Usingen

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coat of arms Germany map
Coat of arms of the city of Usingen
Usingen
Map of Germany, location of the city of Usingen highlighted

Coordinates: 50 ° 20 '  N , 8 ° 32'  E

Basic data
State : Hesse
Administrative region : Darmstadt
County : Hochtaunuskreis
Height : 288 m above sea level NHN
Area : 55.83 km 2
Residents: 14,743 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density : 264 inhabitants per km 2
Postal code : 61250
Area code : 06081
License plate : HG, USI
Community key : 06 4 34 011
LOCODE : DE USG
City structure: 7 districts

City administration address : 		Wilhelmjstrasse 1
61250 Usingen
Website : www.usingen.de
Mayor : Steffen Wernard ( CDU )
Location of the city of Usingen in the Hochtaunus district
Frankfurt am Main Lahn-Dill-Kreis Landkreis Limburg-Weilburg Main-Taunus-Kreis Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis Wetteraukreis Wiesbaden Bad Homburg vor der Höhe Friedrichsdorf Glashütten (Taunus) Grävenwiesbach Königstein im Taunus Kronberg im Taunus Neu-Anspach Oberursel (Taunus) Schmitten (Hochtaunus) Steinbach (Taunus) Usingen Weilrod Wehrheimmap
About this picture

Usingen is a town in the Hochtaunus district in Hesse . The more than 1200 year old "chaffinch town" in the Taunus was the residence of the House of Nassau-Usingen .

geography

Geographical location

View over Usingen, photographed from the top of the Laurentiuskirche
Usingen in winter

The city of Usingen is located in the Usinger Land named after it . It is located on the Usa in the Usinger Basin on the northeastern edge of the Taunus . Usingen is located about 30 kilometers north of Frankfurt am Main , 27 kilometers south of Wetzlar and 38 kilometers northeast of Wiesbaden and on the border of the Rhine-Main area .

The city center is about 300  m above sea level. NN , the highest point in the Usingen district is the "Hohe Berg" at 414 m above sea level.

Neighboring communities

Usingen borders in the north and east on the Wetteraukreis (city of Butzbach and municipality of Ober-Mörlen ), in the southeast on the municipality of Wehrheim , in the south on the city of Neu-Anspach and the municipality of Schmitten , in the west on the municipalities of Weilrod and in the northwest on the community Grävenwiesbach .

City structure

City structure of Usingen

In addition to the core city, the city of Usingen comprises six other districts that were incorporated into the city as part of the regional reform in Hesse :

district coat of arms Incorporation Residents
Eschbach Coat of arms of Eschbach August 1, 1972 2.128
Kransberg Coat of arms of Kransberg December 31, 1971 749
Merzhausen Coat of arms of Merzhausen August 1, 1972 904
Michelbach Michelbach coat of arms December 31, 1971 354
Wernborn Wernborn coat of arms December 31, 1971 1,606
Wilhelmsdorf Wilhelmsdorf coat of arms August 1, 1972 415

For the area of ​​the core city of Usingen and the six earlier municipalities, local districts with a local advisory council and local council were established by the main statute . The boundaries of the local districts are not specifically defined and therefore follow the previous district boundaries.

history

In the course of the research and reconstruction of the Roman fort Saalburg near Bad Homburg vor der Höhe since the end of the 19th century, the history of the settlement of Usingens was also researched more intensively. Since then, there have been repeated finds or evidence of settlement remains that document the history of the Usinger Land since the early days. After the usingens archeology group was founded in 1994, supported by the State Office for the Preservation of Monuments in Hesse and the seminar for prehistory at the Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe University in Frankfurt / Main, research into the regional settlement structure was improved. Some finds (cultural assets) can be viewed in the basement of the Usingen town hall in the Museum of Pre- and Early History.

Prehistory and early history

Excavation and documentation of post marks within the late-band ceramic earthwork near Usingen, autumn 2000
Documentation of the pointed trench of the earthworks by creating several longitudinal and transverse profiles. Usingen, autumn 2000

The earliest evidence of human activity in the Usinger area is a kind of base camp for Mesolithic hunters and gatherers , which could be verified in 1997 near Naunstadt . Such camps served the nomads of that time as a starting point and overnight stay for the necessary food supply. It is questionable whether larger settlements from this era can also be found. Although the Usinger Land is crossed by some rivers and streams, these are and were too small for economic shipping. However, it has been established throughout Germany that in the period from 11,000 to 5,600 BC Larger settlements were founded mostly on important rivers, which were essential for drinking water supply and trade. Only gradually did the cultures spread to remote areas.

Six settlements near Friedrichsthal , Maibach , Wernborn and Usingen were found between 1993 and 1996 from the early Neolithic Age (approx. 5,000 BC) . Since they are away from the Wetterau and the Limburg Basin and above the usual settlement altitude between 260 and 410 m above sea level. NN, the Usinger Basin can be regarded as a separate settlement chamber for this time. One of the components is a trench / earthwork near Usingen of over two hectares in size, which has been expanded several times.

