together. If they went under and drowned, they were considered to be innocent. If they survived they were proven to be a witch and often burnt.) Castle Homburg is a historic site of witchcraft trials. In a trial on 14 September 1631, for example, six women were accused of being witches. Because they confessed, they were given mercy and beheaded instead of being burnt alive. Churches The 1000-year-old church next to the castle in Nümbrecht is one of the most interesting sacral buildings of the area: the tower was built in Romanesque style, the romanesque part of the interior features massive medieval pillars and reinforcing arches. The ribbed structure of the apses is typical of Gothic style. Flat vaults were added at the end of the 17th century. The top construction of the tower and the altar reflects Baroque architecture. The church "Bunte Kerke" in Marienberghausen features medieval wall paintings. The building was changed and reconstructed several times and thus lost its original appearance of a typical fortified church. The west tower is all that is left from the original 12th-century building. The late Gothic paintings in the interior are preserved however. The paintings had been painted over during the Protestant Reformation period and they surfaced when the organ was renovated in 1910. Only a couple of gothic wall paintings in the area are preserved to this day. Marienberghausen In both 1969 and 1991 Marienberghausen won the German federal competition "Unser Dorf soll schöner werden" ("Our village shall become more beautiful"). It is also the birthplace of the opera Hänsel und Gretel, composed here by Engelbert Humperdinck and also first performed here. Mail coach The "Oberbergische Postkutsche", a mail coach, runs between Nümbrecht and Wiehl every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from May to the end of October. It is a reproduction of the mail coach of the Imperial Post Office around 1871. Homburg Castle Health resort park Column well in the health resort park The column well fountain in the health resort park was created by sculptor Michael Schwarze. It was built for the horticultural show (Landesgartenschau) held in Nürmbrecht in 1974. The figures of the well symbolize the age-old will of humans to free themselves from obligations of life. The female figures are the symbols of beauty and fertility, the fists express force and assertiveness. The hand is an indication of understanding and work. The male leg stands for