Weilmünster

Weilmünster
Coat of arms
Weilmünster
Location of Weilmünster within Limburg-Weilburg district
Coordinates: 50°26′N 08°22′E / 50.433°N 8.367°E / 50.433; 8.367Coordinates: 50°26′N 08°22′E / 50.433°N 8.367°E / 50.433; 8.367
Country	Germany
State	Hesse
Admin. region	Gießen
District	Limburg-Weilburg
Government
• Mayor	Manfred Heep
Area
• Total	77.42 km2 (29.89 sq mi)
Elevation	193 m (633 ft)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	8,839
• Density	110/km2 (300/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	35789
Dialling codes	06472
Vehicle registration	LM, WEL
Website	www.weilmuenster.de

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

Weilmünster is among the most richly wooded places in Limburg-Weilburg. The forestry office looks after not only the State Forest but also twelve municipalities’ woodlands in the south of the Limburg-Weilburg and Lahn-Dill districts.

The market community of Weilmünster lies on the north slope of the Taunus in the Weil valley, the Weil being a tributary to the Lahn. The nearest major cities are Wetzlar (20 km) to the northeast, Limburg (25 km) to the west and Frankfurt am Main (50 km) to the southeast.

Weilmünster borders in the north on the towns of Weilburg (Limburg-Weilburg) and Braunfels, in the east on the community of Waldsolms (both in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis), in the south on the communities of Grävenwiesbach, Weilrod (both in the Hochtaunuskreis) and Selters and in the west on the communities of Villmar and Weinbach (all three in Limburg-Weilburg).

Weilmünster’s main centre, also called Weilmünster, is the biggest of the constituent communities in this community of roughly 10,000 inhabitants, to which a further eleven centres belong. The other Ortsteile are named Audenschmiede, Aulenhausen, Dietenhausen, Ernsthausen, Essershausen, Laimbach, Langenbach, Laubuseschbach, Lützendorf, Möttau, Rohnstadt and Wolfenhausen. Until about 150 years ago, Heinzenberg, which now belongs to Grävenwiesbach, was also one of Weilmünster’s constituent communities.

In 1217, Weilmünster had its first documentary mention as Wilmunstre. It was, however, by this time already a sizeable village with its own church. History hints that the Fulda Monastery, which had holdings in the village, had this church built sometime in the 9th century. The church that stands today was built in the early 16th century, and its square defensive tower sometime around 1300. As of 1601, a regular market is known to have been being held in Weilmünster. The community belonged to Nassau, and after the division of inheritance to Nassau-Weilburg. From 1806 it belonged to the Duchy of Nassau. In 1866 it passed to Prussia, becoming part of the Province of Hesse-Nassau.