Place:Overath, Rheinland, Preußen, Germany

Watchers
NameOverath
TypeTown
Coordinates50.95°N 7.267°E
Located inRheinland, Preußen, Germany
Also located inRheinisch-Bergischer Kreis, Cologne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany    
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Overath is a town in the Rheinisch-Bergischer district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Contents

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

When first mentioned in 1060, Overath was called "Achera" (after the Agger river). Presumably because of the first settlement at a clearing (German Rodung) the name changed to "Ouerode" (about 1280), "Ovverode" (1304), "Overadt" (1582), and finally became "Overath".

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of Overath was only created on March 3, 1938. It consists of two areas:

  • The upper area shows the lion of Berg. It symbolizes the former jurisdiction by the Earldom of Berg.
  • The lower area shows a golden bell. It is supposed to symbolize a tradition of bell making. The inclusion of the bell is, however, due to a 15th and 16th century bell making family von Overra[i]de from Cologne, which falsely led to belief that bells were cast in Overath.

Religion

The Catholic church is devoted to Saint Walpurga (Heilige Walburga). Until 1803 the Benedictines had a monastery in Cyriax, a subsidiary of Michaelsberg Abbey at Siegburg.

The Catholic church in Heiligenhaus is devoted to Saint Roch (Heiliger Rochus).

Marialinden's church (St. Mariä Heimsuchung) is a pilgrimage destination for Saint Mary.

Population

In 1939, the population of Overath was 6,500. In 1946, it already exceeded 10,500 and continued to grow to 15,500 in 1970. The area of the community was extended in 1975, which increased the population to over 20,000.

Since then it has risen further up to 27,106 in December 2005.

Research Tips


This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Overath. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.