Rummenohl, now officially Hagen-Rummenohl, is a locality within the

independent city An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province). Historical precursors In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...

Hagen Hagen () is the Largest cities in Germany, 41st-largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany. The municipality is located in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the south eastern edge of the R ...

in the eastern part of the

Ruhr The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...

region, in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It lies in the valley of the river

Volme The Volme is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and is a tributary of the river Ruhr. It is long, of which about lie within the city limits of Hagen. Its largest tributary is the Ennepe. The Volme rises at above sea level in the south ...

, about 13 km upstream (south) of the city centre of Hagen.

History

The former independent settlement of Dahl, consisting of Dahl, Priorei and Rummenohl, was incorporated in 1970 into the town of

Breckerfeld Breckerfeld is a town in the district of Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, (Germany). It is located in the southeasternmost part of the Ruhr area in northern Sauerland. The town is a member of Regionalverband Ruhr (association). Geog ...

in the district ('' Kreis'') of

Ennepe-Ruhr The Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis is a district in the center of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is part of the southern Ruhr urban area and has ca. 324,000 inhabitants (2012). The district's seat (capital city) is Schwelm; the largest of its nine towns ...

. In 1975, the Parliament of the state of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

decided to transfer it to the metropolitan district of

Industrial history

Rummenohl has for centuries been a centre of ironworking, using the power of the river

to process

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...

from the

Siegerland The Siegerland is a region of Germany covering the old district of Siegen (now part of the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in North Rhine-Westphalia) and the upper part of the district of Altenkirchen, belonging to the Rhineland-Palatinate adjoin ...

. The opening on 16 March 1874 of the single-track

Volmetalbahn The Sauerland Net (german: Sauerland-Netz) is a group of railway services in the western Sauerland and the eastern Ruhr of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and consists of three Regionalbahn services, RB 52 (Dortmund Hauptbahnhof, Dortmund ...

, which made a connection for goods traffic to Brügge (

Lüdenscheid Lüdenscheid () is a city in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Sauerland region. Geography Lüdenscheid is located on the saddle of the watershed between the Lenne and Volme rivers which b ...

) and beyond that to

Meinerzhagen Meinerzhagen (sometimes spelled Meinertzhagen; ) is a town in the Märkischer Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Meinerzhagen is located in the hills of the Sauerland. The highest elevation is the Nordhelle with 652 m above sea le ...

, improved its integration into the developing

. Goods traffic to Lüdenscheid via Brügge was discontinued in early 1996. In the early 1870s,

Alfred Nobel Alfred Bernhard Nobel ( , ; 21 October 1833 – 10 December 1896) was a Swedes, Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor, businessman, and Philanthropy, philanthropist. He is best known for having bequeathed his fortune to establish the Nobel ...

founded a factory in Rummenohl to manufacture

dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern Germa ...

. On 5 June 1910 it was struck by lightning and exploded. Beginning in 1908,

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). ...

was manufactured in the valley of the Sterbecke, which flows into the Volme in Rummenohl. In peacetime, 100 people worked there; during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the number rose to over 2,000. In wartime, the factory primarily produced

landmine A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automati ...

s, cartridges and charges for

grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade genera ...

s; after the war, it once more produced explosives for road construction and mining. A spur railway connected the distant factory on the heights near Selkinghausen to the Volmetal-Bahn railway line, negotiating the difference in height by means of several switchbacks. Beginning in 1926, the factory was gradually closed down. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the buildings served as accommodations for bombing victims and refugees. The building was torn down in the 1960s in the course of construction of the A45 Autobahn. In 1918, a new church was built. The grain mill and former smithy at Krummewiese, on the northern edge of Rummenohl, which had been in operation since 1824, was shut down in 1952. {{Authority control Hagen