Braunfels is a town in the
Lahn-Dill-KreisLahn-Dill is a Kreis in the west of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Siegen-Wittgenstein, Marburg-Biedenkopf, Gießen, Wetteraukreis, Hochtaunuskreis, Limburg-Weilburg, Westerwaldkreis.- History :...
in
HesseHesse is a state of Germany with an area of and just over six million inhabitants. The state capital is Wiesbaden. Hesse's largest city is nearby Frankfurt am Main.Hesse contributes the largest share to the Rhine Main Area....
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
. It is located on the
German Framework RoadThe German Framework Road is a German tourist route leading from the river Elbe in the north to Lake Constance in the south. Along the road you can find nearly 100 cities and towns with remarkable timber-framed houses. It is divided into seven sections, leading through the following states of...
.
The climatic spa of Braunfels lies at a height of some 100 m above the
LahnThe Lahn River is a -long, right tributary of the Rhine River in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia , Hesse , and Rhineland-Palatinate ....
valley. It is 9 km southwest of
WetzlarWetzlar is a town in the German federal state of Hesse, capital of the Lahn-Dill district. Located at 8° 30′ E, 50° 34′ N, there are approximately 54,000 inhabitants...
, and 28 km northeast of
Limburg an der LahnLimburg an der Lahn is the district seat of Limburg-Weilburg in Hesse, Germany.- Location :Limburg lies in western Hesse between the Taunus and the Westerwald on the river Lahn....
.
Braunfels borders in the northwest on the town of
Leun- Location :Leun lies some 10 km west of Wetzlar between the foothills of the northern Taunus and the Westerwald in the Lahn valley, at a height of 150 to 330 m above sea level.- Neighbouring communities :...
, in the north on the town of
SolmsSolms is a town west of Wetzlar in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis, Hesse, Germany.In the constituent community of Burgsolms once stood the ancestral castle of the Counts and Princes of Solms, whose main lines were Solms-Braunfels, with their seat in Braunfels, and Solms-Hohensolms-Lich, with their seat in...
, in the east on the community of
Schöffengrund- Location :Schöffengrund lies only a few kilometres south of Wetzlar in the Hochtaunus Nature Park.- Neighbouring communities :Schöffengrund borders in the north on the towns of Solms and Wetzlar, in the east on the community of Hüttenberg , in the southeast on the community of Langgöns , in the...
, in the southeast on the community of
Waldsolms- Neighbouring communities :Waldsolms borders in the north on the town of Braunfels and the community of Schöffengrund , in the east on the community of Langgöns , in the southeast on the town of Butzbach , in the south on the community of Grävenwiesbach and in the west on the wikipedia...
(all in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis), in the south on the community of
WeilmünsterWeilmünster is a community in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany.- Geography :Weilmünster is among the most richly wooded places in Limburg-Weilburg...
, and in the west on the town of
WeilburgWeilburg is, with just under 14,000 inhabitants, the third biggest town in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany, after Limburg an der Lahn and Bad Camberg.- Location :...
and the community of
LöhnbergLöhnberg is a community north of Weilburg in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany.- Neighbouring communities :Löhnberg borders in the north on the community of Greifenstein, in the east on the towns of Leun and Braunfels , in the south on the town of Weilburg, and in the west on the...
(all three in
Limburg-WeilburgLimburg-Weilburg is a Kreis in the west of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Lahn-Dill, Hochtaunuskreis, Rheingau-Taunus, Rhein-Lahn, Westerwaldkreis.- History :...
).
Besides the main town, which bears the same name as the whole, there are outlying centres called Altenkirchen, Bonbaden, Neukirchen, Philippstein and Tiefenbach
Currently, Bonbaden, a picturesque place in the Solmsbach valley, is home to about 1600 people, who maintain a very active club life.
Braunfels is a town in the
Lahn-Dill-KreisLahn-Dill is a Kreis in the west of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Siegen-Wittgenstein, Marburg-Biedenkopf, Gießen, Wetteraukreis, Hochtaunuskreis, Limburg-Weilburg, Westerwaldkreis.- History :...
in
HesseHesse is a state of Germany with an area of and just over six million inhabitants. The state capital is Wiesbaden. Hesse's largest city is nearby Frankfurt am Main.Hesse contributes the largest share to the Rhine Main Area....
