Lindlar

Lindlar is a municipality in the Oberbergischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located about 30 km east of Cologne.GeographyLindlar is located between latitudes 50°58' and 51°5' N. and longitudes 7°15' and 7°28' E. The highest point at 361.8 ms is found near Oberlichtinghagen, the lowest at 110 ms near Oberbilstein.Neighbouring placesNeighbouring towns are Gummersbach, Wipperfürth, Overath and Bergisch Gladbach, and the neighbouring municipalities are Engelskirchen, Marienheide and Kürten.Division of the municipalityThe municipality of Lindlar is made up of these main villages: Lindlar, Frielingsdorf, Linde, Hohkeppel, Schmitzhöhe, Hartegasse/Kapellensüng.The coat of arms of LindlarThe arms were granted on August 6, 1935. The arms show in the upper part the lion of the Counts of Berg and in the lower the balance as a symbol of justice. Lindlar had its own court in the County Berg. The arms are based on the old seal of the court and village of Lindlar.Twin townLindlar is twinned with Shaftesbury Dorset England.HistorySettlement and first namingIt is likely that the area around Lindlar was settled in the stone age. While there is no ultimate proof for that, neolithic artifacts were found near Kemmerich and Fenke. Until the Middle Ages the area was covered with virgin forests; it can therefore be assumed that only few people, such as hunters, settled there. The eldest available records mentioning Lindlar -then known as Lintlo- date back to the year 1109. But as an older document from the year 958 cites the transferral of the Kaldenkapellen -now Hohkeppel- church to the Severinsstift in Cologne and as the former was then provably subordinated to the parish church in Lindlar, this church must have already existed in that year or even up to a few decades earlier.