1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Limburg (Prussia)

LIMBURG, a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau, on the Lahn, here crossed by a bridge dating from 1315, and on the main line of railway from Coblenz to Lollar and Cassel, with a branch to Frankfort-on-Main. Pop. (1905) 9917. It is the seat of a Roman Catholic bishop. The small seven-towered cathedral, dedicated to St George the martyr, is picturesquely situated on a rocky site overhanging the river. This was founded by Conrad Kurzbold, count of Niederlahngau, early in the 10th century, and was consecrated in 1235. It was restored in 1872–1878. Limburg has a castle, a new town hall and a seminary for the education of priests; its industries include the manufacture of cloth, tobacco, soap, machinery, pottery and leather. Limburg, which was a flourishing place during the middle ages, had its own line of counts until 1414, when it was purchased by the elector of Trier. It passed to Nassau in 1803. In September 1796 it was the scene of a victory gained by the Austrians under the archduke Charles over the French.

See Hillebrand, Limburg an der Lahn unter Pfandherrschaft 1344–1624 (Wiesbaden, 1899).