Astert

Astert
Municipality
File:AstertPanorama1.jpg
Coat of arms of Astert Coat of arms
Location of Astert within Westerwaldkreis district File:Astert im Westerwaldkreis.png
Coordinates:
Country	Germany
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
District	Westerwaldkreis
Municipal assoc.	Hachenburg
Subdivisions	2
Government
• Mayor (2019–24)	Erich Wagner
Area
• Total	2.39 km2 (0.92 sq mi)
Elevation	235 m (771 ft)
Population  ()
• Total
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	57627
Dialling codes	02688
Vehicle registration	WW
Website	www.astert.de

Astert is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

Geography

Location

The municipality lies in the Westerwald between Limburg and Siegen in the Kroppacher Schweiz (“Kroppach Switzerland”), a nature and landscape conservation area. Through the municipality flows the river Große Nister. In 1985, Astert was chosen as Rhineland-Palatinate's prettiest place in the contest Unser Dorf soll schöner werden (“Our village should become lovelier”). Astert belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Hachenburg, a kind of collective municipality. Its seat is in the like-named town.

Constituent communities

Astert's Ortsteile are Oberdorf and Unterdorf.

History

In 1282, Astert had its first documentary mention in a document from the Marienstatt Monastery, in which it was named as Asterode.

Statistik zur Einwohnerentwicklung

1815 – 152 1835 – 150 1871 – 175 1905 – 200 1939 – 225

1950 – 220 1961 – 199 1970 – 206 1987 – 214 2005 – 249

Politics

The municipal council is made up of 8 council members who were elected in a majority vote in a municipal election on 7 June 2009.

Regular events

In this small but lively municipality, village festivals can be enjoyed almost every month. The raising of the Maypole and Carnival, roo, are times when both old and young inhabitants can celebrate together. The municipality's youth, who are not very strongly represented, like to gather at the Backes (an old baking house).

Culinary specialities

Moreover, there is something else that sets Astert apart, its speciality. It is known as Asterter Klüsen – a regional word for dumplings. They are a well loved dish not only among the locals, but also for people from the neighbouring communities, who enjoy this hearty dish. The dumplings’ recipe and preparation, however, are things that only longtime village ladies may know. The art of cooking the Asterter Klüsen, though, is taught younger ladies so that this delight does not pass away into legend.

Economy and infrastructure

South of the municipality runs Bundesstraße 414, which leads from Altenkirchen to Hachenburg. The nearest Autobahn interchanges are in Siegen and Wilsdorf on the A 45 (Dortmund–Gießen), roughly 25 km away. The nearest InterCityExpress stop lies about 40 km away at the railway station at Montabaur on the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed rail line.

External links

• Astert in the collective municipality’s Web pages (in German)
• Asterter Klüsen (in German)
• Astert (in German)