Such finds can be traced back to the first arable farmers and cattle breeders and belong to the linear ceramic culture . From the subsequent cultural stages of the Neolithic Age (4,900 to 2,200 BC), some older reading finds, mostly stone axes and axes, which, however, have not yet been settled. Finds from the area around Anspach , Hasselborn and Wernborn can be assigned to the Michelsberg culture (4,300 to 3,500 BC).

Traces of the early Bronze Age between 2,200 and 1,600 BC BC could not be discovered so far, but settlement and grave finds from the subsequent Middle Bronze Age / Barrow Bronze Age (1,600 to 1,300 BC) and the urn field culture (1,300 to 800 BC) prove a resurgent settlement of the Usinger Land. In Wehrheim , for example, there was evidence of an urn field cemetery.

Barrows from the pre-Roman Iron Age , the Hallstatt culture (approx. 800 to 450 BC) can be found throughout the Usinger Land , but hardly any settlements from this period, just as few from the subsequent Celtic period , the La Tène period (450 BC to the birth of Christ). In the 1st to 2nd centuries AD, Germanic tribes settled near present-day Usingen, as excavation finds show.

With the abandonment of the Limes around 260 AD, the Roman influence in the Usingen area also ended. With regard to the ensuing period of migrations, it is noteworthy that a presumably Alemannic hilltop settlement was found near Kransberg .

From the time of the Middle Ages (600 to 15th century AD) there are numerous deserted areas (abandoned settlements), castles and still existing villages from the medieval founding period, including monuments and iron smelting sites.

The origin of Usingens

The place is mentioned a few times under different, similar names in the Codex Eberhardi of the Fulda Monastery from around 1160, whereby a reference to the years between 754/5 (the year of Boniface's death ) and 802 is assumed. The entries are not provided with a year, but simple lists of transmissions to the monastery . In addition, the Codex also contains a number of (falsified) forgeries, which has led to doubts about the accuracy of the information. However, the results of an excavation in 2002 showed that in the area around today's Usingen there are, among other things, the remains of a Carolingian building. However, there is no archaeological evidence of early medieval settlement activity on the site of today's city.

Finally, Stockheim , a desolate place west of Usingen, could have been of importance for the emergence and development of Usingen. The name of the desert suggests its justification at the time of the Frankish conquest or even in Alemannic times, but no tangible reference points to Usingen are recognizable so far.

Exchange certificate of Philip of Swabia from January 15th, 1207 with an attached seal

Usingen in the county of Diez

So far, no historical or archaeological evidence exists about Usingen's history from the early 9th to the end of the 12th century. Only at the beginning of the 13th century, that is, in an exchange document from January 15, 1207, the place is mentioned again: The brothers Gerhard and Heinrich von Diez receive the patronage right of the church and for the bailiwick of Kastel from King Philip of Swabia all royal property in Usingen. Expressly excluded from this transfer of ownership, however, are the serfs who are owned by the king according to the property rights, as well as half of those serfs who belong to the church in Usingen, half of which were also royal property. Since in the Middle Ages land and people formed a unit and could not be handed over separately, the document is to be interpreted to mean that King Philip only transferred unpopulated land, so the more valuable part of his royal property was retained.

However, the Counts of Diez benefited from the right of patronage, because it gave them the right to appoint the pastor. Thus they also had indirect access to the income of the church.

A branch of the von Diez family called themselves "Counts of Weilnau " as early as 1208 after a castle in (old) Weilnau that was newly built in the area allocated to them . In 1302, their descendants shared their property and built a new castle in Neuweilnau .

Usingen as a Nassau city

Prince Walrad of Nassau-Usingen
Usingen around 1830
City view 1864

After 1208 the sources at Usingen were silent again for a century. It was not mentioned in a document again until 1326: Count Gerlach von Nassau acquired , among other things, Usingen, which is known as the "village", from Heinrich von Neuweilnau , a descendant of the Counts of Diez. In 1346 the sons Gerlach, Adolf and Johann took control of the settlement. Nine years later, in 1355, there was a division between the brothers and Usingen fell as part of Nassau-Weilburg-Saarbrücken to Count Johann, under whom the conversion from village to town began. A fortified castle or palace was built.

Usingen was under the sovereignty of Nassau for over 500 years.

The Nassau castle on the site of today's Christian Wirth School and a wall with five gates now protected the small town, which was probably fortified in the second half of the 14th century and received city rights. However, this also means that the focus of the settlement had finally shifted from the valley to the hill. It is unknown when and why this process began.

Count Johann's successor was his son Philipp as sovereign. In 1405 he acquired the lien over Neuweilnau. With that Usingen finally passed into the possession of the Nassauer .

Philip III von Nassau-Weilburg introduced the Reformation in Usingen; it began on June 9, 1527 with a sermon by Philip's court preacher Henricus Romanus in the Usinger church. In 1528, Catholic services in the city ended.

