Easy hikes and walks around Weikensee

In 1571, it is noted that Ringenberg became Protestant. The parish no longer belonged to the Catholic parish of Dingden, but was oriented towards Hamminkeln, which was also Protestant. But what did that mean back then? Consequently, disputes repeatedly arose over who owned the church: the (Hamminkeln) Lutherans or the (Ringenberg) Reformed? In 1648, the Elector of Brandenburg (the Counts of Kleve had already been extinct for half a century) decreed that the church should serve both (Protestant) parties for worship. In the same year, 1648, he also enfeoffed one of his officers and comrades-in-arms from the Thirty Years' War with the lordship of Ringenberg. From then on, the von Spaen family (pronounced Spahn, not Spän) ruled there and had to set about rebuilding. For the village, castle, and church had been destroyed by the war, and the parsonage had burned down. In 1661, the castle was expanded into a Baroque palace. In the rebuilt church, a burial chamber was created under the choir for family members. A tomb slab from this period is still preserved (stands in the tower), and the saber under the organ also comes from the possessions of the von Spaen family. In the time of "Old Fritz", a new church was built, consecrated in 1754; the old one threatened to collapse and was demolished. According to the taste of the time and the plans of the architect Vierevandt from Arnhem, the church consists of an 8-sided brick building in the Dutch Baroque style, initially still without a tower. In 1907, a comprehensive renovation of the church took place, and only then was the 3-story tower with a Baroque "Schweifhaube" (curved hood) added. In 1933, the "Luther Oak" was planted in the square in front of the church to commemorate the 450th birthday of Martin Luther. In 1945, the church was largely destroyed. The burial vault and the wooden epitaphs (memorial tablets) of the von Spaen family were irretrievably lost. After the war, the architect Grütjen from Hamminkeln led the reconstruction; the church was reconsecrated in 1950. The then pastor Steinbach also ensured that displaced persons were settled on church grounds. Source: Evangelische Kirchengemeinde An Issel und Rhein

Unfortunately, the bridge has a high step and ends in a meadow... It's better to continue along the main road and then turn left...

"The Protestant church in Ringenberg was built in the second half of the 18th century according to plans by the Dutch architect Vierevandt from Arnhem and consecrated in 1754. It consists of an elongated octagonal brick building and a 3-storey tower in the simple Dutch Baroque style. The tower has a tail cap on an octagon. The church dates back to a castle chapel mentioned as early as the 14th century. As early as 1571, the originally Catholic church was transferred to the Evangelical Lutheran community. The building was destroyed in the Thirty Years' War. The direct predecessor building was built from 1660/1661 and was so dilapidated in the 18th century that it had to be demolished. In 1907 and 1908, the church building from 1754 was extensively renovated and restored. The war damage at the end of the Second World War required the restoration of the coved framed mirror ceiling. However, the epitaphs in memory of the family members of the former lords of the castle, von Spaen, were irretrievably lost. Only a marble slab from 1768 in memory of Alexander Sweder von Spaen remained." https://www.hamminkeln.de/de/inhalt/evangelische-kirche-ringenberg/

<< Christ the King Church in Hamminkeln-Ringenberg >> "The Christ the King Church is a Roman Catholic church in Ringenberg, a district of Hamminkeln. It was consecrated in 1936 and is an important example of modern church architecture, designed by the well-known architect Dominikus Böhm. The patronage of Christ the King was frequently chosen during this period after Pope Pius XI introduced the Feast of Christ the King for the Catholic Church in 1925. The church, also known as Christ the King Church or St. Christ the King, is a listed building and was built during the Nazi era, when few churches were built in Germany. The squat hall church consists of a nave and two short transepts that meet an elevated central space that culminates in the massive square crossing tower. The light comes mainly from a large round-arched window behind the free-standing altar, but also from the rose window opposite, smaller side windows and cross-frame windows in the crossing tower. The church is characterized externally by its monumental pyramid roof and the impressive rose window on the gable facade. A forecourt with a bell tower forms an area separated from the street space. The church building of St. Christ the King is an early example of Christocentricity in Roman Catholic church architecture, in which the altar is the center and the believers gather around a people's altar. This concept was not generally established until the 1960s through the Second Vatican Council and the liturgical reform. The parish was originally separated from the parish of St. Mary's Assumption in Hamminkeln, into which it had been incorporated in 1895. In 2013, several parishes were merged to form the new parish of "Maria Frieden Hamminkeln". " Author: Editorial team baukunst-nrw, September 2nd, 2024 https://www.baukunst-nrw.de/objekte/Christus-Koenig-Kirche-in-Hamminkeln-Ringenberg--14496.htm

Cute little brewery with a shop.

Unfortunately closed on Tuesdays 😭

A parish church in Hamminkeln was already mentioned as belonging to the Xanten Monastery in the years 1154 and 1172. Their origins date back to the 10th century. The oldest parts of the church are made of tuff stone and built in Romanesque and then Gothic style. Roman brick was also used in the oldest parts, coming from a field-fired brick factory of the Roman Legion on the Rhine. A stone was found with the stamp of Legio XXII Primigenia. The Gothic hall church, which still marks the center of Hamminkeln today, was built at the beginning of the 15th century. Before the Reformation, a fresco of Saint Christopher was created around 1450. The parish archives start with documents from 1522. Between 1609 and 1624 the church was used by both Lutherans and Reformed Christians.

The Evangelical Church of Hamminkeln, also known as the White Church, is a Protestant church in late Gothic style in the Hamminkeln district of the city of Hamminkeln. It belongs to the parish on the Issel in the Wesel parish of the Evangelical Church in the Rhineland.