Radevormwald () 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. It is one of the oldest towns in the Bergischen Land, formerly the

County A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

and

Duchy of Berg Berg () was a state—originally a county, later a duchy—in the Rhineland of Germany. Its capital was Düsseldorf. It existed as a distinct political entity from the early 12th to the 19th centuries. It was a member state of the Holy Roman Emp ...

Geography

Radevormwald 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 ...

. At 421 metres above sea level, it was the highest-situated town in the administrative region of

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

; it is now in the administrative region of

Neighbouring places

* Ennepetal * Breckerfeld * Halver * Wipperfürth * Hückeswagen *

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 ...

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, with a population of 355,000. Wuppertal is the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and List of cities in Germany by population, 17th-largest in Germany. It ...

* Schwelm

Division of the municipality

Places submerged by the Wuppertal dam * Dörpe * Friedrichstal * Nagelsberger Gemarke * Oege

Wupper villages

The river

Wupper The Wupper () is a right tributary of the Rhine in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Rising near Marienheide in western Sauerland it runs through the mountainous region of the Bergisches Land in Berg County and enters the Rhine at Le ...

flows through part of the town lands. In the villages Dahlerau, Vogelsmühle and Dahlhausen – which are located in the Wupper valley and so are known as the "Wupper villages" – this led to the establishment of textile works. These settlements used the water for the production of energy, at first by means of the

water wheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the kinetic energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a large wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with numerous b ...

and later through

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

power plants. With the establishment of working-class dwellings by the textile companies the population of the Wupper villages increased. The middle classes also settled here, above all in Dahlerau where there were many single trading ventures. However, at the end of the 20th century the combination of the decline of the textile industry and increased mobility brought about the closure of most businesses in the Wupper villages; today, many former business premises are used as houses.

History

The first documentary reference and municipal rights

The first known reference in writing to the town was in the year 1050. Klaus Pampus writes in his book ''Urkundliche Erstnennungen oberbergischen Orte'' (''Earliest Documentary References to Places in Oberberg'') that Radevormwald came into the possession of the imperial abbey of Werden and at the time was called ''Rotha''. Radevormwald was situated in the County, later Duchy, of Berg. Between 1309 and 1316 Count Adolf VI von Berg conferred municipal rights on the town. The settlement ''"vor dem walde"'' (''"before the wood"'') is described in 1363 in a lease of Count Wilhelm II von Jülich-Berg (Duke Wilhelm I) as a walled town. Radevormwald served the Counts von Berg as a border stronghold against

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. ...

in the

County of Mark The County of Mark (, colloquially known as ) was a county and Imperial State, state of the Holy Roman Empire in the Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle. It lay south of Lippe (river), Lippe river on both sides of the Ruhr river along the Volme a ...

. The especial significance of Radevormwald in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

can be seen from the fact that it paid 166.5 guilders for the redemption of pledged lands of the Duchy of Berg, while for example

Solingen Solingen (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 25 km east of Düsseldorf along the northern edge of the Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr. After Wuppertal, it is the second-largest city in the Bergisches Land, and a member of ...

Elberfeld Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the Germany, German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929. History The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "''elverfelde''" was ...

and Hückeswagen raised only 88, 84.5 and 34.5 guilders respectively.

15th century

The town prospered. Walls, towers and gates protected the settled trades of the smiths,

wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

weavers and garment makers.

16th century

In the 16th century there were two big town fires. The first took place on 17 July 1525. The second devastated the town in 1571. In 1540, the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

and clergy of the town converted to the

Reformed Church Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian, ...

17th century

In 1620 Radevormwald was conquered by the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

Hessians under Philip the Magnanimous. During the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

(1618–48) it was used as the occasional headquarters and supply depot of the Spaniards and Austrians, under the command of

Ottavio Piccolomini Ottavio Piccolomini, 1st Duke of Amalfi (11 November 1599 – 11 August 1656) was an Italian nobleman whose military career included service as a Spanish general and then as a field marshal of the Holy Roman Empire. Early life Piccolomini was ...

(one of Wallenstein's generals). In 1635 and 1636 Dutch troops, and in 1638

Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...

n troops, occupied the place, before it fell once again to Hesse in 1639. These

military occupation Military occupation, also called belligerent occupation or simply occupation, is temporary hostile control exerted by a ruling power's military apparatus over a sovereign territory that is outside of the legal boundaries of that ruling pow ...

s were accompanied by murder, looting, arson and rape of the civil population, which was decimated. After the

Peace of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia (, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought peace to the Holy Roman Empire ...

in 1648, the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Duke of Berg, Philipp Wilhelm von Pfalz-Neuburg (reigned 1652–1690) persecuted

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism'; , earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...

s and

Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

s in his territory, so that many of them fled. One such refugee was Adolf von der Leyen of Radevormwald, who in 1656 (or perhaps 1650) brought the new skill of silk weaving to

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its c ...

18th century

In 1742 there was famine in Radevormwald.

