Werdohl

Basic data
State :	North Rhine-Westphalia
Administrative region :	Arnsberg
Circle :	Märkischer Kreis
Height :	210 m above sea level NHN
Area :	33.39 km 2
Residents:	17,657 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density :	529 inhabitants per km 2
Postal code :	58791
Area code :	02392
License plate :	MK
Community key :	05 9 62 060
LOCODE :	DE WHO
; City administration address :	Goethestrasse 51 ; 58791 Werdohl
Website :	www.werdohl.de
Mayoress :	Silvia Voßloh ( CDU )
Location of the city of Werdohl in the Märkisches Kreis

Werdohl [ vɛɐ̯ˈdo: l ] is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia . It is located in the east of the Märkisches Sauerland and belongs to the Märkisches Kreis .

geography

Geographical location

Lennetal

Werdohl is located in the Sauerland in the valleys of the Lenne and the Verse . The Lenne forms two meander arcs in the urban area , so that it looks like a large "W". It has a length of 15 km in the urban area. The length of the verses in Werdohl is 7.85 km.

The city reaches its highest point at 475 m above sea level in the area of the "Laundry" farm, on the city limits of Herscheid. The lowest point at 162 m is the river bed of the Lenne on the city limits of Altena .

The urban area is 33.37 km² . In the north it extends to the city limits of Altena (near Dresel), in the south to the Hülsberg (near Eveking) with a distance of 8.0 km. The westernmost point is near the district Elverlingsen, in the east near Kettling. The west-east extension is 8.5 km.

Most of the area is used for agriculture, meadows, pastures and forests, a total of 1,920 hectares (ha). Residential buildings take up 318 ha, commercial areas 124 ha. The remaining 975 ha are traffic, water and other areas.

Werdohl borders (clockwise) on Altena , Neuenrade , Plettenberg , Herscheid and Lüdenscheid .

View over Werdohl

geology

The so-called Lower Honsel layers (named after a farm south of Letmathe ), which mainly consist of clay stones and embedded sandstone banks, are widespread in the Werdohl city area . These layers are around 360 million years old. At that time the area was flooded by the sea.

In the valleys there are much younger sediment layers that have formed from the alluvial material from the rivers (Lenne, Verse).

Layers of slate and other mudstones are found deeper, suggesting an age of 440 to 500 million years.

Districts

The city center is on the banks of the Lenne and partly on the surrounding slopes. The next districts on the Lenne and the mouth of the Verse are Versevörde, Königsburg, Rodt and Erlhagen.

Kettling is up the Lenne. Ütterlingsen, Dresel and Elverlingsen follow down the Lenne.

If you follow the Verse upstream - the sometimes very narrow Kerbtal - you will get along the slopes of Osmecke, Pungelscheid , Kleinhammer and through Eveking and Bärenstein into the Oberborbecke, where the Versetal becomes increasingly flatter and merges into the urban area of Lüdenscheid .

history

Surname

An older name for the city name is Verthol . The syllable Werd- stands for island or peninsula ( Werder ), while -ohl probably stood for a meadow by the water (floodplain) , but this has not been clearly clarified in terms of linguistic history. Hence the name Werdohl originally did not stand for the place, but for the area.

historical overview

Mesolithic stone tools ( Middle Stone Age ) made of flint and silica slate were found on the ridges of Werdohl around Dösseln and Brenge. The finds are older than 7,000 years. Stone tools that were ground were discovered from the Neolithic Age . It is therefore assumed that people stayed in the area at least occasionally during the Stone Age. The intersection of the Neheim-Balve-Werdohl long-distance route with the Lenne ford could be a nucleus of the place. A tumulus from the period after 4,000 BC was found on this long-distance path. Found

"Busenhof"
rebuilt after the city fire of 1822.

In the Middle Ages, an old royal road from Cologne to Arnsberg / Soest crossed the Lenne in the Werdohl area. This is how a small church village came into being. The north-south traffic through the Lennetal was difficult because the valley was swampy in many places. Roads could only be adequately paved later. It is generally assumed that the church village was founded before the 12th century.

The first written mention of Werdohl dates back to 1101. The Paderborn bishop Heinrich II mentions the church (Kilian's Church ) in Werdohl, which was donated to the Flechtdorf monastery near Diemelsee by Count Erpo von Padberg . In 1220 the Berentrop priory took over the patronage of the church, in 1300 the priory was bought by Count Eberhard I von der Mark . The Kilian's Church then belonged to the Scheda monastery.

The Reformation reached Werdohl in 1573. After Elector Johann Sigismund converted to the Reformed Confession in 1613, most of the landed aristocracy and the bourgeoisie converted to the Reformed. Werdohl became Protestant.

The Kilian's Church received a new church tower in 1743, but it only lasted a good 100 years. In 1874 the church and tower were demolished. The (Protestant) Christ Church had been built shortly before (around 1866).

Pungelscheid Castle , where the Neuhoff family resided, is first mentioned in 1381 . Theodor von Neuhoff probably also spent a few years of his life here. He was known as the King of Corsica in the 18th century .

