Kerpen, Rhineland-Palatinate
Encyclopedia
Kerpen is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district
in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Hillesheim
, whose seat is in the like-named town
.
, a part of the Eifel
known for its volcanic history, geographical and geological features, and even ongoing activity today, including gases that sometimes well up from the earth.
finds bear witness to human habitation in the Hillesheim limestone hollow between 600 and 400 BC. About 225 BC, the Treveri
, a people of mixed Celtic and Germanic
stock, from whom the Latin
name for the city of Trier
, Augusta Treverorum
, is also derived, built a defensive structure on the Weinberg (mountain) near Kerpen. Beginning in 55 BC, Roman
roads and villas began appearing in the Kerpen area.
Sometime between AD 600 and 700, the Franks
had a village near what is now Kerpen, called “Stilsdorf”. Frankish graves have been found in and around Kerpen.
In 1136, Kerpen had its first documentary mention when “Sigibertus von Kerpen”, who is believed to have been the first to build a castle
on the Höhenberg, was named in a document. Settlers from Stilsdorf settled at the foot of the castle. Sometime before 1197, the brothers Dietrich, Alexander and Albero von Kerpen endowed a convent in Niederehe. In 1201, Dietrich I von Kerpen was mentioned as the lord of the Manderscheid Lower Castle. At about this same time came Heinrich II von Kerpen, who is considered the “forefather of the Manderscheids”. Between 1200 and 1208, Otto von Kerpen
was the second Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights.
In 1218, the outlying centre of Loogh had its first documentary mention in a donation of two homesteads, the Keulen-Häuser, by the Lords of Kerpen to the convent in Niederehe.
In 1265, Dietrich II von Kerpen enfeoffed Archbishop Engelbert of Cologne
with Castle Kerpen. It is believed that Dietrich III von Kerpen took part in the Battle of Worringen
in 1288. After 1300, Dietrich III’s sons founded the lines of Linster, Mörsdorf and Warsberg. Between 1308 and 1324, there was a dispute between the Lords of Kerpen and Archbishop Heinrich of Cologne over patronage rights in the Parish of Wevelinghoven near Neuss
. In 1327, Konrad and Dietrich von Kerpen divided the village of Gillenfeld
. Between 1334 and 1345, the Archbishops of Trier and Cologne were granted the right to use Castle Kerpen as a military stronghold. In 1351, Archbishop Willhelm refused to compensate Lords Johann and Dietrich von Kerpen for their losses in the Westphalian War. The same year, Dietrich von Kerpen-Warsburg was enfeoffed with Illingen
. Between 1354 and 1397, Dietrich von Kerpen-Mörsdorf was the abbot at Prüm Abbey
, while Willhelm von Kerpen-Warsburg was the abbot at the Abbey of Echternach
between 1359 and 1372. In 1360, Dietrich von Kerpen-Warsburg was Schenk (a high official at court, responsible for the wine cellar and vineyards, among other things) to the Archbishop of Cologne.
Sometime before 1400, Willhelm von Sombreff wed Magarete von Kerpen, Johann the Elder’s daughter. Their son, also named Willhelm von Sombreff, was beginning in 1450 the sole owner of Castle Kerpen, and was, together with his own son, Friedrich, and one hundred armed men, in the service of Duke Arnold of Geldern
and Jülich
in 1459. The next year began the dispute over the wardship of the mad Friedrich von Saffenberg.
In 1471, Friedrich I von Sombreff wed Elisabeth von Neuenahr. Two years later, Friedrich found himself a Manderscheid confederate in the struggle against the Duke of Jülich. This seems to have unleashed a sequence of rather unfortunate events, for later in 1473, the family found itself at odds with the Manderscheids instead, in a dispute that lasted until 1478, during which time, in 1475, infighting broke out within the family Sombreff itself.
Friedrich I von Sombreff died in 1483, as did Dietrich IV in 1551, with the latter’s son and successor, Dietrich V, following his father to the grave only nine years later, in 1560.
The years from 1560 to 1593 were those of Dietrich VI von Manderscheid’s reign and he saw to it that the Reformation
was spread throughout his holdings. After he died in Kerpen in 1593, his brother-in-law Philipp von der Marck seized, among other Manderscheid holdings, Castle Kerpen. In 1608, the Manderscheids tried to recover their castle by storming it, but they were held off. After Philipp’s death in 1613, his son Ernst succeeded him.
