Location

Drolshagen lies in the heavily wooded Naturpark Ebbegebirge in the Sauerland. The area of the municipality of Drolshagen is characterized by heavily wooded low mountain ranges with altitudes close to 500 metres, flat tops and broad valleys in between. More than 40% of the municipal area is wooded. To the west where the municipal area ends is a steep drop of altitude and the view is open towards the plains of the river Rhine in the distance.

Neighbouring communities

Drolshagen borders on the following towns and communities, clockwise beginning in the northwest:
Gummersbach, Meinerzhagen, Attendorn, Olpe, Wenden, Reichshof and Bergneustadt.

Constituent communities

Drolshagen's current municipal area comprises 58 communities of various sizes.

• More than 1,000 inhabitants are found in the following places:
  • Drolshagen (main town; 4,807), Hützemert (1,092)
• Between 500 and 1,000 inhabitants live in these places:
  • Iseringhausen, Schreibershof
• Between 250 and 500 inhabitants live in these places:
  • Benolpe, Berlinghausen, Bleche, Dumicke, Frenkhausen, Germinghausen, Herpel, Wegeringhausen
• Each of these places has fewer than 250 inhabitants:
  • Alperscheid, Beul, Brachtpe, Buchhagen, Bühren, Dirkingen, Eichen, Eichenermühle, Eltge, Essinghausen, Fahrenschotten, Feldmannshof, Gelslingen, Gipperich, Grünenthal, Halbhusten, Heiderhof, Heimicke, Hespecke, Husten, Junkernhöh, Kalberschnacke, Kram, Lüdespert, Neuenhaus, Öhringhausen, Scheda, Schlade, Schlenke, Schürholz, Sendschotten, Siebringhausen, Stupperhof, Wenkhausen, Wintersohl

Streams and Hills

The highest hills are:

• Mark (512 m)
• Löh (482 m)
• Steupingen (481 m)

Several named and a number of unnamed streams and brooks flow through the valleys of the municipality of Drolshagen:

• Brachtpe
  • Rose
  • Steupinger Bach
• Herpel

The Brachtpe empties into the Biggesee and the Herpel into the Listertalsperre.

Geology

Like other areas of Sauerland Drolshagen is part of the Rheinisches Schiefergebirge.

Town council

The composition of the town council of Drolshagen since the September 2020 local elections:^[4]

• CDU 14 seats
• SPD 4 seats
• Unabhängige Drolshagener Wählergemeinschaft (UDW) 4 seats
• Unabhängige Christliche Wählergemeinschaft (UCW) 4 seats

Mayor

• 1994–2015: Theo Hilchenbach (CDU)
• 2015–incumbent: Ulrich Berghof (CDU)

Coat of arms

Drolshagen's arms show in the upper left and lower right three blue diamonds on a gold background, the arms formerly borne by the old Amt of Drolshagen-Land and indeed by the Lords of Drolshagen, a noble family. In the upper right and lower left are the arms formerly borne by the town before its amalgamation with the outlying rural Amt, namely Saint Clement's anchor, which is a reference to Saint Clement's Church (St.-Clemens-Kirche) in the town. The arms are quartered by the cross of the Electorate of Cologne, as Drolshagen belonged to the part of the Sauerland over which the Electorate held sway.

Town partnerships

Joure/De Fryske Marren, Netherlands, since October 1967

Helmsdorf, Thuringia, Germany ("friendship")

Religion

• Roman Catholic – 74.26%
• Protestant – 13.16%
• Other – 12.57%

Historical populations

Source^[5]

Buildings

• St.-Clemens-Pfarrkirche:

This Romanesque Catholic church's tower has its roots in the year 1491, and it houses a set of seven bells arranged g°-a°-c'-d'-e'-g'-a'. The great Christ-König-Glocke ("Christ King Bell") is the biggest cast steel bell in the Archbishopric of Paderborn. The other bells, which are artistically decorated, were cast in bronze in 1993. All together, the bells weigh roughly 18 000 kg and are counted among Westphalia's most musically important peal of bells. The baptismal font was built in the 13th century. It is said that Anno of Cologne consecrated the church sometime between 1050 and 1075.

• Old Cistercian Monastery

Among the monasteries endowed by Mechthild of Sayn with her husband Henry III of Sayn is the Drolshagen Cistercian Monastery, which she founded in 1235. From the way the endowment document is worded, it seems that it was not meant as a founding document, but rather as a donation document with the character of an atonement endowment. In the course of Secularization in 1803, the monastery was dissolved, and between 1975 and 1987 it was thoroughly renovated. Today it houses the town building office and the music school, as well as rooms for special cultural events.

• Eichener Mühle

This former grist mill "Im Kreuzohl" was first mentioned in a document dating from 1512. The building, which is now under protection as a monument, is nowadays used by a private owner as a house.

• Waldkapelle Hünkesohl

The Marienkapelle (Mary's Chapel) is used every year for May prayers and is a favourite pilgrimage destination in the Drolshagen area. The chapel was built in the Marian Year 1954 out of wooden blocks.

Sport

The Drolshagen area is home to many sport clubs. The biggest are:

• TuS 09 Drolshagen e. V.
• Hützemerter Sportverein 1951 e. V.
• SC Drolshagen 1962 e. V.

The Harvest and Animal Show Festival in October attracts many visitors every year. At Carnival there is a parade on Altweibertag (“Old Women’s Day”) which is attended by many who come to watch. As well, there is a shooting festival every year.

Transport

The town of Drolshagen lies inside the angle formed by the Olpe Autobahn interchange (Bundesautobahn 45 and Bundesautobahn 4). On Bundesautobahn 45, Drolshagen has its own exit, and also just within town limits is the Olpe exit. On Bundesautobahn 4 from Cologne, Drolshagen can be reached from the Eckenhagen/Drolshagen exit. Furthermore, the Bundesstraßen 54 and 55 run through Drolshagen.

The 144 bus stops are served by the Verkehrsbetriebe Westfalen-Süd (VWS) and the Oberbergische Verkehrsgesellschaft (OVAG).

Sons and daughters of the town

• Heinrich Bone, 25 September 1813 – 10 June 1893, Catholic educator, textbook editor, Catholic songbook publisher, hymn editor
• Emilie Engel, 1893 – 20 November 1955 in Koblenz-Metternich, teacher, nun, provincial head of the Schönstatt Movement (Beatification proceedings were begun in 1999.)
• Rupert Lay, 14 June 1929 –, philosopher and theologian
• Hubertus Halbfas, 1932 –, theologian, among other things author of a range of religious books for school instruction
• Otto Hellinghaus 1853–1935, philosopher and writer