Idstein Castle

The Unionskirche (Union Church) is the active Protestant parish church of Idstein, a town in the Rheingau-Taunus district in the German state of Hesse. Idstein was a residence of the counts of Nassau. The church building in the center of the historic Altstadt (old town) dates back to the 14th century when it was built as a collegiate church. It became Lutheran during the Reformation. Its interior was adapted in the 17th century to become a Lutheran Predigt- und Hofkirche (sermon and court church). The most prominent decoration in the church is the series of 38 paintings by the Flemish painter Michael Angelo Immenraedt, an exponent of Flemish Baroque painting, and others. They follow a program of biblical scenes. The church was named Unionskirche in 1917 to commemorate the union of Lutheran and Reformed Protestants in the Duchy of Nassau in August 1817, the first of its kind (before the Prussian Union in September of the same year). The Unionskirche is a recognized monument under the Hague Convention. It is used by the Protestant congregation, and it is open to other institutions as a concert venue, including concerts of the Rheingau Musik Festival. It features an organ built in 1912 by Walcker Orgelbau and retaining the historic case dating back to 1783. The church was restored from 2012 to 2017, completed for 500 years since the Reformation and 200 years since the Union. The restoration was awarded the Hessischer Denkmalschutzpreis (Hessian monument preservation prize).

St. Martin is the name of a Catholic parish and church in Idstein, Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis, Germany. The official name of the church is Katholische Pfarrkirche St. Martin. The name of the parish became St. Martin Idsteiner Land on 1 January 2017, when it was merged with five other parishes. The parish is part of the Diocese of Limburg. St. Martin is the patron saint of Idstein, to whom a Gothic church was dedicated in 1330. The present building, designed by architect Johannes Krahn, was consecrated in 1965. It replaced a church built in 1888 in Gothic Revival style and dedicated to Mary Magdalene. The earlier church was too small for the congregation growing after World War II. After restoration in 2003, a new organ was installed in 2006. Church music in services and concerts, performed by several groups including a children's choir and ensembles playing historic instruments, have received attention in the Rhein-Main Region. The parish is in long-term ecumenical contact with the main Protestant church of the town, the Unionskirche, which includes two regular ecumenical services and concerts performed by joint groups of both churches.

Idstein (German: [ˈʔɪtʃtaɪn] ) is a town of about 25,000 inhabitants in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Because of its well preserved historical Altstadt (Old Town) it is part of the Deutsche Fachwerkstraße (German Timber-Frame Road), connecting towns with fine fachwerk buildings and houses. In 2002, the town hosted the 42nd Hessentag state festival.

St. Nikolaus von Flüe is the name of a Catholic church in Wörsdorf, part of Idstein, Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis, Germany. The official name of the church is Katholische Pfarrkirche St. Nikolaus von Flüe (Catholic parish church Nikolaus of Flüe). When it was dedicated, the name was St. Nikolaus-von-Flüe-Friedenskirche, designating it as a peace church. The Wörsdorf parish belongs to St. Martin Idsteiner Land. The church, the first Catholic church in Wörsdorf, was designed by Johannes Krahn, and consecrated in December 1962.

The Hintertaunus ("Farther Taunus") is a natural region in the German Central Upland range of the Taunus (major unit group 30), which rises to a height of 700.7 m above sea level (NHN) and lies north of the High Taunus (301). It extends as far as the river Rhine to the west, the river Lahn to the north and the Wetterau hills to the east. It is divided into the Eastern Hintertaunus (major unit 302), Idstein Basin (303) and Western Hintertaunus (304).

The Taunus Nature Park (German: Naturpark Taunus) (until December 2012 called the High Taunus Nature Park or Naturpark Hochtaunus) is a nature park in Central Germany with an area of 134,775 hectares (1347.75 km2) in the Central Upland range of the Taunus. It is one of two Hessian nature parks in the Taunus and the second largest nature park in Hesse.

Ehrenbach is a village, first mentioned in 1371, that became in 1971 part of Idstein, Hesse, Germany.

The Türmchen (Little tower) in Ehrenbach, an Ortsteil of Idstein, Hesse, Germany, is a fachwerk building from around 1780 that served various purposes. The listed historic monument has been a Protestant chapel from 1982.

St. Martha is a Catholic church in Engenhahn, now an Ortsteil of Niedernhausen, Hesse, Germany. It was built in 1890/91 in the west of the village, designed by Alois Vogt, who taught at the Bauschule in Idstein. It was built on an initiative of the Idstein priest Schilo, who collected donations to build a church in both Idstein and Engenhahn. The church served as a chapel until 1924. In 1963, a parish of the same name was installed, but it was merged to St. Martin, Idstein, in 2017.

The main ridge of the Taunus (German: Taunushauptkamm) refers to a 75-kilometre-long ridgeline in the High Taunus mountain in Germany, whose geological core consists of veins of hard Taunus quartzite and which separates the steeply descending Anterior Taunus to the south from the more gradually descending upland of the Hintertaunus or Farther Taunus in the north. The watershed between the Upper Rhine and River Main to the south and the Middle Rhine tributaries of the Wisper and Lahn to the north, runs for long sections along the main ridge. Several of the river flowing southwards have broken through the rock of the Taunus ridge unit in several places so that the watershed is diverted a few kilometres to the north. The main ridge of the Taunus is also a watershed that, especially in the cooler six months of the year and during inversion weather conditions, separates the fog in the Upper Rhine Plain from clearer weather in the north. When the prevailing winds are from the northwest, the ridge receives a lot of precipitation and shelters the Rhine-Main region, giving it a mild climate.