Town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
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:
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.
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.
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