Lahn-Dill-Kreis

Lahn-Dill is a Kreis (district) in the west of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Siegen-Wittgenstein, Marburg-Biedenkopf, Gießen, Wetteraukreis, Hochtaunuskreis, Limburg-Weilburg, Westerwaldkreis. History The southern district belonged to the Princes of Solms-Braunfels and the Free Imperial City of Wetzlar. The latter had to give up its imperial freedom in 1803 as a result of the Imperial Deputation, then as the county of Wetzlar, in favor of the newly created Grand Duchy of Frankfurt of the prince primate (in the old empire Reichserzkanzler) Karl Theodor von Dalberg. The former Solmsian territories came to the Duchy of Nassau in 1806 and in 1815 also to Prussia in an exchange. In 1816, the Prussian districts of Wetzlar and Braunfels were created, which were united in 1822 to form the district of Wetzlar. The district belonged to the Prussian Rhine Province as an exclave until 1932. Since the Middle Ages, the northern part of the district belonged to the principality of Nassau-Dillenburg, which was part of the French-occupied Grand Duchy of Berg between 1806 and 1813, and to the principality of Nassau-Orianen between 1813 and 1815, which was absorbed into the Duchy of Nassau in 1816. This formed the two offices of Herborn and Dillenburg. After the Prussian annexation of the Duchy of Nassau in September 1866, both offices were united to form the Dillkreis. After World War II, the entire district area as it is today became part of the state of Hesse. In the course of the territorial reform in Hesse, the Lahn-Dill district was formed on January 1, 1977. The new district consisted of