Stein-Wingert

Location The community lies in the Westerwald between Limburg and Siegen, on the river Nister in the middle of the Kroppach Switzerland (Kroppacher Schweiz). The residential community of Stein-Wingert belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Hachenburg, a kind of collective municipality. Its seat is in the like-named town. Constituent communities Stein-Wingert's Ortsteile are Wingert, Stein, Alhausen and Altburg. ==History==

Stein-Wingert belonged in the 12th century first to the landlords of Nister. Already by the early 13th century, the community passed to the Lords of Sayn, and in 1649/71 to Sayn-Hachenburg, with which it fell to Nassau-Weilburg in 1799. In 1806, Stein-Wingert passed to the Duchy of Nassau, and as of 1866 it was in Prussia’s province of Hesse-Nassau. ==Politics==

The municipal council is made up of 7 council members, including the extraofficial mayor (Bürgermeister), who were elected in a majority vote in a municipal election on 13 June 2004. ==Regular events==

Since 1984, every other year on the last weekend in June, the Backtrogrennen (“Dough Trough Race”) has been held. This custom imported from southern Germany consists of paddling down a stretch of the river Nister and back up again in wooden troughs. As of 2007, the festival is to be held in odd-numbered years, as it did not take place in 2006 owing to the Football World Cup. ==Economy and infrastructure==

South of the community runs Bundesstraße 414, leading from Altenkirchen to Hachenburg. The nearest Autobahn interchanges are in Siegen, Wilnsdorf and Herborn on the A 45 (Dortmund–Gießen). The nearest InterCityExpress stop is the railway station at Montabaur on the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed rail line. ==References==