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.
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. Georghall church in (Schliprüthen), dating from before the 12th century
RomanesqueCatholic parish church Mariä Himmelfahrt in Schönholthausen, dating in parts from the 13th century
Bitter, Franz, Finnentrop Sauerland. Das Pfarrdorf, seine Industrie, der Eisenbahnknotenpunkt und seine Bewohner. Finnentrop 1955. edited by Sasse, R., 2005. [1]
Feldmann, Thomas, Die Finnentroper Chronik. Finnentrop 1994.
Pickert’sche Sammlung, written by Voss, W., edited by Sasse, R., 2005,[2]
further collection of literature from the Arbeitskreis für Geschichte und Heimatpflege in der Gemeinde Finnentrop e.V. [3]