Werdohl was not spared from disasters. In 1535 the wooden bridge over the Lenne was damaged in a flood. In 1554 or 1556 the first stone bridge was built over the Lenne. Another devastating flood occurred in 1601. In 1619 Werdohl was hit by the plague. There were further epidemics of the disease in 1626, 1632 and 1636. Large fires destroyed parts of the city in 1717, 1744 and 1777. In 1822 a major fire destroyed almost 70% of all houses.

From the 17th century Werdohl belonged to Brandenburg-Prussia after the Jülich-Klevischen succession dispute . During the Napoleonic period Werdohl was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Berg (1806–1813).

The Wars of Liberation in 1813/1814 did not pass Werdohl by. On the way to France, Russian troops marched through the city, plundering, and forcing the peasants to accompany them with carts to the Bergisches Land. Further allied troops had to be offered board and lodging. Parts of the population were drafted into the army. Dozens of Werdohlers died in fighting.

In 1815 the province of Westphalia was founded in the Kingdom of Prussia , to which Werdohl has belonged ever since. The city was administered from the Neuenrade office for a long time . At the end of the 19th century Werdohl already had a higher population than all the other municipalities of the office combined. The attempt to relocate the official seat from Neuenrade to Werdohl, however, failed, and so Werdohl received its own municipal administration on June 1, 1891. On April 19, 1936 Werdohl was granted town charter.

Former Werdohl City Museum (demolished in 2015)

Werdohl was not doing well economically for centuries. Agriculture and animal husbandry were difficult to achieve in the narrow valleys. A brine spring discovered in 1630 did not bring the hoped-for upswing, especially since the spring dried up towards the end of the 18th century.

The economic boom began in the 19th century. Metal processing was the most important branch of industry. In many places in the region, metal was mined above ground, especially in the Versetal (e.g. Bärenstein). Iron forges and hammer mills sprang up all over the city. Was produced Osemund iron , which is very suitable for wire production. The wire industry has remained in the city to this day. In addition, over the years, companies in the steel and aluminum industry as well as plants for the production of railroad and vehicle supplies developed.

Traffic was heavily promoted in the 1830s and 1840s. 1832–1834 the road to Altena was expanded, in 1844 to Lüdenscheid and to Rönkhausen. In 1846, planning began for the Hagen-Werdohl-Siegen railway line ( Ruhr-Sieg line ). The line was then built in 1861–1865. This led to an industrial boom and a significant increase in the population. Many families from Catholic parts of the country were settled, so that the ratio of denominations slowly converged.

The forerunner of today's secondary school was founded in 1869 as a candidate school . The first hospital was established in 1891 as a Protestant foundation.

On April 18, 1936, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the NSDAP local group, the place received city rights. The construction of the swimming pool and the hospital had previously been completed.

During the Second World War , up to 1,000 forced laborers from all over Europe were housed in the barracks on Schützenplatz. They worked in agricultural and metalworking companies (the latter were important to the war effort). In particular, the prisoners from Eastern Europe were considered a lower race and were accordingly badly treated. At least 16 workers died and were buried in the Dresel forest cemetery.

Werdohl was hardly damaged in the war. American troops entered the city on April 14, 1945. The city was later subordinated to the British local command as part of the British zone of occupation.

In the 1970s, the city center was renovated and a pedestrian zone was built. From 1978 onwards, parts of Bahnhofstrasse and Freiheitsstrasse were closed to traffic. From then on, this ran along Derwentsider Strasse in the north and Versestrasse in the west past the town center. The renovation lasted until the mid-1990s.

Incorporations

On April 1, 1936, Dresel, which belonged to the municipality of Nachrodt-Wiblingwerde , was incorporated. On January 1, 1969, Werdohl received the area around Köllmannshorst, Brenge and Holzerne Klinke from the former municipality of Lüdenscheid-Land .

Population development

(from 1998 to December 31st)

year	population
1870	03,486
1880	04,239
1890	05,643
1900	07,619
1910	09,820
1919	10,421

year	population
1925	12,253
1939	13,741
1946	17.208
1950	18,777
1960	21,901
1970	24,663

year	population
1980	21,796
1986	20,565
1998	22,050
2000	21,479
2002	20,980
2003	20,661

year	population
2004	20,434
2007	19,838
2012	18,310
2014	17,976
2018	17,737

Werdohl is the city with the highest percentage of foreigners in the Märkischer Kreis. In May 2011 it had the fourth-highest proportion of foreigners in North Rhine-Westphalia with 17.7 percent.

