Helminghausen Resort (on Diemelsee)

Helminghausen is first mentioned in 1325 in a document from the Bredelar Monastery. This document refers to a mill at “Helmelinchusen” that ground grain for both the Bredelar Monastery and the noble houses of Padperg.
Helminghausen was an ancient part of the Padberg domain. In 1576, the lords of Padberg were forced to finally recognize Cologne’s suzerainty. This agreement by Archbishop Salentin, known as the “Salentin Settlement,” states, among other things, that the poor inhabitants of Helminghausen and the Padberg district should no longer be burdened.

During the Thirty Years’ War, Helminghausen was plundered and reduced to ashes. In 1680–81, Rabe Josias von Padberg, a descendant of the former robber barons of Padberg, had a manor established. He thus became the progenitor of a new noble family. The estate had to be sold at the end of the 19th century for economic reasons.

As early as 1802, the Duchy of Westfalen—which had until then been part of the Electorate of Cologne—and with it Helminghausen, became part of the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt, later the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt. The Padberg domain was dissolved in 1807. From 1816 to 1918, Helminghausen belonged to the Kingdom of Prussia. Pursuant to the Prussian Municipal Code of 1841, the municipality of Helminghausen was established in 1843.

In ecclesiastical terms, Helminghausen belonged to the combined parish of Padberg–Beringhausen. In 1660, the pastor in Beringhausen referred to the congregation in Helminghausen as a branch of the two congregations in Padberg and Beringhausen. A chapel of its own was not built in Helminghausen until 1906–07.

Between 1912 and 1923, the Diemel Dam, with a capacity of 20 million cubic meters, was built upstream of the village. It serves to protect against flooding and regulate the Weser River. Electricity generation via two turbines is only a secondary purpose. Due to the village’s idyllic location below the Dam and the Diemelsee, tourism and the restaurant industry have developed over time into the main sources of income. The village features a campground, a putt-putt course in the Old Manor Garden, as well as
vacation apartments and an inn. In the Diemeltal, east of the village,
there is a community hall, a sports field and playground,
and a youth campground. To the west, a regulating pond
of Diemelsee borders directly on the village center.

Marsberg’s highest point is located in Helminghausen on the Eisenberg (594.6 m above sea level).