Stein-Neukirch
Stein-Neukirch is an "Ortsgemeinde" – a community belonging to a "Verbandsgemeinde" – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography. 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. The 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 documented mention in 1231. The "new church" ("neue Kirche" in German) originally functioned as a fortified 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 eight council members, most recently elected in a majority vote in a municipal election on 26 May 2019. 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. Until 2015, the Stein-Neukirch kermis was held on the first weekend of each August. Neukirch Market was very popular in the surrounding area and was celebrated traditionally. Economy and infrastructure. "Bundesstraßen" 54, linking Limburg an der Lahn with Siegen, and 414, leading from Driedorf-Hohenroth to Hachenburg, cross each other near the community. 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.