Cities and villages around Bonn: Erpel
Excerpt of the "Deutsche Reichszeitung" Nr. 245 from 17. October 1924

... The path leads from the Rhine over historical grounds: over Roman camp sites and Roman reserve post against the – using modern words – hostile Germania it leads to an abrupt, steep rock spur: the Erpeler Ley. The same place where a few years ago bonfires were burnt on Easter and St. Martin's day. The same place where 76 years ago the black, red, and gold flag stood as a symbol of the district.

Behind the Erpeler Ley hides Erpel. The very picturesque village lies surrounded by towering rocks and Rhine area hills. Known as Herpille in 1116 and Villa Herpell in 1167 Erpel is in the middle of the three idyllic villages, which are important for the local romantic magic: Unkel, Erpel, and Linz.

A lot of history connects Erpel to its neighboring villages, especially Linz. From a political point of view this is basically the history of the archbishopric Cologne. Just like in many other Rhine villages on can observe many struggles of the citizens with the church chapter in Cologne. After years of this Erpel was successful in becoming a independent farmers' noble manor.

Totally mystified by the magic of home and village life Erpel presented itself to me when I was brought to Erpel by a ferryman in blue cloth on a Sunday in May. The music attracted me from far away.

Every alley, every street showed fresh green: May greens, fresh trees, which radiated the scent of fresh, sweet tree sap.

The Erper Ley on an etching by Prof. Heinrich Reifferscheid in 1921 ...

... and how it shows itself to the observer today.

It gave the village the flair of a toy village created by children's hands, alternating between green and white, and black and red. The black and white of the tutor homes could be seen behind the fresh green of the plants to which the dark reddish brown of the roofs' shingles, grown over with dark green moss, stands out. Every time I came to Erpel the tutor houses appeared in the same shiny white as if they were cleaned and freshly painted every Saturday. It is particular for Erpel that all houses have the same theme of black and white, which gives the village a festive and celebratory look.

Of all the village squares the one on the village exit towards Linz is the most scenic. Beautiful tutor homes are lining the large triangle of the former village market place. Along with the old water well and an even older basswood all of this creates a medieval romantic atmosphere.

While blending into the village's main theme three buildings stand out from the quiet alleys through their distinct features: the freestanding 18^th century Baroque city hall looking down on its citizens, the city gate-tower with its defying manner towards Unkel and also Cologne, and the parish church, seemingly not worried over worldly issues.

Sanctified in honor of St. Severinus the church was initially built in a single-nave fashion in romanesque style. Later it was modified multiple times, unfortunately sometimes for the worst. When I asked Erpel's pastor to show me some of the church's treasures I noticed particularly a richly manufactured monstrance from the 16^th century and a missal, which carried a inscription from 1420 which was written by a rector Chrispian of Bruchhausen.

Erpel's market place during the summer 2001

Text: Dr. Otto Peters / City Archives Bonn 41/23 c (Excerpt)

I would like to thank researcher Willi Christmann († 2004), who provided access to this information.