Holzweiler combines a distinctive architectural heritage with a rural setting shaped by agriculture. The listed Church of St. Cosmas and Damian, the historic village centre with its market square, brick farmsteads and older houses are different elements of the village’s character. Holzweiler is also considered an important cultural landscape area in the open Rhenish loess plain along the Holzweiler Fließ stream. Fields, historic farmsteads and partly preserved paths extend the view beyond individual buildings. The village can therefore be understood both through its architectural history and through the relationship between settlement and agricultural landscape.

The church and its layered architectural history

The Church of St. Cosmas and Damian is a three-aisled Neo-Gothic brick basilica, built between 1857 and 1859. Its tower dates from 1914 to 1923. These dates mark different stages in the building’s history: the church was built in the 19th century, and the tower was added later, in the 20th century. Remnants of older furnishings and gravestones from the former cemetery around the church are part of the historic heritage. The different building phases and older traces around the church should be considered separately when establishing the chronology.

Village, crafts and cultural landscape

The cultural landscape area includes the historic village centre with its market square and church, brick farmsteads, and houses dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. Field monuments, the surrounding agricultural landscape with historic farmsteads, and partly preserved historic paths complete the picture. Alongside the basilica and its later-built tower, the houses and farmsteads broaden the view to include further architectural and landscape layers. The village can thus also be understood through the relationship between its settlement pattern and its agriculturally shaped surroundings.

The local name “Ropemakers’ Village” refers to the several rope-making workshops that once operated in Holzweiler; many residents used to make ropes. Alongside architectural and agricultural history, this brings another traditional craft and livelihood into focus as part of the local identity. Holzweiler’s listed farmsteads include Roitzerhof, Eggerather Hof and Weyerhof. Rope-making represents a craft shaped by several workshops and many working residents; the farmsteads reflect another architectural aspect of rural history.

Erkelenz as a wider travel destination

The wider travel destination of Erkelenz also has its own historical and cultural character. The approximately 24-kilometre “Route against Forgetting” cycling route passes twelve stops in the town. It provides information about Nazi crimes, the dictatorship’s influence on society and the resistance. The Old Town Hall defines Erkelenz’s medieval townscape; the late Gothic building was constructed in 1546.

For seasonal cultural planning in Erkelenz, there is also the permanent exhibition in the manor house at Haus Hohenbusch. It can be visited from March to October on Saturdays from 2 to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 6 p.m. Check the opening hours before travelling. The five-day Lambertusmarkt takes place every year in the centre of Erkelenz, starting on Corpus Christi; the exact dates vary from year to year.

Discover more destinations: Selfkant, Hückelhoven, Erkelenz, Bocket, Tüddern, Wassenberg, Übach-Palenberg, Gangelt

To the wider travel overview: Heinsberg.