Engelskirchen translates to Angel’s Church; this may explain what I’m about to share with you about this place…
Engelskirchen is a small town 40 km east of Cologne. Every year the post office in this North Rhine-Westphalian town receives over 70,000 letters addressed to baby Jesus. It is said that none of these letters remains unanswered…
The town is the gateway to the Bergisches Land; a region of mountains, brooks, forests and meadows. One of the special natural features is the Aggertalhöhle, a karst cave that is unique in Germany. In these 350 million year old cave walls you can see thousands of fossilized sea animals who have been trapped her millions of years before.
The Oelchenshammer is part of the regional industry museum. It is a 200 year old blacksmith workshop that has been producing high quality iron up to the Second World War.
If you want to see how iron was produced you should check out when the museum staff will start the machines and give a life performance. This usually happens on the second and fourth Sunday of each month between April and October.
One of the most famous citizens of Engelskirchen was Haldy, an industrialist who was clearly ahead of its time. The blessings of the railway were not yet visible to a lot of people but Haldy saw how important the railways would become for the industrial development of this area. Thanks to him the little village of Ründeroth, which is now part of Engelskirchen, has its own railway station.
The thankful citizens of Ründeroth built an 18 meter high tower in his honor. In those romantic times the Middle Ages were all the vogue and the architect managed to make the tower look like the bastion of a medieval fairy tale castle. If you do have the energy to climb the 92 steps you will be rewarded with a great view of this part of the Oberbergischer Kreis.
