Wissen

Wissen
Wissen
Town
	Aerial view
	Coat of arms
	Location of Wissen within Altenkirchen (Westerwald) district
	Wissen Wissen
	Coordinates: 50°46′57″N 7°44′6″E / 50.78250°N 7.73500°E
Country	Germany
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
District	Altenkirchen (Westerwald)
Municipal assoc.	Wissen
Government
• Stadtbürgermeister (2019–24)	Berno Neuhoff (CDU)
Area
• Total	34.88 km2 (13.47 sq mi)
Elevation	200 m (700 ft)
Population (2022-12-31)
• Total	8,543
• Density	240/km2 (630/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	57537
Dialling codes	02742
Vehicle registration	AK
Website	www.stadt-wissen.de

Wissen is a town in the district of Altenkirchen, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the river Sieg, approximately 12 km northeast of Altenkirchen.

Wissen is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde ("collective municipality") Wissen.

History

The name Wissen first appeared in the records in 1013 in a document now in the State Archives of Hanover. The original settlement was founded in 1048 during the second period of settlement in the woodland clearings on the perimeter of the Archbishopric of Cologne and was called "Wisnerofanc".

The lords of Arenberg, burgraves of Electoral Cologne, were given territorial lordship in 1176. After the family died out in 1280, the Archbishopric of Cologne acquired the parish of Wissen on the left bank of the river Sieg as a redeemed fief. That part of the parish on the right hand side of the Sieg remained in the hands of the lords of Wildenburg, whose Werther line of the House of Hatzfeld later also gained that part of Wissen on the left bank as a fief.

In 1803-1815 the two halves of the parish went to Nassau; later they were united under Prussian reign and Wissen became the seat of a Bürgermeisterei. In the 19th century, its communications links were considerably improved and bigger industries moved to Wissen. On 19 April 1969, Wissen received town rights. The incorporation of the three hitherto independent municipalities Elbergrund, Köttingerhöhe and Schönstein followed on 7 June 1969.

Population growth

The table below shows the growth of the population from 1871-1987 based on censuses.

1815 – 2,629
1835 – 3,151
1871 – 4,623
1905 – 6,282
1939 – 7,702

1950 – 8,447
1961 – 9,166
1970 – 8,951
1987 – 8,321
2000 – 8,825

Data source: Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz

References

^ Direktwahlen 2019, Landkreis Altenkirchen, Landeswahlleiter Rheinland-Pfalz, accessed 3 August 2021.
^ "Bevölkerungsstand 2022, Kreise, Gemeinden, Verbandsgemeinden" (PDF) (in German). Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz. 2023.

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[1] Direktwahlen 2019, Landkreis Altenkirchen, Landeswahlleiter Rheinland-Pfalz, accessed 3 August 2021.

[2] "Bevölkerungsstand 2022, Kreise, Gemeinden, Verbandsgemeinden" (PDF) (in German). Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz. 2023.

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