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
. It is located on the
German Framework RoadThe German Framework Road is a German tourist route leading from the river Elbe in the north to Lake Constance in the south. Along the road you can find nearly 100 cities and towns with remarkable timber-framed houses. It is divided into seven sections, leading through the following states of...
.
Location
The climatic spa of Braunfels lies at a height of some 100 m above the
LahnThe Lahn River is a -long, right tributary of the Rhine River in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia , Hesse , and Rhineland-Palatinate ....
valley. It is 9 km southwest of
WetzlarWetzlar is a town in the German federal state of Hesse, capital of the Lahn-Dill district. Located at 8° 30′ E, 50° 34′ N, there are approximately 54,000 inhabitants...
, and 28 km northeast of
Limburg an der LahnLimburg an der Lahn is the district seat of Limburg-Weilburg in Hesse, Germany.- Location :Limburg lies in western Hesse between the Taunus and the Westerwald on the river Lahn....
.
Neighbouring communities
Braunfels borders in the northwest on the town of
Leun- Location :Leun lies some 10 km west of Wetzlar between the foothills of the northern Taunus and the Westerwald in the Lahn valley, at a height of 150 to 330 m above sea level.- Neighbouring communities :...
, in the north on the town of
SolmsSolms is a town west of Wetzlar in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis, Hesse, Germany.In the constituent community of Burgsolms once stood the ancestral castle of the Counts and Princes of Solms, whose main lines were Solms-Braunfels, with their seat in Braunfels, and Solms-Hohensolms-Lich, with their seat in...
, in the east on the community of
Schöffengrund- Location :Schöffengrund lies only a few kilometres south of Wetzlar in the Hochtaunus Nature Park.- Neighbouring communities :Schöffengrund borders in the north on the towns of Solms and Wetzlar, in the east on the community of Hüttenberg , in the southeast on the community of Langgöns , in the...
, in the southeast on the community of
Waldsolms- Neighbouring communities :Waldsolms borders in the north on the town of Braunfels and the community of Schöffengrund , in the east on the community of Langgöns , in the southeast on the town of Butzbach , in the south on the community of Grävenwiesbach and in the west on the wikipedia...
(all in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis), in the south on the community of
WeilmünsterWeilmünster is a community in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany.- Geography :Weilmünster is among the most richly wooded places in Limburg-Weilburg...
, and in the west on the town of
WeilburgWeilburg is, with just under 14,000 inhabitants, the third biggest town in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany, after Limburg an der Lahn and Bad Camberg.- Location :...
and the community of
LöhnbergLöhnberg is a community north of Weilburg in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany.- Neighbouring communities :Löhnberg borders in the north on the community of Greifenstein, in the east on the towns of Leun and Braunfels , in the south on the town of Weilburg, and in the west on the...
(all three in
Limburg-WeilburgLimburg-Weilburg is a Kreis in the west of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Lahn-Dill, Hochtaunuskreis, Rheingau-Taunus, Rhein-Lahn, Westerwaldkreis.- History :...
).
Constituent communities
Besides the main town, which bears the same name as the whole, there are outlying centres called Altenkirchen, Bonbaden, Neukirchen, Philippstein and Tiefenbach
Currently, Bonbaden, a picturesque place in the Solmsbach valley, is home to about 1600 people, who maintain a very active club life. Moreover, Bonbaden has a primary school (levels 1-4) and an
EvangelicalEvangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 regional Lutheran, Reformed and United Protestant church bodies. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding, because of the denominational differences...
and
CatholicThe word Catholic is derived from the Greek adjective , meaning "universal". In the context of Christian ecclesiology, it has a rich history and several usages. For some, the term "Catholic Church" refers to the church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, made up of the Latin Rite and the 22...
church. A cultural highlight is the
Freilichtbühne Bonbaden (Bonbaden Open-Air Stage), known far and wide, which presents two different plays for children each summer, and an evening play for adults.
