Katzenelnbogen

Katzenelnbogen
Coat of arms
Katzenelnbogen
Location of Katzenelnbogen within Rhein-Lahn-Kreis district
Coordinates: 50°16′0″N 7°59′0″E / 50.26667°N 7.98333°E / 50.26667; 7.98333Coordinates: 50°16′0″N 7°59′0″E / 50.26667°N 7.98333°E / 50.26667; 7.98333
Country	Germany
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
District	Rhein-Lahn-Kreis
Government
• Mayor	Horst Klöppel
Area
• Total	9.20 km2 (3.55 sq mi)
Elevation	280 m (920 ft)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	2,231
• Density	240/km2 (630/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	56368
Dialling codes	06486
Vehicle registration	EMS
Website	http://www.vg-katzenelnbogen.de

Katzenelnbogen ("cat's elbow") is the name of a castle and small city in the district of Rhein-Lahn-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Katzenelnbogen is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde ("collective municipality") Katzenelnbogen.

Katzenelnbogen originated as a castle built on a promontory over the river Lahn around 1095. The lords of the castle became important local magnates, acquiring during the centuries some key and highly lucrative customs rights on the Rhine. The Counts of Katzenelnbogen also built Burg Neukatzenelnbogen and Burg Rheinfels on the Rhine. The German family died out in 1479, while the Austrian lineage continued, and the county became disputed between Hesse and Nassau. In 1557, the former finally won, but when Hesse was split due to the testament of Philipp the Magnanimous, Katzenelnbogen was split as well, between Hesse-Darmstadt and the small new secondary principality of Hesse-Rheinfels. When the latter line expired in 1583, its property went to Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel), which added the inherited part of Katzenelnbogen to its side-line principality of Hesse-Rotenburg. After the Congress of Vienna, this part of Katzenelnbogen was given to Nassau in exchange for property that had been taken away from it; after the War of 1866, with all Nassau, it became part of Prussia.