Marienheide is a municipality in the

Oberbergischer Kreis The Oberbergischer Kreis (, ) is a ''Kreis'' (Districts of Germany, district) in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Ennepe-Ruhr, Märkischer Kreis, Olpe (district), Olpe, Altenkirchen (district), Altenkirchen, ...

, in

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 ...

Geography

Marienheide is located about 50 km east of

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

Neighbouring places

The neighbouring towns are

Gummersbach Gummersbach () is a town in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, being the district seat of the Oberbergischer Kreis. It is located east of Cologne. History In 1109 Gummersbach was mentioned in official documents for t ...

and Wipperfürth as well as in Märkischer Kreis - Meinerzhagen and Kierspe, and the neighbouring municipalities are Engelskirchen and Lindlar.

Division of the municipality

History

The first documentary mention of the place was in 1417 " in a sales document is called Heydenreich of our dear Mrs. Knecht on the Mergenheyde " (Documentary first namings of oberbergischer places v. Klaus Pampus). The manner of writing of the first naming was: Mergenheyde. On the altar lights of the old

pilgrim The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...

age church a signed

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

of 1601 which carries the name "Mergenheyd" is to be seen. An old brochure of the Catholic vicarage Marienheide states: " The origin of the mercy place Marienheide dates back to 1420 and to one particular man. " This person, a simple man called Heinrich, lived as a hermit in a hit rock hiding place in the " Bockelsburger Wood ", near the present-day railroad line. The hermit apparently lived from

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

. Another

chronicle A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events ...

, not described further, is stated as a source, and thus one says further that " the mother of God appeared to this keen Heinrich in the form of a small picture and ordered to him to proceed to

to purchase a similar little picture for thirty pieces of

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

. " With this the foundation for the place of pilgrimage was laid. Hermit Heinrich has been found with

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

Gerhard of the Mark, the

sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title that can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to ...

at that time, support, so that

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

Martin V as well as the preacher's order interested. Thus was built "in the wilderness" the first little church and, a little way away, the

Dominican order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

cloister A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...

Transport

The transport connections to the national road system is good. A 15-km connecting highway to Meinerzhagen from the

Autobahn The (; German , ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. Much of t ...

A45 (the

Sauerland The Sauerland () is a rural, hilly area spreading across most of the south-eastern part of the States of Germany, German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in parts heavily forested and, apart from the major valleys, sparsely inhabited. ...

line,

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

Gießen Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the German state () of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 university students. Th ...

) takes about 15 minutes. The connection via Wiehl/Gummersbach from the A4 (

- Olpe) is about 17 km long and takes about 20 minutes. The town is crossed by the B 256. There consist the following bus lines: * Line 336 after

or about Wipperfürth after

Remscheid Remscheid () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is, after Wuppertal and Solingen, the third-largest municipality in Bergisches Land, being located on the northern edge of the region, on the south side of the Ruhr area. Remscheid ha ...

- Lennep * Line 320 after to Meinerzhagen * Line 308 after Engelskirchen - Lindlar * High-speed bus line 36 about Wipperfürth after

- Lennep Marienheide is traversed by the Hagen–Dieringhausen railway. The RB 25

Regionalbahn The ''Regionalbahn'' (; lit. Regional train; abbreviated ''RB'') is a train categories in Europe, type of Regional rail, local passenger train (stopping train) in Germany. It is similar to the Regionalzug (R) and Regio (Swiss railway train), R ...

service Oberbergische Bahn runs every hour (with extra service during morning rush hour) via Gummersbach, Engelskirchen, Overath to Cologne. Work has been completed for the connection to Lüdenscheid. Service commenced in December 2017 and was improved to an hourly schedule by December 2019.

Places of interest

* Brucher dam * Lingese dam * The hamlet Müllenbach stands one of the so-called "colored churches", a church with medieval cover paintings. *

Historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

house Dahl (

farmhouse FarmHouse (FH) is a men's social fraternity founded at the University of Missouri on April 15, 1905. It became a national organization in 1921. Today FarmHouse has 34 active chapters in the United States and Canada.FarmHouse Fraternity New Memb ...

Dahl),

branch A branch, also called a ramus in botany, is a stem that grows off from another stem, or when structures like veins in leaves are divided into smaller veins. History and etymology In Old English, there are numerous words for branch, includ ...

station of the museum of the

. * The spring of the river Wipper is located in the hamlet Börlinghausen. * The pilgrimage church Saint Mariä Heimsuchung is located in the central part of Marienheide. It is an interesting sight and the destination of an annual pilgrimage at the beginning of July. * Castle Gimborn * House of Histories in Müllenbach

Church municipalities

* Protestant church municipality Müllenbach. * Catholic parish Gimborn Saint Johannes Baptist. * Catholic parish Marienheide Saint Mariä Heimsuchung. Wilbringhausen belongs to the parish Saint Josef in Kierspe and, as a result, to

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

Sons and daughters of the municipality

* Afu Thomas (Thomas Derksen) - Social media figure in China

Born in Marienheide

* Paul Lücke Federal Minister of housing; Federal Minister of the interior

Twin town

The Polish town Biała has been the twin town of Marienheide since 1993. Biała is primarily

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

and has in possibly also many inhabitants like Marienheide.

Further sources of information

Literature

* Hermann de Buhr / Martin Wittenberg / Volkmar Wittmütz: ''Chronik Marienheide'', Gummersbach 1986 * Werner Knabe / Friedhelm König / Werner Kühr: ''Marienheide - ein Blick in die Vergangenheit'', Gummersbach 1984

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Oberbergischer Kreis