Religious affiliation

According to the census on May 9, 2011, 37.7% of the residents belonged to the Protestant and 24.7% to the Catholic denomination. 37.5% did not belong to any or another denomination or did not provide any information. There is the Eyup Sultan Mosque of the DITIB .

politics

City council and mayor

The council of the city of Werdohl was composed as follows in the past terms of office:

Date of the council election	SPD		CDU		FDP		Green		UWG 2009 WBG ¹		Others
Date of the council election	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats
September 15, 1946	46.5	12	46.9	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	6.5	-
October 17, 1948	44.8	06th	49.2	07th	-	-	-	-	-	-	6.0	1
February 25, 1951	39.1	08th	29.0	06th	23.9	5	-	-	-	-	8.0	1
November 9, 1952	40.5	10	33.1	08th	18.2	5	-	-	-	-	8.2	1
October 28, 1956	48.6	15th	31.9	09	19.5	6th	-	-	-	-	-	-
March 19, 1961	47.2	14th	35.2	11	17.6	5	-	-	-	-	-	-
September 27, 1964	51.6	16	35.5	11	12.9	4th	-	-	-	-	-	-
November 9, 1969	52.4	18th	37.5	12	10.1	3	-	-	-	-	-	-
May 4th 1975	47.0	19th	38.2	15th	09.1	3	-	-	5.7	2	-	-
September 30, 1979	47.6	19th	39.9	15th	07.0	3	-	-	5.5	2	-	-
September 30, 1984	53.0	21st	39.8	16	07.2	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
October 1, 1989	53.6	21st	36.6	14th	09.8	4th	-	-	-	-	-	-
October 16, 1994	53.4	18th	35.0	12	06.0	2	5.6	1	-	-	-	-
September 12, 1999	41.5	14th	47.8	16	07.4	3	3.3	1	-	-	-	-
September 26, 2004	41.6	14th	46.7	16	11.7	4th	-	-	-	-	-	-
August 30, 2009	34.7	11	37.1	12	07.4	2	-	-	20.8	7th	-	-
May 25, 2014	38.4	12	41.5	13	04.8	2	-	-	15.3	5	-	-

Town hall, built 1910–1912.

Source: Werdohl City Administration
¹ UWG: Independent Voting Association , WBG: Werdohler Bürgergemeinschaft .

The mayors of Werdohl after the Second World War were:

April 14, 1945 to April 18, 1945: Kommerzienrat Alfred Colsman (acting)
April 18, 1945 to October 14, 1945: Wilhelm Östreich (installed by the British commander)
October 24, 1945 to January 31, 1946: Hans Born
January 31, 1946 to May 20, 1949: Heinrich Filthaus (SPD) (first elected mayor)
May 20, 1949 to October 13, 1950: Peterheinrich Kirchhoff (CDU)
October 31, 1950 to March 15, 1951: Julius Häusler (agent for the management of the municipal council of Werdohl)
March 15, 1951 to February 10, 1952: Clamer Schmidt (CDU)
March 7, 1952 to December 15, 1953: Anton Assmann (CDU)
December 15, 1953 to December 6, 1954: Wolfram Dorn (FDP)
December 6, 1954 to November 20, 1955: Anton Assmann (CDU)
November 29, 1955 to November 8, 1956: Otto Hagedorn (FDP)
November 8, 1956 to April 6, 1961: Günther Trommer (SPD)
April 6, 1961 to April 9, 1963: Herbert Remmel (CDU)
April 9, 1963 to October 9, 1964: Wolfgang Roethig (FDP)
October 9, 1964 to April 11, 1965: Josef Kranz (SPD)
April 12, 1965 to May 20, 1975: August Solmecke (SPD)
May 20, 1975 to September 19, 1997: Hans Pfeifer (SPD)
September 23, 1997 to September 30, 1999: Ulrich Hopmann (SPD)
October 1, 1999 to October 12, 2004: Manfred Wolf (independent)
October 13, 2004 to October 26, 2009: Jörg Bora (independent)
October 26, 2009 to June 18, 2014: Siegfried Griebsch (SPD)
since June 19, 2014: Silvia Voßloh (CDU)

Until 1999 the mayors performed their work on a voluntary basis. Manfred Wolf, city director of the city until 1999, became the first full-time mayor when the two offices of city director and mayor were merged.

coat of arms

Blazon
In the white and black split shield a curved golden tip rising to the edge of the shield, on the top right a red rose with green leaves, on the left a vertical silver chain with 3 round rings, with the upper and lower ring open; the top is crossed by the bar of the Counts of the Mark, set in three rows of silver and red.

Description
The coat of arms shows a red rose on a silver background on the right, a symbol from the Werdohl church seal. On the left are three silver chain links on a black background, the symbol of the Neuhoff family. In the lower area is the coat of arms of Grafschaft Mark , the red and silver checkerboard bar on a gold background. The coat of arms was designed by Otto Hupp in 1929 and approved by the municipal assembly on August 29, 1929. Only later did it become apparent that the coat of arms had to be approved by a higher authority. The permit was then granted on January 16, 1935.

Town twinning

Since August 10, 1990 there has been a town partnership with the town of Stavenhagen in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

The partnership with the English District of Derwentside existed from April 6, 1975 to April 1, 2009. Since the administrative structural reform on April 1, 2009, the District of Derwentside has been abolished. The Derwentside / Werdohl development association still exists, maintains and maintains the contacts and relationships that were established during the time of the town twinning.

Culture and sights

Protected areas for nature

The urban area belongs to the Sauerland-Rothaargebirge nature park . Areas outside the built-up districts and the scope of a development plan are designated as landscape protection areas, unless there is a higher protection status such as a nature reserve (NSG). In the urban area, only the Lennestau nature reserve in Werdohl-Lengelsen / Wilhelmstal and the Eschmecke-Hückenstein nature reserve were designated.

