Erkelenz

The title of this article is ambiguous. Further meanings are listed under Erkelenz (definition of terms ) .

coat of arms	Germany map
	Coordinates: 51 ° 5 ′  N , 6 ° 19 ′  E
Basic data
State :	North Rhine-Westphalia
Administrative region :	Cologne
Circle :	Heinsberg
Height :	92 m above sea level NHN
Area :	117.34 km 2
Residents:	43,206 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density :	368 inhabitants per km 2
Postal code :	41812
Primaries :	02431, 02164, 02432, 02435, 02433
License plate :	HS, ERK, GK
Community key :	05 3 70 004
City structure:	9 boroughs
City administration address :	Johannismarkt 17 41812 Erkelenz
Website :	www.erkelenz.de
Mayor :	Peter Jansen ( CDU )
Location of the city of Erkelenz in the Heinsberg district

Market square with the tower of the Lambertus Church

Erkelenz is a town in the Rhineland and is located around 15 kilometers southwest of Mönchengladbach on the northern edge of the Cologne Bay , halfway between the Lower Rhine and Lower Maas . It is a medium-sized district town and the largest in the Heinsberg district in North Rhine-Westphalia .

While the city looks back on more than 1000 years of history and tradition, the eastern parts of the city area have been demolished by the Garzweiler II open-cast lignite mine of RWE Power AG since 2006 until 2045 . Over five thousand people from ten localities therefore have to be relocated. The old villages of Pesch and Borschemich have been completely dismantled and Immerath for the most part (status December 2018). There were Immerath (new) at Kückhoven , Pesch on a street in Kückhoven and Borschemich (new) applied to the district Erkelenz North.

geography

landscape

The Erkelenzer Land near Lövenich

The landscape is characterized by the gently rolling to almost flat Jülich-Zülpicher Börde , whose fertile loess soil is mainly used for agriculture . The settlement and traffic area comprises 20 percent of the urban area, 75 percent is used for agriculture and only two percent is forested. The Wahnenbusch , the largest contiguous forest area, extends south of the city near Tenholt and covers 25 hectares. In the north begins the forest and water-rich landscape of the Schwalm - Nette -Platte, a part of the Lower Rhine lowlands . In the west, beyond the urban area, lies the Rurniederung 30 to 60 meters below . The transition is taken by the Baaler Riedelland . Streams have created a varied landscape of mountains and valleys here. In the east is the Niersquell area near Kuckum and Keyenberg. To the south the landscape rises to the Jackerather Loessschwelle. The lowest point is 70  m above sea level. NN (Niersgebiet in the northeast and near Ophover mill in the southwest) and the highest point 110  m above sea level. NN (city limits near Holzweiler / Immerath in the south).

climate

The climate is influenced by the Atlantic Gulf Stream in the transition between oceanic and continental climates. There are southwest winds and rainfall occurs in all seasons. The annual rainfall is about 710 mm, with August being the wettest month and September being the wettest month. Summers are warm and winters are mild. In July the mean temperature is 19 ° C, in January 3 ° C. The duration of the cold period with a temperature minimum below 0 ° C is a long-term average of 50 days, the number of summer days with temperatures above 25 ° C is 30 days, with an additional eight tropical days with daytime temperatures of more than 30 ° C and Night temperatures can exceed 20 ° C and thunderstorms can be expected on a total of 20 days. The spring , which is measured by the flowering of cherry, apple, pear, absorbs between 29 April and 5. May. The mid-summer , which begins with the harvest of the Winterroggens begins between the 10th and 16th of July.

Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Erkelenz Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Temperature ( ° C ) 2.9 3.6 6.6 10.2 14.1 18.1 19.7 18.9 15.6 11.2 7.6 3.7 O 11.1 Precipitation ( mm ) 50.3 60.2 45.9 46.4 68.4 61.3 71.4 83.9 33.9 68.7 59.0 60.3 Σ 709.7 Source: Weather station Erkelenz, station data 2002 to 2006

geology

The Erkelenzer Börde is the northern branch of the Jülich Börde and is formed from a loess plate that has an average thickness of over eleven meters. Underneath are the gravel and sands of the Ice Age main terrace, deposited by the Rhine and Maas . Embedded in the loess are lentils made of marl , some of which were mined underground until well into the 20th century for lime extraction by creating shafts and tunnels. In the Tertiary the Erkelenzer Horst formed along fault lines . The Venloer Scholle runs east of the Horst, the Rurscholle to the west, and the Erftscholle and the Jackerather Horst to the south . A smaller section of the Horst is occupied by the Wassenberger Horst. Mighty brown coal seams from the Tertiary and hard coal seams from the Carboniferous are in the subsurface. The Erkelenzer Horst belongs to the Cologne Bay earthquake area .

