Weilrod

Weilrod
Coat of arms
Weilrod Location of Weilrod within Hochtaunuskreis district
Coordinates: 50°20′N 8°25′E / 50.333°N 8.417°E / 50.333; 8.417Coordinates: 50°20′N 8°25′E / 50.333°N 8.417°E / 50.333; 8.417
Country	Germany
State	Hesse
Admin. region	Darmstadt
District	Hochtaunuskreis
Government
• Mayor	Axel Bangert (SPD)
Area
• Total	71.16 km2 (27.48 sq mi)
Elevation	210-626 m (−1,844 ft)
Population (2017-12-31)[1]
• Total	6,422
• Density	90/km2 (230/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	61276
Dialling codes	06083, 06084
Vehicle registration	HG
Website	www.weilrod.de

Weilrod is a municipality made up of several villages in the northwest Hochtaunuskreis lying in the Weil Valley in Hesse, Germany.

Geography

History

The earliest written record of a village in the area is of Mauloff ("Mulefo") in 1156. The imposing round tower at the castle ruins in Altweilnau has been dated to about 1200.

The merger of the individual communities into the greater community of Weilrod took place in 1972.

Community's name

The name Weilrod stems on the one hand from the river Weil, a brook that forms Weilrod's and neighbouring Schmitten's landscape, and on the other hand from the German word Roden – "clearing".

Both these name stems are also found in constituent communities' names:

• Neu- and Altweilnau (Weil + Aue ["floodplain"])
• Rod an der Weil (Rod(-en) + Weil)
• Riedelbach (Roden + Bach ["brook"])

The village of Mauloff has a rather interesting name origin, according to the local lore, anyway. Since the name Mauloff does not fit any usual German name pattern, it affords wonderful fodder for legends and quaint stories. One of these stories holds that the village was originally nameless, and that to give it a name, the mayor called a meeting, deciding beforehand that the first word out of anyone's mouth would be the village's new name. Those gathered for the meeting, however, sat there without uttering a word. At last, the mayor ran out of patience and shouted "Maul off!" (roughly "Mouth open!" ie "Say something!", using Maul – more commonly the zoological word for mouth – and off, a variant of auf).

Mauloff had its first documentary mention in 1156 as "Mulefo", a stopping place on the mediaeval road through the heights, the Rennstraße.

Politics

Economy

During the economic boom in the 1950s, the villages that now make up Weilrod were a favourite local recreation area for people who lived in the nearby Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region. Since then, tourism has dropped off noticeably. Nevertheless, the landscape in the municipal area attracts hikers and cyclists, for which a certain amount of credit must go to the Weiltalweg, a trail through the Weil Valley.

The loudspeaker manufacturer Canton Elektronik GmbH was founded in Weilrod and still has its headquarters there. Other companies in the community are Mania (tool technology) and AZ (Armaturen-Zimmermann, founded in Hasselbach).

References

External links

• Weilrod
• Weilrod at Curlie (based on DMOZ)