Weinbach

Weinbach
Coat of arms
Weinbach
Location of Weinbach within Limburg-Weilburg district
Coordinates: 50°26′N 08°18′E / 50.433°N 8.300°E / 50.433; 8.300Coordinates: 50°26′N 08°18′E / 50.433°N 8.300°E / 50.433; 8.300
Country	Germany
State	Hesse
Admin. region	Gießen
District	Limburg-Weilburg
Government
• Mayor	Thorsten Sprenger
Area
• Total	37.65 km2 (14.54 sq mi)
Elevation	268 m (879 ft)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	4,419
• Density	120/km2 (300/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	35796
Dialling codes	06471, 06474
Vehicle registration	LM
Website	www.gemeinde-weinbach.de

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

Weinbach lies on the Lahn and the Weil between Wetzlar and Limburg an der Lahn.

Weinbach borders in the north on the town of Weilburg, in the east on the community of Weilmünster, and in the west on the community of Villmar and the town of Runkel (all in Limburg-Weilburg).

Weinbach is made up of eight Ortsteile. The main centre is also called Weinbach, and the outlying centres are Blessenbach, Edelsberg, Elkerhausen, Freienfels, Fürfurt, Gräveneck and Kleinweinbach.

Fürfurt was mentioned in a document from sometime between 1148 and 1154, thus making it the first part of the community to have its first documentary mention. Elkerhausen’s first documentary mention came in 1191. The knightly family who lived there was heavily involved in a feud in the 14th century with the landlord, the Archbishop of Trier. The Elkerhauser Wasserburg (a moated castle) was destroyed in 1352. About 1500, there arose a stronghouse out of which a new castle grew.

Edelsberg had its first documentary mention in 1246, Blessenbach in 1267 and Weinbach in 1344. Freienfels Castle was built about 1300, presumably by the Diez family’s Weilnau branch. In 1327 it had its first documentary mention. Gräveneck Castle was built in 1395 by a knightly order under Nassau’s leadership to guard against the Knights of Elkerhausen.

Today’s Evangelical church in Weinbach arose in 1728; the forerunner church’s Early Gothic quire was incorporated into this newer church.

The history of the greater community of Weinbach began in 1970 when the formerly self-administering communities of Weinbach, Blessenbach, Freienfels and Gräveneck amalgamated in the course of municipal restructuring in Hesse. In 1974, the communities of Elkerhausen, Fürfurt and Edelsberg were also merged into the greater community.