Herborn

For Herborn in the district of Birkenfeld, see Herborn, Rhineland-Palatinate.

For Herborn in eastern Luxembourg, see Herborn, Luxembourg.

Herborn
Herborn
Location of the town of Herborn within Lahn-Dill-Kreis district
Coordinates	50°40′57″N 8°18′22″E
Administration
Country	Germany
State	Hesse
Admin. region	Gießen
District	Lahn-Dill-Kreis
Mayor	Hans Benner (SPD)
Basic statistics
Area	63.82 km2 (24.64 sq mi)
Elevation	287 m  (942 ft)
Population	20,595 (31 December 2010)
- Density	323 /km2 (836 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate	LDK
Postal code	35745
Area codes	02772, 02777 (Schönbach)
Website	www.herborn.de

The town hall (Rathaus) of Herborn, seen in 2003.

A view of Herborn from the east

Herborn is a historic town on the Dill in the Lahn-Dill district of Hesse in Germany. Before World War I, it was granted its own title as Nassauisches Rothenburg. The symbol or mascot of this town is a bear. Scenic attractions include its half-timbered houses; Herborn is located on the German Timber-Frame Road.

Geography

The town can be located at these coordinates: 50°41′4″N 8°18′15″E. It has an area of 63.82 km² (24.339 mi²), of which 28.0122 km² (10.816 mi²) is forest. It is connected by the A45 motorway (E40/E41) with Siegen, Wetzlar, and Gießen.

Neighbouring communities

Herborn is bordered on the north by the town of Dillenburg, on the northeast by the community of Siegbach, on the east by the community of Mittenaar, on the southeast by the community of Sinn, on the south by the community of Greifenstein, and on the west by the communities of Driedorf and Breitscheid (all in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis).

Constituent communities

Herborn is divided into the communities of Amdorf, Burg, Guntersdorf, Hirschberg, Hörbach, Merkenbach, Schönbach, Seelbach and Uckersdorf as well as the main town of Herborn.

Population

(in each case on 31 December)

• 1998 - 21,334
• 1999 - 21,415
• 2000 - 21,380
• 2001 - 21,254
• 2002 - 21,304
• 2003 - 21,214
• 2004 - 21,158
• 2005 - 21,260
• 2006 - 20,810
• 2007 - 20,921
• 2008 - 20,962
• 2009 - 20,975

History

Herborn had its first documentary mention in 1048 and was granted the privilege of a city in 1251 by the Counts of Nassau.

In 1584, a Reformed (Calvinistic) institution, the Herborn Academy, was founded by John VI of Nassau-Dillenburg, William the Silent's younger brother, and namesake of today's Gymnasium Johanneum.

In Herborn, as of 1602, the Reformed Church's first translation of the Bible was made by Johannes Piscator. This work has had a decisive effect in shaping church life among followers of the Reformed movement in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States. It was printed in Herborn in the akademische Druckerei von Corvinus, known today as the Corvinsche Druckerei or Paul's Hof, after the family Paul who own it.

In 1626, the town lost 214 houses in a fire started by accident in soldiers' quarters. Not long after this, Herborn and the surrounding area were the scene of a wave of witch trials.

Towards the end of the Thirty Years' War, the townsfolk were looking after 50 Swedish soldiers, which brought them protection by the Swedish Army, and thereby also a reputation as a "field hospital town" ("Lazarettstadt") that lasted until the end of the Second World War.

After the Congress of Vienna, Herborn ended up in a border area next to Prussia and its economy suffered as a result of import tariffs. Only in 1836 Hesse-Nassau joined the Zollverein (Customs Union), and in 1866 it was completely annexed by Prussia.

In the Second World War, Herborn was mostly spared by the bombers, but its Jewish community was obliterated in 1942, and many of the patients of the psychiatric clinic were deported and murdered.

During much of the Cold War there was a small American military garrison in the community, district Seelbach.

The town became nationally known for a truck disaster that happened on 7 July 1987. After losing control because of faulty brakes, a tanker truck carrying about 34 000 L of fuel ran into a house containing an ice cream parlour and a pizzeria. The escaping fuel flowed into the sewers and exploded, setting several houses on fire. All together, six people lost their lives, and 40 were injured.

Politics

Town council

The municipal elections on 26 March 2006 yielded the following results:

CDU	14 seats
SPD	14 seats
FWG	3 seats
FDP	2 seats
Greens	3 seats
WASG	1 seat

Note: FWG is a citizens' coalition.

Town partnerships

Herborn maintains partnerships with the following towns:

• Pertuis, France, since 1965
• Guntersdorf, Lower Austria, since 1970
• Schönbach, Lower Austria, since 1996
• Iława, Poland, since 1998

Culture and sightseeing

Museums

• Museum Herborn in der Hohen Schule (Herborn Museum in the "High School")
• Heimatmuseum Herborn-Seelbach (local history)
• Heimat- und Industriemuseum Burg (local history and industry)
• Heimatstube Hörbach (local history)

Buildings

Town hall

Town hall with arms frieze

This was built in the 16th century and built anew after a fire in the 17th century. Particularly worthy of note is the frieze around the building showing local family coats of arms.

Other buildings

• Evangelical historical town church dating back to at least 1219, even earlier, with many interesting building styles and features like a gothic choir with net-vault, romanic window, renaissance style in the main nave etc.
• Many half-timbered houses dating from the 15th (oldest house: built in 1445) to 18th century.
• Market fountain from 1730
• Paulshof the printing works from Corvin
• The "High School" (with the local history museum) founded 1584, remodelled in 1645
• Town wall with many preserved towers (Dill-Tower, Speck-Tower, Witch-Tower, Burgher-Tower, Hain-Tower, Leonhards-Tower) and gates like the stone-gate (oldest entrance of the town dating back to the city privileges of 1251)
• The stately home (Schloss), the inhabited castle

Parks

The constituent community of Uckersdorf has a widely known attraction with its bird park. You find more information on the web-site

http://www.vogelpark-herborn.de

Natural monuments

The Old Town is not the only attraction in Herborn. The surrounding countryside features the low mountains of the Westerwald range.

Regular events

• Sommerfest (summer festival), last Saturday each July
• Rock in the city park (Saturday before Whitsun)
• Martinimarkt (market), November
• Ponyfest in Herborn/Schönbach (May/June)
• Strawberry Sunday (first Sunday in July)
• wine festival (Friday to Sunday, first weekend every July)

Holiday roads

Herborn lies on the Deutsche Fachwerkstraße, featuring many places with many half-timbered houses, and on the Solmser Straße, a scenic road leading through many historic and artistically important places in Hesse.

External links

• Website of the city
• Herborn 1987 – a memorial page to the victims
• Herborn at the Open Directory Project