Wetzlar

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**Wetzlar**
Politics
Basic Information
Area:	75.76 km²
Population:	52,800 (January 2005)
Population density:	700 residents/km²
Elevation:	148 m above sea level
Postal codes:	35576 - 35583
Area code:	06441
Latitude and Longitude:	Template:Coor dm
License plate prefix:	`LDK`
Organisation:	12 Bezirke (boroughs), 8 Stadtteile (districts)
Website:	www.wetzlar.de
Mayor:	Wolfram Dette (SPD)

Image:Wetzlar Altstadt 2003a.jpg Wetzlar is a city in the German federal state (Bundesland) of Hesse, capital of the Lahn-Dill district. Located at 8° 30' E, 50° 34' N, there are (as of 2002) approximately 54,000 inhabitants. The city is situated on the Lahn river.

The history of the city goes back to 897. After becoming the meeting point of two railroads in 1862, development of industry in Wetzlar took a major leap forward. Wetzlar in particular became known for its optical industries: cameras and other photographics equipment from Leitz (now Leica), binoculars from Hensoldt, and microscopes from Leitz, Buderus and Seibert. The city was a center of metallurgical industry and iron mining.

Wetzlar existed as a free Imperial city from 1197 until 1803. Since 1698 Wetzlar was the seat of the Reichskammergericht, the supreme court of justice in the Holy Roman Empire. Thus Wetzlar gained a prominent status within the Empire with many famous personalities visiting the town or working temporarily at the court (among them Goethe as the most famous). In 1803 Wetzlar shifted under the rule of Carl von Dalberg, the Archchancellor of the Holy Roman Empire and a close ally of Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1815 with Napoleon's empire having collapsed it was passed to Prussia. With the founding of "Groß-Hessen" (Greater Hesse) after WWII by the American government of occupation it was incorporated into that Bundesland in 1945.

In 1977 Wetzlar was merged with the neighboring city Gießen to form the new city Lahn, however this attempt to reorganize the administration was very unpopular and was reverted in 1979.

Notable architechtural features include the Eisenmarkt and the steep grades and claustrophobic street layout of a medieval town. The sandstone cathedral St. Mary was commenced in the 12th century as a romanesque building. In the later middle ages the construction was continued under a masterplan in gothic style. The church was never finished, as one steeple still is uncompleted. The cathedral suffered heavy damage in WWII by aerial bombing, but was restored in the 1950s. On the outskirts of town exist the ruins of several masonry towers arranged along the river.

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