19th century

On 24 August 1802 the last great town fire in Radevormwald occurred. In 1833, a local

mail coach A mail coach is a stagecoach that is used to deliver mail. In Great Britain, Ireland, and Australia, they were built to a General Post Office-approved design operated by an independent contractor to carry long-distance mail for the Post Office. ...

service to the surrounding towns was established for the first time, and a post office opened. Towards the end of the century, the railway followed. On 1 March 1886 Radevormwald celebrated the opening of the

– Lennep–Krebsöge–Dahlerau–

– Oberbarmen railway line. Four years later, on 3 February 1890 a branch line from Krebsöge to Radevormwald was opened. All railway lines near the town were typical of the

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, ...

n branch lines which were built throughout Germany as part of an ambitious development program from 1885 onwards. Radevormwald was a station on the needle telegraph line (1833 to 1849) from Berlin to

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

. The location of the telegraph was in the modern street ''Am Telegraf''. In 1884 the municipal gasworks opened for business with the production of town gas.

The 20th century up to the First World War

In 1910 there were two important events. With the opening of a railway line to Halver the railway network around Radevormwald was completed, and on 1 July the second youth hostel in the world, and the first in the

Rhineland The Rhineland ( ; ; ; ) is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly Middle Rhine, its middle section. It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy ...

, celebrated its inauguration.

The 20th century from the First World War to 1945

Radevormwald developed into an industrial location. Local businesses included lock-, file-, bicycle-, paper-, ice-skate- and building component factories, motor and textile industries, yarn-spinning and cloth mills. At 8:15 on the morning of 26 May 1928 a Deutsche Luft Hansa Junkers F13 airplane crashed in Hahnenberg on the ''Schlegel meadow'' (''Schlegelsche Wiese''), killing three people. In November 1934, the connection of a gas pipeline caused the gasworks to moderate its production of town gas.

The 20th century from 1945

Bismarck motorcycles

In 1957, Bismarck motorcycle production ended in Bergerhof.

The Dahlerau train disaster

On the evening of 27 May 1971, a Deutsche Bundesbahn railbus ran as a special service on the Wuppertal—Radevormwald line. The train was full of schoolchildren on a school outing and was about 30 minutes behind schedule. An oncoming freight train failed to stop for reasons unclear, and collided with the railbus. 46 passengers died in the accident, including 41 schoolchildren. 25 passengers were injured, most of them seriously. The exact cause of the accident could not be determined, because the station controller died in a car accident shortly after the event. The surviving driver of the goods train stated at the inquest that the train controller had signalled green with his flashlight, indicating a free passage. None of the railway stations on this local branch line had a proper station exit

signal A signal is both the process and the result of transmission of data over some media accomplished by embedding some variation. Signals are important in multiple subject fields including signal processing, information theory and biology. In ...

. Almost all of the dead schoolchildren were buried at the municipal cemetery in Radevormwald in a common enclosure with a stone monument inscribed: ''Come spirit of the four winds and breathe on these dead, that they may come alive'' (''Komme Geist von den vier Winden herbei und hauche diese Toten an, damit sie lebendig werden''). This accident was the worst rail disaster in West Germany until the Eschede train disaster in 1998.

From 1975 - Radevormwald in the Oberbergischer district

On 1 January 1975 the Rhein-Wupper and Rheinisch-Bergisch districts were merged and Radevormwald became part of the resulting Oberbergischer district. A year later, on 28 May 1976 regular passenger traffic on the railway to Radevormwald ended. Since the 1950s construction of the Wuppertal dam had been planned. In the mid-1980s the many years of preparation concluded, and construction began. Numerous places had to be demolished, so that in 1987 the Krebsöge dam could be inaugurated. In the same year the B 237 bypass was opened. In 1990 Radevormwald tried to live up to its reputation as a sports town with the inauguration of the stadium in the Kollenberg and the indoor swimming pool ''Aquafun''. However, these efforts suffered a setback in 2004 when the State sports school closed down.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted on 7 November 1934. It consists of a lion grasping a key. The oldest seal of the city, dating from the 14th century, already shows the lion with a key. All later seals show the same image, the lion in the arms being that of the Counts von Berg. The origin of the key is not clear. It may have had a religious meaning, but it has also been speculated that it symbolises the iron industry (particularly

locksmithing Locksmithing is the work of creating and bypassing locks. Locksmithing is a traditional trade and in many countries requires completion of an apprenticeship. The level of formal education legally required varies by country, ranging from no formal ...

) in the town. (In the early 20th century the arms were shown in the Kaffee Hag albums standard reference for German civic armswith the same composition, but in different colours).

General description

Origin of the name

''Radevormwald'' means "clearing in front of the wood". The town's older name, ''Rotha'', also means "clearing". The clearing, at an altitude of more than 400 metres, is thought to have been made to help defend against raiding

Saxons The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

prehistoric Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

times.

Character

Radevormwald is characterised by its small and medium-sized businesses, predominantly in the service industries. With regard to the rail connections to Cologne and Düsseldorf to the west and to transport connections generally the town is in a marginal position. This leaves scope for the exploitation of resources for leisure and the enjoyment of nature, and gives the town a relatively high quality of life. Older historical buildings, as in many other places in the Bergischen country, have not survived. An exception is the historical garden house in the town park which survived the last big town fire in the year 1802.

