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Finnentrop
Finnentrop
Town
	Bamenohl castle
	Coat of arms
	Location of Finnentrop within Olpe district
	Finnentrop Finnentrop
	Coordinates: 51°10′N 07°58′E / 51.167°N 7.967°E
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Arnsberg
District	Olpe
Subdivisions	40
Government
• Mayor (2020–25)	Achim Henkel (CDU)
Area
• Total	104.34 km2 (40.29 sq mi)
Highest elevation	651 m (2,136 ft)
Lowest elevation	220 m (720 ft)
Population (2023-12-31)
• Total	16,872
• Density	160/km2 (420/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	57413
Dialling codes	02721, 02395, 02724
Vehicle registration	OE
Website	www.finnentrop.de

Finnentrop is a Gemeinde (municipality) in Olpe district in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Geography

Finnentrop is situated in the Sauerland, near the forks of the rivers Bigge and Lenne. Finnentrop shares borders with Sundern and Eslohe (both part of Hochsauerland district), Lennestadt and Attendorn (both in Olpe district), as well as with Plettenberg (Märkischer Kreis district). Finnentrop is divided into the following constituent communities:

Ahausen with Ahauser Mühle, Dahm
Altfinnentrop
Bamenohl
Bausenrode
Deutmecke
Elsmecke
Faulebutter
Fehrenbracht with Fretterspring
Finnentrop
Fretter with Delf, Giebelscheid
Frettermühle with Mißmecke

Frielentrop
Gierschlade with Schwartmecke
Glinge
Heggen
Hollenbock
Hülschotten with Tiefenau
Illeschlade
Lenhausen
Müllen
Ostentrop
Permecke

Ramscheid
Rönkhausen
Sange
Schliprüthen with Schliprüthener Mühle, Becksiepen, Kuckuck, Steinsiepen
Schöndelt
Schönholthausen with Besten
Serkenrode
Weringhausen
Weuspert with Klingelborn
Wiebelhausen
Wörden

History

While the municipality of Finnentrop didn't come into being before 1 July 1969, the history of the constituting villages dates back from the Middle Ages. In 1162 Lenhausen and Rönkhausen were mentioned for the first time. Until 13 July 1908, the place now known as Finnentrop had three names: Habbecke, Neubrücke (“Newbridge”) and, once the Ruhr-Sieg railway was built, Bahnhof Finnentrop (“Finnentrop Railway Station”). Neubrücke consisted of only one building at the forks of Bigge and Lenne (Reuters Haus, first mentioned in 1847). The “new bridge” seems to have already been built by 1847, as the “Reuter” had to charge tolls.

The new municipality was cobbled together in 1969 from parts of the old Amt of Serkenrode (Meschede district), the communities of Schliprüthen and Oedingen and parts of Attendorn-Land and Helden. This restructuring also saw the municipality pass from Meschede district (which was abolished in 1974) to Olpe district. The municipality's name is drawn from the original centre of Finnentrop situated a few hundred metres up the Bigge river, now known as Altfinnentrop (“alt” is German for “old”). The ending —trop comes from trop or torp, meaning “village”. The High German word Dorf is a cognate, as is the English word thorpe.

The municipal arms shows a rose under a wavy chevron. The rose stands for the Lords of Finnentrop (von Vinnentrop) and dates back to the year 1358. The chevron stands for the two rivers, the Bigge and the Lenne, which merge in the municipality. The colour green refers to the great swathes of greenery in the municipal area.

Finnentrop maintains partnership arrangements with:

Diksmuide, Belgium (since 1979);
Helbra, Saxony-Anhalt (since 1990).

Mayors

The mayor between 1997 and 2020 was the jurist Dietmar Heß (* 1955) (CDU). In September 2020 Achim Henkel (CDU) has been elected. The 53 year old first chief police officer used to be in charge of the policestation in Olpe for many years.

Culture and sightseeing

Theatres & Museums

Schützenhof Lichtspiele, 1954-vintage movie theater renovated in 2006 with 170 seats
Heimatstube Schönholthausen (museum)

Buildings

St. Georg in Schliprüthen
Mariä Himmelfahrt in Schönholthausen
Matthiaskapelle in Altfinnentrop
Haus Bamenohl
Schloss Ahausen
Schloss Lenhausen

St. Georg hall church in (Schliprüthen), dating from before the 12th century
Romanesque Catholic parish church Mariä Himmelfahrt in Schönholthausen, dating in parts from the 13th century
Matthiaskapelle chapel in Altfinnentrop from 1383
Haus Bamenohl castle in Bamenohl (14th century)
Schloss Ahausen castle close to Heggen
Schloss Lenhausen castle in Lenhausen (13th century)
Reiterstellwerk (historic signal box)

Regular events

Schützenfest (marksmen's festival) in the larger villages
Prunksitzung by the Lenhausen Carnival Club (LCC) (revue, Saturday before Altweibertag – Old Women's Day)
Prunksitzung by the Festkommitee Finnentroper Karneval (revue)
Waldfest “Im Schee” Finnentrop (“forest festival”, weekend before Whitsun)
Spritzenfest of the fire station Bamenohl (second weekend in August)
Open-air concert at Haus Bamenohl (third weekend in August)
Bürgerfrühschoppen of the fire brigade on German Unity Day
Christmas market at the town hall (second weekend in Advent)

Economy and infrastructure

Among the nationally known companies in Finnentrop are Eibach (automotive springs), Metten Fleischwaren (meat processing) and a plant of ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe AG.

Transport

Finnentrop station is situated at the Ruhr–Sieg railway, from where the Bigge Valley Railway connects to Olpe. The Attendorn-Finnentrop aerodrome (ICAO: EDKU) is situated close to the village of Heggen.

Public institutions

Rathaus Finnentrop (town hall)
Erlebnisbad Finto (natatorium)
Jugendherberge Bamenohl (Germany's first private youth hostel after the Second World War)
Jugendherberge Heggen (hostel
Finnentrop volunteer fire brigade with eleven fire stations

Education

There are six primary schools, one Hauptschule, one Realschule and one Gesamtschule.

Famous people

Honorary citizens

Erwin Oberkalkofen, former mayor
Ernst Vollmer, former municipality director

Sons and daughters of the municipality

Gertrud von Plettenberg († 1608), Mistress of Ernest of Bavaria, Prince-elector-archbishop of the Archbishopric of Cologne
Friedrich Georg Pape (1763−1816), one of the first German democrats
Johann Joseph Freidhoff (1768−1818), engraver
Alexander Haindorf (1784–1862), doctor, Jewish reformer, psychologist, university lecturer
Eduard Bartling (1845−1927), entrepreneur and politician
Lawrence Becker (1869–1947), lawyer and judge who served as Solicitor of the United States Treasury
Henry M. Arens (1873−1963), original name Heinrich Martin Arens, politician who served in many offices in Minnesota, including the U.S. House of Representatives
Josef Baumhoff (1887−1962), German official, newspaper publisher and politician
Kilian Kirchhoff (1892–1944), priest, translator and dissident
Erich Feldmann (1929−1998), Priester, Kirchenhistoriker und Augustinusforscher
Klaus-Dieter Uelhoff (born 1936), politician, member of the Bundestag
Reinhard Wilhelm (born 1946), scientist
Paul Scheermann (born 1949), soccer player
Hilde Mattheis (born 1954), politician, member of the Bundestag

Famous people who have worked in the municipality

John A. Roebling (1806−1869), original name Johann August Röbling, civil engineer, designer of the Brooklyn Bridge
Johannes Dornseiffer (1837−1914), priest, co-founder of many savings and loan companies connected with Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen
Hermann Hagedorn, (1884–1951), German writer, lyric poet and teacher
Angela Maria Autsch (1900−1944), nun of the Trinitarian Order, was murdered in the Auschwitz concentration camp