Wiehl (German pronunciation: [viːl] (listen)) is a municipality in the Oberbergischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located approximately 41 km east of Cologne. The neighbouring municipalities Reichshof, Waldbröl, Nümbrecht, Much, Engelskirchen and Gummersbach border on the town. Between the highway and Wiehl lies the biggest Wiehl industrial area, covering about 81 ha: Wiehl-Bomig. The river of the same name, Wiehl, flows by the town in an east–west direction. Wiehl is first recorded in 1131 under the name of Wila. On the 1575 Mercator map it is shown as Wiell. Wiehl was eventually allocated in the 1604 Treaty of Siegburg to the Barony of Homburg and was subordinated with it to the House of Sayn-Wittgenstein. In 1815, the Congress of Vienna assigned the little Homburg territory, which practically only consisted of the municipalities of Wiehl and Nümbrecht, to Prussia. At that time, Wiehl was still an agriculturally oriented settlement with a village character. Those in the population who could not earn a living from the land had to serve as migratory labour. Not until the second half of the 19th century were the conditions created for a significant increase in population. In 1860, the water power of the River Wiehl was first utilised by the Ohler Hammer Mill; in 1895, the river was used to generate electricity; the place was connected to the railway network in 1897 and the BPW Bergische Achsen factory was founded in 1898. The Nazi era left Wiehl a new town hall (today called the "Old Town Hall"). After the Second World War Wiehl integrated the influx of refugees who had been bombed out or expelled. In the municipal reorganisation in 1969, it was combined with Bielstein and Drabenderhöhe and, in 1971, 840 years after its first record, it was granted town rights. Since that time it has grown steadily, partly through the arrival of immigrants and through policies encouraging the growth of industry. More information...
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