Finnentrop


Finnentrop is a 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, Lennestadt and Attendorn, as well as with Plettenberg. Finnentrop is divided into the following constituent municipalities:

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 and, once the Ruhr-Sieg railway was built, Bahnhof Finnentrop. Neubrücke consisted of only one building at the forks of Bigge and Lenne. 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, the municipalities of Schliprüthen and Oedingen and parts of Attendorn-Land and Helden. This restructuring also saw the municipality pass from Meschede district 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. 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 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:

Mayors

The mayor between 1997 and 2020 was the jurist Dietmar Heß .
In September 2020 Achim Henkel 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

Buildings

St. Georg hall church in, dating from before the 12th century

Regular events

Economy and infrastructure

Among the nationally known companies in Finnentrop are Eibach, Metten Fleischwaren 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 is situated close to the village of Heggen.

Public institutions

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

Famous people who have worked in the municipality

Artists