Cultural institutions

St. Michael

Christ Church

Werdohl has a local history museum - the " Stadtmuseum Werdohl " - which was reopened in February 2004 following a redesign and is dedicated to local history. Four subject areas deal with the development of transport, the church and administration, iron and wire processing and heavy industry as well as everyday culture.

In 1940 the Werdohler Kulturring was founded, which organizes various cultural events in Werdohl. There were regular theater performances in the Parktheater on Eggenpfad, which was demolished in 1976. In 1978 the ballroom at the Riesei school center was expanded, which could then be used for cultural events (theater, music). It offers space for 800 people. Smaller events often take place in the Bürgerhaussaal, in the city museum, in the assembly hall of the secondary school or in the youth centers.

The adult education center was founded in 1948 and the Lennetal music school in 1963. In 1976 the adult education center was merged with the schools in neighboring cities to form the Lennetal adult education center . The headquarters are in Werdohl.

After several moves, the city library has had its home on Freiheitstrasse since 1980. The majority of the media are non-fiction. Poetry readings are also held in the rooms of the city library.

Buildings

The town hall in neo-baroque style, which was built between 1910 and 1912, is worth seeing . Originally it served as a single home for an industrial company.

The Busenhof is a classicist town house built after the city fire of 1822 , it is a listed building. The predecessor of the building was one of the most beautiful houses in Werdohl in the 17th century and was owned by the Buse family. The farm was one of three farms on the basis of which the village of Werdohl was built. It was near the ford, there was also a church here, the square is now Friedrich-Keßler-Platz. The earlier elevation is barely noticeable. The new house is two-story and has a half-hip roof that is covered with pans. It has the typical shape of a Reidemeisterhaus and blends harmoniously into the cityscape. Before the restoration in the 20th century, the outlines of the former entrance gate could still be seen the width of the wagon, next to it there were rings to tie the horses. The eight-axis facade was plastered. The building has a surrounding cornice. A classicist door frame with a double-leaf cassette door with so-called "a-jour grids" forms the entrance to the house. The windows got shutters.

The station building has a neo-baroque reception hall with risalits and spacious columns in the entrance area. When it was built at the end of the 19th century, it was common to build larger train stations in line with economic development. The building is divided into the functional areas of reception hall, restaurant, administration and technical facilities.

Churches worth seeing are the Catholic parish church of St. Michael , consecrated in 1901 , which is much larger than the older Catholic church, and the Evangelical Christ Church, built in 1866–1868. Also worth mentioning is the small Catholic parish church of St. Petrus Canisius in the Eveking district. The building from 1972 represents a tent-like pentagon and was added to the old church from 1927, which then lost its function and was converted into a parish hall.

The former Kilian's Church was the predecessor of the Christ Church. Gut Eicken's main and bakery was added to the list of architectural monuments in 1984.

Regular events

On the first weekend in June, the Werdohl City Festival, which is mainly supported by local associations, takes place. Every year between June and September the “Werdohler Kultursommer” takes place with events from the fields of music, cabaret and theater for children. On the first weekend in July, the Werdohler Schützenverein's shooting festival takes place from Friday to Monday. The season in the outdoor pool in Ütterlingsen traditionally ends at the beginning of September with the international swimming festival of SV 08 Werdohl. Other events are the farmers' market and "Werdohl international".

Economy and Infrastructure

economy

Werdohl-Elverlingsen power plant

Until the middle of the 19th century, Werdohl was predominantly agricultural. This changed with the construction of the Ruhr-Sieg Railway . This triggered the industrial development of the place. Werdohl is currently characterized by a strong industrial and commercial character. The steel processing industry and iron and metal processing are particularly important. In 2006, 6,219 employees subject to social security contributions were registered in Werdohl, 3,539 of which worked in the manufacturing sector. There were 1,545 in the service sector and 699 in trade.

The city's largest employer is the VDM Metals Group, which manufactures nickel materials and special stainless steels. Other automotive suppliers are Schaeffler Engineering GmbH , formerly AFT Atlas Fahrzeugtechnik GmbH (including measurement technology, development control devices, software development and vehicle acoustics ) and ATS Stahlschmidt & Maiworm GmbH (manufacture and sale of light alloy wheels). Other large metal companies are KRACHT GmbH for hydraulic components (pumps, motors, cylinders, valves, systems, volume flow meters), Vossloh AG as a transport technology group with a focus on railways, and Walter Stauffenberg GmbH & Co. KG (development, manufacture and sales of Fluid technology components for machine and plant construction under the brand name STAUFF) and Rötelmann GmbH (shut-off and control technology, manufacture of water taps). Also worth mentioning are Constantia Aloform GmbH , which produces aluminum packaging, and the international mechanical engineering company Brinkmann Pumps.

The Werdohl-Elverlingsen power plant owned by Mark-E and the waste disposal company A. Menshen GmbH & Co. KG (operated in accordance with Section 52 KrW- / AbfG) are from other sectors .

