Diez, Germany

Diez is a Verbandsgemeinde ("collective municipality") in the Rhein-Lahn-Kreis, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Its seat is in Diez. The Verbandsgemeinde Diez consists of the following Ortsgemeinden ("local municipalities"):

The 5th Armoured Division (5. Panzer-Division) was a West German armored formation. It was part of the III Corps of the Bundeswehr, which also incorporated in 1985 the 2nd Panzergrenadier Division and 12th Panzer Division. III Corps was part of NATO's Central Army Group (CENTAG), along with the Bundeswehr's II Corps and the American V and VII Corps. Headquarters in 1985 was at Diez/Lahn, with subordinate brigades at Wetzlar (13th PG Bde), Neustadt/Marburg (6th Panzer Brigade) and Koblenz (15th Panzergrenadier Brigade). It played a major role in the defense of West Germany from the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The division was constituted on 1 October 1956 as part of the III Corps of the Bundeswehr. In 1985, the corps also received the 2nd Panzergrenadier Division and 12th Panzer Division. Subordinated to NATO's Central Army Group, the III Corps defended the "zone of vital defense" of NATO, at the side of the II Corps of the German Army and the U.S. Army's V and VII Corps. Following the Soviet Union's fall, the US VII Corps was withdrawn and two combined US/German corps were created in the former CENTAG area. As part of this arrangement, 5th Armoured Division was administratively placed under the V Corps (United States) for main defence purposes. This meant that if an attack from the East was anticipated, the division would fall under U.S. control. Meanwhile, an American division would likewise fall under control of the German II or III Corps. The 5th Panzer sent some of their units to Yugoslavia in 1990. German budget constraints meant that the 5th Panzer Division had to be indefinitely disbanded on 30 June 2001.

The Aar is a 50-kilometre-long (31 mi) river in western Germany, left tributary of the Lahn. It rises in the Taunus mountains, near Taunusstein. It flows generally north through the towns Taunusstein, Bad Schwalbach, Aarbergen and Hahnstätten. It flows into the Lahn in Diez.

Dierstein Abbey was a Benedictine monastery, on the site now occupied by Schloss Oranienstein near Diez, Germany. It is first recorded in 1153 and was probably founded by the counts of Diez. A second church is recorded in 1221, dedicated to John the Baptist. It had extensive endowments in its heyday, but in 1564 it was abolished. It was recorded in 1643 that it had fallen into ruin. During the construction of the Schloss Oranienstein's main wing, stones were re-used from the monastery ruins. During the 1704-09 rebuild of the Scloss, the last visible ruins of the monastery disappeared.

Schloss Oranienstein is one of the palaces of the house of Orange-Nassau, sited at Diez on the Lahn. It was built on the ruins of Dierstein Abbey between 1672 and 1681 for Countess Albertine Agnes of Nassau after she was widowed. After the French Republican invasion destroyed the Dutch Republic in 1795, stadtholder William V, Prince of Orange and his family first fled to England, before settling in Oranienstein for several years. Here, William and his son William Frederick issued the Oranienstein Letters, recognising the Batavian Republic and renouncing their stadtholderate and territorial claims in the Netherlands in return for financial and territorial compensation elsewhere, granted by First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte. After the annexation of the Duchy of Nassau by Prussia in 1866, the palace was given to the Prussian army the following year. It is still today occupied by the Bundeswehr, together with adjacent barracks, but also houses a museum.

Aull is a municipality in the district of Rhein-Lahn, in Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany. It is a local municipality within the collective municipality of Diez.

Birlenbach is a municipality in the district of Rhein-Lahn, in Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany.

The Alte Burg, formerly Hofgut Aull, is a mediaeval water castle in Aull in the county of Rhein-Lahn-Kreis in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Gückingen is a municipality in the district of Rhein-Lahn, in Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany.

Altendiez is a municipality in the district of Rhein-Lahn, in Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany.

Heistenbach is a municipality in the district of Rhein-Lahn, in Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany. The municipal council has 16 seats.

Holzheim is a municipality in the district of Rhein-Lahn, in Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany.