Oestinghausen is a village in the municipality of

Lippetal Lippetal is a municipality in the Soest (district), district of Soest, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Lippetal is located north and south of the river Lippe River, Lippe between the cities of Lippstadt () and Hamm, North Rhine-W ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, with a population of 1,944 (as of 30 June 2012). Oestinghausen has a primary school the St. Stephanus-Schule and a

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

. The sports club ''Schwarz-Gelb Oestinghausen'', the Carnival-Club and the "Schuetzenverein" ''Sankt Hubertus'' regularly use the Community Hall and the sports field. Other local associations are the Oestinghausen marching band, the

Scouts Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

and a

volunteer fire department A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respo ...

Geography

Oestinghausen is located on the Bundesstraße 475 (Federal Road) about seven kilometers north of the city of Soest on the creeks Ahse and Rosenaue, which meet south of the village..

Economy

The economic centre is in the area around the old railway station. Here there are a supermarket, a hairdresser, bank, pharmacy, and stationery and photo-shop with post office. Several companies are located in an industrial estate. There is a market for local produce on Wednesdays and Sundays.

History

It is presumed that Oestinghausen was an old Saxon settlement; it was first mentioned in a document in 1189. After the

Soest Feud The Soest Feud (), or Feud of Soest, was a feud that took place from 1444 to 1449 in which the town of Soest, Germany, Soest claimed its freedom from Archbishop Dietrich II of Moers, Dietrich of Electoral Cologne, Cologne (1414–1463), who tried ...

, a local conflict which ended with the separation of Soest from the archbishops of Cologne in 1449, Oestinghausen remained under the control of Cologne. The " Amt Oestinghausen" had its own independent jurisdiction. In 1802, the temporal estates of the archbishops of Cologne were reorganized and Oestinghausen became part of

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

. In 1808, the population of Oestinghausen was 552, and in 1816, Oestinghausen became part of

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

. Thus Oestinghausen lost its own jurisdiction and became part of the district of Soest. The "Amt Oestinghausen" consisted of the villages of Bettinghausen, Eickelborn, Heintrop-Bünninghausen, Hovestadt, Hultrop, Krewinkel-Wiltrop, Lohe, Niederbauer, Nordwald, Oestinghausen, Ostinghausen and Schoneberg. In 1898, a narrow-gauge (1 metre gauge) railway, later known as Pengel Anton (a Westphalian expression for a steam railway), was built to serve the rural area. In Oestinghausen a four-track switchyard and station were constructed, as the main rail line from Hamm to Soest connects here with the branch line to the village of Hovestadt. The last train ran on 5 October 1952. In the local government reorganisation of 1969, the village of Oestinghausen was incorporated into the municipality of

. Its population in the 19th and 20th centuries did not alter significantly; today the population is over 2,000, compared to the prewar (1939) figure of 602.

Buildings

The most important building in Oestinghausen is the romanesque church of St Stephanus in the old centre of the village. It has been the parish church for the villages of Oestinghausen, Krewinkel, Wiltrop and Niederbauer. The church was built c. 1000 as a parish church for the local farm (erzbischöflichen Oberhof). In 1186, Phillip von Heinzberg,

bishop of Cologne The Archbishop of Cologne governs the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne in western North Rhine-Westphalia. Historically, the archbishop was ''ex officio'' one of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire and ruled the Electorate of Cologne ...

, called it the "Oberhof". The

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

and

vaulted In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...

ceiling were added in the thirteenth century and the top of the steeple was erected in 1715]. The altar was built in the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style c. 1685 and the side altars built in the late

Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

style c. 1775. The church was restored between 1975 and 1980. The church is surrounded by several

half-timbered houses Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs. If the struc ...

. The court clerk worked and lived in the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

-style half-timbered house called the "Chur Cöllnisches Amtshaus". An important event in Oestinghausen is the annual

Schützenfest A Schützenfest (, '' marksmen's festival'') is a traditional festival or fair featuring a target shooting competition in the cultures of Switzerland, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. At a Schützenfest, contestants compete based on thei ...

References

External links

Homepage of the Municipality of Lippetal
{{Authority control Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia