The beginnings of the Reformation here go back to the failed attempt at reformation in 1542/43 by the Archbishop of Cologne, Hermann V von Wied, who sought advice from the reformers Bucer and Melanchthon. According to an old tradition, Oberwinter became Calvinist in 1549. At that time, the "Herrlichkeit Oberwinter" was owned half by the Quadts zu Landskron and half by the Counts of Manderscheid. From 1559, their overlords were the Electors of the Palatinate and the Duke of Jülich respectively. After converting to Calvinism in 1561, Elector Friedrich III, the Pious, to whom the Heidelberg Catechism (1563) and a new church order (1564) go back, became overlord of Oberwinter. However, in 1567 he ceded his share of the lordship of Oberwinter to the Duke of Jülich. the rights and privileges of the Lords of Quadt, including religious freedom, were nevertheless confirmed to them. Thus the small Reformed community of Oberwinter was able to continue to develop under the patronage of the von Quadts in the farthest corner of the Jülich-Kleve-Berg dominion complex. As a result of the dynastic successions, a Catholic priest was again appointed in Oberwinter and the estates of the Protestant community were confiscated. Even before the 30 Years' War, which began in 1618, there were military threats and the Protestants were often tolerated at best. The turmoil of war led to quarrels between the two faith communities. But the community survived this time of oppression. . However, when Spanish troops occupied the town in the Jülich-Klev succession dispute, the churches fell victim to them. It was not until 1696 that religious freedom was finally established in Oberwinter and the Reformed received their church property back. Services were now held in the only remaining Catholic church, St. Laurentius, until the Protestant community also built its own church in 1721-1723. As a hall building, it is completely committed to the Reformed doctrine and its architecture, with no separation between the clergy and the people, as well as its strict formal language, completely follows the Reformed doctrine. And so today in Oberwinter you can experience the idea of the Reformation in stone, so to speak, when you visit the Protestant Church on site. The beginnings of Protestantism in Remagen can only be traced back to much later times. Witness statements from 1666 state that the Reformed citizens of Remagen had been allowed to celebrate their services in the town hall since 1609. Reformed citizens also regularly held municipal offices. Despite the expulsion of the preacher, the congregation survived the 30 Years' War and the subsequent oppressions. In 1684, the Protestant congregation set up its church and school in the Steinenhaus. From 1700 it also had its own preacher and broke away from the Oberwinter congregation. When the Rhineland came to Prussia, Remagen had a total of 1223 inhabitants in 1815: 1060 Catholics, 123 Reformed. 187