Solms
Solms is a town west of
Wetzlar in the
Lahn-Dill-Kreis,
Hesse,
Germany.
In the constituent community of Burgsolms once stood the ancestral
castle of the Counts and Princes of Solms, whose main lines were Solms-Braunfels, with their seat in
Braunfels, and Solms-Hohensolms-Lich, with their seat in
Lich.
Location
Solms lies right in the
Lahn valley and is nestled between the foothills of both the
Taunus and
Westerwald at heights from 140 to 400 m above
sea level. It is about 7 km west of
Wetzlar and 30 km northeast of
Limburg an der Lahn.
Neighbouring communities
Solms borders in the north on the community of
Ehringshausen and the town of
Aßlar, in the east on the town of
Wetzlar, in the south on the community of
Schöffengrund, and in the west on the town of
Leun (all in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis).
Constituent communities
The town consists of the following centres:
* Albshausen
* Burgsolms
* Niederbiel
* Oberbiel
* Oberndorf
Solms had its first documentary mention in 788 in a donation document from the Lorsch Monastery. The villages that nowadays form the town of Solms belonged for centuries to the County of Solms, until this was dissolved in 1806. After a short while being part of the Duchy of Nassau, they passed to
Prussia in 1815.
As part of Hesse's municipal reforms, the communities of Albshausen and Oberbiel voluntarily merged on
1 July 1971 to form
Bielhausen, while Burgsolms and Oberndorf did the same to form
Solms. By state law, these two new communities were amalgamated with Niederbiel on
1 January 1977 to make the new greater community of Solms, which in 1978 was granted town rights.
A new residential area has been being built on the western edge of Oberbiel since the
1990s.
Town council
The municipal elections in 2001 yielded the following results:
Note: FWG is a citizens' coalition.Town of Solms Youth Council
Since 2002 there has been a
Town of Solms Youth Council serving as the town's official board representing youth's interests and needs. It is elected every two years by children and youths who either live in the town or go to the
comprehensive school.
Partnerships
The town of Solms maintains partnerships with the following places:
*
Liezen,
Austria*
La Grand-Combe,
France*
Schmiedefeld am Rennsteig,
ThuringiaThe town is headquarters to the firm
Leica Camera AG which currently employs about 1,300 people worldwide.
Oberbiel is also home to two commercial-industrial areas. A shipping company has set up shop at the newer one, while the older one, on an island in the river Lahn, was established in the early
20th century. It was originally home to a
brad factory, a
wireworks and a
ball bearing factory.
*
Kloster Altenberg (Altenberg Monastery) of the blessed Gertrud von Altenberg,
Saint Elisabeth's daughter (Oberbiel)
* "Grube Fortuna" Visitors' Mine (Oberbiel)
* Jewish Cemetery (Burgsolms)
* Burgsolms Youth Centre (Stadionstraße 26), as well as youth areas in all constituent communities
*
Grube Fortuna homepage