Osemundhämmer in the former parish of Werdohl

Depiction of an osmotic hammer

A lump of Osemund

Necklace from Osemund

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the Osemund was of great economic importance for the Märkische Sauerland. Since the income from agriculture was insufficient for the population, the Osemund trade served as an additional source of income. The people worked as osmundsmiths, charcoal burners or carters. The Osemund was the only raw material available for the manufacture of wire in this area . The wire production took place mainly in Lüdenscheid and Altena. The Osemund was a tough, soft, and easily malleable low-carbon iron that was relatively expensive. The Drahtreidemeister in Altena tried unsuccessfully him to be replaced by other types of iron. At the beginning of the 17th century, stocks of local ores were running low, so pig iron with the desired properties was brought in from the Siegerland and Bergisches Land . The pig iron was decarburized in a fresh process and then forged into thin rods that weighed around 5 kg and were around two meters long. These rods were used for wire production , in contrast, there was from about 1720 also Knüppelosemund, who also stick iron was called. Sheets, shovels and other wide goods were made from these 10 to 15 kg heavy and about 1 meter long billets. From 1559 onwards, new Osemund hammers were subject to strict restrictions. Johann Leopold von Neuhoff zum Neuenhof, Drost of the offices of Altena and Iserlohn, put up a list in 1675 of how many Osemundts-Wercke are in the Altena and Neuenrade offices and who is using them . The owners of seven Osemundhammers in the Werdohl parish are listed here. In a quotation plan from 1755, 77 Osemundhammers with 88 fires are recorded for the Sauerland in the Mark. Thus 11 hammers were double hammers with two strikes and two fires.

Double Dornwerther Osemundhammer

Franz zu Rentrop was named in 1675 as the owner of two hammers, which can only be the Dornwerther hammer, as the other hammers in Werdohl can be clearly assigned to the respective users. The property of the Rentrop family has been documented since 1753. Franz zu Rentrup, who called himself Franz Lüttringhaus, had the sons Moritz zu Rentrup, Caspar Lüttringhaus and Johann Peter Rentrop were Osemundreidemeisters. Caspar Adrian Rentrop was first mentioned as Reidemeister in 1733. His father was probably a son or grandson of Moritz zu Rentrop, the name has not been passed down. Caspar Adrian Rentrop died in 1754, his son Caspar Jacob Rentrop was mentioned as Reidemeister in 1755 with the addition et Consorten . The brothers Johann Peter and Caspar Jacob, as well as their brother-in-law Johann Peter Geck, are recorded as owners in 1759 and 1766. The hammer remained in the family until the middle of the 19th century, but at that time it was no longer operated as an Osemund, but as a Reckhammer. A total of eight successor generations to Franz zu Rentrop operated the hammer. Until 1930, the owners and names changed several times and then several VDM Vereinigte Deutsche Metallwerke AG plants were combined. The hammer was later operated as a copper hammer and broken up in the mid-1970s. The copper hammer in the LWL open-air museum in Hagen was modeled on the plans of this work .

The Ottersheimer or Alte Osemundhammer

The Ottersheimer or Alte Osemundhammer was located in today's district of Kleinhammer at the lower verse , it was also referred to as the Mersheimer Hammer in later documents. In the 1950s, the Brinkmann Pumps company was established on the site. Marshal Wilhelm von Neuhoff-Ley built the plant at the end of the 16th century, and Duke Johann Wilhelm gave it permission in October 1597. If the subjects objected, the duke ordered construction to be stopped. However, there was no contradiction and the hammer was erected for 500 Reichstaler. Neuhoff-Ley owned the noble Wintersohl estate, he was a wealthy man. The Pungelscheid house had also come into his possession through marriage. In the next few years, the hammer was probably owned by the Pungelscheid family and can still be traced back to the family in the first half of the 18th century. Presumably in the 1730s the hammer had to be sold to Caspar Adrian Rentrop because of the family's financial collapse. Joh. Adolph Cramer et Consorten was named as the owner in 1755. At that time the hammer was producing around 110 Osemund carts and was one of the large systems. From 1766 the system was named Alter Doppelter Osemundhammer . Until the end of Osemund production in the middle of the 19th century, the Spannagel zu Wehberg, Cramer and Geck zu Brunscheid families were the owners.

The Solmecker or Kleine Osemundhammer

The Solmecker or Kleine Osemundhammer was on the verse, it gave the district Kleinhammer its name. The Colsman & Co. metal goods factory was created from this hammer.

The hammer was probably erected shortly after 1663. In a letter to the elector, Marscherell's widow, Clara Pfreundt auf Grimminghausen, complained about numerous attacks by Drosten Dietrich Stephan von Neuhoff zu Pungelscheid. Another section of the letter says that Droste forbade her to build a hammer on the Solmecke, but that he himself built a hammer on this brook a few weeks ago. The Solmecker hammer stood directly above the confluence of the Solmecke in the verse, the two hammer ponds were above the glassworks. Later one of the ponds was turned into a bathing establishment. The water supply and thus also the capacity of the hammer was significantly improved in 1743 by directing the verses onto the hammer instead of the Solmecke. The former owners of Neuhoff had to sell the facility to Caspar Adrian Rentrop for 1400 Reichstaler in 1747 because of the financial collapse. In 1750 the hammer was auctioned off, the name of the new owner has not been passed down, in 1755 the commission councilor Hopmann from Kleve was named as the owner, for 1766 Christoph Trimpop is mentioned as leaseholder and Osemundreidemeister. After the end of Osemund production, Lewin from Neuenrade and Peter Geck from Kleinhammer ran a metal goods factory here, Lewin resigned in 1859, Geck sold in 1860 to Johann Friedrich Colsman from Barmen .