History
The town and stately seat of Braunfels were first mentioned in 1246. Braunfels has had town rights since 1607. In 1950 Braunfels had a population of 3,337. In the course of municipal reforms, the aforesaid constituent communities, formerly all independent villages, were amalgamated with Braunfels in 1972.
Bonbaden had its first documentary mention in 772, and so celebrated 1200 years of existence in 1972. Bonbaden is therefore one of Lahn-Dill's oldest inhabited places.
Schloss Braunfels, a stately home that had been built from a castle built in the 13th century by the Counts of Nassau, served as of about 1260 as the Solms-Braunfels noble family's residential castle. After Solms Castle had been destroyed by the Rhenish League of Towns in 1384, Braunfels Castle became the seat of the Counts of Solms. Over the castle's more than 750-year-long history, building work was done many times. Particularly worthy of mention is the town and castle fire of 1679, which burnt much of Braunfels and its stately seat down. Both were then built into a
BaroqueBaroque is an artistic style prevalent from the late 16th century to the early 18th century. The popularity and success of the Baroque style was encouraged by the Roman Catholic Church, which had decided at the time of the Council of Trent that the arts should communicate religious themes in...
residence. Schloss Braunfels was built anew out of materials that were still on hand, while the town was given a regular
marketplaceA marketplace is the space, actual or metaphorical, in which a market operates. The term is also used in a trademark law context to denote the actual consumer environment, ie...
, still preserved today and lying before the town wall.
Town council
The municipal elections on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results:
| CDU The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany....
|
14 seats |
SPDThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is Germany's oldest political party. The party governed at the federal level in a grand coalition with the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union until conceding defeat in the federal election of September 2009...
|
12 seats |
| FWG |
5 seats |
| FDP The Free Democratic Party is a classical liberal, pro-business political party in Germany. International counterparts include the Liberal Democrats of the United Kingdom, Yabloko in Russia and the Democratic Alliance in South Africa. It is a member of the Liberal International...
|
3 seats |
| Greens The Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany which originated from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir...
|
3 seats |
Note: FWG is a citizens' coalition.
Coat of arms
The town's
coat of armsA coat of arms, more properly called an armorial achievement, armorial bearings or often just arms for short, in European tradition, is a design belonging to a particular person and used by them in a wide variety of ways. Historically, they were used by knights to identify them apart from enemy...
is the same as that used by the Counts of Solms-Braunfels, except that the colours in the lower half are reversed, simply to differentiate the town's arms from the old noble family's. The arms were designed and granted in 1937, and granted again on 14 October, 1982. Formerly, the arms were identical to the Counts' arms.
http://www.ngw.nl/int/dld/b/braunfel.htm
Town partnerships
Braunfels maintains partnerships with the following towns:
Bagnols-sur-CèzeBagnols-sur-Cèze is a commune in the Gard department in the Languedoc-Roussillon région in southern France.-History:A small regional center, Bagnols-sur-Cèze was quite certainly a Roman town before the main part was built in the 13th century around a central arcaded square that is still preserved...
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
EekloEeklo is a Belgian municipality in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality only comprises the city of Eeklo proper. The name Eeklo comes from the contraction of “eke” and “lo”, two Old German words meaning “oak” and “sparse woods”....
,
BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
FeltreFeltre is a town and comune of the province of Belluno in Veneto, northern Italy. A hill town in the southern reaches of the province, it is located on the Stizzon River, about 4 km from its junction with the Piave, and 20 km southwest from Belluno...
,
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
KiskunfélegyházaKiskunfélegyháza is a town in the Bács-Kiskun county in southern Hungary, 130 kilometres southeast of Budapest by rail.Among the principal buildings are a fine town hall, a Roman Catholic gymnasium and a modern large parish church. The surrounding country is covered with vineyards, fruit gardens,...
,
HungaryHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
New Braunfels,
TexasTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
,
USAThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Newbury, BerkshireNewbury is a civil parish and the principal town in the west of the county of Berkshire in England. It is situated on the River Kennet and the Kennet and Avon Canal, and has a town centre containing many 17th century buildings...
