Kirchen (Sieg)


Kirchen is a town and Luftkurort in the district of Altenkirchen in the north of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the river Sieg, approx. 12 km southwest of Siegen. Among its notable features is the Freusburg castle.
Kirchen is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde Kirchen .

History

In early 1942, Kirchen and Wehbach were forcibly united with the Nazi government and renamed Kirchen-Wehbach. Despite protests from the people of Wehbach, this merger and renaming persisted even after the end of the war for two and a half decades, until additional former municipalities were annexed.
On 7 June 1969, the municipalities of Freusburg, Herkersdorf, Offhausen, Wingendorf, and Katzenbach, with the exception of the Unterbüdenholz district, which was incorporated into Brachbach, were amalgamated. On the same day, the municipality was renamed Kirchen. Kirchen was granted town rights on 6 November 2004.

Personalities

Kirchen station is located on the Sieg Railway and served by lines RE9, RB90 and RB93.
In the past there also was train service on the Kirchen - Freundesberg Railway, which has been closed.