Neuenrade: Views, History and Nature
Accommodation in Neuenrade
If you are looking for a hotel in Neuenrade, the town’s themes can help guide your travel planning: views from Kohlberg, historical landmarks in the town and its districts, and trails and nature in the Hönne Valley. The sights offer a variety of highlights—from a viewing tower and industrial history to a motte-and-bailey castle.
Views and nature in Neuenrade
At 514 metres, Kohlberg is the highest elevation in Neuenrade. The 14-metre-high Quitmann Tower stands on its summit. From there, the view stretches across the Sauerland and Lennetal valleys to Wildewiese and beyond. The ski slope is also located on Kohlberg: it has a 430-metre descent and two drag lifts with a mid-station.
The source of the Hönne is located at Großer Attig, at an elevation of 437 metres. As a hunger spring, it can dry up when the groundwater level drops. The Hönne rises in Neuenrade and gives its name to the Hönne Valley holiday region. The spring thus brings together a specific natural landmark and a regional connection.
There are various routes and options for walking and cycling: the scenic Roden-Hennes Trail is a circular hiking trail of just under 10 kilometres around Neuenrade, marked with trail sign N1. The Vita-Parcours starts at the Quitmann Tower hiking car park on Kohlberg. Its 15 exercise stations are spread along a 3.3-kilometre running route. The Hönne Valley Cycle Route in Neuenrade is suitable for mountain biking, road cycling and leisurely rides.
Town history and distinctive buildings
The Neuenrade Town Museum is devoted to the town’s history, industrial history and transport history in three sections. The bloomery furnace at Gut Berentrop offers a different glimpse into the past: it is considered the best-preserved bloomery furnace in the Märkisches Sauerland. Manfred Sönnecken discovered it in 1965; it has been dated to the 13th century.
The district of Küntrop is home to the Motte, a 22-metre-high wooden motte-and-bailey castle. In Neuenrade-Affeln, St. Lambertus parish church houses a late Gothic Antwerp altarpiece. Its scenes depict the lives of Christ, Mary and Saint Lambertus. The two locations illustrate different aspects of Neuenrade’s cultural heritage.
The History Trail also presents history in chronological order: it starts with a panel bearing the year 0, the birth of Christ, and ends with a panel marking the 650th anniversary of the town of Neuenrade in 2005. Another destination with a very different focus is Karlo, a children’s carousel in Platz der Generationen.
More to explore in the Märkischer Kreis
The wider destination of Märkischer Kreis also offers distinctive themes for anyone interested in culture and nature. Altena Castle is a monument of national importance and was home to the world’s first—and therefore oldest—permanent youth hostel. The German Wire Museum explores wire production, past and present; its hands-on stations invite visitors to take part. Alongside the technology of wire, it also covers its social, economic and cultural history.
The Luisenhütte in the Märkischer Kreis vividly shows how iron was produced there and then processed into cast products. Thanks to its archaeological finds, Balve Cave is one of Europe’s most important sites for the cultures of the Middle Palaeolithic. At Felsenmeer Hemer, wind, water and people have shaped rock formations over the centuries; it is also home to one of the oldest iron ore mining areas in Westphalia. The Felsenmeer can only be visited via designated paths; the panoramic trail leads to the viewpoints.
Discover more destinations: Balve, Meinerzhagen, Kierspe, Menden, LĂĽdenscheid, Nachrodt-Wiblingwerde, Herscheid, SchalksmĂĽhle.
View the wider travel overview: Märkischer Kreis.