The two Osemundhammers at the Mühlhofer Bach

The small Mühlhofer Bach flows from Heedhof between Husberg and Lengelsen across from Wilhelmstal. It flows into the Lenne from the south, here there were two small osseous hammers. In the directory of 1675 Mr. lawyer in the Möllenhoff 1 work; Tönnes Goecke zu Altena named as the owner. The Brandenburg lawyer was the secret government councilor and rent master Stephan Johann Holtzbrink from Altena, he was one of the highest-ranking officials in the Altena office. The Geocke family, on the other hand, belonged to the families of dignitaries in Altena, and some Drahreid masters came from this family. The lowest Osemundhammer on the Mühlhofer Bach stood directly above the former Mühlhof, a domain of the sovereign. The Oberste Osemundhammer at the Mühlhofer Bach was owned by the Holtzbrinck family, in 1675 it was mentioned as the property of the lawyer Holtzbrinck. The hammer operation was stopped at the end of the 19th century. The hydropower was low and the traffic situation was unfavorable. There was no other use. The buildings fell into disrepair, everything that could still be used was expanded. There was no new development on the site. The two hammer ponds can still be seen and remnants of the wall towards the dam have been preserved.

Salt extraction

A modest amount of salt was also produced in Werdohl; the salt spring was on the right bank of the Lenne, roughly near the railway bridge on the Scherl. “An inconsiderable salt spring is located at Werdohl, half a mile from Altena, close to the banks of the Lenne. For lack of wood, only a boiling pan is maintained, and most of the salt boiled there is sold in the Wetterau. It is strange that the source gushes one of the sources of a rock in a Ganggebürge, and right in the bed of the Lenne "for 1629 is on. Dreilöthig water occupied; that means three lots of salt for one liter of water. Despite the difficult times due to the Thirty Years War, a salt works was put into operation. Nearby was the Lenne Bridge, which was used by the various troops. The soldiers plundered the salt works several times. In 1933 a fire destroyed the plant and a year later the remaining walls were torn down by a flood. To keep the brine usable, a graduation house was built in 1934. Because of the sovereign salt monopoly of the Saline Sassendorf , the company had considerable difficulties in selling the extracted salt. Most of the salt was sold outside the Brandenburg region and was also charged with tithing. The salt tithe averaged 40 Reichstaler per year around 1680; the plant ran into financial difficulties. After long negotiations, the trades that refused to continue paying the tithe achieved the crackdown and the repayment of the monies already paid. In 1743 the factory was allowed to export abroad; a salt seller (collector of the salt tax) received the salt tithe in kind at the Werdohler Bridge. This again brought economic difficulties for the salt works, as the salt from Unna was cheaper. At the request of the Cleve-Mark Chamber of Commerce, this measure was withdrawn. The salt content of the Werdohler Quelle was getting lower and lower, so that an economical salt production was no longer possible. At the end of the 18th century the operation was stopped. The graduation house fell into disrepair, the spring was buried during later road construction work. The plant was located in the Feldflur op der Soalt Süh , where the Schmiedag company buildings were later built. The pioneer of Westphalian industry Friedrich Harkort called on the Werdohl residents to create and operate a contemporary brine bath; however, this invitation to the Brandenburg entrepreneurship faded away. Some family names such as Salter, Selter are still reminiscent of the former salt production.

During the expansion of the Altena waterworks in 1920 , a further deposit was found in the alluvial gravels and gravel of the bed of the Lenne, near wells. Below Elverlingsen am Stortel, brine escaped in various places in the Devonian rocky subsoil. The salinity was not of great importance, it is probably saline solutions that come from the northern area of Unna, which penetrated through crevasses into the Lennetal.

Trivia: In the middle of the 20th century, a man from Werdohl known as an eccentric tried to use the brine deposits again. He tried to drill into the salt springs, but in the wrong place; nevertheless he thought he was on the right track. One day he announced the water tasted salty . A funny neighbor had poured a large portion of table salt down the hole for him.

traffic

Road traffic

The federal highways B 229 and B 236 intersect in the urban area . The federal motorway 45 runs nearby (junction 14 - Lüdenscheid ). The Werdohl road network is around 82 kilometers long. Parking fees have been charged in the city center since the beginning of 2014.

Originally, a federal motorway A 54 (also formerly known in part as A 208) was supposed to run from the Dutch border at Brunssum via Puffendorf , Bergheim , Langenfeld , Solingen , Remscheid , Radevormwald , Halver , Lüdenscheid and Werdohl to Plettenberg in the Sauerland . The crossing point with the then already existing A 45 motorway would have been south of today's exit 13 Lüdenscheid-Nord. Except for two sections, today's A 542 and the state road 141n running through the Solingen city area, the A 54 was never completed.