The castle in Usingen was completely rebuilt and expanded in 1560. In 1635 it (and much of the city) fell victim to a fire set by Spanish troops sacking the city during the Thirty Years War .

From 1659 the counts and from 1688 to 1744 the princes of Nassau-Usingen resided in the castle, which was converted into a castle with a beautiful garden .

An outstanding personality in the history of Usingen was Prince Walrad , who received the Usinger Land on March 31, 1659 when the Nassau-Saarbrücken lands were divided. He ruled for 43 years and was a respected general, u. a. Field Marshal General of the Netherlands under Wilhelm III. of Orange. He has had a decisive influence on the image of the city today, as he settled Huguenots in the 17th century after the population had declined due to the Thirty Years' War and the three city fires (especially the city ​​fire of Usingen in 1692 ) and had the new town built. In 1681, at the instigation of Walrad, an ironworks was set up in Usingen as an own business.

The Wilhelmsdorf district was founded under Walrad's son and successor as Prince Wilhelm Heinrich . His son, Prince Karl , moved his residence from Usingen to Wiesbaden-Biebrich in 1744 . Usingen's time as a royal seat ended. However, it remained the seat of the Usingen office until the Duchy of Nassau was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1886 . Due to the new district order for the province of Hessen-Nassau from April 1, 1886, the Usingen office was dissolved and the Usingen district with the district town of Usingen was formed by August 1972. The low industrial development of modern times could not be reinforced by the railway connection in 1895.

20th century until today

The First World War also left its mark in Usingen the longer the war lasted. The emergency money of November 1, 1918 is a sign of the scarcity of resources in the last days of the First World War, when, for example, there was no longer enough paper available to print money from the state. Local authorities took responsibility for aid.

20 Mark emergency money from the city of Usingen on November 1, 1918

On November 9, 1918, Chancellor Prince Max von Baden (1867–1929) announced his abdication without authorization and without the consent of Kaiser Wilhelm II . As a result, as everywhere in Germany, a workers 'and soldiers' council was formed in Usingen , which carried out the transition from the empire to the republic without any violent measures.

In the years that followed, the Usingers, like the entire German Reich, suffered from the consequences of inflation, which peaked in 1923 and the Great Depression of 1929. The rise of the NSDAP also took place here; In 1930 it was already the third largest party in the district. After the seizure of power , the district leader of the NSDAP Johannes Lommel became district administrator of the Usingen district on October 1, 1933 , who had been dissolved for a short time in the meantime, but was now rebuilt.

The city survived the Second World War largely unscathed and was occupied by the Americans on Holy Saturday 1945. In the years that followed, the number of residents increased considerably due to refugees and displaced persons .

Even after the loss of the district town function (from the merger of the districts of Usingen and Obertaunus, the district of Hochtaunus with the district town of Bad Homburg was created in 1972) Usingen is more than ever the center of the Usingen region.

A major political scandal in the city was the arrest of Mayor Rolf Eggebrecht (CDU) on the day of penance and prayer in 1991 on suspicion of corruption. As part of the corruption affair in the Hochtaunus district, in addition to the first district member Hans-Joachim Galuschka (CDU), the mayors of Neu-Anspach Heinz Born (SPD) and other Taunus locations were convicted.

In the 2001 local elections , Usingen became known throughout Hesse because of a mishap. The list of the CDU (the strongest political force in Usingen to date) was not admitted to local elections due to a formal error (the electoral list was submitted late). As a result, the FDP received so many votes that their list was insufficient to fill all the places it won by the end of the election period. In the following local elections, the CDU won an absolute majority of the seats.

Population development

year before 1618 1642 1698 1736 1746 1801 1900 1980 2007 2014
Residents almost 1,000 approx. 200 approx. 540 circa 860 1,168 1,720 1,890 5.166 (*) 13,332 (*) 13.817 (*)

(*) since the regional reform with districts

The number of residents in Usingen has risen sharply since the Second World War . Immediately after the war it was mainly people displaced from their homeland and political refugees from the Soviet Zone / GDR who increased the number of residents, but from the end of the 1950s they were increasingly followed by commuters who worked in the Rhine-Main area and lived in Usingen . The city was expanded by several large new development areas.

Particularly noteworthy is the Weingarten development area, for which the development plan was drawn up in 1965. Mainly villas and single-family houses with large plots of 500 to 1000 m², but also a number of multi-family houses, were built on 200,000 m². Today the "Kümmel-Hügel" is the preferred residential area of ​​the city. It was named after the general contractor for the development and development, the real estate agent Elsbeth Kümmel.

In the 1990s, the construction area of ​​Schleichenbach I was designated on the southern edge of the city, followed by Schleichbach II with an installation decision of March 29, 2003. 203 building sites were designated on 17.4 hectares.

