See Wikipedia. First coalition and revolutionary wars 1792-1797:
In 1796 the village was involved in the Battle of Kircheib between the French under General Kléber and the Austrians under General Kray. The terrible bayonet fight raged on the "Köppchen" east of Kircheib, where today the B8 (then the High Street Cologne-Frankfurt) climbs in a short run to the large forest of the Leuscheider ridge.
Significance: after a total of 5 years of war, in which the French had ravaged the Westerwald region, there were many battles, a few days earlier there was a battle near Altenkirchen, which the French won. That is why it is also mentioned on the triumphal arch in Paris.
However, the Austrians are numerically inferior (14,000) and in a real slaughter for Kircheib the Austrians win the victory, so that the French (24,000) decide to retreat from the entire Westerwald and withdraw.
Almost 40,000 soldiers were involved in the Battle of Kircheib! What that means for a region For more than 5 years, these two armies and their entourage have survived from the country through taxes, robbery and violence. That must have been terrifying for the rather poor region. And liberation only recovery when standing armies retreated. What happened afterwards. After the fighting, the French began their large-scale retreat. Kléber's army crossed the Sieg near Siegburg on June 20th and arrived at Düsseldorf on the 21st. It will take decades for the region to recover.