The Thirty Years' War
and its aftermath took their toll on Kerpen and Niederehe in the years between 1635 and 1652. In 1653, Ernst von der Marck died, and there followed disputes over his inheritance. Beginning in 1674, the Arenbergs
were lords of the castle. Only four years later came the French
. They destroyed the castle in 1682. The next year, a great fire destroyed two thirds of the village. In 1689, the French further destroyed the castle again, and this time the village, too.
In 1788, the first schools arose in the Lordship of Kerpen. In 1792, Kerpen’s town gates were sold off into private ownership.
In 1794 began French
rule, under which the Duke’s and the convent’s holdings were seized and sold off in 1804 and 1805. In 1814 or 1815, Kerpen was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia
at the Congress of Vienna
.
Later in the 19th century, in 1850, came the beginnings of a regulated postal system. In 1858, the Kerpen dealers’ and livestock market, once held every year before Whitsun
, was abolished. In 1895, Castle Kerpen was sold to Johann Dhün, and it was acquired by Fritz von Wille in 1911.
In 1912, the first train arrived in Kerpen.
The current municipality of Kerpen was founded on 7 June 1969 out of the dissolved municipalities of Kerpen and Loogh.
at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
The municipality’s arms
might in English heraldic
language be described thus: Argent in base a mount of three Or upon which a tower embattled of five sable charged with an inescutcheon of the field with a fess dancetty of three gules.
The black, crenellated (“embattled”, that is, with battlements) tower is a representation of the 23 m-tall keep, the dominant feature of Castle Kerpen and the seat of the Imperial Lordship of Kerpen (first documentary mention in 1136). On the keep’s wall is an inescutcheon bearing the arms once borne by the Counts of Kerpen (1136-1400), heraldically “Argent a fess dancetty of three gules” (that is, a silver field upon which a horizontal zigzag red stripe with three peaks). The “mount of three” stands for the local mountains. This charge
is called a Dreiberg in German heraldry
, which literally means “three-mountain”, and the local mountains do indeed number three: the Weinberg (553 m), the Höhenberg (505 m) and the Ko-Berg (482 m).
The arms have been borne since 14 October 1950.
Municipalities of Germany
Municipalities are the lowest level of territorial division in Germany. This may be the fourth level of territorial division in Germany, apart from those states which include Regierungsbezirke , where municipalities then become the fifth level.-Overview:With more than 3,400,000 inhabitants, the...
belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde
Verbandsgemeinde
A Verbandsgemeinde is an administrative unit in the German Bundesländer of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt.-Rhineland-Palatinate:...
, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district
Districts of Germany
The districts of Germany are known as , except in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein where they are known simply as ....
in Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Hillesheim
Hillesheim (Verbandsgemeinde)
Hillesheim is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district Vulkaneifel, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Hillesheim....
, whose seat is in the like-named town
Hillesheim
Hillesheim is the third largest town in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde, to which it also belongs.- Location :...
.
Location
The municipality lies in the VulkaneifelVulkan Eifel
The Vulkan Eifel is a region in the Eifel Mountains in Germany, that is defined to a large extent by its volcanic geological history. Characteristic of the Vulkan Eifel are its typical explosion crater lakes or maars, and numerous other signs of volcanic activity such as volcanic tuffs, lava...
, a part of the Eifel
Eifel
The Eifel is a low mountain range in western Germany and eastern Belgium. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the south of the German-speaking Community of Belgium....
known for its volcanic history, geographical and geological features, and even ongoing activity today, including gases that sometimes well up from the earth.
History
ArchaeologicalArchaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
finds bear witness to human habitation in the Hillesheim limestone hollow between 600 and 400 BC. About 225 BC, the Treveri
Treveri
The Treveri or Treviri were a tribe of Gauls who inhabited the lower valley of the Moselle from around 150 BCE, at the latest, until their eventual absorption into the Franks...
, a people of mixed Celtic and Germanic
Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...
stock, from whom the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
name for the city of Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
, Augusta Treverorum
History of Trier
Trier in Rhineland-Palatinate, whose history dates to the Roman Empire, is often claimed to be the oldest city in Germany. Traditionally it was known in English by its French name of Treves.- Prehistory :...
