Linden () is a small town in the Gießen district, central Hesse, Germany. It is situated approximately 6 km south of Gießen.
The Dießenbach, a small brook, flows into the Kleebach in Linden.
Geography Geographical location To the north, Linden borders the district seat of Gießen, to the east the town of Pohlheim, to the south the municipality of Langgöns, and to the west the municipality of Hüttenberg (Lahn-Dill-Kreis).
Town divisions The town consists of the boroughs of Großen-Linden and Leihgestern. Großen-Linden includes the settlements of Forst, Oberhof, Am Bergwerkswald, and the Aussiedlerhof (isolated farmstead) Sonnenhof; Leihgestern includes Mühlberg, Gut Neuhof, as well as the Aussiedlerhöfe Hof Konrad, Birkenhof, Berghof, and Ludwigshof.
History Großen-Linden
The first written mention comes from the Lorsch Codex. According to it, the Villa Lindun was donated to the Lorsch Abbey on February 27, 790. Through another donation to the Lorsch Abbey on June 11, 805, the name Letkestre (Leihgestern) was mentioned for the first time. In the early Middle Ages, Linden was part of the Niederlahngau and was owned by various regional counts before the town finally came into the possession of the Counts of Gleiberg in the 10th century during the time of Otto the Great. In 1265, Linden passed to the Landgraviate of Hesse when Landgrave Henry I acquired parts of the former Countship of Gleiberg along with Gießen from the Counts Palatine of Tübingen. In 1347, a document added the prefix Großen- to the name Linden for the first time to distinguish the town from the neighboring village of Lützellinden (now a district of Gießen).
From 1396 to 1585, the judicial district of Hüttenberg, as well as the Common Land on the Lahn, was a condominium of the Landgraves of Hesse and the Counts of the Nassau. During this time, Großen-Linden was the main seat of a judicial district, and there were two Schultheiß (mayors/magistrates) in Großen-Linden. Due to disagreements, the judicial district was divided between the two counts' houses in 1585. The Reformation was driven by the Landgraves of Hesse in their territories starting in 1527; the first Protestant pastor in Großen-Linden is documented in 1546.
Großen-Linden received town rights either on February 19, 1605, from Louis IV of Hesse-Marburg or earlier between 1561 and 1577. It is historically documented that, unlike the other villages of the Hüttenberg, the citizens of Großen-Linden no longer had to pay taxes in the year 1577.Otto Schulte; Marie-Luise Westermann (eds.): Die Geschichte Großen-Lindens und des Hüttenbergs. Mittelhessische Druck- und Verlagsgesellschaft, Gießen 1990, pp. 7–8.
During the Thirty Years' War, the settlement, which was surrounded by a wall and a moat, was heavily damaged, like all surrounding villages. At the end of the war, about 40 out of 130 houses in the town were uninhabited, and about 400 residents were counted.
In the 18th century, the farming village gradually began to expand beyond its medieval boundaries, and more crafts and commercial trades settled there. In 1712, the town received market rights; in 1716, the first of several local inns was documented; there were soon several dye works, a lime kiln, and, towards the end of the 18th century, also stocking weavers, wig makers, and trouser tailors.
After the Napoleonic Wars around 1800 initially hindered the further development of the town with extensive troop quartering, a sweeping development occurred in the middle of the 19th century as a result of the onset of industrialization and the construction of the Main-Weser Railway.
The Statistical-Topographical-Historical Description of the Grand Duchy of Hesse reports the following about Großenlinden in 1830:
The construction of the railway brought many workers to Großen-Linden around 1848, and further jobs were offered by the manganese mine established in 1841, a lime works, and several cigar factories. Between 1817 and 1900, the population doubled to over 1,700 inhabitants, the old thatched houses were replaced with tile roofs, and the town grew in all directions. In the late 19th century, the railway line was ultimately the defining economic factor of the region. While the villages located away from the railway suffered a loss of population due to migration and emigration, Großen-Linden and also Leihgestern profited from the influx from the surrounding area.
