Langenfeld in the Rahmedetal
Langenfeld im Rahmedetal is an old field name in the middle Rahmedetal, which extends from Lüdenscheid to Altena . Until 1968 it belonged to the municipality of Lüdenscheid-Land , Altena district. Since the regional reform of January 1, 1969, the border between the towns of Altena and Lüdenscheid, both of which belong to the Märkisches Kreis, has run here .
This 500-meter-long parcel, which stretches from west to east and lived up to its name before the development, begins at the Bergswalze east of Dünnebrett, runs to the left of the Rahmede and ends in front of the JD Geck company Hammer. Like Langenfeld, the Bergswalze is still shown on the basic and area maps. In 1839 the manufacturer Carl Berg from Lüdenscheid bought the rod hammer there and converted it into a rolling mill in 1841. Subsequently, in 1894, master locksmith August Enders set up his humble factory. He also made use of the water power of the Rahmedebach, which drove water wheels and with this energy set the hammers and blowers for the forge fires in motion.
16 years later, in 1910, Enders died. The company had grown to 350 employees. With the participation of August Adamy and A. Paulmann the conversion into a GmbH and later into a stock corporation took place. By the beginning of the First World War , the workforce had already doubled. With the growing number of employees, the demand for living space increased, which offered a home for the working staff in the nearby Rathmecke with the August-Adamy-Siedlung or other streets such as Schulstrasse, Markhahn and other places in the area with many small and large houses. In addition to interior decoration and camping articles, Enders also manufactured parts for armaments during World War II , making it a declared target for Allied bombers. On moonlit nights, as a precaution, the entire factory area was placed under an artificial fog cover several times. In 1943, opposite the company, an air raid shelter with three entrances and a planned corridor length of 500 meters for around 2000 people was blown into the hard rock. The overburden is carted next door with a moor train up the mountain on which plant manager Kurt Adamy had built his house. About half of the bunker plan was completed until work was stopped towards the end of the war. The bunker was used several times during an air raid alarm and bombs that fell at night missed their target by a few hundred meters. Today the entrances are buried and therefore it is no longer possible to enter.
The original Enders company has not existed for a long time, but the name lives on with the Colsmann company in nearby Werdohl . It sells grills, patio heaters and all kinds of camping items, some of which have the name Enders on them. At the time of the municipality of Lüdenscheid-Land before 1969, Langenfeld had just three residential buildings and the aforementioned Enders company. A large wooden barrack opposite the company, which today serves as a warehouse, was inhabited by foreign workers during the war years, and later by families who had lost their home in Silesia or their apartments due to the bombing in the Ruhr area.
There are a few place names with the name Langenfeld in Germany. The best known is the city of Langenfeld in the Rhineland in the Mettmann district, between Cologne and Düsseldorf. There are other Langenfelds in the Eifel, Middle Franconia, Bad Salzungen and Hessisch Oldendorf.
Individual evidence
swell
- Collected newspaper articles from the “ Lüdenscheider Nachrichten ”, own research and memories and notes from the author himself, who grew up there.