Urban area

Eastern districts that are to give way to the Garzweiler II opencast mine

View from the castle tower to the city center

The urban area has an extension of 20 kilometers from east to west and eleven kilometers from north to south. It borders on the following municipalities: City of Wegberg (8 kilometers north, district of Heinsberg ), independent city of Mönchengladbach (15 kilometers to the northeast), city of Jüchen (14 kilometers to the east, Rhine district of Neuss ), municipality of Titz (twelve kilometers to the south-east, district of Düren ), City of Linnich (eleven kilometers southwest, Düren district), City of Hückelhoven (seven kilometers west, Heinsberg district), Wassenberg (eleven kilometers northwest, Heinsberg district). The city boundary to the cities of Mönchengladbach and Jüchen is also the border between the administrative districts of Cologne and Düsseldorf .

According to the main statute, the city of Erkelenz is divided into the following nine districts with a total of 46 villages and hamlets (residents: as of June 30, 2017):

• District 1: Erkelenz with the incorporated places Oestrich and Buscherhof as well as Borschemich , Borschemich (new) , Bellinghoven and Oerath , a total of 20,556 inhabitants
• District 2: Gerderath with Fronderath , Gerderhahn , Moorheide and Vossem , a total of 5198 inhabitants
• District 3: Schwanenberg with Geneiken , Genfeld , Genhof , Grambusch and Lentholt , a total of 2291 inhabitants
• District 4: Golkrath with Houverath , Houverather Heide , Hoven and Matzerath , a total of 2061 inhabitants
• District 5: Granterath and Hetzerath with Commerden , Genehen , Scheidt and Tenholt , a total of 3409 inhabitants
• District 6: Lövenich with Katzem and Kleinbouslar , a total of 4120 inhabitants
• District 7: Kückhoven , a total of 2322 inhabitants
• District 8: Keyenberg and Venrath with Berverath , Etgenbusch , Kaulhausen , Kuckum , Mennekrath , Neuhaus , Oberwestrich , Terheeg , Unterwestrich and Wockerath , a total of 3884 inhabitants
• District 9: Holzweiler and Immerath (new) with Lützerath and Pesch (demolished in 2010), a total of 2245 inhabitants

history

Jupiter Column ( Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn )

Prehistory and early history

There are finds of flint sites from the older to younger Stone Age from all of today's urban area . At Gut Haberg , located north of Lövenich, there is an important supraregional site. A wooden well was discovered near Kückhoven in 1990 , which belonged to a settlement of the band ceramicists and was built around 5100 BC. Chr. Was built. This makes it one of the oldest wooden structures in the world. To the north of the old location of Erkelenz, on today's Marienweg, there were three cremation graves , and to the northwest to the south there were numerous ruins. Roman bricks , hypocaust bricks and broken glass come from the market south of the town hall . Here in the southwest corner and east of the choir of the Catholic church were encountered enclosed with fieldstone urn from the early Frankish period from 300 to 500 n. Chr. In the south and south-east edge of the market were also found spherical pots in the style of Badorfer pottery from the Carolingian period . In 1906 a Roman Jupiter column from the beginning of the 3rd century AD was discovered in Kleinbouslar . The Erkelenz chronicler Mathias Baux wrote in the 16th century that “The bushes have been cleared in middelen tiden and the soil has been made fertile, so dat uth the rouwer wilderness a grain-rich gelends and overall a funny paradise woirden is. ” From the point of view of Mathias Baux, the middle times were the 8th century, which coincides with the emergence of the Carolingian Empire. Under today's Catholic parish church there were Franconian and medieval graves without gifts as well as fragments of Badorf pottery and Roman bricks.

Place names

There are various theories on this. An Erka was portrayed by Mathias Baux in his late medieval city chronicle, as the mythological founder and thus as the namesake of Erkelenz. Research on place names, however, mainly assigns Erkelenz to the group of Gallo-Roman (i) acum place names. According to this, the name of the place named herclinze for the first time in 966 AD in a document sealed by Otto the Great derives from fundus herculentiacus : herculent estate (estate of Herculentius). The neuter Herculentiacum developed from the originally adjectival character of the personal name . A settlement continuity from the Romans to the Frankish period cannot be proven. Therefore it is also argued that the name is not of Roman, but of Old High German origin, in which the word linta = linden tree is found. In 1118 AD the place then appeared as Erkelenze .

"Herkelens" around 1560, the J. v. Deventers shows the largely preserved street layout of the city center with the city fortifications, town hall and church

Coat of arms of the city of Erkelenz from the chronicle of Mathias Baux, 1562

Manorial rule

On January 17, 966 which received Marienstift to Aachen by exchange with the Lorraine Counts Realty, among others, to the Mühlgau in the county of Eremfred located village Erkelenz and the neighboring Oestrich. Emperor Otto the Great confirmed this exchange in the aforementioned document at a court day in Aachen. The monastery was now the owner of the entire land in Erkelenz and the surrounding villages with the special feature that the sovereignty was exercised by the counts. Later the goods within the monastery were divided between provost and chapter . The farms were not farmed themselves, but leased . It was not until 1803, the pen lost that property rights, as France , the secularization carried out in the Rhineland.