,
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
Rohrmoos-UntertalRohrmoos-Untertal is a municipality in the district of Liezen in Styria, Austria....
,
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west...
Sightseeing
- Schloss Braunfels: The last makeover, which defines the Schloss as it is seen today, took place starting in 1880, and was undertaken according to neo-Gothic
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement which began in the 1740s in England. Its popularity grew rapidly in the early nineteenth century, when increasingly serious and learned admirers of neo-Gothic styles sought to revive medieval forms in contrast to the classical styles prevalent at the...
plans by building master Edwin Oppler. Many works of art are to be found in the Schloss. Besides works by the Dutch Masters, among them van EyckJan van Eyck or Johannes de Eyck was a Flemish painter active in Bruges and considered one of the best Northern European painters of the 15th century....
, are works by the Hessian TischbeinTischbein is the name of:*an artists' family from Hesse, Germany, see Tischbein **Johann Heinrich Tischbein the Elder, a.k.a. Kasseler Tischbein...
family of painters, the historically important Altenberg Altar, parts of which are found in the StädelThe Städel, officially the Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie, is an art museum in Frankfurt am Main, with one of the most important collections in Germany....
in FrankfurtFrankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2008 population of 670,000. The urban area had an estimated population of 2.26 million in 2001...
and the Bavarian National MuseumThe Bavarian National Museum in Munich is one of the most important cultural history museums in Europe.-Building and History:...
in MunichMunich is the capital city of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg...
, and Saint Elizabeth'sSaint Elisabeth of Hungary is a Hungarian Catholic saint, princess of Hungary. According to tradition, she was born in the castle of Sárospatak, Hungary, on July 7, 1207...
legendary ring. Places worth visiting include the courtyard, the knights' hall, the guest rooms and painting gallery, the sacral exhibition pieces from the Altenberg Monastery, the hunting paintings by Johannes Deiker, and the cannonA cannon is any tubular piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellants to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
square. Other things to visit are the Princely Family Museum and the castle church with displays about the church's building history.
- Old Town: The inner Old Town has distinctive defensive features. There are a Baroque expansion with a marketplace and great spa gardens.
- Dr. Kanngießer'sches Waldmuseum (a whimsical museum)
- Stadtmuseum Obermühle, a museum of local history, built in a former mill.
- Burg Philippstein: These castle ruins lie on a slope and are separated from the surrounding mountainside by a dry moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
, although nowadays this is partly filled in. Still preserved are the round keepA keep is a strong central tower which is used as a dungeon or a fortress. Often, the keep is the most defended area of a castle, and as such may form the main habitation area, or contain important stores such as the armoury, food, and the main water well, which would ensure survival during a...
, remains of the cellar and parts of the surrounding wall.
Mediaeval Spectacle
Every year, the local
Aktionsring Braunfels e.V. organizes the
Mittelalterliches Spektakulum, which over several days attracts many tourists, showmen and various "travelling folk" from all over
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
, for which occasion, the spa gardens are turned into one great knightly encampment.
Sons and daughters of the town
- Amalia of Solms-Braunfels
Amalia of Solms-Braunfels , Countess of Solms-Braunfels, was the wife of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange. She was the daughter of Johann Albrecht I of Solms-Braunfels and Agnes of Sayn-Wittgenstein.-Childhood:...
, Countess of Solms-Braunfels, wife of Frederick Henry, Prince of OrangeFrederick Henry, or Frederik Hendrik in Dutch , was the sovereign Prince of Orange and stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel from 1625 to 1647.-Early life:...
- Friedrich Ludwig Mallet, preacher of the Great Awakening
- Friederike Fliedner, cofounder of the Women's Deaconate
- Ewald von Kleist
Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist was a leading German field marshal during World War II.Born in Braunfels an der Lahn into an aristocratic family, Kleist was educated in a German military school and graduated in 1900. He served as a lieutenant of hussars and a regimental commander in World War I...
, Second World War field marshal
External links