Heimathaus Verl

The Heimathaus Verl is a timber-framed hall house dating from about 1615. It stands on the Kirchring in the centre of Verl, a town in the Gütersloh district of North Rhine-Westphalia. Originally a smallholding, it later became a wayside inn called ‘In der Landkutschen’. In the 19th century the Schröder family ran a cigar and spirits business from the building. After decades of alteration and decay, the town and local heritage society restored it in the 1980s. The house is now owned by the Heimatverein Verl and used for cultural events. Its attic holds a permanent display on a thousand years of settlement in Verl. The upper floor contains a local-history library and space for temporary exhibitions. The ground floor shows rotating displays on the First and Second World Wars, a history of the Verler farms, and old trades of the region. Throughout the year the Heimatverein organises readings, concerts and art shows in the building. Visitors can walk through rooms that once housed a tavern and a small factory. The exhibits trace the growth of Verl from its medieval chapel to the modern town. Outside, the Kirchring keeps the house close to the place where Verl began.