Nassau ( , also , , ) is a town located in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It lies in the valley of the river Lahn between the towns of Bad Ems and Limburg an der Lahn. Nassau was the seat of the former Verbandsgemeinde Nassau, and is part of the Nassau Nature Park. The town is on the German-Dutch holiday road, the Orange Route. As of 2017, it had a population of 4,521. Nassau gave its name to the prominent royal House of Nassau and directly or indirectly to numerous geographical entities, including a sovereign state, the Duchy of Nassau; the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau; the historical and geographical region Nassau; Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas; and Nassau County, on Long Island in New York State. Historically, the entire Long Island was also called Nassau, though the name came to be limited to just that one section. History The earliest known surviving mention of Nassau refers to the Villa Nassova estate of the Bishopric of Worms in a 915 deed. In 1348 the Emperor Charles IV granted Nassau town-privileges rights together with nearby Dausenau and Scheuern. Count Dudo-Heinrich of Laurenburg had the Nassau Castle built about 1100 and his descendants began to call themselves the Counts of Nassau. Count Adolf of Nassau served as the elected King of the Romans from 1292 until his death on 2 July 1298. The Counts of Nassau married into the line of the neighbouring Counts of Arnstein (Obernhof/Attenhausen), founders of the monastery at Arnstein. After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the town became part of the Duchy of Nassau. Nassau suffered heavily from bombings by American B-26 Marauders during World War II, all three hospitals and almost all of the inner city were completely destroyed. Despite the ancient and eventful history of this town, it had a population of fewer than 5,000 inhabitants . The town of Nassau became the namesake of the Duchy of Nassau, the royal House of Nassau and its branch named the House of Orange-Nassau, and the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau. William III of England obtained a title Nassau. The Grand Duke of Luxembourg still uses Nassau as a title and it is also part of the Dutch royal family (called Orange-Nassau). Its name has also spawned a multitude of other namings in the Americas, such as Nassau, the capital city of the Bahamas,