Politics and administration

City Council

The local elections on March 6, 2016 produced the following results, compared to previous local elections:

Distribution of seats in the 2016 city council
     
A total of 37 seats
Parties and constituencies %
2016 		Seats
2016 		%
2011 		Seats
2011 		%
2006 		Seats
2006 		%
2001 		Seats
2001
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany 42.0 15th 39.2 14th 52.9 20th - -
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany 26.5 10 26.2 10 22.1 8th 36.2 13
GREEN Alliance 90 / The Greens 11.2 4th 18.5 7th 8.7 3 11.8 4th
FWG Free community of voters 13.2 5 11.0 4th 6.1 2 - -
FDP Free Democratic Party 7.1 3 5.1 2 5.0 2 34.6 13
BEU Citizens for Honest Usingen - - - - 5.1 2 17.4 7th
total 100.0 37 100.0 37 100.0 37 100.0 37
Voter turnout in% 52.9 47.1 48.2 47.1

mayor

According to the Hessian municipal constitution, the mayor is directly elected for six years and is chairman of the magistrate , which in the city of Usingen includes nine honorary councilors in addition to the mayor . Mayor has been Steffen Wernard (CDU) since June 7, 2010. He prevailed in a runoff election on May 2, 2010 against the SPD candidate Birgit Hahn and replaced Matthias Drexelius (CDU), who had been in office since 1998 and was elected First Deputy of the Frankfurt / Rhine-Main Planning Association in 2010 . In the fight for his re-election, Steffen Wernard prevailed again on March 6, 2016 with 59.7 percent against the SPD candidate Birgit Hahn.

(Incomplete) list of Usinger Mayors:

  • Johann Christian Philippi (1802-1858)
  • Adolf Philippi (1849–1923), term of office 1884–1908
  • Ernst Ludwig Lißmann (1885–1980), (term of office 1916–1933)
  • Ernst Becker (1890–1975), term of office 1933–1938
  • Jacob Ziegler (1892–1970), term of office 1938–1945
  • Robert Manck, 1960s to June 23, 1973
  • Herrmann Krönung (SPD), 1973–1978
  • Rolf Eggebrecht (CDU), term of office 1978–1992
  • Eva-Maria Tempelhahn (SPD), term of office 1993–1998
  • Matthias Drexelius (CDU), term of office 1998–2010
  • Steffen Wernard (CDU), took office: June 7, 2010

coat of arms

Seal around 1900

Already the first known Usingen city seal - there were older ones, but their appearance is unknown - from 1277 shows a square shield with four soaring lions (the golden ones refer to Nassau ; the silver ones refer to Saarbrücken ), since the town was then owned by the counts of Nassau-Saarbrücken was ruled. Later seals did not show clapboards and crosses in the fields, but they reappeared in 1935 when the current coat of arms was bestowed. An older city symbol, a clover leaf ( three pass ), was also added to the coat of arms.

Town twinning

There are city partnerships with

Economy and Infrastructure

Earth station

Hochtaunus-Kliniken gGmbH

The Hochtaunus clinics are supported by the Hochtaunuskreis and combine the hospitals Bad Homburg, Usingen and the St. Josef Hospital Königstein under one roof.

Located in Weilburger Straße, the house in Usingen has 100 beds and the following specialist departments:

  • General internal medicine
  • surgery
  • anesthesia
  • geriatrics
  • Nephrology
  • Pulmonology
  • rheumatology

Usingen earth station

Railway station around 1900

Usingen is the site of an earth station of Media Broadcast . After the Second World War, a KW station was built on the site of the former field airfield of Merzhausen, a district of Usingen, and in 1979 the first large parabolic antenna followed . The station is now home to more than 90 antennas, including three large ones that are 19 meters in diameter. The earth station only belongs to Usingen by post: the buildings and antennas are located on Neu-Anspacher landmarks, but the operator is sticking to the name "Usingen 2", as this name has established itself worldwide.

Station building today

Zumtobel

Until the closure on December 31, 2016, a factory of the Austrian lighting technology manufacturer Zumtobel with 156 employees was located in the village.

Bremthaler quartzite movement

Since 1997 the Bremthaler Quarzitwerk has been part of the Mineralmühle Leun Rau Group with headquarters in Leun ad Lahn and is active in the extraction, processing and refinement of raw materials.

Transportation

Usingen has good connections to the public rail network. The railway line, which has connected Usinger Land with Frankfurt am Main since 1895 , belongs to the Verkehrsverband Hochtaunus (VHT) as far as Friedrichsdorf. It has been operated since 1993 by the Hessische Landesbahn GmbH (HLB) through its subsidiary Hessenbahn GmbH as the " Taunusbahn ". The trains run every half hour, every hour on Sundays to Bad Homburg; In addition, there are hourly trains to Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof during peak traffic periods .

In addition, there are bus routes from Usingen to Weilrod, Wehrheim and Schmitten. A collective call taxi (AST) establishes the connection to the Michelbach district and connects the Usingen residential areas with one another. The Hochtaunus clinics are also developed through the AST.

education

Usingen has been a school town since the time of the Reformation: Latin school until 1817, teacher training college from 1851 to 1926, grammar school since 1926 - today together with many other types of school. Around 4,500 students come to Usingen, most of them by bus and train, to attend classes.