After the Second World War, population growth continued with the influx of around 1,400 refugees and displaced persons, as a result of which the town had almost 4,000 inhabitants in 1949. Due to the predominantly Catholic refugees, a Catholic community of nearly 1,000 people was formed in what had been an almost purely Protestant town until World War II. The permanent housing of the refugees required the designation of new development areas.
Leihgestern For the history of the borough of Leihgestern, see Leihgestern.
Linden In the course of the territorial reform in Hesse, the town of Großen-Linden and the municipality of Leihgestern were merged on January 1, 1977, by the Law on the reorganization of the Dillkreis, the districts of Gießen and Wetzlar, and the city of Gießen to form the new town of Linden.Gesetz zur Neugliederung des Dillkreises, der Landkreise Gießen und Wetzlar und der Stadt Gießen vom 13. Mai 1974. In: Gesetz- und Verordnungsblatt für das Land Hessen. 1974 Nr. 17, p. 237ff, § 10. Local districts (Ortsbezirke) were not formed.
Overview of Administrative History The following list shows the states and administrative unitsUntil the separation of the judiciary from the administration, the historic administrative districts (Ämter) and early courts acted as both courts and administrative bodies. to which Großen-Linden belonged:
790: Frankish Empire, Lahngau 1065: East Francia, County of Count Werner, then the Counts of Gleiberg and the Counts Palatine of Tübingen 1264/65: Transition into the possession of the Landgraviate of Hesse Before 1567: Holy Roman Empire, Landgraviate of Hesse, Amt GießenThe assignment of the Amt Gießen based on maps from the Geschichtlicher Atlas von Hessen: See Hesse-Marburg 1567–1604, Hesse-Kassel and Hesse-Darmstadt 1604–1638 and Hesse-Darmstadt 1567–1866. From 1567: Holy Roman Empire, Landgraviate of Hesse-Marburg, Amt Gießen 1604–1648: Holy Roman Empire, disputed between Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt and Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (Hessian War) From 1604: Holy Roman Empire, Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt, Principality of Upper Hesse, Oberamt Gießen (from 1789)Hessen-Darmstädter Staats- und Adresskalender 1789. Im Verlag der Invaliden-Anstalt, Darmstadt 1789, p. 40. From 1806: Grand Duchy of Hesse, Principality of Upper Hesse, Stadtamt Gießen From 1815: Grand Duchy of Hesse, Province of Upper Hesse, Stadtamt GießenNeuste Länder und Völkerkunde: Kur-Hessen, Hessen-Darmstadt und die freien Städte. Volume 22, Weimar 1821, p. 413. From 1821: Grand Duchy of Hesse, Province of Upper Hesse, Landratsbezirk GießenSeparation between justice (Landgericht Gießen) and administration. From 1832: Grand Duchy of Hesse, Province of Upper Hesse, Kreis Gießen (August to November Kreis Grünberg) From 1848: Grand Duchy of Hesse, Regierungsbezirk Gießen From 1852: Grand Duchy of Hesse, Province of Upper Hesse, Kreis Gießen From 1867: North German Confederation, Grand Duchy of Hesse, Province of Upper Hesse, Kreis Gießen From 1871: German Empire, Grand Duchy of Hesse, Province of Upper Hesse, Kreis Gießen From 1918: German Empire, People's State of Hesse, Province of Upper Hesse, Kreis Gießen From 1938: German Empire, Grand Duchy of Hesse, Province of Upper Hesse, Landkreis GießenGesetz über die Aufhebung der Provinzen Starkenburg, Oberhessen und Rheinhessen vom 1. April 1937. In: Hessisches Regierungsblatt. 