Schophoven und die Rur
The word part ‘Scop’, ‘Schop’, is interpreted as ‘shed’. In the local dialect, this very day a shed is still called a ‘Schopp’. Another view guess, the name Schophoven may have originated from ‘Schafshof’. Centuries ago, there were large flocks of sheep near Schophoven on approximately 200 acres of pasture and pastureland in the wet Rura floodplain. Therefore, it is conceivable, but not proven, that a farm near a sheepfold gave Schophoven its name in the High Middle Ages.
The Rur originally flowed naturally and freely through a wide floodplain here near Schophoven. During floods, the river frequently changed its course and new side arms and sandbanks were created time and again.
Fords, blue circles Wooden bridge and mill pond, red circle
From Schophoven and Haus Müllenark, fords (marked F) led through the Rur towards Altenburg, Selgersdorf and Krauthausen. The wooden bridge over the Rur to the north of Schophoven and the footbridge over the mill pond (arrow) were the only way to get from Schophoven to Selgersdorf and Altenburg on foot or by bike.
Approximately 1893 a wooden footbridge was built at Müllenark estate to make it easier to cultivate the land to the east of the Rur. On 23 February 1945, a major Allied attack began to cross the Rur, focusing between Jülich and Düren, with the main direction of attack near Schophoven. Four infantry and two armoured divisions of the 9th US Army led the attack.
On the German side, they were opposed by the same units that had already held the positions in November and December 1944 and had long since been very exhausted. The Americans had already formed a bridgehead near Altenburg-Schophoven-Krauthausen on 25 February. After fierce fighting, this section of the ‘Rurfront’ was thus also overcome.
In the first post-war period, resourceful people from Schophoven found a way to cross the Rur to Altenburg and Selgersdorf: However, the ‘fetch-over-route’ with a barge knew neither a binding timetable nor a constant readiness to travel. So, it could happen that ‘passengers’ had to wait a while for the ferryman.
The wooden travelling bridge at Müllenark was quickly rebuilt. But as early as January 1951, the strong current of a violent flood swept the bridge away. By the end of 1951, the bridge was standing again.
Between 1960 and 1963, the Rur between Schophoven and Altenburg was straightened, pond courses were altered, and dams were constructed. The riverbed was regulated in connection with the raising of the Rur dam at Schwammenauel. At Müllenark, a fixed single-lane road bridge replaced the previous wooden bridge.
The wooden footbridge near Schophoven, which had been replaced after the war, was replaced by a fixed pedestrian bridge. It crosses the Rur to Selgersdorf about 250 metres north of this location.