The hamlet of Langscheid is a part of the town of

Sundern Sundern is a town in the Hochsauerland district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The name Sundern is common in Westphalia, as it means "ground given away for private usage" in the Westphalian dialect. Geography Sundern is situated approximate ...

in the

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

in the

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

Hochsauerlandkreis in the federal 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 ...

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 ...

. The

climatic spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balne ...

is situated on the hills to the West of the Sorpe reservoir's dam. Its earliest record dates back to the year 1307 AD.

Sights

Langscheid's attractions include a war memorial with a look-out tower, as well as the earth

embankment dam An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface and ...

of the Sorpe reservoir.

Education

Langscheid's children from age three to six may attend the Catholic

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 Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

, while youngsters from age six to ten are schooled at the local Catholic

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

. Besides these education facilities, the ''Hochsauerlandkreis'' district runs the ''Bildungszentrum Sorpesee'', an adult education center including hotel facilities. Former

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n football star

Marcel Răducanu Marcel Răducanu (born 21 October 1954) is a Romanian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. Club career Marcel Răducanu was born in Bucharest on 21 October 1954. He grew up in the Pantelimon neighborhood and s ...

runs an outdoor training camp of his football school in Langscheid.

Religion

Many inhabitants of Langscheid are members of the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

congregation. The earliest mention of a chapel in Langscheid dates back to 1637, when the parson from Enkhausen used to say Mass in it. Expanded in 1927, the 17th century chapel has a plastered, double bay hall and a roof covered in

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

, carrying a small turret. A surge in population, caused by the construction of the Sorpe dam starting in 1926, made it necessary to build a larger church in 1932/33 that now houses Langscheid's remarkable altar from the middle of the 18th century AD. Both the old chapel and the church were dedicated to

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

Anthony the Anchorite. The chapel has since been renovated and converted into a parish hall in 1969. Langscheid's Protestant congregation convenes in the modernist ''Markuskirche''. Erected in 1965 in a style resembling

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...

, it has the shape of an upside-down boat, with the triangular tip pointing toward the Sorpe reservoir.

Medicine

The

neurological Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal ...

clinic Dr. Evers in Langscheid specialises in the treatment of MS patients.

Recreational facilities

The area surrounding the Sorpe reservoir has become a favourite local recreation area for the industrial centers of the Ruhr. Facilities include a small park (''Kurpark'') with the ''Haus des Gastes'' (tourist information center with indoor swimming pool and sauna), a lido (''Strandbad'') with boat rental, a

campsite A campsite, also known as a campground or camping pitch, is a place used for overnight stay in an outdoor area. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an area, usually divided into a number of pitches, where people can camp overnight using te ...

and the youth

hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared b ...

on the lake shore.

Sports and social life

The local

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team ''Sus Langscheid/Enkhausen'' plays in the ''Verbandsliga'' and the first women's

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

team of the ''Ruderclub Sorpesee'' plays in the Third Division. Further local clubs and associations include the local brigade of the

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 respond t ...

of Sundern, the

Schützenverein A Schützenverein (German for "marksmen's club") is a local voluntary association found in German-speaking countries revolving around shooting as a sport, often target shooting to Olympic rules or with historic weapons. Although originating as a ...

St. Antonius Langscheid, the

concert band A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion famil ...

''Musikverein'', the male choral society ''Westfalia'' and a women's choir.

Coat of arms

;

Blason Blason is a form of poetry. The term originally comes from the heraldic term "blazon" in French heraldry, which means either the blazon, codified description of a coat of arms or the coat of arms itself. The Dutch term is Blazoen, and in either Du ...

: Azure, two hauriant fish gold. ;Further information: The coat of arms first appeared on a seal dating from 1652 AD and later in the coat of arms collection of Arnsberg of 1700 AD. It was officially authorized on October 26, 1911 with Enkhausen's patron saint St. Laurentius holding the shield.Eduard Belke, Alfred Bruns, Helmut Müller: ''Kommunale Wappen des Herzogtums Westfalen'', Arnsberg 1986, S. 160

Image gallery

Image:Langscheid Ehrenmal.jpg, Langscheid War Memorial look-out tower Image:Langscheid_Kapelle.jpg, Former chapel turned parrish hall Image:Langscheid Markuskirche.jpg, Protestant church ''Markuskirche'' Image:Langscheid St_Antonius.jpg, Catholic parrish church St. Anthony Image:Sorpedamm.jpg, Sorpe dam as seen from the look-out tower

Literature

* ''Freiheit Langscheid. Geschichte eines sauerländischen Dorfes. 1307-2007.'' 2007

Sources

External links

Official website

Stadt Sundern: ''Langscheid am Sorpesee''

Private collection of pictures - Langscheid during the first half of the 20th century
{{authority control Villages in North Rhine-Westphalia