

Coordinates: 50°31′N 08°04′E / 50.517°N 8.067°ECoordinates: 50°31′N 08°04′E / 50.517°N 8.067°E

Country

Government

• Mayor

Hubert Lenz

Area

• Total

11.12 km² (4.29 sq mi)

Population (2015-12-31)

• Total

2,393

• Density

220/km² (560/sq mi)

CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)

65627

06436

Website

Elbtal is a community in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany.

Elbtal lies on the Westerwald’s southern slope above the Lahn valley.

Elbtal’s Ortsteile are Dorchheim (administrative seat), Elbgrund, Hangenmeilingen, und Heuchelheim.

The hills on either side of the Elbbach were already inhabited by the New Stone Age, as shown by the many finds of stone tools. The circular rampart called Heidenhäuschen ("Little Heath House") near Hangenmeilingen has been dated to Hallstatt times (750 to 450 BC).

Heuchelheim had its first documentary mention in 772 in a donation document from the Lorsch Abbey. Waldmannshausen, one of Elbgrund’s forerunner communities, had its first documentary mention on 21 October 1138 in connection with its donation to the monastery at St. Goar. Dorchheim had its first documentary mention in 1215 in a document from the Maria Laach Abbey while Mühlbach, Elbgrund’s other forerunner community, was first mentioned in 1230 in a donation by the House of Nassau to the Teutonic Knights. Hangenmeilingen had its first documentary mention on 21 January 1333.

The still preserved moated castle of Waldmannshausen in Elbgrund was in the Middle Ages the seat of the Walpode, who held the judiciary overlordship in the surrounding country. The building work comprises a Late Gothic dwelling house with two round towers and commercial buildings, which are still used today. To the west are found the ruins of an older, cross-shaped castle. In 1835, the castle came into the prominent Bethmann banking family’s ownership. After the Second World War, it was quarters for the United States Army. Today its use is scholastic.

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Wikipedia