Economy and Infrastructure
Over the ages, agriculture was the main income earner. Irmenach and Beuren were long said to be the Hunsrück’s richest farming villages. Although there were still many small agricultural operations run as sidelines even into the 1980s, the number of operations today has – following the general trend – shrunk to only a handful.
Besides farming, slate was mined for a long time. In the Irmenach area are many slate mines, some of which already existed in the 17th century. As Johann Hofmann wrote in 1669: “Foremost, there are in the same mountain ranges a great many slate quarries / wherefrom the countryside’s inhabitants have as great an income / as perhaps others might not obtain from their fruitful fields”. According to local lore, Irmenach slate was used in the building of, among others, the Reichstag in Berlin and Brussels Cathedral. In the late 1960s, the last slate quarry was closed as recovery had become unprofitable.
The biggest employer since the War ended has been the Hans Kirst firm, located in Irmenach, which today makes horse box stalls.
One important economic factor, however, has always been Frankfurt-Hahn Airport.
Read more about this topic: Irmenach
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