Lich is a town in the district of Gießen, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated 12 km southeast of Gießen. Lich has a population of around 13,000. Geography Location The town is located on the river Wetter halfway between Taunus and Vogelsberg; the northern and eastern parts of the town reside within the natural area of the Vogelsberg, the southern and western in the Wetterau. Constituent communities Besides the main town, which bears the same name as the whole municipality, the following surrounding communities belong to Lich since the Gebietsreformen (administrative reorganization) of the 1970s: History The region is known to have been settled for more than 100,000 years. Tools found in several places in and around Lich were dated to the Neanderthal period, others to the Aurignacian culture, Linear Pottery culture, the Bronze Age, the Hallstatt culture and the La Tène culture. When building the Upper Germanic limes during the reign of the Roman Emperor Domitian the Romans built the Castrum Arnsburg, located near what is now Arnsburg Abbey. It is the most northeastern known full-sized castrum along the limes. The first known mentioning of Lich dates back to 790 in the Lorsch codex. In 1300 the town was awarded market rights by Emperor Albert I of Germany. Originally belonging to the County of Hagen-Münzenberg it became the property of the Counts of Falkenstein following the marriage of Isengard of Münzenberg to Philip IV of Bolanden-Falkenstein. As an inheritance Lich was given to the House of Solms in the middle of the 14th century. The House of Solms split into several branches over the centuries – one of them the branch Solms-Hohensolms-Lich, which retains its seat in Lich. There was no significant destruction in Lich during several wars from Thirty Years' War up to World War II. In 1993, the town hosted the 33rd Hessentag state festival. Governance Town twinning Lich is twinned with the following communities: Dieulefit in France Tangermünde in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany Budakeszi in Hungary Vänersborg in Sweden It is also associated with: Tata in Morocco Landmarks Town centre, made up largely of half-timbered buildings. The most notable is the Textorhaus with its richly carved façade, today hosting the town museum. Late Gothic Marienstiftskirche (St Mary's collegiate church) with grave plates and a Baroque pulpit. Some parts of the town wall remain. Of the former fortifications the Town Tower (height 48 meters) and the Town Gate are