Elementary schools

  • Astrid Lindgren School (primary school)
  • Chaffinch School (elementary school in the Eschbach district)

After the Reformation around 1525, the "German School" was introduced in Usingen. From 1605 on, girls were also accepted and around 1750 their own girls' teacher was appointed. From 1699 to 1823 the boys 'classes were housed in the Groos house and the girls' classes in the Hessler house. With the immigration of the Huguenots in 1720, they formed their own school with headquarters in the Huguenot Church. In 1817 these schools were combined as "elementary schools" as part of the Nassau school reform. It was organized as a simultaneous school , i. H. was open to all students regardless of their religious affiliation.

In addition to the regular elementary school, there was a seminar practice school in Usingen from 1870, at which the prospective teachers of the teacher training institute could gain practical experience in class. This school offer was perceived as significantly more attractive than the regular school. In 1914 Usingen was divided into two school districts in order to resolve the conflict over who was allowed to attend the seminary practice school. The seminar practice school was closed in 1926.

In 1965, they moved into the new primary school on Pestalozzistraße.

Today there are two primary schools in Usingen, the Astrid-Lindgren-Schule, built in the 1990s on Wilhelm-Martin-Dienstbach-Strasse, and the chaffinch school in the Eschbach district.

Further training

  • Christian Wirth School (grammar school)
  • Helmut Schmidt School (Cooperative Comprehensive School)
  • Saalburg School (vocational school)

The first documented school in Usingen was the Latin School. The date of foundation is given as 1551. A visitation report from 1555 shows 155 students. The school house in Kirchstrasse was burned down by Spanish troops in 1634 during the Thirty Years' War.

Agricultural school

In 1817 a school reform was carried out in the Grand Duchy. The Latin school was converted into one of 11 secondary schools in Nassau. Lessons took place in an extension of the castle. From 1865 lessons were held in the town hall and from 1870 in the Huguenot church. Since 1864 girls have also been allowed to attend school. This resulted in 2 secondary school classes.

In 1931 the secondary school was closed.

In 1953 the secondary school was re-established. It received its former name Konrad Lorenz-Schule in 1991, when the Additive Comprehensive School established in 1976 (together with the Christian Wirth School) was again divided into independent schools. In 2016 a new school building was built in the "Am Lindenberg" district. With the move to the new building in 2017, the name was also changed to the Helmut Schmidt School . Since then, it is no longer run as a pure secondary school, but as a cooperative comprehensive school .

Agricultural school

The agricultural school existed in Usingen until 1988.

Attractions

Usinger Castle and Castle Park

Christian Wirth School in Usinger Castle

In the middle of the city center is Usingen's stately home, Usinger Castle. The exact origins are not clear; the first fortification at this location is a castle house built under Johann I von Nassau-Weilburg from the 14th century. On January 5, 1873, a major fire destroyed the castle and a Prussian clinker building was built. The Christian Wirth School is located in the building. The Schlossplatz separates the lower town in the south from the upper town in the north.

Above is the castle park, the grounds of which are laid out in north-south direction in terraces . The first (southernmost) terrace carries the new school canteen, followed by another terrace that is used as a sports field, and above this is the actual castle park. On the right-hand side, it is determined by green areas lined with rows of trees. The war memorial of the city of Usingen can be seen from afar . The massive, man-sized work by the sculptor Carl Wilhelm Bierbrauer was inaugurated on June 1, 1924. In 1922, the Usingen magistrate announced a competition to design the memorial, which Bierbrauer won with its martial depiction. Viewed from below, the monument is framed by two depictions of mounted fighters. The rearing horses hover over beaten foot soldiers. On the back there is a depiction of a dying warrior.

The left part of the park has the character of a light forest. In 1716 yew trees were planted , which still characterize the park today. On the underside of this part of the park is the monument to the Princes of Nassau-Usingen . Prince Walrad in the middle is framed by his descendants Karl and Karl Wilhelm . The center of this part of the park is an oval basin with the Charlotte Amalie fountain . Above the basin at the exit towards the district court and cemetery, there are discounts with seating.

  • Castle Park

  • Meadow with a war memorial

  • War memorial

  • Eibenhain with a view of the basin

  • Monument to the Princes of Nassau-Usingen

  • Discounts

Evangelical Laurentius Church

Laurentiuskirche

The Protestant Laurentiuskirche is located on the edge of the old town of Usingens above a slope that slopes steeply to the southwest and is reinforced with mighty retaining walls. How it came about is unclear; it has been shown that the assumed first documentary mention of 1190 is incorrect and refers to a church of the same name in Oechsen, a community in the Wartburg district in Thuringia.

There is also no evidence as to whether there are traces of an older building directly under the church. It is also unclear whether the field name “Alter Kirchhof” in the valley southwest of today's church could indicate such a previous building. There the foundations of a small church were allegedly uncovered at the beginning of the 20th century, but no documents are available about this. The information is therefore doubtful, as is the classification of this church in the 11th century.

