Hellefeld - St. Martinus

Saint Ludger founded the Werden Abbey (100km west) in 799 and already in 886 Hellefeld is listed being a property of the abbey. Later it belonged to a monastery in nearby Meschede. The parish had an own pastor already in 1179. The connection to the Werden Abbey may give a hint, that Hellefeld was an important place, when, with the strong support of Charlemagne, Saint Ludger and his collegues preached the gospel to the pagan tribes in the mountainous Sauerland.

When during the 19th century the population of Hellefeld grew, the old romanesque basilica, placed centrally on a little hill, was too small for the many parishioners, so the church got demolished and replace by the new neo-gothic church, seen here. Only some drawings of the romanesque basilica still exist, and the tower from 1134. It was so dark inside the fortified tower, that a wide window has been cut into the thick walls, so that it can be used as a baptisterium, as (just like in Stockum) here is a very interesting and very old baptismal font.