to east. The smaller river Dautphe flows, just as all the smaller streams in the municipal area do sooner or later, into the Lahn. Neighbouring communities Clockwise from the north, the following communities are Dautphetal's neighbours: The towns of Biedenkopf and Wetter (Hessen), the communities of Lahntal, the towns of Marburg and Gladenbach, the communities of Bad Endbach and Steffenberg as well as the community of Breidenbach. All these communities likewise lie in the Marburg-Biedenkopf district. Moreover, other centres can be named, such as the former group of homesteads belonging to Mornshausen and known as Die Amelose, and the two former iron ore smelting centres of Carlshütte (part of Buchenau) and Wilhelmshütte (part of Dautphe). The constituent communities of Dautphe, Friedensdorf and Wilhelmshütte form, with over 4,000 inhabitants, the core of the greater community, which was brought about by the appropriate town planning. History The history of the greater community of Dautphetal still is not very long. It came into being only in 1974 with municipal reform, having formerly been a series of 12 independent villages until the Hesse Landtag legislated new municipal divisions. This did not necessarily meet with everyone's approval. Ever since then, some of the communities amalgamated with others under the reform have experienced a kind of "local patriotism" in favour of the old communities. Constituent communities Dautphetal's municipal area is divided into 12 constituent communities (Ortsteile) Rulers Antiquity and Middle Ages From finds, it seems likely that the area covered by today's community of Dautphetal was already settled in antiquity as also witnessed by ringwall remains such as those on the Rimberg mountain or on the Hünstein (a megalithic monument). The first mention, however, was the naming of a Mark Dautphe in 791. This community is therefore the oldest documented place in the greater community. It was early on already the site of the Zentgericht, the local court under the local counts. It was the lowest court, but it had within its bailiwick the villages of Allendorf, Buchenau, Damshausen, Dautphe, Elmshausen, Friedensdorf, Holzhausen, Hommertshausen, Mornshausen, Silberg and Wolfgruben (nowadays in Dautphetal) as well as Eckelshausen, Kombach, Katzenbach, Dexbach and Engelbach (nowadays in Biedenkopf). In Charlemagne's time, the area covered by today's community of Dautphetal belonged to the Oberlahngau (a noble domain). After the local noble line, the Gisonen, died out, the area fell to Thuringia. Under Sophie von Brabant, Ludwig IV's and Saint Elisabeth's daughter, the