altitude approx. 300 - 370 m above sea level
Menzel is still today a mainly agricultural district of Rüthen. Traditional customs, active club life and an intact village community characterize the village.
Public facilities: Schützenhalle, sports field.
Private facilities: baroque estate from the year 1750.
The oldest documentary mention of the village name, which means "settlement in the forest" according to Old High German, dates back to 1221, when the monastery of Böddecken names Herboldus de Meltelen as a witness. The main medieval farm of the village, which is still recognizable in the Menzel house, is listed in the inventory of the Marshal's Office of Westfalen as early as 1293 to 1300. Over the centuries it was owned as a feudal estate by numerous noble families, most recently the Counts of Bocholtz-Alme, and came into the possession of the Schulte-Hötte family in 1908. The coat of arms of Menzel, which was introduced in 1992, shows the old heraldic motif of the Lords of Stoter, who were the first noble family known by name to hold the Menzel main farm in the form of a Rüthen castle fief in the 14th century. In 1750 Moritz Anton Freiherr von der Lippe zu Vinsebeck und Droste zu Beverungen built the baroque manor house that still exists there as a country residence together with the farm buildings built at the same time.
For centuries, Menzel was a branch or chapel parish of the Altenrüthen parish, which was served by the monks there on Sundays and holidays until the dissolution of the Rüthen Capuchin monastery in 1803; since 1860, Menzel has had its own clergyman. The Catholic church St. Johannes Ev. is attested since 1519.
Further information at: https://www.unser-menzel.de/