DEUTSCHLAND	GERMANY
Bundesland: Nordrhein-Westfalen	North Rhine-Westphalia
Regierungsbezirk: Arnsberg
Kreis: Märkischer Kreis

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Meinerzhagen is situated at an elevation of 400 m in the western part of the Sauerland region, about 10 km south of Lüdenscheid, the administrative seat of the district Märkischer Kreis, about 44 km southwest of the seat of the administrative governmental district, Arnsberg, and about 62 km southeast of Düsseldorf, the capital of Germany's state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The municipality has a populatin of about 20,800 (2022).

The oldest written mention of Meinerzhagen is dated to 1067, but likely was written some 100 years later. The Reformation was introduced here in 1567. In 1765 Meinerzhagen received city rights. In 1846 the Amt (district) Meinerzhagen was formed, covering both Meinerzhagen and the municipality of Valbert. In 1865 the town lost its city rights. In the second half of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century, the part of the Sauerland region that belonged to the county of Mark was an important centre of early industrial development. The Iserlohn–Lüdenscheid–Altena area was one of the largest mining centres in the world at the time. The completion of the Bergisch-Märkische railway network in the late 19th century favoured the industrial development. In 1964, Meinerzhagen received city rights again. In the communal reform of 1969, Meinerzhagen was merged with Valbert within the district Lüdenscheid and the Amt Meinerzhagen was dissolved. In 1975, the district Lüdenscheid was finally merged with the district and the city of Iserlohn to become the new district Märkischer Kreis.

The Jesus-Christus-Kirche [left, no. 4599: background right, barely visible] was built around 1220 as a Romanesque pillar basilica with galleries and was extended in the 15th century by the addition of a Gothic-style transept. Structural changes in modern times were largely reversed in several phases of renovation. In the Middle Ages the church served as a pilgrimage church. Since the Reformation it has been a Protestant parish church and subsequently was simply referred to as the Alte Kirche ('old church'). In 1967 it was given its current name, Jesus-Christus-Kirche.

[https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meinerzhagen, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meinerzhagen; https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kreis_L%C3%BCdenscheid; https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus-Christus-Kirche_(Meinerzhagen)]