Population

Culture

Places To Go

In the area are many different dams and reservoirs, among them: Wuppertal dam, Bevertal dam, Neyetal dam ( Wipperfürth), Ennepe dam (Breckerfeld), Heilenbecker dam and Schevelinger dam. * Uelfebad, former outdoor swimming pool (an ice rink in winter, with suitable weather) and restaurant * Leisure resort Kräwinklerbrücke, which is also a starting point for footpaths around the Wuppertal dam.

Churches

Radevormwald has a distinctive skyline with four churches close together: *

Reformed church (state church) * Protestant

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

church (state church) * Lutheran Church St. Martin ( Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church) * Roman Catholic church Other churches are to be found in Remlingrade (Protestant Church), in Wallenberg (Protestant Church) and in Dahlerau (both a Protestant and a Catholic church).

Monuments

* Historical

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 ...

garden house in the town park. Built in 1772, at the time of the town fire in 1802 it stood in front of the town wall approximately 200 m to the west of the future railway station and is the oldest building in the town. Its location today is not the original one: it was transferred to the town park in an improvement scheme. * War Memorial'

at the Kollenberg * War Memorial'

in the Froweinpark (moved to its current location in 1998 from its earlier position in the former sports field Herbeck) * Commemorative cross'

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Kreuz-graeber-2004-1280x960.jpg] for the victims of the Dahlerau train disaster, 1971 train accident in the municipal cemetery ''Am Kreuz'' * Moonstone'

in the Froweinpark as a memorial to the places submerged by the Wuppertal dam * Commemorative tablet'

in the town hall for the victims of Nazism, National Socialism * Monument on the north side of Schlossmacherplatz for the twin town '' Châteaubriant'' in France * Stone tablet'

to the entrepreneur and file manufacturer ''Frowein'' in the Froweinpark * Ground monument Bergisch-Märkische Landwehr. Approximately indicating the border with Ennepetal and Breckerfeld, it is also thought once to have been the border between

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

and

Franconia Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...

Mills (including historic mills)

* Hees Mill (aka Lowest Mill). Today the earlier mill is used by a food company. Remains of the milling equipment still exist. * Luhner Mill. No longer standing, it was in the immediate neighbourhood of the Leimholer Mill. * Leimholer Mill. On the Uelfe brook; it takes its name from the place Leimhol. * Lambecker Mill. About the mill itself nothing is known. The name ''Becke'' means a brook in

Low German Low German is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language variety, language spoken mainly in Northern Germany and the northeastern Netherlands. The dialect of Plautdietsch is also spoken in the Russian Mennonite diaspora worldwide. "Low" ...

and is used in a large number of placenames in the region. The place Lambeck was mentioned in the year 1789 as ''Langenbeck'' (= ''long brook''). * Neuenhammer. This mill was a hammer works on the Uelfe brook. Only the placename and some buildings now used for trout breeding remain. * Uppermost Mill. On the Uelfe brook. Today this affectionately-restored former mill is a food business. * Stooter Mill. This was a flour mill on the Bever. It was registered 1828 in the ancient land register and was also called ''Stötermühle''. In 1902 the mill was demolished for construction of the old Bevertal dam. * Bird's Mill. No longer standing. In the year 1804 ''Vogelsmühle'', a

fulling Fulling, also known as tucking or walking ( Scots: ''waukin'', hence often spelt waulking in Scottish English), is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of woven cloth (particularly wool) to eliminate ( lanolin) oils, ...

mill, stood here, the precursor of the cloth industry later to develop. * Wiebach Mill. The mill at the exit of the Wiebach valley was demolished 1956. Today the Wiebach dam, part of the Wuppertal dam system, floods the area.

Calendar of events

* Since 1948 the Radevormwald Cultural Circl

has arranged a yearly program of cultural events, including stage plays, musicals, cabaret and concerts. These events take place in the Radevormwald Town Hall. * The Radevormwalder Town Festival normally takes place on the first weekend in May. * The Radevormwalder Fair, featuring a shooting match and a home festival is a regular feature of the Radevormwalder calendar. * For some years a cycle race with well-known riders has taken place in summer in the downtown area. * In September the traditional plum fair takes place. * On the first weekend in October the cultural municipality organizes a traditional harvest festival in Önkfeld.

Health services

The Johanniter (''Knights Hospitaller'') Hospital provides health services for the resident population.

Notable people

* Franz Rudolf Bornewasser (1866–1951), archbishop of Trier, (1922–1951) * Heide Rosendahl (born 1947), German athlete, sportswoman of the year 1970 and 1972 * Jürgen Fliege (born 1947), theologian, television presenter and journalist * Fritz Hardt,

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

and honorary citizen of the town (see also Wülfing Museu

* Adolf von der Leyen (c. 1624–1698), entrepreneur, father of silk industry in Krefeld

International relations

Radevormwald is town twinning, twinned with: * Châteaubriant - France, since 1981 * Nowy Targ - Poland

References

External links

Town of Radevormwald

Wülfing Museum

Radevormwald Cultural Circle
* {{Authority control Oberbergischer Kreis