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Wenden
Coat of arms	Location
Administration
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Arnsberg
District	Olpe
Town subdivisions	30
Mayor	Peter Brüser
Basic statistics
Area	72.55 km² (28 sq mi)
Elevation	411 m  (1348 ft)
Population	20,485  (31/12/2005)
- Density	282 /km² (731 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate	OE
Postal code	57482
Area code	02762
Website	www.wenden.de Coordinates: 50°58′″N 07°52′″E / Expression error: Unexpected / operator, Expression error: Unexpected / operator

Wenden is a municipality in the district of Olpe, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approx. 7 km south of Olpe and 15 km northwest of Siegen.

Contents 1 Geography 1.1 Neighbouring towns and municipalities 1.2 Subdivisions of Wenden 1.3 Climate 2 History 2.1 Incorporations 3 Economy 3.1 Traffic 4 Gallery 5 External links 6 References

The municipality of Wenden lies at the southernmost tip of the Sauerland an area of low mountain ranges. Close to Wenden the Bigge and its tributaries which feed into Biggesee have their source. To the south-east a ridge separates the municipality from the adjoining Siegerland. In the south-west the area of Wenden borders to the district of Altenkirchen which is parrt of the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate

• Olpe
• Drolshagen
• Kreuztal
• Siegen
• Freudenberg
• Reichshof
• Kirchen (Sieg)

The greater area of Wenden includes the following 30 villages: Altenhof, Altenwenden, Bebbingen, Brün, Büchen, Döingen, Dörnscheid, Eichertshof, Elben, Gerlingen, Girkhausen, Heid, Hillmicke, Hoffnung, Hünsborn, Huppen, Löffelberg, Möllmicke, Ottfingen, Römershagen, Rothemühle, Rothenborn, Scheiderwald, Schönau, Schwarzbruch, Trömbach, Vahlberg, Wenden, Wendenerhütte, Wilhelmstal.

Wendens climate is very wet. Western winds bring clouds which formed over the Atlantic. Before they can pass over the Sauerland and Wenden these clouds have to rise. In order to do so they have to get lighter which in turn means rain. The coldest month is January. July is the warmest month. During winter fog forms frequently out of the moist air.

The origins of the name Wenden are not known for certain. Probably it has to do with the location because at the turn of the first millennium within its area the lands of two Germanic people, the Franks and the Saxons met. There isn't any knowledge as to when the area was first setteled. The names of some villages like Girkhausen, Bebbingen, Döingen, Gerlingen, Ottfingen as well as the names of lost villages and homesteads offer some clues. Most likely settlement must have taken place no later than around 900 - 1000 AD. Perhaps the area knew settlements even sooner as the names of local brooks and streams like Elbe, Albe, Wende, Bigge, Benze and Binse hint.

The first documented record of Wenden dates back to 1011. By that time a monastery was founded in Herford and given land in Wendenne, which is said to mean Wenden. At the beginning of the 14th century a chapel Wendene capella is mentioned in a copy of a much older tax register of the Archdiocese of Cologne. Watersheds make the borders of Wenden for centuries. In the south-east and east these watersheds mark the boundary to the territory of Nassau-Siegen, in the south to the land of the counts of Wildenburg and in the south and south-west to the Duchy of Berg. All of the area of Wenden was part of the electorate of Cologne. Following the Reformation they remained Catholic while their neighbours to the south-east, south and south-west converted to Protestantism.

By the end of the Middle Ages people in the Siegerland fenced off their territory with a combination of trenches, earthworks and dense hedgerows. That part which touches the district of Olpe is called "Kölsches Heck" ("Cologne hedge"). "Kölsches Heck" also marks a boundary between two languages Hochdeutsch and Niederdeutsch. After the Reformation it came to mark the border between areas of different faiths.

In 1803 the area of Wenden was transferred to the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt and in 1816 it was annexed to Prussia. Some years later in 1850 the municipalities of Wenden and Römershagen were joined to form the new municipality of Wenden (Am Wenden).^[1]

With the municipal restructuring within North Rhine-Westphalia as of 1 July 1969 the municipality of Wenden was renamed from Amt Wenden to Gemeinde Wenden.

The economic development of the area depended mostly on deposits of iron ore and heavy spar as well as an abundance of wood and water. In 1855 there were 7 smelting works in the district of Olpe, 5 of which were located in the area of Wenden. While most smelting works produced pig iron, Wendener Hütte, a mill founded by Johannes Elmert in 1728 made crude steel. Like others which fired their blast furnaces by locally produced charcoal Wendener Hütte lost out to the developing coal based steel industry in the Ruhr Area. Wendener Hütte closed down in 1866^[2]. In the years after World War II the majority of the local population was working in agriculture. But when farming changed to more intensive farming with larger farms specialising in cattle and dairy farming most small farmers gave up. People shifted out of farming and sought employment in manufacturing in neighbouring Olpe and Siegerland.

This all changed when Bundesautobahn 45 was completed in 1971 and Bundesautobahn 4 handed over to traffic in 1976^[3]. With quick access to other areas of Germany Wenden was able to attract larger operations and build a solid economic infrastructure.

On the territory of Wenden two major Autobahn meet, Autobahn 4 and Autobahn 45.

1. Bundesautobahn 45 connects Wenden to northwards to Dortmund and the Ruhr Area and southwards to Giessen and Frankfurt.
2. Bundesautobahn 4 links the area to Cologne in the west.
3. The extension of the Bundesautobahn 4 to the east in 2006 which connects it to the Hüttentalstrasse links Wenden to Kreuztal and Siegen.

Opening in old earthwork marking border between Siegerland and Wenden near Hünsborn

• Official site (German)

v • d • e Towns and municipalities in Olpe (district)
Attendorn | Drolshagen | Finnentrop | Kirchhundem | Lennestadt | Olpe | Wenden