Evangelical Baroque Church Eckenhagen

This also destroyed 47 houses and the school building. After immediate reconstruction, the Protestant church was refurnished between 1781 and 1795. The Romanesque west tower dates from around 1167. It received its Baroque slate roof in 1795. The Romanesque nave was demolished in 1764 and—as mentioned above—rebuilt. The interior of the church was furnished in the late Baroque and Rococo styles, typical of the Bergisches Land region, with the altar, pulpit, and organ stacked one above the other. The Baroque style is characterized by its many rounded lines, vibrant colors, and diverse ornamentation. The Rococo style is recognizable by the roses, rosettes, and putti on the organ. The altar and pulpit date from 1781.
The organ was built by two organ builders, Johann Christian and Johann Gerhard Klein from Freckhausen, a small village in what is now the Reichshof area. It is the largest, still completely intact and playable Baroque organ in North Rhine-Westphalia. After the nave was rebuilt, the parish obtained a cost estimate in 1782. However, it took another ten years before they could raise the necessary 1.700 Reichstaler. The organ was presented to the parish on July 24, 1785. It consists of a main organ and a positive organ side by side, with a pedalboard behind them (32 stops). The instrument was spared from demolition after the Second World War because Eckenhagen, unlike its neighboring parishes, could not afford a new organ. The organ was restored between 1955 and 1959.
On the left wall behind the altar is a wooden memorial plaque for the "Beierer" (a local term for a group of people who have been involved in the procession). Each person is honored with a small bell bearing their name. The plaque was made in 1983 by Mr. H. Ulber from Sinspert. The tapestries on the church walls come from the Wagner handweaving workshop in Denklingen, where woven goods are produced according to old traditions. With its approximately 600 seats, the church is the largest Protestant village church in the Rhineland. It is a listed building. It is also worth mentioning that after the Reformation, introduced by Johann Lang in 1569, services of both denominations were held there.

The history of "Beiern".
Since 1764, the traditional carillon has rung on Christmas Eve (midnight to 1:00 a.m.), on Christmas morning (5:50 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.), and on New Year's Eve, for half an hour each in the old and new year. On Luther's birthday, and on church holidays such as Easter and Pentecost, the bell ringers ascend the tower, where, according to ancient tradition, they also ring for confirmations, silver and golden confirmation anniversaries, the harvest festival, and special church services. They attach a "gallows"—a short wooden plank—to the top of each of the two smaller bells, from which a rope leads to the clapper. Pulling the clapper in a prescribed sequence sets the bell in motion, not the bell itself. In Eckenhagen, the bell ringing is actually done with only two bells—weighing 18 and 12 hundredweight—while the large 32 hundredweight bell is electrically driven. The large clock is meant to symbolically represent the transience of time. It dates from 1795. The parish memorial plaque in the tower entrance dates from 1780.

The Protestant Baroque Church is one of the Open Protestant Churches. Organ concerts are held regularly. The spa and tourist information office offers guided tours and short concerts for groups upon request. You can find the church's daily opening hours at [website address missing]. https://evk-eckenhagen.de/kontakte/offene-kirche