From the 13th century there are written references to the church, which was extensively renovated at the end of the 15th century due to its disrepair and provided with a tower. The year 1490 engraved in the lower corner stone heralds this, with the “4” written as an “8” open at the bottom. The tower itself was designed as a defensive tower and included in the old city fortifications; the bell- ringer and the fire-watcher were obviously responsible for the tower keeper .

The appearance of the church has not changed much since 1635 when the structure burned down and was rebuilt from 1651 to 1658. The tower received its characteristic baroque dome. It was last completely renovated in 2005/6.

Huguenot Church and Old Market Square

Huguenot Church

Another conflagration in 1692 destroyed the so-called Upper Usinger town. At the order of Prince Walrad (1635–1702) it was immediately rebuilt, with the grid-like basic pattern of the symmetrical streets being designed by the court painter Johann Emmerich Küntzel . The cityscape is still shaped today by the conception of that time and the representative town houses that were built in connection with it, such as the Liefrink House .

The heart of the so-called "Neustadt" is formed by the Huguenot church with the old market square , built around 1700 by the builder Benedikt Burtscher . In its architectural style, the church shows special similarities with the famous church in La Rochelle . In 1817, the union of the Lutheran Protestants and the Reformed Church meant that the building was no longer used for religious purposes and was then converted into a school. Today the Usinger City Library is there. On the upper floors there are numerous other rooms for cultural events and meetings.

town hall

town hall

Opposite the castle is the town hall from 1687. It is a half-timbered house in the baroque style, which was newly renovated in 2005 and contains the rooms of the mayor and the town hall. The historically influenced red oak framework characterizes the two sides of the castle and the church. On the roof there is a replica of the old weather vane with the Nassau lion and the shamrock, which also appear in the city coat of arms.

From the original, smaller Gothic town hall in the same place, only the vaulted cellar remains, in which the prehistory and early history department of the town museum is located today.

Prince's Palace

Prince's Palace

Prince Friedrich August von Nassau-Usingen , ruling prince since 1803 and Nassau duke from 1806 to 1816, had this palace built by master builder Johann Wilhelm Faber on the former Hattsteiner Hof. He lived there as a prince, but after he became a prince, he changed his residence to the Biebrich castle .

With the formation of the district of Usingen , the Prinzenpalais was converted into a district office and some additions were made. With the regional reform in Hesse , the Usingen district was dissolved and became part of the Hochtaunus district . In the Prinzenpalais there was initially a branch office of the district administration and a vehicle registration office.

In the meantime, the run-down extensions have been torn down and a renovation project has started.

District Court

The listed building of the former local court is located north of the palace gardens on Weilburger Straße. Today the police station is located there.

Eschbach cliffs

Eschbach cliffs

The Eschbacher Klippen in the district of Eschbach are a group of up to twelve meters high rocks made of quartz rock. They are the visible part of a six-kilometer quartz corridor that continues across the Usatal to the Wormstein in the Usingen city forest.

Hattsteinweiher

The Hattsteinweiher near Usingen with 1.6 ha is the only bathing lake in the Usinger Land.

Culture

Chaffinches in Usingen

Chaffinch town

Usingen is also known as the chaffinch town in the chaffinch country . The chaffinch song, written by Theo Geisel in 1938 , describes the concept of home, the Usinger Land in the Hintertaunus, the chaffinch land. The song conveys security, human closeness and warmth. The term “Buchfinkenfall”, the “Buchfinkenmesse” and the “Usinger Buchfink” book prize has returned to the citizens' consciousness. Since the city of Usingen's anniversary year 2002, colorful chaffinches have been embellishing the cityscape in various places in the city.

Events

Well known far beyond the borders of Usingen is the Laurentiusmarkt, which takes place every year on the second weekend in September, with the district show and the annual Usingen flea market at the end of June.

media

In Usingen, the “Usinger Neue Presse” (the Hintertaunus edition of the Taunus Zeitung , which in turn is a regional edition of the Frankfurter Neue Presse ) and the Usinger Anzeiger appear as daily local newspapers .

societies

Schützenverein 1422 e. V.

The Usinger Schützenverein is the fourth oldest in Germany. The first written mention of the "Usinger Schützengilde" is an invitation from the "Frankfurter Schützengesellen" to a shooting competition in 1422. Today the club has a shooting house built in 1961 and many active members. The 1422 Usingen shooting club and its around 400 members have been organizing the Laurentiuskerb, which is known far beyond the region's borders, for many years.

Religions

Catholic community

Catholic Church

In the evangelical Usingen there was a small Catholic community again only in the 19th century. This built a small brick church on the site of today's Catholic Church. Between 1900 and 1965 the so-called St. Josefskloster existed in Schlagweg 12 as a branch of the poor servants of Jesus Christ , commonly known as the Dernbacher sisters. The sisters there worked in outpatient nursing and ran a (non-denominational) old people's home. Due to the immigration of Catholic expellees after the Second World War , the Catholic community grew strongly. The pastor Adolf Möller therefore operated a new building in the 1950s. This was built at the end of the 1950s according to the plans of the architect Paul Johannbroer and consecrated in September 1960 in the name of St. Lawrence . The existing rectory was rebuilt and expanded in 1968.

