After the family died out in 1280, the Archbishopric of Cologne acquired the parish of Wissen on the left bank of the river Sieg as a redeemed fief.

That part of the parish on the right hand side of the Sieg remained in the hands of the lords of Wildenburg, whose Werther line of the House of Hatzfeld later also gained that part of Wissen on the left bank as a fief.

In 1803-1815 the two halves of the parish went to Nassau; later they were united under Prussian reign and Wissen became the seat of a Bürgermeisterei.

In the 19th century, its communications links were considerably improved and bigger industries moved to Wissen.

Data source: Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz This Altenkirchen district location article is a stub.