Rail transport

Werdohl station building

The werdohl station is located at the Ruhr-Sieg railway line from Hagen to Siegen , or food on the Ruhr-Sieg Express route . Regional trains and regional express trains run every hour. Operation is carried out by Abellio Rail NRW GmbH .

From the beginning to the middle of the 20th century there was a connection with a small train to Lüdenscheid through the Altenaer Eisenbahn , popularly known as "Schnurre". Both people and goods were transported on the route through the Versetal.

Bus transport

The bus traffic today is mainly carried out by the Märkische Verkehrsgesellschaft (MVG) and the Werdohl citizen bus . In addition to inner-city lines, there are also regional lines to Altena , Balve , Lüdenscheid , Neuenrade and Plettenberg .

Public facilities

The police of the Märkischer Kreis maintains a police station in Werdohl . The district's ambulance service has set up a station in which two ambulances and an emergency doctor's vehicle are stationed. The Werdohl hospital is called "Werdohl City Clinic".

Werdohl has a volunteer fire brigade with four bases. In the city center, in Kleinhammer and in Eveking there is a fire fighting train, in the district of Königsburg there is the fire fighting group Brüninghaus, which was created by taking over the Krupp-Brüninghaus fire brigade.

In terms of education, the city of Werdohl offers its residents a city library and its almost 27,000 media, as well as the adult education center in the “Volkshochschule Lennetal” association. In the primary area there are five primary schools and one special school (focus on learning ), in the secondary area there is a Hauptschule, a Gesamtschule and a Realschule. The very young children can be accommodated in six kindergartens or day-care centers.

media

The daily newspaper in Werdohl is the Süderländer Volksfreund .

The local radio for North Rhine-Westphalia is carried out in Werdohl by Radio MK , which has been assigned the broadcasting location No. 71, frequency 97.2, by the State Agency for Media.

Personalities

Memorial stone for Alfred Colsman

Honorary citizen

Hans Vossloh, entrepreneur (since October 11, 2007, † 2009)
Arnold Menshen, entrepreneur (since May 28, 2004, † December 23, 2012)
Fritz Thomée (1862–1944), District Administrator of the Altena district

sons and daughters of the town

AblaZ (* 1988), musician
Addi Bischoff (* 1955), mineralogist
Onur Bulut (* 1994), football player
Alfred Colsman (1873–1955), entrepreneur, general director of Zeppelin airship construction
Irene Dingel (* 1956), Protestant theologian, director of the Leibniz Institute for European History .
Wolfram Dorn (1924–2014), Member of the Bundestag, Member of the Bundestag, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of the Interior
Denis Feix , (1975 *) chef with two stars in the Michelin guide awarded
Thomas Fischer (* 1953), lawyer, judge at the Federal Court of Justice
Dieter Hertel (1948), archaeologist
Johann Friedrich Hoffmann (1929–2015), philologist and singer
Fritz Honsel (1888–1964), industrialist
Waltraud Hüsmert (* 1951), translator
Martina Kessel (* 1959), historian
Michael Knoche (* 1951), German studies specialist and librarian
Cornelia Koppetsch (* 1967), sociologist
Hartmut Kreikebaum (1934–2016), economist
Edgar Külow (1925–2012), actor and author
Johann Theodor Möller (1705–1763), copper industrialist
Klaus Pfeffer (* 1963), Vicar General of Essen
Paul Sellmann (* 1933), politician (CDU), member of the state parliament
Walter Wehner (* 1949), writer
Peter Woeste (* 1959), ambassador

Others

Noble family Neuhoff at Pungelscheid Castle
Theodor von Neuhoff (* 1692 or 1694, † 1756), born in Cologne, probably lived in Pungelscheid for the first few years. King of Corsica for a short time in 1736 .
Johann Caspar Brüninghaus (born October 20, 1791 in Brüninghausen near Lüdenscheid ; † December 16, 1863 in Werdohl) was an entrepreneur.
Paul Seuthe (born May 20, 1909 in Hagen † November 10, 1997 in Werdohl), was a painter and architect

Associations and associations

The AC Petri Heil is a fishing club founded in 1922 with various fishing waters.
TuS Jahn Werdohl is a gymnastics and sports club founded in 1874.
The Werdohl eV tennis club was founded in 1972.
The swimming club 08 Werdohl as an independent department of TuS Jahn Werdohl.
The Malteser Hilfsdienst eV was founded in Werdohl in 1988 and is based in Eveking

Trivia

The fourth album by the rock group Your Children from 1971 is called Werdohl.

literature

Peter Kracht: Sauerland, Siegerland and Wittgensteiner Land . Münster 2005, pp. 226-228.
Werdohl - Contributions to local and regional studies , ed. from the Heimatbund Märkischer Kreis. Altena 1986.
Festschrift 900 years of Werdohl . Werdohl 2001.
Barbara Funke: Research on the history of the city of Werdohl . Werdohl 1987/1988.
Willi Bergfeld: Werdohler reading book. Local history contributions from the archive of the Süderländer Volksfreund . Volume 1. Werdohl 1991.
Walter Vollmer: Westphalian city images , section Werdohl - The people in the meander curve . Gütersloh 1963, p. 477 ff.
City of Werdohl (Ed.): Werdohl, contributions to history and regional studies , Altena 1981

