Neuenrade, Germany: Returning to my Mother's Hometown in the Sauerland

Neuenrade, Germany is a small, hilly town in the Sauerland region of North Rhine-Westphalia with a population of over 12,000. It’s about an hour and a half drive from Cologne and Dusseldorf and an hour drive from Wuppertal and Dortmund. It’s also where my mother grew up. I was fortunate enough to be able to go back with my mother and see where she spent her childhood.

Neuenrade, Germany

Having not been to Neuenrade in years, we took a walk around town to see what had changed. It’s easy to fall in love with the charming homes and their deeply sloped roofs, intricate lace curtains, flower boxes, and Tudor style. The smaller homes bring to mind fairytale dwarves or Lord of the Rings hobbits. Everything is extremely clean, from the streets to the Airbnb where we stayed. The now-Airbnb was built in 1732 and renovated in 1990.

We stopped by the school my mother attended, which was exactly as it had been when she was younger. We visited her childhood home and attended Christmas Day service at the Lutheran church she went to as a child. She said the church appeared exactly the same, including the detailed woodwork and upper balcony where she and her friends got into trouble during services.

Apart from the addition of more homes and relatively new Turkish residents, Neuenrade was pretty much unchanged.

Brick schoolhouse building in Neuenrade Germany — My mother’s old school

Apartment building on large grass field in Neuenrade Germany — My mother’s old school

Altena and Altena Castle

We also visited the neighboring town of Altena, which is known for Burg Altena, a 12th-century medieval hilltop castle and home of the world’s first youth hostel. We took a few hours to walk through the castle and see the exhibits inside. There’s a great panoramic view of the town from the castle’s rear courtyard.

Old castle and sign for the world's first youth hostel in Altena Germany

Tudor design and bridge in Altena Germany

After the castle, we took a stroll through the town itself. Like Neuenrade, Altena has plenty of cute, very old homes that look like they came straight out of a fairytale. These small towns may not be on your must-see list, but they show a part of German life and history you can’t get from a big city.