As with many churches from the 1950s and 1960s, the tower is free. The outer walls and the altar wall are clad with red Main sandstone.

The cinema was next to the church until the end of the 1980s. The building that later housed a dance school has since been demolished.

Usingen Jewish Community

Individual Jewish families were already living in Usingen around 1600. In 1602 Isak Nehem from Usingen is mentioned. In 1651 and 1742 reference is made to the Jewish ordinances in Usingen. Prince Karl issued a Nassau-Usingische Judenordnung in 1732.

In 1801 there were 31 Jewish inhabitants, in 1905 there were 89 (which corresponded to 4.7% of the population). In addition to the Usingen Jews, those in Eschbach and Grävenwiesbach, and later (after 1920) also those in Anspach with Rod am Berg and Schmitten, belonged to the Usingen Jewish community . The community belonged to the rabbinical district of Weilburg and later to the rabbinical district of Bad Ems-Weilburg. A number of industrial and commercial businesses in Usingen were run by Jews.

The Jewish community operated a synagogue , a Jewish school, a mikveh and the Jewish cemetery. Due to the persecution and murder of Jews during the National Socialist era, the Usingens Jewish community ended in 1938/1940.

synagogue
Coordinates: 50 ° 20 ′ 5.7 ″  N , 8 ° 32 ′ 5.8 ″  E

From the beginning of the 19th century, a prayer room in one of the Jewish houses served as a synagogue . In 1877 the synagogue was dilapidated. In the years 1885/86 the Jewish community converted a former barn into a synagogue. The church at Klaubergasse 8 had 40 places for men and 18 for women. In addition, there were separate rooms in Anspach and Rod am Berg.

In September 1938 the windows of the synagogue were broken and the interior devastated. The building was sold on November 5, 1938 by the last mayor Julius Hirsch to a private individual who converted the building into a residential building. Since September 1991 a memorial plaque with the inscription: "This building was the synagogue of the Usingen Jews from the beginning of the 19th century until 1938" reminds of the former synagogue.

Jewish Cemetery
Coordinates: 50 ° 20 ′ 16.1 ″  N , 8 ° 30 ′ 54.5 ″  E
Jewish Cemetery

Until 1885 the deceased of the Jewish community were buried in the Jewish cemetery in Grävenwiesbach. In 1884/85 a Jewish cemetery was established in Usingen. The property, which the civil parish made available to the Jewish community free of charge, is located near today's Schützenhaus and near the Hattsteinweiher. The cemetery was inaugurated on January 23, 1885. On the same day, David Simon from Eschbach was the first to be buried. A total of 59 people are buried here. The last burial took place on December 16, 1937. During the National Socialist era , most of the gravestones were damaged or destroyed. The remainder are in the cemetery, where a memorial stone has been placed with the inscription: "Peace to this resting place and honor the memory of the dead". The cemetery area covers 24.81 acres. The maintenance of the cemetery is carried out by the civil parish.

Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat

Bait ul-Huda

The Bait ul-Huda is a mosque of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat , which has a dome and a 14 m high minaret . It was inaugurated in 2004 and has been used for religious and community purposes ever since.

Personalities

Counts, from 1688 princes, of Nassau-Usingen (1659–1806)

Memorial plaque for August Hergenhahn

sons and daughters of the town

Have worked in Usingen

Honorary citizen

  • August Beckmann (1852–1914), District Administrator of the Usingen district
  • Robert Manck, longtime mayor, appointed June 23, 1973

literature

  • Joachim Bierwirth et al .: 1200 years of Usingen, contributions to the history of the former residence and district town. City of Usingen, Usingen 2001, ISBN 3-924103-21-6 .
  • Fritz Dienstbach: Usingen im Taunus in earlier times. A home book (= Usinger Geschichtshefte. Vol. 5, ZDB -ID 2123060-2 ). History Society Usingen, Usingen 1999.
  • Rudi H. Kaethner, Martha Kaethner: Usingen. People and events from the history of a small German town. Wagner, Usingen 1981, ISBN 3-922600-01-8 .
  • Frank-Michael Saltenberger: Usingen ... a "historical" city tour . (PDF) 2nd edition. Usingen City Council, Usingen 2006.
  • Ernst Wagner (ed.): History of the city of Usingen. (Appendix: A short chronicle of the rural communities in the Usingen district ). Printing and publishing by L. Wagner's Buchdruckerei, Usingen 1903.
  • Were "Osungen" and "Otsingen" really Usingen? In: Usinger Anzeiger. May 11, 2002, ZDB ID 529821-0 .
  • K. Weidemann: Selected examples of the settlement history of the early and high Middle Ages in the Hochtaunus and its foreland. In: Guide to Prehistoric and Protohistoric Monuments. Volume 21: Hochtaunus, Bad Homburg, Usingen, Königstein, Hofheim. Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1972, pp. 60–120 (Unchanged reprint. Ibid 1980, ISBN 3-8053-0136-7 ).

