Altenkirchen (district)

Altenkirchen (German pronunciation: [ˈaltn̩ˌkɪʁçn̩] ^ⓘ) is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the North Rhine-Westphalian districts Rhein-Sieg, Oberbergischer Kreis, Olpe and Siegen-Wittgenstein, and the districts of Westerwaldkreis and Neuwied.

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in German. (June 2020) Click [show] for important translation instructions.

Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing German Wikipedia article at [[:de:Landkreis Altenkirchen (Westerwald)]]; see its history for attribution.
You may also add the template {{Translated|de|Landkreis Altenkirchen (Westerwald)}} to the talk page.
For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2013)

Quick Facts Country, State ...

Altenkirchen
District
Flag Coat of arms

Country	Germany
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
Capital	Altenkirchen
Government
• District admin.	Peter Enders (CDU)
Area
• Total	642 km² (248 sq mi)
Population (31 December 2022)^[1]
• Total	131,467
• Density	200/km² (530/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Vehicle registration	AK
Website	kreis-altenkirchen.de

The history of the district is linked with the Westerwald region.

The district was established in 1816 by the Prussian administration. It combined the county of Wildenburg and the two counties of Sayn. The former had been part of Berg, the latter ones had belonged to the duchy of Nassau.

The county used to be divided into nine mayoralties, including the Bürgermeisterei Weyerbusch.

Altenkirchen is the northernmost district of Rhineland-Palatinate. It is occupied by the northern portions of the Westerwald mountains. The valley of the river Sieg borders the Westerwald on the north. The lands north of the Sieg are called Wildenburgisches Land, after the tiny county of Wildenburg, that once existed here.

The coat of arms displays:

Top left: The golden lion of the county of Sayn, which occupied the territory in the 12th century
Top right: The symbol of the tiny county of Wildenburg, which existed until 1806 in the very north of the district
Bottom: The black and red cross is a combination of the bishops' emblems of Cologne and Trier

More information Verbandsgemeinden ...

Verbandsgemeinden
1. Altenkirchen-Flammersfeld Almersbach Altenkirchen^{1, 2} Bachenberg Berod bei Hachenburg Berzhausen Birnbach Bürdenbach Burglahr Busenhausen Eichelhardt Eichen Ersfeld Eulenberg Fiersbach Flammersfeld Fluterschen Forstmehren Gieleroth Giershausen Güllesheim Hasselbach Helmenzen Helmeroth Hemmelzen Heupelzen Hilgenroth Hirz-Maulsbach Horhausen Idelberg Ingelbach Isert Kescheid Kettenhausen	Kircheib Kraam Krunkel Mammelzen Mehren Michelbach Neitersen Niedersteinebach Obererbach Oberirsen Oberlahr Obersteinebach Oberwambach Ölsen Orfgen Peterslahr Pleckhausen Racksen Reiferscheid Rettersen Rott Schöneberg Schürdt Seelbach Seifen Sörth Stürzelbach Volkerzen Walterschen Werkhausen Weyerbusch Willroth Wölmersen Ziegenhain	2. Betzdorf-Gebhardshain Alsdorf Betzdorf^{1, 2} Dickendorf Elben Elkenroth Fensdorf Gebhardshain Grünebach Kausen Malberg Molzhain Nauroth Rosenheim Scheuerfeld Steinebach/Sieg Steineroth Wallmenroth 3. Daaden-Herdorf Daaden¹ Derschen Emmerzhausen Friedewald Herdorf² Mauden Niederdreisbach Nisterberg Schutzbach Weitefeld	4. Hamm Birkenbeul Bitzen Breitscheidt Bruchertseifen Etzbach Forst Fürthen Hamm (Sieg)¹ Niederirsen Pracht Roth Seelbach bei Hamm 5. Kirchen Brachbach Friesenhagen Harbach Kirchen^{1, 2} Mudersbach Niederfischbach 6. Wissen Birken-Honigsessen Hövels Katzwinkel Mittelhof Selbach Wissen^{1, 2}
¹seat of the Verbandsgemeinde; ²town

Verbandsgemeinden

1. Altenkirchen-Flammersfeld

2. Betzdorf-Gebhardshain

3. Daaden-Herdorf

4. Hamm

5. Kirchen

6. Wissen

¹seat of the Verbandsgemeinde; ²town

[1]
"Bevölkerungsstand 2022, Kreise, Gemeinden, Verbandsgemeinden" (PDF) (in German). Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz. 2023.

Official website (German)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Landkreis Altenkirchen (Westerwald).

50°45′N 7°45′E