Aßlar

Aßlar (or Asslar) is a town near Wetzlar in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis in Hesse, Germany.

Geography

Location

Aßlar lies on a foothill of the Westerwald range as well as on the river Dill, which empties into the Lahn in neighbouring Wetzlar, about 5 km to the southeast. It is also not far from the "three-state-border", a geographical point common to Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, lying to the west.

The constituent community of Werdorf also lies on the Dill, as do Klein-Altenstädten and Berghausen. Bechlingen, Oberlemp and Bermoll lie north of the main town, away from the river.

Neighbouring communities

Aßlar borders in the north on the communities of Mittenaar and Hohenahr, in the east on the town of Wetzlar, in the south on the town of Solms, and in the west on the community of Ehringshausen (all in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis).

Constituent communities

Aßlar is divided into the following communities:
* Aßlar
* Bechlingen
* Berghausen
* Bermoll
* Klein-Altenstädten
* Oberlemp
* Werdorf

In actual fact, the two communities of Werdorf and Berghausen lie so near each other that a casual observer would only perceive one community. Nevertheless, they are officially two of Aßlar's Stadtteile (roughly "wards" or perhaps "boroughs").

History

Aßlar had its first documentary mention in 783 in a donation document in the Lorsch codex (or Codex Laureshamensis in Latin).

Like many other places, Aßlar grew out of a few great yards, growing to a size of about 5,000 inhabitants by the time of the First World War, always forming a community with Klein-Altenstädten on the other side of the Dill. A great inflow of people â€" refugees expelled from lost German territory â€" followed the Second World War. This, along with the amalgamation of Bechlingen, Berghausen, Bermoll, Oberlemp and Werdorf under municipal reforms in 1977, yielded today's town of Aßlar.

Aßlar was granted town rights on 1978.

Werdorf

In the Bronze Age, people settled on the Schönbach, which ran through the area, as this was more easily crossed than the broader Dill. In 772, Werdorf had its first documentary mention.

Werdorf's name

"Werdorf" comes from an Old Germanic root "Wero", meaning "man". This root is common to many Germanic languages, and can also be seen in the English words "wergild" and "werewolf". Dorf is still the German word for village today. It, too, has cognates in other Germanic languages, including "thorp" in English.

The legend of Werdorf's founding

There is, however, a quaint legend about how Werdorf got its name, which goes rather like this:

There were once two countesses who were riding together along the Dill, when they found a place they rather liked, and they had a stately home built there. Since now the workmen were living here, one countess said "May it become a town!". The other answered "No, may it become a village!" (in German: "Nein, es werde ein Dorf!")

And so, from "Werd-Dorf" came the village's name.

Politics

Town council

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