Kirchhundem

Kirchhundem is a German community in North Rhine-Westphalia. It belongs to the Olpe district. The community of Kirchhundem lies in the Olpe district's southeast in the south Sauerland and belongs to the so-called Bilsteiner Bergland (mountain region). The Kirchhundem rural areas also include, in the east, the West (Rüsper) Rothaar and part of the Auer Ederbergland, in the south the Brachthäuser Hohe Waldberge (all mountain ranges), in the west the Rahrbacher Mulde (basin) and in the north the Hundemgrund. The crest of the Rothaar forms a watershed between the Rhine and the Sieg. The community's highest elevation can be found here, the Hohe Hessel at 743 m. The Kirchhundem area is drained by the Hundem, which rises near Oberhundem and flows northwest to the Lenne. The Hundem is fed from the south by the Heinsberger Bach – also known as the Albaumer Bach (Bach is German for "brook") – whose mouth is near Würdinghausen, the brook variously known as the Brachthauser-, Wirmer- or Flaperbach and the Olpe, whose mouth is in Kirchhundem. The Silberger Bach empties into the Olpe near Heidschott. The Rüspe area east of the Rothaar crest is drained by streams flowing to the Eder. Kirchhundem is roughly 20 km east of Olpe and 25 km north of Siegen. Kirchhundem, with an area of 147.9 km2, is the Olpe district's biggest municipality by land area. It stretches for 12 km from north to south and 22 km from east to west. The community of Kirchhundem lies in the east of the district area. It borders in the west and north on the towns of Olpe and Lennestadt and in the far northeast on the town of Schmallenberg in the Hochsauerlandkreis. In the east and south, the towns of Bad Berleburg, Erndtebrück, Hilchenbach and Kreuztal, all lying in Siegen-Wittgenstein district, also abut Kirchhundem. The community's southern limit with the neighbouring district of Siegen-Wittgenstein has more than one function: in the east, it is the watershed between the Rhine and Weser and in the west between the Sieg and Ruhr.