NEUWIED

city, Rhineland-Palatinate Land (state), western Germany, on the right bank of the Rhine (there bridged to Weissenthurm) near the Wied stream, just northwest of Koblenz. Founded in 1653 by the Count of Wied for religious refugees, it was chartered in 1662 and became a flourishing commercial and craftsman's town in the 18th century. Seat of the county (principality after 1784) of Wied-Neuwied until 1806, when it was included in the duchy of Nassau, the town passed to Prussia in 1815. In 1904 it absorbed the village of Heddesdorf, where Roman fortifications have been excavated. One of the city's historic landmarks is the Baroque castle (170757) of the princes of Wied. Industries include iron and steel production, engineering, and the manufacture of wood products and chemicals and of pumice building materials made from the local volcanic sand. Pop. (1989 est.) 60,665.