Stein-Neukirch

Stein-Neukirch
Stein-Neukirch
Municipality
	Coat of arms
	Location of Stein-Neukirch within Westerwaldkreis district
Country	Germany
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
District	Westerwaldkreis
Municipal assoc.	Rennerod
Government
• Mayor	Gerhard Haas
Area
• Total	7.15 km2 (2.76 sq mi)
Elevation	615 m (2,018 ft)
Population (2022-12-31)
• Total	447
• Density	63/km2 (160/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	56479
Dialling codes	02667
Vehicle registration	WW
Website	www.rennerod.de

Stein-Neukirch is an Ortsgemeinde – a community belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

Geography

Location

The community of Stein-Neukirch lies in the Westerwald between Siegen in the north and Limburg in the south. At 605 m above sea level, it is the Westerwald’s highest community. Stegskopf and Salzburger Kopf are at 654 m and 653 m respectively Stein-Neukirch’s landmark mountains.

History

The church in the constituent community of Neukirch had its first documentary mention in 1231. The “new church” (“neue Kirche” in German) originally functioned as a resistance and fortress church. Later it was the community’s ecclesiastical-cultural hub on the high plateau of the Westerwald. In the Middle Ages, Neukirch was a court seat, and formed with the High Westerwald’s two other court regions, Marienberg and Emmerichenhain, the “Lordship over the Westerwald”, long governed by the House of Nassau.

Politics

Community council

The council is made up of 8 council members who were elected in a majority vote in a municipal election on 13 June 2004.

Coat of arms

The basalt columns in the community’s arms stand for the constituent community of Stein (whose name in German means “stone”), and the churches stand for the constituent community of Neukirch, making this an example of canting arms (that is, the charges in the arms suggest the community’s name, Stein-Neukirch).

Regular events

On the first weekend in August, the Stein-Neukirch kermis is held. Neukirch Market is very popular and is celebrated traditionally.

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

Right near the community, Bundesstraßen 54, linking Limburg an der Lahn with Siegen, and 414, leading from Driedorf-Hohenroth to Hachenburg, cross each other. The nearest Autobahn interchange is Haiger/Burbach on the A 45 (Dortmund–Hanau), some 14 km away. The nearest InterCityExpress stop is the railway station at Montabaur on the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed rail line.