Winnen
Winnen is an "Ortsgemeinde" – a community belonging to a "Verbandsgemeinde" – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography. Winnen lies 4 km west of Westerburg on the Wiesensee (lake). Since 1972 it has belonged to what was then the newly founded "Verbandsgemeinde" of Westerburg, a kind of collective municipality. Its seat is in the like-named town. The north of the community's municipal area includes the southern part of the 80 ha Wiesensee, which can be reached from the community in a few minutes. The "Wiesensee" holiday and recreation area offers not only lake scenery (with hiking around  the lake), but also opportunities to engage in sporting activities (bathing, sailing, surfing, angling, golf at an 18-hole course with hotel facilities). Just south of the community, where since autumn 2007 the "Westerwaldsteig" (hiking trail) has run, the land falls away into the Elbbach valley and opens onto a unique view over the popular valley area towards the highest elevations in the Taunus. Politics. Community council. The council is made up of 6 council members, including the extraofficial mayor ("Bürgermeister"), who were elected in a majority vote in a municipal election on 13 June 2004. Coat of arms. The  linden twig is symbolic of the outdoor court, the "Stuhllindengericht Winnen", which was responsible for nine tithing areas, for which the nine linden leaves stand, into the 17th century. The court's jurisdiction finds reference in the balance. The heraldic animal charge, the lion with its tongue out, stands for the many years in which the community was ruled by the Nassau Counts, Nassau-Orange or the Duchy of Nassau, which is also shown in the tinctures, gold and blue, which were also Nassau's. The red field tincture recalls the Westerburg Counts, who were Winnen's overlords for a  long time. Likewise the blue field tincture recalls this. Culture and sightseeing. Music. The "Konkordia Winnen" men's singing club takes part in many village and church events. In 2008, the choir celebrated its 100-year jubilee. Sport. The TTC Winnen 70 e.V. (table tennis club) is made up of seven active table tennis teams, three women's and two children's gymnastics groups, one men's gymnastics group, and one recreational football team. It currently has roughly 300 members. Economy and infrastructure. East of the community runs "Bundesstraße" 54, leading from Limburg an der Lahn to Siegen. The  nearest Autobahn interchange is "Montabaur" on the A 3 (Cologne–Frankfurt). The nearest InterCityExpress stop is the railway station at Montabaur on the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed rail line.