Geography Location Solms lies right in the Lahn valley at the mouth of the eponymous little river Solmsbach and is nestled between the foothills of both the Taunus and Westerwald at heights from 140 to 400 m above sea level. It is about 7 km west of Wetzlar and 30 km northeast of Limburg an der Lahn. Neighbouring communities Solms borders in the north on the community of Ehringshausen and the town of Aßlar, in the east on the town of Wetzlar, in the southeast on the community of Schöffengrund, in the southwest on the town of Braunfels and in the west on the town of Leun (all in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis). Constituent communities The town consists of the following centres: Albshausen Burgsolms Niederbiel Oberbiel Oberndorf Solms is a town west of Wetzlar in the Lahn-Dill-Kreis, Hessen, Germany with around 13,500 inhabitants. In the constituent community of Burgsolms once stood the ancestral castle of the Counts and Princes of Solms. Politics Town council The municipal elections in 2011 yielded the following results: Note: FWG is a citizens' coalition. Town of Solms Youth Council Since 2002 there has been a Town of Solms Youth Council serving as the town's official board representing youth's interests and needs. It is elected every two years by children and youths who either live in the town or go to the comprehensive school. Partnerships The town of Solms maintains partnerships with the following places: Liezen, Styria, Austria La Grand-Combe, Gard, France Schmiedefeld am Rennsteig, Thuringia, Germany Economy and infrastructure Oberbiel is home to two commercial-industrial areas. A shipping company has set up shop at the newer one, while the older one, on an island in the river Lahn, was established in the early 20th century. It was originally home to a brad factory, a wireworks and a ball bearing factory. History Solms had its first documentary mention in 788 in a donation document from the Lorsch Monastery. The villages that nowadays form the town of Solms belonged for centuries to the County of Solms, an independent state within the Holy Roman Empire, elevated to a county in 1223, until it was dissolved in 1806. Early branches of the House of Solms<ref>See German article House of Solms or French article Maison de Solms.</ref> were Burgsolms (extinguished 1415), Konigsberg (near Biebertal, extinguished 1364), Old and New Hohensolms (at Hohenahr, extinguished in the 14th century) and Braunfels. The still existing