History: Engelskirchen was first mentioned around 1353  as a town along the trade road from Cologne.  Trade and  iron, lead and zinc ore mining using the water power of the Agger were the main industries.  Archeologists have found a smelting oven in Loope that is 1000 years old. A water hammer from the middle ages also exist and still works. Around the beginning of  1900 the textile industry moved in with weaving and spinning factories also using the water power the Agger offered. One ot the old factories is now the city hall.  An air attack on the 19 th and 23 rd of March 1945 killed over 300 people and destroyed most of the buildings.  Engelskirchen is not a pretty old historic town as it was built back up after World War II. Today it is an attractive area to live in if you work in Cologne.   Loope is built on the banks and slopes of the Agger valley. The main road and the train tracks run along the its banks.  On one side of the road there are a few  stores and some factories on the other side is just the river lined with trees.  As more people moved here a few stores followed, nothing being planned.Industry crops up in the valley and the houses are built on  the hills. Engelskirchen MAP klick on fish Scale from top to bottom about 1.5 miles The castle “Ehreshoven” belongs to the relatives of a count who owned most of the land around here.  They have many farms that are leased and forests which are  hunting grounds (they sell meat) and supply wood for the wood and paper industry.  Part of the castle is a home for poor spinsters of royal background.  The restored historical rooms are not open to the public  but are used for TV productions, concerts and weddings.  Some of the rooms are rented as offices to companies.  The seminar I attended was held in one of the wings.   The farmhouse has been restored,  one of Dana’s friends used to live there.  The girls used to go ice skating on the moat, now full of water lilies from the summer, during the rare winters when it froze over.