Velbert (History)

Velbert is a German town in North Rhine Westphalia, consisting from the three former towns Velbert, Neviges and Langenberg. The history of Velbert begins in the Middle Ages and ends in recent times.

In the Stone Age there were no settlements in Velbert, Neviges or Langenberg, but up to seven kinds of different neolithic stone tools from different places in Velbert, Neviges and Langenberg are now known.

In the year 875 Velbert was first mentioned under the name of Feldbrahti. In this time, Velbert was ruled by the abbey of Werden. Around the year 1050 a Lady Adelheid donated the Hof zum Hof ("Manor at Manor") (a manor of Velbert) and her owning rights of the local church to the abbey of Werden. In 1115 earl Adolf II. von Berg owned the Vogtei of the abbey of Werden, so he owned Velbert too. Earl Hermann von Hardenberg owned Hadenberg (later Neviges) in 1145. Neviges was first mentioned around the year 1150 as Navagis, while Langenberg was first mentioned before 1220 under the name of Langenberge. In 1220 Hermann von Hardenberg and his mother, the widow Hellenburgis, founded a society of priests in the church of Neviges. In 1265 the church of Langenberg was first mentioned, while the county court Homberg (responsible for Velbert) and the county court Hardenberg wee mentioned first in 1317 respectively 1343. In 1354 Heinrich von Hardenberg and his son Heinrich sold Hardenberg to earl Gerhard I. von Jülich-Berg. Until 1496 Hardenberg is hypothecated quite often. In 1380 the earls von Berg became dukes. In 1496 the bailiff Bertram von Gevertzhain, called Lützerode, gets Hardenberg as a hereditary fiefdom and lower dominion after paying the hypothecary credit of Hardenberg. He got Hardenberg from duke Wilhelm III. von Jülich-Berg. The first locksmith of Velbert was mentioned in 1508. The locksmithery was and is an important industry in Velbert. In 1518 Velbert became a benefice with a local priest. In 1529 the fiefdom of Hardenberg was owned by the family von Bernsau, relatives of the family von Gevertzhain. After the year of 1570 Velbert, Neviges and Langenberg became Protestant an had their first synod of Berg in Neviges in 1589. In 1649 Johann Sigismund, the owner of Hardenberg, became Catholic, so the Annakirche ("Anna's Church") was built in 1670, but replaced by the Klosterkirche St. Mariä Empfängnis ("Minster St. Mary's conception") in 1728. In 1676 Franciscans took over the counselling. In 1680 the important merchant Tillmann in der Vehlau started his work and the first stone laying of the monastery Hardenberg happened. In 1681 prince-bishop Ferdinand von Fürstenberg made a pilgrimage to the holy picture of Mary, nowadays found in the Mariendom ("Mary's Cathedral"). In 1694 three Jewish families lived in Hardenberg. In 1715 in Märkisch-Langenberg a Lutheran community was founded. In 1715 the Langenberger Lateinschule ("Latin School of Langenberg") got its first head teacher. In the year 1729 the Catholic Church of Langenberg was finished. In 1785 a Lutheran community was founded in Neviges. In the year 1806 Maximilian Joseph von Pfalz-Zweibrücken, the owner of Berg living in Munich, abstained from his owning rights of Berg and became king of Bavaria. Because of this in the same year the monastery of Hardenberg was closed because of Napoleons laws.

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