Lindlar ( ) is a municipality in the Oberbergischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located about 30 km east of Cologne. Geography Lindlar is located between latitudes 50°58' and 51°5' N. and longitudes 7°15' and 7°28' E. The highest point at 361.8 ms is found near Oberlichtinghagen, the lowest at 110 ms near Oberbilstein. Neighbouring places Neighbouring towns are Gummersbach, Wipperfürth, Overath and Bergisch Gladbach, and the neighbouring municipalities are Engelskirchen, Marienheide and Kürten. Division of the municipality The municipality of Lindlar is made up of these main villages: Lindlar (local centre), Frielingsdorf, Linde, Hohkeppel, Schmitzhöhe, Hartegasse/Kapellensüng. The coat of arms of Lindlar The arms were granted on 6 August 1935. The arms show in the upper part the lion of the Counts of Berg and in the lower the balance as a symbol of justice. Lindlar had its own court in the County Berg. The arms are based on the old seal of the court and village of Lindlar. Twin town Lindlar is twinned with Shaftesbury Dorset England, and Kaštela in Croatia. History Settlement and first naming It is likely that the area around Lindlar was settled in the stone age. While there is no ultimate proof for that, neolithic artifacts were found near Kemmerich and Fenke. Until the Middle Ages the area was covered with virgin forests; it can therefore be assumed that only few people, such as hunters, settled there. The eldest available records mentioning Lindlar -then known as Lintlo- date back to the year 1109. But as an older document from the year 958 cites the transferral of the Kaldenkapellen -now Hohkeppel- church to the Severinsstift in Cologne and as the former was then provably subordinated to the parish church in Lindlar, this church must have already existed in that year or even up to a few decades earlier. Till 1815 The tower of the parish church of Lindlar was built in the 12th century and remains till today, although the tower's roof was built in the 18th century. A nave was lustrated in the year of 1500, and the present nave was built in 1826. The village of Lindlar was centred around the church. In the course of time more and more woods were stubed, both by the farmers and on order of the landlords. Centers of the expansion were the so-called "Fronhöfe" and the "Herrenhöfe". Here the farmers had to pay their