Beringhausen

The earliest mention of the town is found in a document from the year 1064. In that year, Archbishop Anno II donated his estates located there to the Abbey of Siegburg. In 1101, Count Erpo of Padberg donated an estate in “Berdinchusen”—which belonged to his private holdings—to endow the Monastery of Boke.

Around 1230, we hear of an exchange of estates between the church in Beringhausen and the Bredelar Monastery. At the beginning of this century, Bredelar began steadily acquiring property here. In 1414, the Padberg family was forced to cede most of their domain—which included Beringhausen—to Waldeck. From then on, their domain extended only to the villages of Beringhausen and Helminghausen. The monastery also acquired feudal estates from Corvey that had previously been held as fiefs by the Knights of Horhusen. In the years that followed, Bredelar Monastery succeeded in further expanding its holdings.

It was able to consolidate the surrounding villages of Giershagen, Beringhausen, Messinghausen, and Helminghausen economically into a single estate—the “grangia Beringhausen”—effectively acting as the sole landlord over these areas. Along with Niedermarsberg, Beringhausen is classified as an industrial and artisanal community. With approximately 60–80% of the workforce employed in this sector, the town can be described as an “industrial residential community.” Nearly half of the forest area—30%–40% of the municipality’s total area—is cooperative forest. In addition to agriculture, which plays only a minor role in the town, and tourism, the vast majority of the workforce commutes to jobs in Niedermarsberg, Bredelar, Messinghausen, and Hoppecke.

All clubs value cooperation and thus contribute to cultural life in Beringhausen. Beringhausen has a church with a youth center and a kindergarten, as well as a nursing home for the elderly—run by the Franciscan Sisters from Salzkotten.