The first documentary mention of the place was in 1417 " in a sales document is called Heydenreich of our dear Mrs. Knecht on the Mergenheyde ". The manner of writing of the first naming was: Mergenheyde. On the altar lights of the old pilgrimage church a signed coat of arms of 1601 which carries the name "Mergenheyd" is to be seen. An old brochure of the Catholic vicarage Marienheide states: " The origin of the mercy place Marienheide dates back to 1420 and to one particular man. " This person, a simple man called Heinrich, lived as a hermit in a hit rock hiding place in the " Bockelsburger Wood ", near the present-day railroad line. The hermit apparently lived from agriculture. Another chronicle, not described further, is stated as a source, and thus one says further that " the mother of God appeared to this keen Heinrich in the form of a small picture and ordered to him to proceed to Cologne to purchase a similar little picture for thirty pieces of silver. " With this the foundation for the place of pilgrimage was laid. Hermit Heinrich has been found with Count Gerhard of the Mark, the sovereign at that time, support, so that Pope Martin V as well as the preacher's order interested. Thus was built "in the wilderness" the first little church and, a little way away, the Dominican order's cloister.
Transport
The transport connections to the national road system is good. A 15-km connecting highway to Meinerzhagen from the AutobahnA45 takes about 15 minutes. The connection via Wiehl/Gummersbach from the A4 is about 17 km long and takes about 20 minutes. The town is crossed by the B 256. There consist the following bus lines:
Line 336 after Gummersbach or about Wipperfürth after Remscheid - Lennep
Line 320 after to Meinerzhagen
Line 308 after Engelskirchen - Lindlar
High-speed bus line 36 about Wipperfürth after Remscheid- Lennep
Marienheide is traversed by the Hagen–Dieringhausen railway. The RB 25 Regionalbahn service Oberbergische Bahn runs every hour via Gummersbach, Engelskirchen, Overath to Cologne. Work has been completed for the connection to Lüdenscheid. Service commenced in December 2017 and was improved to an hourly schedule by December 2019.
Places of interest
Brucher dam
Lingese dam
The hamlet Müllenbach stands one of the so-called "colored churches", a church with medieval cover paintings.
Historical house Dahl, branch station of the museum of the Oberbergischer Kreis.
The spring of the river Wipper is located in the hamlet Börlinghausen.
The pilgrimage church Saint Mariä Heimsuchung is located in the central part of Marienheide. It is an interesting sight and the destination of an annual pilgrimage at the beginning of July.
The Polish town Biala has been the twin town of Marienheide since 1993. Biala is primarily rural and has in possibly also many inhabitants like Marienheide.
Further sources of information
Literature
Hermann de Buhr / Martin Wittenberg / Volkmar Wittmütz: Chronik Marienheide, Gummersbach 1986
Werner Knabe / Friedhelm König / Werner Kühr: Marienheide - ein Blick in die Vergangenheit, Gummersbach 1984
