Löhnberg

Löhnberg is a community north of Weilburg in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany.

Geography

Location

Löhnberg lies between Wetzlar and the district seat of Limburg an der Lahn.

Neighbouring communities

Löhnberg borders in the north on the community of Greifenstein, in the east on the towns of Leun and Braunfels (all three in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis), in the south on the town of Weilburg, and in the west on the communities of Merenberg and Mengerskirchen (all three in Limburg-Weilburg).

Constituent communities

Löhnberg’s Ortsteile are Löhnberg (administrative seat), Niedershausen, Obershausen and Selters.

History

All three constituent communities had their first documentary mention in the late 13th or early 14th century, although in Selters’s case it is rather unclear as the village has the same name as both Selters in Rhineland-Palatinate and Selters in the Taunus. A document from 1317, however, can unequivocally be said to refer to Selters an der Lahn, now the Löhnberg constituent community, although it seems likely that the place might have been mentioned earlier. In 1324, the Laneburg, a castle belonging to Nassau, was first mentioned. It must have been built shortly before that. At that time, Löhnberg’s main centre was still called Heimau and was granted under this name town rights in 1321. However, the new town had its growth stunted because it lay so near Weilburg and also because it was pledged in 1344 to the Nassau line whose seat was there. The Laneburg had its own church by 1342 and as of 1355 a priest. In the Reformation, the community became Evangelical. In the late 16th century, the Laneburg was converted into a Renaissance palace and for a short time was a Nassau-Dillenburg residence. In 1900, the castle was gutted by fire.