, is also derived, built a defensive structure on the Weinberg (mountain) near Kerpen. Beginning in 55 BC, Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
roads and villas began appearing in the Kerpen area.
Sometime between AD 600 and 700, the Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
had a village near what is now Kerpen, called “Stilsdorf”. Frankish graves have been found in and around Kerpen.
In 1136, Kerpen had its first documentary mention when “Sigibertus von Kerpen”, who is believed to have been the first to build a castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
on the Höhenberg, was named in a document. Settlers from Stilsdorf settled at the foot of the castle. Sometime before 1197, the brothers Dietrich, Alexander and Albero von Kerpen endowed a convent in Niederehe. In 1201, Dietrich I von Kerpen was mentioned as the lord of the Manderscheid Lower Castle. At about this same time came Heinrich II von Kerpen, who is considered the “forefather of the Manderscheids”. Between 1200 and 1208, Otto von Kerpen
Otto von Kerpen
Otto von Kerpen was the second Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights, from 1200 to 1208.Otto came from a poor Rhenish knightly family residing in the castle of Kerpen in Kerpen, Rhineland-Palatinate...
was the second Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights.
In 1218, the outlying centre of Loogh had its first documentary mention in a donation of two homesteads, the Keulen-Häuser, by the Lords of Kerpen to the convent in Niederehe.
In 1265, Dietrich II von Kerpen enfeoffed Archbishop Engelbert of Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
with Castle Kerpen. It is believed that Dietrich III von Kerpen took part in the Battle of Worringen
Battle of Worringen
The Battle of Worringen was fought on June 5, 1288, near the town of Worringen , which is now the northernmost borough of Cologne...
in 1288. After 1300, Dietrich III’s sons founded the lines of Linster, Mörsdorf and Warsberg. Between 1308 and 1324, there was a dispute between the Lords of Kerpen and Archbishop Heinrich of Cologne over patronage rights in the Parish of Wevelinghoven near Neuss
Neuss
Neuss is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Düsseldorf. Neuss is the largest city within the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district and owes its prosperity to its location at the crossing of historic and modern trade routes. It is primarily known...
. In 1327, Konrad and Dietrich von Kerpen divided the village of Gillenfeld
Gillenfeld
Gillenfeld is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Vulkaneifel district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...
. Between 1334 and 1345, the Archbishops of Trier and Cologne were granted the right to use Castle Kerpen as a military stronghold. In 1351, Archbishop Willhelm refused to compensate Lords Johann and Dietrich von Kerpen for their losses in the Westphalian War. The same year, Dietrich von Kerpen-Warsburg was enfeoffed with Illingen
Illingen
Illingen is the name of two municipalities in Germany:* Illingen, Saarland in the Neunkirchen district* Illingen, Baden-Württemberg in the Enz district* Elchesheim-Illingen, a village in Germany...
. Between 1354 and 1397, Dietrich von Kerpen-Mörsdorf was the abbot at Prüm Abbey
Prüm Abbey
Prüm Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey in Prüm/Lorraine, now in the diocese of Trier , founded by a Frankish widow Bertrada, and her son Charibert, count of Laon, on 23 June 720. The first abbot was Angloardus....
, while Willhelm von Kerpen-Warsburg was the abbot at the Abbey of Echternach
Abbey of Echternach
The Abbey of Echternach is a Benedictine monastery in the town of Echternach, in eastern Luxembourg. The Abbey was founded by St Willibrord, the patron saint of Luxembourg, in the seventh century...
between 1359 and 1372. In 1360, Dietrich von Kerpen-Warsburg was Schenk (a high official at court, responsible for the wine cellar and vineyards, among other things) to the Archbishop of Cologne.
Sometime before 1400, Willhelm von Sombreff wed Magarete von Kerpen, Johann the Elder’s daughter. Their son, also named Willhelm von Sombreff, was beginning in 1450 the sole owner of Castle Kerpen, and was, together with his own son, Friedrich, and one hundred armed men, in the service of Duke Arnold of Geldern
Geldern
Geldern ) is a city in the northwest of the federal state North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is part of the district of Cleves, which is part of the Düsseldorfadministrative region.-Location:...
and Jülich
Jülich
Jülich is a town in the district of Düren, in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Jülich is well known as location of a world-famous research centre, the Forschungszentrum Jülich and as shortwave transmission site of Deutsche Welle...
in 1459. The next year began the dispute over the wardship of the mad Friedrich von Saffenberg.
