Merlsheim

200 m over the sea level, about 400 inhabitants,  part of the city of Nieheim, lies near the river “Emmer”, surrounded by wooded mountains. As coat of arms our municipality has a blackbird. Therfore it’s often called  the blackbird village. (Merle = blackbird or throttle)
 

Local history

In a document of the Benediktiner monastery Marienmuenster on the occasion of a goods transmission on 24 February 1292 the councilman Johann von Merlhossen is mentioned as a witness. Here the name Merlhossen appears documentary for the first time.

Occasionally the name of a family “von Merlhusen” is published until 1438. It had been a noble family, which did not live on the ancestral seat of Merlsheim any more.

The history of Merlsheim represents a piece of the history of the district of Hoexter. Also Schoenenberg and Nieheim are  a part of it. The beginning of Merlsheim, which was called Merlhossen,  Merlhusen and Merlsen in former times , gets lost in the darkness of history.

In the neighbourhood there were the episcopal main yards of Oeynhausen and Nieheim around the year 1000. The bishops of Paderborn  also were landlords of Merlsheim.

In the vear 1299 the rectory was separated into Poembsen and Nieheim. Since this time  Merlsheim belongs to the rectory of Poembsen. Thus Merlsheim and Schoenenberg  belonged ecclestically to the diocese of Paderborn around the year 1300. In the year 1331 the bishop possessed three dairy-farms in Merlsheim. Around 1390 the family “von Oeynhausen” is feed here  with landed property.

During the hereditary sharing around the year 1420 Sievert from Oeynhausen received the village with all rights and obligations and with all accessories. At the same time he took over the obligation:

   „eine Festung und Borch bei das Dorf zu errichten“    (literal excessive quantity)

In this time the oldest castle was built. In 16th Century this castle was extended to the south, the east and the west in the style of the “Weser Renaissance”. The castle, which was surrounded with a double ditch, changed the owner for several times. The outside ditch is only partially conditioned  but with the help of old maps and illustrations it is still traceable.

IIn the year 1517 the Braunschweig knight Henrich of Rengershausen got the possession by hereditary.By marriage of his daughter with member  of family of Oeynhausen the possession felt back as fee  to a branch of this family. This branch expires in the male family tree 1632.

The fee returned to the bishop, who used a steward, Anton Heinemann.

The Swedes occupied the Hochstift Paderborn in 1630, in Merlsheim there was combat, whereby the steward felt.

Henrich of Hoyqueslot, lieutenant of  King Gustaf Adolph of Sweden, married the sister Margarethe Elizabeth, widowed of Hake, the last member of Oeynhausen in Merlsheim, Burchard Hieronimus, and got  into the possession of the fee.

In 1652 Bishop Adolf von der Reck got a fee from the Domdechanten of Paderborn and Domherr Muenster, Kasper Philipp von Ketteler. When the last member of the family of Ketteler died,  Friedrich Christian von Oeynhausen from the house of Sudheim received the fee in 1783. He got into bankruptcy in 1810.

The following owners were: Gerhard von Heymann, General Lambert von Bock  and since1834 Georg Frankenberg (later mayor of Paderborner) and his brothers and sisters.

In the year 1845 the House of Merlsheim was rosed by auction from the Baron Josef von Hoevel of the House of Herbeck near Hagen. The estate became manor  by Kabinettsordre in 1857. 1893 died the purchasor of the manor of Merlsheim died, it followed His nephew August Baron von Hoevel followed him. The intended inheritance Franz baron von Hoevel died deadly wounded in the military hospital.in 1915. August Baron von Hoevel made his sister Eleonore, married  with the ride master Josef von und zur Muehlen in Muenster, to the heiress. He died in the year 1917.

Eleonore von und zur Muehlen moved with her family from Muenster to Merlsheim in 1920.

After her death in the year 1957 her oldest son Dr. jur. Martin Werner von und zur Muehlen became  owner of the manor. He died 1996. The current owner is his daughter Clarissa.

The history of Merlsheim was published by Studienassessor Dr. Meinersmann in the books of local history and geography of the district of Hoexter in the volume 1 of 1925 and volume 2 of 1927. Dr. Meinersmann was teacher in the House of Merlsheim from 1924 to 1926. As a valuable source he used the manuscript of Pyrach, who was active as a secretary in 1737 in the House of Merlsheim. His designs of the house and village of Merlsheim are of large importance, because plans and designs from earlier times are missing. In a design of him from the year 1737 the house and the village was called Merlsen. Merlsheim was represented with 16 and Schoenenberg with 8 houses.

At this time in Merlsheim lived: 7 Meier, 6 Half-Meier, 9 Koetter and 12 common or small Koetter. In the head treasure list of 1790 34 owners of house are named. In a copy of the district court of Nieheim- Steinheim from the year 1852  27 farmers, 16 owners of house or garden and 7 abutters without landed property are mentioned. In the Separationsrezess of 1858 53 house numbers are specified.

With regulation of the royally Prussian government to Minden of the 12th dec. 1817 for each municipality the application of a chronicle was arranged. In Merlsheim the chronicle was begun 1824 and is continued with some interruptions until today.

The Chronist of that time describes the village:

„The municipality of Merlsheim, enclosed by small mountains everywhere , lies roomy in a Tale. Some dwellings are still covered partly with straw.

Messuage in Merlsheim in the year 1824:

Manor of Merlsheim, 1 school building, 41 fire places with barns and cow-shedsn, 235 inhabitants