Lahnau is a municipality in the

Lahn-Dill-Kreis Lahn-Dill is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the west of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Siegen-Wittgenstein, Marburg-Biedenkopf, Gießen, Wetteraukreis, Hochtaunuskreis, Limburg-Weilburg, Westerwaldkreis. History The southern district ...

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and lies about midway – about 6 km each way – between the towns of

Wetzlar Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important cultural, industrial and commercial center, the un ...

and

Gießen Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the German state () of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 university students. Th ...

Geography

Neighbouring communities

Lahnau borders in the north on the community of Biebertal, in the east on the community of

Heuchelheim Heuchelheim (official name: ''Heuchelheim a. d. Lahn'') is a municipality in the district of Gießen, in Hesse, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and ...

(both in

district), and in the south and west on the town of Wetzlar (Lahn-Dill-Kreis).

Constituent communities

The centres of Atzbach (3,065 inhabitants), Dorlar (1,924 inhabitants) and Waldgirmes (3,393 inhabitants) are all part of the community. ''(The population figures are drawn from a statistical extrapolation from 30 June 2003)'' The community of Dorlar had itself incorporated into Wetzlar in 1972. Wetzlar, Gießen, Atzbach, Waldgirmes and 12 other municipalities formed from 1977 to 1979 the city of

Lahn The Lahn () is a , right (or eastern) tributary of the Rhine in Germany. Its course passes through the States of Germany, federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia (23.0 km), Hesse (165.6 km), and Rhineland-Palatinate (57.0 km). ...

. Within Lahn, the constituent communities of Waldgirmes, Dorlar and Atzbach the ''Stadtbezirk'' (roughly "borough") of Lahntal. After the city of Lahn was dissolved, the borough became an independent community under the name Lahnau on 1 August 1979 The constituent community of Dorlar thereby managed to belong to four different municipalities over only seven years, which stands as a curiosity even in the complex history of Hessian municipal reform.

Public institutions

Educational institutions

*Lahntalschule Lahnau (district integrated

comprehensive school A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis ...

in Atzbach) *

Grundschule Education in Germany is primarily the responsibility of individual German States of Germany, states (), with the federal government only playing a minor role. While kindergarten (nursery school) is optional, formal education is compulsory for a ...

WaldgirmesAs of 2012 it has also taken on the function of the now defunct Grundschule Atzbach

Sports and leisure

*Trimm-Dich-Pfad Atzbach (path) *Sportpark Lahnau in Dorlar,

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass, used in sports arenas, residential lawns and commercial applications that traditionally use grass. It is much more durable than grass and easily maintained wi ...

and hard court, athletic facility *Indoor and outdoor

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...

with 50m × 12.5m basin and broad sunbathing lawn *Riding hall and square *Sports ground in Waldgirmes, natural and artificial turf

Clubs

*TSV Atzbach (gymnastic and sport club) *SC 1929 Waldgirmes (sport club) *TV05 Waldgirmes (gymnastic club) *TSG Dorlar (gymnastic and sport club) *AS LahnLaender Lahnau *CVJM Atzbach-Dorlar (YMCA)
CVJM Waldgirmes (YMCA)
*Sängervereinigung Waldgirmes (singers' association) *Deutsch-Englischer Freundeskreis Lahnau e.V. (German-English circle of friends) * Burschenschaft Fidelio Atzbach e.V. (fraternity) *Mädchenschaft Atzbach (sorority)

Town partnerships

Wincanton Wincanton ( or ) is a town and electoral ward in Somerset, southwest England. The town lies off the A303 road, a main route between London and South West England, and has some light industry. In the 2021 census the civil parish had a populatio ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

* Geraberg,

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

Culture and sightseeing

* The

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

'' Forum von Waldgirmes'' – owing to a lack of any Roman written record of the place it is still nameless – is Germany's oldest known stone building foundation, and shows that the Romans founded a town in

Magna Germania Germania ( ; ), also more specifically called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superi ...

north of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

and east of the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

. The site was dated by finds of Roman coins showing likenesses of

Publius Quinctilius Varus Publius Quinctilius Varus (46 BC or before – September AD 9) was a Roman general and politician. Serving under Augustus, who founded the Roman Empire, he is generally remembered for having lost three Roman legions in the Battle of the Teutob ...

, placing the ruins at about the time of the

Battle of the Teutoburg Forest The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, also called the Varus Disaster or Varian Disaster () by Ancient Rome, Roman historians, was a major battle fought between an alliance of Germanic peoples and the Roman Empire between September 8 and 11, 9&nbs ...

in the year 9, in which Varus lost three legions and his own life.

Museums

*''Heimatmuseum'' in Waldgirmes (local history)

Buildings

*Atzbach Church *Amtsgericht Atzbach (formerly the '' Amt courthouse, now a primary school) *Backhaus Atzbach ("bakehouse") *Dorlar Church *Altes Backhaus Dorlar (https://web.archive.org/web/20161003145317/http://altesbackhauslahnau.de/) *Waldgirmes Church

Regular events

* Kirmes in Atzbach (Atzbach Fair), in May * 2. Advent Atzbacher Adventmarkt * LahnLaender, last Sunday in June * Kirmes in Waldgirmes (Waldgirmes Fair), first weekend in August

References

External links

LahnauEvangelical parishes of Dorlar & Atzbach
{{Authority control Lahn-Dill-Kreis