In 1471, Friedrich I von Sombreff wed Elisabeth von Neuenahr. Two years later, Friedrich found himself a Manderscheid confederate in the struggle against the Duke of Jülich. This seems to have unleashed a sequence of rather unfortunate events, for later in 1473, the family found itself at odds with the Manderscheids instead, in a dispute that lasted until 1478, during which time, in 1475, infighting broke out within the family Sombreff itself.
Friedrich I von Sombreff died in 1483, as did Dietrich IV in 1551, with the latter’s son and successor, Dietrich V, following his father to the grave only nine years later, in 1560.
The years from 1560 to 1593 were those of Dietrich VI von Manderscheid’s reign and he saw to it that the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
was spread throughout his holdings. After he died in Kerpen in 1593, his brother-in-law Philipp von der Marck seized, among other Manderscheid holdings, Castle Kerpen. In 1608, the Manderscheids tried to recover their castle by storming it, but they were held off. After Philipp’s death in 1613, his son Ernst succeeded him.
The Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
and its aftermath took their toll on Kerpen and Niederehe in the years between 1635 and 1652. In 1653, Ernst von der Marck died, and there followed disputes over his inheritance. Beginning in 1674, the Arenbergs
House of Arenberg
The House of Arenberg is an aristocratic lineage that is constituted by three successive families who took their name from Arenberg, a small principality of the Holy Roman Empire in the Eifel. The inheritance of the House of Croÿ-Aarschot made the Arenbergs the most influential and most wealthy...
were lords of the castle. Only four years later came the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. They destroyed the castle in 1682. The next year, a great fire destroyed two thirds of the village. In 1689, the French further destroyed the castle again, and this time the village, too.
In 1788, the first schools arose in the Lordship of Kerpen. In 1792, Kerpen’s town gates were sold off into private ownership.
In 1794 began French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
rule, under which the Duke’s and the convent’s holdings were seized and sold off in 1804 and 1805. In 1814 or 1815, Kerpen was assigned to the Kingdom of Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
at the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
.
Later in the 19th century, in 1850, came the beginnings of a regulated postal system. In 1858, the Kerpen dealers’ and livestock market, once held every year before Whitsun
Whitsun
Whitsun is the name used in the UK for the Christian festival of Pentecost, the seventh Sunday after Easter, which commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Christ's disciples...
, was abolished. In 1895, Castle Kerpen was sold to Johann Dhün, and it was acquired by Fritz von Wille in 1911.
In 1912, the first train arrived in Kerpen.
The current municipality of Kerpen was founded on 7 June 1969 out of the dissolved municipalities of Kerpen and Loogh.
Municipal council
The council is made up of 12 council members, who were elected by majority votePlurality voting system
The plurality voting system is a single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member constituencies...
at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.
Coat of arms
The German blazon reads: In Silber auf goldenem Dreiberg ein schwarzer Zinnenturm, belegt mit silbernem Schildchen, darin ein roter Zickzackbalken.The municipality’s arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
might in English heraldic
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
language be described thus: Argent in base a mount of three Or upon which a tower embattled of five sable charged with an inescutcheon of the field with a fess dancetty of three gules.
The black, crenellated (“embattled”, that is, with battlements) tower is a representation of the 23 m-tall keep, the dominant feature of Castle Kerpen and the seat of the Imperial Lordship of Kerpen (first documentary mention in 1136). On the keep’s wall is an inescutcheon bearing the arms once borne by the Counts of Kerpen (1136-1400), heraldically “Argent a fess dancetty of three gules” (that is, a silver field upon which a horizontal zigzag red stripe with three peaks). The “mount of three” stands for the local mountains. This charge
Charge (heraldry)
In heraldry, a charge is any emblem or device occupying the field of an escutcheon . This may be a geometric design or a symbolic representation of a person, animal, plant, object or other device...
is called a Dreiberg in German heraldry
German heraldry
German heraldry refers to the cultural tradition and style of heraldic achievements in modern and historic Germany and the Holy Roman Empire, including national and civic arms, noble and burgher arms, ecclesiastical heraldry, heraldic displays and heraldic descriptions...
