Drolshagen


Drolshagen is a town belonging to the district of Olpe in the Regierungsbezirk of Arnsberg in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, lying roughly 5 km west of Olpe.

Geography

Location

Drolshagen lies in the heavily wooded Naturpark Ebbegebirge in the Sauerland. The area of the municipality of Drolshagen is characterized by heavily wooded low mountain ranges with altitudes close to 500 metres, flat tops and broad valleys in between. More than 40% of the municipal area is wooded. To the west where the municipal area ends is a steep drop of altitude and the view is open towards the plains of the river Rhine in the distance.

Neighbouring communities

Drolshagen borders on the following towns and communities, clockwise beginning in the northwest:

Gummersbach, Meinerzhagen, Attendorn, Olpe, Wenden, Reichshof and Bergneustadt.

Constituent communities

Drolshagen's current municipal area comprises 58 communities of various sizes.
The highest hills are:
Several named and a number of unnamed streams and brooks flow through the valleys of the municipality of Drolshagen:
The Brachtpe empties into the Biggesee and the Herpel into the Listertalsperre.

Geology

Like other areas of Sauerland Drolshagen is part of the Rheinisches Schiefergebirge.

History

The Sauerland, then known as Süderland, had been part of the Duchy of Saxony when it was given to the Archbishop of Cologne, Philipp, in 1180. In 1413, the townsfolk and Denklingen Castle were under the control of the Duke of Berg as part of the feudal system existing at the time. From 1470, the historical record mentions knights in Drolshagen.
Drolshagen was granted town rights on 2 March 1477 by Ruprecht, Archbishop of Cologne, thus entitling it to a market and walls. In 1485, these were not only confirmed but also strengthened by Archbishop Hermann IV, who added the right to hold a fair. Long before Droshagen received its town charter it had already been a Freiheit meaning that it had already been granted privileges close to a town charter. As such, Drolshagen had a mayor, a council and a seal of its own. Even by 1477, this "freedom's" sphere of influence within the Sauerland was already quite broad. The Cistercian monastery, endowed in 1235, fell into a quarrel with the town beginning in 1550 over who had rights to the St.-Clemens-Kirche, which in turn led to a trial in Rome.
In 1604, according to the Chronica Drolshagensis, Drolshagen was a member of the Hanse and traded with other Hanseatic cities, especially in Eastern Europe. In 1838, Drolshagen was almost utterly destroyed by fire. When the town was built anew, it had its streets laid out in a grid pattern. During World War II the town was spared bombing and thus still has many of its old buildings. In the course of municipal restructuring in North Rhine-Westphalia, the old Ämter of Drolshagen-Stadt and Drolshagen-Land were merged into the new town of Drolshagen in 1969.
As to the name's development, there are several theories, the likeliest of which appears in the Chronica Drolshagensis, according to which a knight named Drogilo established a Hag on what is now the town's site, which he named Drogileshagino. Over time, this would have been corrupted to the name used today: Drolshagen
Witnesses to Drolshagen's past are St. Clement's Church whose middle section dates back to a Cistercian monastery established by the Counts of Sayn. Today only parts of buildings of the former monastery remain.

Politics

Town council

At the mayoral election on 26 September 2004, more than three-fourths of the ballots were cast for CDU politician Theo Hilchenbach, against whom stood no-one. In 1999 he had scored almost as high a share of the votes against SPD candidate Thomas Gosmann and Reinbert Schmidt of the Greens.

Coat of arms

Drolshagen's arms show in the upper left and lower right three blue diamonds on a gold background, the arms formerly borne by the old Amt of Drolshagen-Land and indeed by the Lords of Drolshagen, a noble family. In the upper right and lower left are the arms formerly borne by the town before its amalgamation with the outlying rural Amt, namely Saint Clement's anchor, which is a reference to Saint Clement's Church in the town. The arms are quartered by the cross of the Electorate of Cologne, as Drolshagen belonged to the part of the Sauerland over which the Electorate held sway.

Town partnerships

/De Fryske Marren, Netherlands, since October 1967
Helmsdorf, Thuringia, Germany

Demographics

Religion

Source

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

The Drolshagen area is home to many sport clubs. The biggest are:
The Harvest and Animal Show Festival in October attracts many visitors every year. At Carnival there is a parade on Altweibertag which is attended by many who come to watch. As well, there is a shooting festival every year.

Economy and infrastructure

As is so almost everywhere in the Sauerland, the town’s economy is characterized by midsize businesses. The main fields of activity are engine building, metalworking and electrical industries, paper processing, stoneworking, toolmaking, vehicle supply, building and crafts.

Transport

The town of Drolshagen lies inside the angle formed by the Olpe Autobahn interchange. On Bundesautobahn 45, Drolshagen has its own exit, and also just within town limits is the Olpe exit. On Bundesautobahn 4 from Cologne, Drolshagen can be reached from the Eckenhagen/Drolshagen exit. Furthermore, the Bundesstraßen 54 and 55 run through Drolshagen.
The 144 bus stops are served by the Verkehrsbetriebe Westfalen-Süd and the Oberbergische Verkehrsgesellschaft.

Famous people

Sons and daughters of the town