Idstein () is a town of about 25,000 inhabitants in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Because of its well preserved historical Altstadt (Old Town) it is part of the Deutsche Fachwerkstraße (German Timber-Frame Road), connecting towns with fine fachwerk buildings and houses. In 2002, the town hosted the 42nd Hessentag state festival. Geography Location Idstein lies in the Taunus mountain range, about north of Wiesbaden. The town's landmark is the Hexenturm (Witches' Tower), a 12th-century bergfried and part of Idstein Castle. The Old Town is found between the two brooks running through town, the Wolfsbach in the east and the Wörsbach in the west, on a high ridge reaching up to above sea level. This comes to an end in the Old Town's north end with the castle and palace crags, behind which the two brooks run together. On the Wolfsbach, remnants of the like-named, now forsaken village can still be made out. The estate agent Gassenbach in the town's south goes back to an old settlement called Gassenbach; for the last few years, it has belonged to the Domäne Mechtildshausen, an organic farming operation. West of town, beyond the Wörsbach valley, lies another high ridge with peaks ranging from the Hohe Kanzel () to the Roßberg () and the Rügert () to the Rosenkippel (); to the south, the Galgenberg () forms another high area over to the Dasbach Heath. Just under the western heights run the Autobahn A 3 and the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed rail line (in the Idsteintunnel along the slope). On the other side of the Rügert are the constituent communities of Oberauroff and Niederauroff in the valley of the Auroffer Bach. North of Idstein, the Wörsbach valley reaches into the Goldener Grund, fertile cropland that stretches all the way to the Lahn valley. Neighbouring communities Idstein borders in the north on the town of Bad Camberg (Limburg-Weilburg) and the community of Waldems (Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis), in the east on the community of Glashütten (Hochtaunuskreis), in the southeast on the town of Eppstein (Main-Taunus-Kreis), in the south on the community of Niedernhausen, in the southwest on the town of Taunusstein and in the west on the community of Hünstetten (all three in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis). Constituent communities The town is made up of a main town bearing the same name as the whole and eleven other, formerly independent villages: Until 1977, Idstein belonged to the