1937 Nr. 8, p. 121ff.In the course of the territorial reform of 1938, the Province of Upper Hesse was dissolved. From 1945: American zone of occupation,As a result of World War II. Greater Hesse, Regierungsbezirk Darmstadt, Landkreis Gießen From 1946: American zone of occupation, Hesse, Regierungsbezirk Darmstadt, Landkreis Gießen From 1949: Federal Republic of Germany, Hesse, Regierungsbezirk Darmstadt, Landkreis Gießen From 1977: Federal Republic of Germany, Hesse, Regierungsbezirk Darmstadt, Lahn-Dill-Kreis, Town of Linden From 1979: Federal Republic of Germany, Hesse, Regierungsbezirk Darmstadt, Landkreis Gießen, Town of Linden From 1981: Federal Republic of Germany, Hesse, Regierungsbezirk Gießen, Landkreis Gießen, Town of Linden
Population Demographic structure 2011 According to the 2011 census, 12,063 inhabitants lived in Linden on the reference date of May 9, 2011. Among them were 805 (6.7%) foreigners, of whom 268 came from the EU, 321 from other European countries, and 216 from other states.Hessisches Statistisches Landesamt: Zensus Ergebnisse 2011, Stadt Linden. Of the German residents, 18.4% had a migration background. The inhabitants lived in 5,691 households. Of these, 2,211 were single households, 1,413 were couples without children, and 1,486 were couples with children, as well as 433 single parents and 148 communal households.
Population growth The population figures of Großen-Linden and, from 1977 onwards, the town of Linden:
• 1502: 52 men • 1577: 114 householders • 1648: 77 men • 1669: 434 souls • 1742: 4 clerics/officials, 110 subjects, 31 young men, 12 residents/Jews • 1791: 614 inhabitantsHessen-Darmstädter Staats- und Adresskalender 1791. Im Verlag der Invaliden-Anstalt, Darmstadt 1791, p. 170. • 1800: 662 inhabitantsHessen-Darmstädter Staats- und Adresskalender 1800. Im Verlag der Invaliden-Anstalt, Darmstadt 1800, p. 179. • 1806: 716 inhabitants, 136 housesHessen-Darmstädter Staats- und Adresskalender 1806. Im Verlag der Invaliden-Anstalt, Darmstadt 1806, p. 218. • 1829: 900 inhabitants, 144 houses • 1867: 1,195 inhabitants, 187 housesPh. A. F. Walther: Das Großherzogthum Hessen nach Geschichte, Land, Volk, Staat und Oertlichkeit. Darmstadt 1867, p. 32.
Historical religious affiliation • 1830: 856 Protestant, 4 Roman Catholic inhabitants, 40 Jews • 1961: 3,191 Protestant, 832 Roman Catholic inhabitants • 2011: 5,960 Protestant (= 49.6%), 1,980 Catholic (= 16.5%), 170 free church members (= 1.5%), 750 Orthodox (= 6.3%), 330 other faiths (= 2.7%), 2,820 others (= 23.5%) inhabitants
Historical employment Source: Historical Local Lexicon • 1961: Employed persons: 196 in agriculture and forestry, 935 in production industries, 434 in trade, transport, and communication, 345 in services and others.
Politics Town council The local election on March 14, 2021 yielded the following results, compared to previous local elections:
Parties and voter communities 2021 2016 2011 2006 2001 % Seats % Seats % Seats % Seats % Seats CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany 35.8 13 39.5 15 46.3 17 47.1 17 48.8 18 Greens Alliance 90/The Greens 20.4 8 12.1 4 17.2 6 10.1 4 6.7 3 SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany 18.9 7 26.0 10 26.210 31.8 12 33.5 12 FW Free Voters Linden 13.3 5 16.1 6 8.5 3 8.1 3 10.0 4 FDP Free Democratic Party 5.1 2 6.2 2 1.8 1 2.9 1 1.0 0 Linke The Left 3.9 1 — — — — — — — — AfD Alternative for Germany 2.6 1 — — — — — — — — Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Invalid votes in % 2.7 — 4.0 — 2.5 — 2.3 — 1.8 — Voter turnout in % 52.0 52.3 49.5 47.1 53.2
Mayor