Web links

Commons : Usingen  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikivoyage: Usingen  - travel guide

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hessian State Statistical Office: Population status on December 31, 2019 (districts and urban districts as well as municipalities, population figures based on the 2011 census) ( help ).
  2. ↑ a b c d Law on the reorganization of the Obertaunuskreis and the Landkreis Usingen (GVBl. II330-18) of July 11, 1972 . In: The Hessian Minister of the Interior (ed.): Law and Ordinance Gazette for the State of Hesse . 1972 No. 17 , p. 227 , § 2 ( online at the information system of the Hessian state parliament [PDF; 1,2 MB ]).
  3. ^ Federal Statistical Office (ed.): Historical municipality directory for the Federal Republic of Germany. Name, border and key number changes in municipalities, counties and administrative districts from May 27, 1970 to December 31, 1982 . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart / Mainz 1983, ISBN 3-17-003263-1 , p. 379 .
  4. ↑ History Association Usingen e. V.
  5. ↑ A late-band ceramic earthwork near Usingen im Taunus , accessed on September 17, 2012
  6. ↑ cf. the article in the Usinger Anzeiger dated May 11, 2002, given under “Literature”
  7. ↑ The assumption expressed by local historians that Usingen's importance consisted in the fact that it was a stage stop on a Carolingian Königsstraße between Frankfurt and Wetzlar has turned out to be untenable: Neither has it been possible to prove the Königsstraße so far, nor will Wetzlar be established before the end of the 9th Century specially highlighted in a document; Only in the year 897 was a Salvator Church consecrated there, which gave the city greater prestige.
  8. ↑ Compare: Rüdiger Kurth: King Philip of Swabia, the Counts of Diez and Usingen. A new look at an old source. In: Yearbook Hochtaunuskreis 2011. Frankfurt 2010, pp. 309-314. The certificate printed and translated by Kaethner (see literature) p. 16/17 has proven to be faulty, incomplete reproduction
  9. ↑ Compare Bierwirth et al., P. 7 f. - see literature
  10. ↑ District order for the province of Hessen-Nassau 1886 (digitized version)
  11. ↑ The following information largely follows the information from Käthner (see literature), p. 151 ff
  12. ↑ REINER SCHOLZ: Die Zeit: Under the Public Sector (August 30, 1996)
  13. ↑ Local elections 2006 in Hessen. In: www.statistik-hessen.de. Retrieved September 4, 2016 .
  14. ↑ Eldrid Kallenbach: The Village Schools in Nassau-Usingen 1659–1806, 1999, p. 21 (PDF; 1.4 MB)
  15. ^ Result of the municipal election on March 6, 2016. Hessian State Statistical Office, accessed in April 2016 .
  16. ^ Hessian State Statistical Office: Result of the municipal elections on March 27, 2011
  17. ^ Hessian State Statistical Office: Result of the municipal elections on March 26, 2006
  18. ↑ Due to a formal error (the electoral list was submitted late), the CDU was not allowed to participate in the 2001 local elections.
  19. ^ Hessian State Statistical Office: direct elections in Usingen ( Memento from March 24, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  20. ↑ Usingen - coat of arms of Usingen. In: www.ngw.nl. Retrieved September 3, 2016 .
  21. ↑ Zumtobel closes its factory in Usingen at the end of 2016. In: vorarlberg.orf.at. October 28, 2016. Retrieved October 22, 2017 .
  22. ^ Heinrich Nitschke: From the Latin School in Usingen to the CWS (until 1922). In: Ingrid Berg (Ed.): Heimat Hochtaunus. Frankfurt am Main 1988, ISBN 3-7829-0375-7 , pp. 355-358
  23. ↑ Timpani in the Huguenot Church in Usingen. In: Frankfurter Neue Presse. April 18, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2019 .
  24. ↑ The Usingen school center opens with a big celebration. In: kultusministerium.hessen.de. September 8, 2017, accessed December 26, 2019 .
  25. ↑ New "KLS" in Usingen gets a high school branch - without upper level. In: Frankfurter Neue Presse. March 29, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2019 .
  26. ↑ Frank-Michael Berger Salt: Patriotic glorification. In: Yearbook of the Hochtaunuskreis 2006. ISBN 3-7973-0947-3 . Pp. 188-195
  27. ↑ EFJ Dronke, Codex Diplomaticus Fuldensis (Cassel 1850), No. 834a
  28. ↑ Weidemann p. 117 - see literature
  29. ^ History of the synagogue and the Jewish community
  30. ↑ Jewish cemetery
  31. ↑ Angelika Baeumerth: Chronicle 1972-2000 Hochtaunuskreis. 2001, p. 14