MerkelbachMerkelbach is an Ortsgemeinde – a community belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.WWW Official SiteGeographyThe community lies in the Westerwald between Limburg and Siegen. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Hachenburg, a kind of collective municipality. Its seat is in the like-named town.HistoryThe first mention of Merkelbach was recorded in 1418.PoliticsThe municipal council is made up of 10 council members, including the extraofficial mayor, who were elected in a majority vote in a municipal election on 13 June 2004.Economy and infrastructureThe community lies right on Bundesstraße 413, leading from Bendorf to Hachenburg. The nearest Autobahn interchanges are in Dierdorf and Neuwied on the A 3. The nearest InterCityExpress stop is the railway station at Montabaur on the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed rail line. The community is linked by bus connections every two hours to Hachenburg and the InterCityExpress station at Montabaur.