Mogendorf is a municipality in

Westerwaldkreis The Westerwaldkreis ("District of Westerwald") is a district (''Kreis'') in the north-east of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighbouring districts are (from north clockwise) Altenkirchen (district), Altenkirchen, Lahn-Dill, Limburg-Weilburg, Rhein ...

district,

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

, in western

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 ...

Geography

Mogendorf is located in a valley in the southwestern part of the

Westerwald The Westerwald (; literally 'Western forest') is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the States of Germany, German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Ma ...

mountains and within the boundaries of the

Kannenbäckerland The Kannenbäckerland (; 'potters' land', ) is a cultural landscape in central Germany, which extends from Wirges in the Westerwald hills to Bendorf and Vallendar in the Middle Rhine valley. The Kannenbäckerland owes its name to the fact that, ...

, which is well-known for clay mining and its porcelain industry. It is located northeast of the Montabaur Heights, a 15km-long mountain ridge, which serves as a

rainshadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from bodies of water (such as oceans and large lakes) is car ...

for the area. With the entire region being prone to westerly winds, the ridge spares the settlement from heavy

convective storms A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are some ...

during summertime, which usually divert to the north and south. Mogendorf experiences an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(Köppen classification ''Cfb''), which is warmer than in the rest of the region due to its relatively low altitude and proximity to the

Middle Rhine Middle Rhine (, ; kilometres 529 to 660 of the Rhine) is the section of the Rhine between Bingen and Bonn in Germany. It flows through the Rhine Gorge (), a formation created by erosion, which happened at about the same rate as an uplift i ...

. Its unique location allows warmer air from the deep valley to croach up the westernmost slopes of the Lower Westerwald and reach the lowlands of the Kannenbäckerland. A variety of thermophilic plants and fruits, which are rather uncommon in the area, can be grown in the village. Since 1971, Mogendorf is administered as part of the Wirges municipality.

History

The settlement was first mentioned in 1384 under the name of 'Oberdorf' (translated: ''Upper Village'') within the

Nassau-Dillenburg The County of Nassau was a German state within the Holy Roman Empire from the period of the formal recognition of the countly title in 1159 (though "de facto" sovereignty began in 1125) until the declaration of the Duchy of Nassau in 1806 with ...

province of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. Due to its location on the Rhinish

salt road A salt road (also known as a salt route, salt way, saltway, or salt trading route) refers to any of the Prehistory, prehistoric and Recorded history, historical trade routes by which essential salt was transported to regions that lacked it. Fro ...

, the area was considered to be an ideal location for permanent settlement. The settlement saw a rapid decline in population during

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

, which started to sustainably recover during the 17th century. In 1696, the first settlement of

Ashkenazi Jews Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium CE. They traditionally speak Yiddish, a language ...

in the village was recorded. Due to the

Year Without a Summer The year 1816 is known as the Year Without a Summer because of severe climate abnormalities that caused average global temperatures to decrease by . Summer temperatures in Europe were the coldest of any on record between 1766 and 2000, resultin ...

and its subsequent, long-lasting effects, which included

crop failure Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...

, Mogendorf became the scene of heavy

emigration Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, which lasted until the early 20th century. During the rule of the

Nazi regime Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

, Mogendorf became the scene of brutal

pogroms A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century attacks on Jews i ...

, during which SA officers unsuccessfully attempted to burn down the local

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

. In total 22

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

were killed after being deported into

concentration camps A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploit ...

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

. Only two Jewish families from Mogendorf managed to go abroad. At the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the local Jewish community completely ceased to exist.

Politics

Results of the

2025 German federal election The 2025 German federal election was held in Germany on 23 February 2025 to elect the 630 members of the List of members of the 21st Bundestag, 21st Bundestag, down from 736 in 2021 due to reforms in seat distribution. The 2025 election took plac ...

in Mogendorf: Results of the

2024 European Parliament election The 2024 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 6 and 9 June 2024. It was the tenth Elections to the European Parliament, parliamentary election since the 1979 European Parliament election, first direct electio ...

in Mogendorf: During the 2024 Local elections, three parties and election groups ran for the village council, with all archieving to receive mandates. The village council composition is as follows: Manuel Hemmerling won the mayor election in a runoff, defeating Bernd Altwasser in the second round. Hemmerling overtook mayor duties in late August 2024.

Infrastructure

Mogendorf is located on the six-lane A3 motorway and has an own intersection, from where

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

and

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

can be reached within an hour. The

Montabaur station Montabaur station is a station at the 89.1 kilometre point of the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed railway and on the Limburg-Staffel–Siershahn railway, Limburg–Siershahn railway (Lower Westerwald Railway) in the German state of Rhineland-Palatin ...

is located 12km (7.5 miles) southeast from Mogendorf.

References

Municipalities in Rhineland-Palatinate Westerwaldkreis {{Westerwaldkreis-geo-stub