Web links

Commons : Werdohl - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Website of the city of Werdohl
Werdohl in the Westphalia Culture Atlas

Individual evidence

↑ Population of the municipalities of North Rhine-Westphalia on December 31, 2019 - update of the population based on the census of May 9, 2011. State Office for Information and Technology North Rhine-Westphalia (IT.NRW), accessed on June 17, 2020 . ( Help on this )

↑ City of Werdohl: Mayor Silvia Voßloh ( Memento of the original from July 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2
^ Werdohl - Contributions to local and regional studies, p. 15.
^ Research on the history of the city of Werdohl, p. 159
^ Werdohl - contributions to local and regional studies. P. 39.
^ Werdohl - contributions to local and regional studies. ed. from the Heimatbund Märkischer Kreis. Altena 1986, p. 30.
^ Werdohl - contributions to local and regional studies. ed. from the Heimatbund Märkischer Kreis. Altena 1986, p. 73.
↑ 900 years of Werdohl. P. 37 f.
↑ Stephanie Reekers: The regional development of the districts and communities of Westphalia 1817-1967 . Aschendorff, Münster Westfalen 1977, ISBN 3-402-05875-8 , p. 293 .
↑ Martin Bünermann: The communities of the first reorganization program in North Rhine-Westphalia . Deutscher Gemeindeverlag, Cologne 1970, p. 76 .
↑ Information und Technik Nordrhein-Westfalen (IT.NRW): Overview of the results of the 1987 census and the 2011 census (p. 16) Retrieved on July 6, 2014
↑ 2011 census: 1.6 million foreigners live in North Rhine-Westphalia. Accessed July 6, 2014
↑ § 2 Paragraph 1 of the main statute of the city of Werdohl ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.werdohl.de
↑ ^a ^b Willi Bergfeld: Werdohler sotten salt. In: Werdohl Märkischer Kreis contributions to local and regional studies, publisher Heimatbund Märkischer Kreis 1986. P. 45.
↑ State Office for Data Processing and Statistics NRW, as of June 30, 2006
↑ VDM Metals | Home page. Retrieved January 23, 2017 .
^ Schaeffler Engineering GmbH. Retrieved December 1, 2013 (company website).
↑ Constantia Aloform. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on September 7, 2011 ; Retrieved December 7, 2011 (company website). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2
↑ Homepage Brinkmann pumps . Retrieved September 15, 2013.
^ Brinkmann pumps in Russia . Retrieved April 2, 2014.
↑ ^a ^b Heimatbund Märk. Circle. Red .: Heinz Störing (Ed.): Werdohl: Contributions to local and regional studies . Werdohl September 13, 1986, DNB 891592954 , Dietrich Woeste: Die Werdohler Osemundhämmer , p. 143 .
^ Pages of the Brinkmann company
↑ ^a ^b Heimatbund Märk. Circle. Red .: Heinz Störing (Ed.): Werdohl: Contributions to local and regional studies . Werdohl September 13, 1986, DNB 891592954 , Dietrich Woeste: Die Werdohler Osemundhämmer , p. 144 .
↑ Pages by Enders-Colsman
↑ ^a ^b Heimatbund Märk. Circle. Red .: Heinz Störing (Ed.): Werdohl: Contributions to local and regional studies . Werdohl September 13, 1986, DNB 891592954 , Dietrich Woeste: Die Werdohler Osemundhämmer , p. 145 .
^ Dietrich Woeste: The Werdohler Osemundhämmer. In: Werdohl Märkischer Kreis contributions to local and regional studies, HrsG Heimatbund Märkischer Kreis 1986.
^ MPF Weidingen: New Westphalian magazine. Volume 2, Issue 5-8. Lemgo 1790.
↑ ^a ^b Willi Bergfeld: Werdohler sotten salt. In: Werdohl Märkischer Kreis contributions to local and regional studies, HrsG Heimatbund Märkischer Kreis 1986. S. 147.
↑ Willi Bergfeld: Werdohler sotten salt. In: Werdohl Märkischer Kreis contributions to local and regional studies, publisher Heimatbund Märkischer Kreis 1986. P. 146.
↑ Werdohler Reader. P. 33.
^ Map with motorway plans (part 09) from January 1, 1976 from autobahn-online.de
↑ A motorway through the Versetal In: Süderländer Tageblatt. dated February 13, 2011.
^ Map with motorway plans (part 05) from January 1, 1976 from autobahn-online.de
↑ Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, March 26, 2012: When the Schnurre was still panting. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
^ Werdohl - contributions to local and regional studies. P. 49.
↑ About us pages of the AC
^ Page of the TuS Jahn Werdohl
↑ Pages of the tennis club ( Memento of the original from March 18, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2
^ Page of SV 08 Werdohl

[Metadaten_Einwohnerzahl_DE-NW-1] Population of the municipalities of North Rhine-Westphalia on December 31, 2019 - update of the population based on the census of May 9, 2011. State Office for Information and Technology North Rhine-Westphalia (IT.NRW), accessed on June 17, 2020 . ( Help on this )