, which literally means “three-mountain”, and the local mountains do indeed number three: the Weinberg (553 m), the Höhenberg (505 m) and the Ko-Berg (482 m).
The arms have been borne since 14 October 1950.
Kerpen
- Castle Kerpen (Burg Kerpen; monumental zone), remnants of a mediaevalMiddle AgesThe Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
castle, since 1682 a ruin, complex rising in several terraces, 12th to 16th century, RomanesqueRomanesque architectureRomanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
Bergfried (German-style keepKeepA keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the...
), Kerpen’s foremost landmark. - Saint Sebastian’s Catholic Church (branch church; Filialkirche St. Sebastian), Im Kapelleneck 12, former castle chapel, inner weightbearing columns, 16th century; wayside cross from 1716.
- Adenauer Straße 1 – Quereinhaus (a combination residential and commercial house divided for these two purposes down the middle, perpendicularly to the street), roof with half-hipped gables from 1826.
- Bachstraße 2 – post-Baroque building with roof with half-hipped gables from 1807, more recent commercial building; whole complex.
- Across the street from Bachstraße 12 – remnants of the village fortifications, mentioned in 1475.
- Bachstraße 16/18 – former Quereinhaus, apparently from 1870.
- Eulersteierstraße 6 – estate along street, building with roof with half-hipped gables from 1841, possibly essentially older; commercial building, quarrystone, timber-frameTimber framingTimber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
gable. - Fritz-von-Wille-Straße 12/13 – former courthouse, no.13 timber-frame, partly solid, 15th/16th century, no. 12 from after 1917 on top of solid ground floor built with salvaged timber-framing jetties, from 1830 and 1848.
- Im Kapelleneck 2 – house, possibly essentially 17th century.
- Irrweg 1 – five-axis plaster building from 1821.
- Kapelleneck 3 – former BurgmannBurgmannA Burgmann was a member of the low aristocracy in the Middle Ages who guarded and defended castles. They were hired by a lord of the castle to take on the burghut, the guarding and defense of a castle....
’s seat, house with spiral stairway and gateway with coat of armsCoat of armsA coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
from [16?]23 - Niedereher Straße/corner of Irrweg – wayside cross, basaltBasaltBasalt is a common extrusive volcanic rock. It is usually grey to black and fine-grained due to rapid cooling of lava at the surface of a planet. It may be porphyritic containing larger crystals in a fine matrix, or vesicular, or frothy scoria. Unweathered basalt is black or grey...
beam cross from 1693. - So-called Rotes Kreuz (“Red Cross”) northeast of the village on the road to Niederehe, near municipal limits, sandstoneSandstoneSandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
shaft cross from 1793. - Wayside chapel, east of the village on the way into Castle Kerpen, quarrystone building, about 1900?
- Wayside cross, northeast of the village on the road to Niederehe, sandstone shaft cross from 1710.
- Wayside cross, east of the village next to the wayside chapel, sandstone shaft cross from 1793.
- Wayside cross, northeast of the village at the side of the road to Niederehe, basalt beam cross from 1716.
Loogh
- Saints Wendelin’s, Joseph’sSaint JosephSaint Joseph is a figure in the Gospels, the husband of the Virgin Mary and the earthly father of Jesus Christ ....
and Barbara’sSaint BarbaraSaint Barbara, , Feast Day December 4, known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an early Christian saint and martyr....
Catholic Church (branch church; Filialkirche St. Wendelin, Joseph und Barbara), biaxial aisleless churchAisleless churchAn Aisleless church is a single-nave church building that consists of a single hall-like room. While similar to the hall church, the aisleless church lacks aisles or passageways either side of the nave separated from the nave by colonnades or arcades, a row of pillars or columns...
, 1763, BaroqueBaroque architectureBaroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
red sandstone shaft cross, possibly from latter half of 18th century. - Wayside cross, northeast of the village on the road to Niederehe, sandstone shaft cross from 1758.
- Wayside cross, northwest of the village on the old way to Kerpen, beam cross, apparently from 1773.