History of the church and the area (see also Wikipedia):
Probably the first documentary mention as Eipe (also Eype) dates from 1268. The Romanesque fortified church, a three-aisled basilica with a chancel covered by a groin vault and remains of the Motte Broichhausen, a medieval fortress, has been preserved from the same period. Below Kircheibs near Vierwinds the old county of Sayn-Altenkirchen bordered the Duchy of Berg and the Electorate of Cologne. The four winds limit point was identified by the "Dreiherrenstein", which was rebuilt a few years ago. In earlier times three Landwehr met here, the Bergische, the Koln and the Sayniche; The old military forces that used to reach the fortified church still bear witness to this. The Saynic Landwehr moved over the Eyper Heide in the heights of Bleckhausen via Neuenhof to the Mehrbachtal. Extensive remains of late medieval ramparts in the area of the so-called Kircheiber Heide (nature reserve) on the border with North Rhine-Westphalia (in the Lindscheider grove on today's district boundary) complete the historical features of the place on a watershed between Sieg and Wied.