City law

Erkelenz was in 1326 by Count Rainald II. Of funds , the town charter preserved, so it is in the city chronicle of Mathias Baux read. However, there is no certificate of city charter, which is why, instead of a fixed date, a long-term city development process is assumed, which is said to have dragged on until the middle of the 14th century. However, this contradicts the fact that a jury's seal is already mentioned for the year 1331 , and Erkelenz also appears on December 1, 1343 at the Geldrischen city council. In 1359, Erkelenz was named in a document as the Geldrian city and included the Geldrian lion and the Geldrian rose in the seal and coat of arms .

Sovereignty

Since the end of the 11th century, Gerhard III. Wassenberg , which is identical to Gerhard I. of funds, the counts of money the state domination inherent in Erkelenz. They were bailiffs appointed by the Reich and exercised jurisdiction, market protection and military sovereignty. Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian raised Geldern in 1339 under Rainald II to a duchy , which was divided into four quarters. Erkelenz and its surrounding villages belonged to the upper district of Geldern with the capital Roermond and was an exclave of Geldern in the Duchy of Jülich . Together with the other villages Wegberg, Krüchten and Brempt, which are not isolated, it formed the Erkelenz office, headed by the bailiff (Drossard). The office was administered in personal union by the drosten of the office Krickenbeck , his deputy in Erkelenz was a Vogt .

The urban constitution and administrative form corresponded to that of the other Geldrischen cities. Seven lay judges, who, like the mayors, had to be wealthy in town or country, and ten common council members put up two candidates for town mayor and two candidates for country mayor for a term of office of one year, but they were only chosen by lay judges, which thus actually carried out the politics in the city, while the council only fulfilled representative tasks.

Geldrische Landesburg from 1349

In trouble

Soon after the elevation of the city, the brick fortification of the city began, which probably already had a lighter wall, as it had been used since time immemorial to protect the settlements and which began in the 11th century. Although the castle was first mentioned in a document in 1349, the city seems to have developed from the protection of the castle with the Pangel running in the immediate vicinity as the oldest street mentioned (“in deme Pandale”, 1398). The nearby St. John's market is also called “alder mart” (1420) and the more distant, today only market , “niewer mart” (1480). In addition, the castle was evidently included in the subsequently built city ​​walls , so that it should have been present when the city charter was granted in 1326. It is also hardly to be assumed that an unfortified place was elevated to a city. Ultimately, in 1355, the first and strongest building was the Brückor (Brückstraße), located on the Cologne Heerbahn, which comes from Roermond in Erkelenz via Theodor-Körner-Straße, Mühlenstraße and Wockerath to Cologne, not far from the castle.

In a feud of Edward von Geldern , who was a son of Duke Rainald II and an opponent of his older brother Rainald III. was, conquered Count Engelbert III. von der Mark in 1371 the insufficiently fortified city and partially destroyed it. The childless Eduard fell in the same year on the battlefield of Baesweiler in a fight on the side of his brother-in-law, Duke Wilhelm II of Jülich , against Duke Wenzel I of Brabant . When his brother Rainald III. died without descendants, new armed conflicts developed over and over again over the inheritance and possessions of the Duchy of Geldern , from which Erkelenz, as a Geldrian exclave in Jülich Land, suffered particularly through the burden of war, billeting, robbery and looting.

In accordance with the strategic needs of the respective sovereigns, the construction of the Erkelenz fortifications was advanced. In 1416, under Rainald IV von Geldern, the Maartor (Aachener Strasse) opposite the Brückor gate on the other side of the city was built, which was directed towards Jülich, south of the city. In 1423 the Duchy of Geldern and with it the city of Erkelenz fell to Arnold von Egmond , and in 1425 to Adolf von Jülich-Berg . After his nephew and successor, Gerhard II von Jülich-Berg , had defeated Arnold von Egmond in the Hubertus Battle near Linnich , the Oerather Tor (Roermonder Strasse), which was directed against Roermond, was completed in 1454. Despite ongoing extensive work on the fortifications, the city was able to afford to start building a new, still preserved church tower in 1458, after the tower of the old Romanesque church had collapsed the year before.

In 1473, the city came to Charles the Bold of Burgundy, who personally received the homage of the citizens in Erkelenz on his campaigns against Lorraine in 1476 . In 1481 the city fell to Maximilian I of Austria, in 1492 to Arnold von Egmond's son, Karl von Egmond , who also met personally in Erkelenz in the same year. At that time, the Erkelenz fortress was already so strong that Maximilian I instructed his dukes of Jülich and Kleve , who were allies of him against Geldern, not to bombard the city, but to take it with the help of storm bridges. An army from Duke Wilhelm IV of Jülich , consisting of 3,000 foot servants with 1,000 horses, took Erkelenz in this way on August 21, 1498 - a city gate had been secretly opened. In 1500 the city fell back to Karl von Egmont, so that in 1514 the Bellinghovener Tor (Kölner Strasse) opposite the Oerather Tor was built, which closed a gap against Jülich. Fourteen fortified towers were set into the city wall with its four archways , and in the area in front of it was a double moat separated by a wall. It was considered impregnable.

In 1538, Geldern fell to Wilhelm von Jülich, Kleve and Berg . The great city fire of 1540 fell during this time, when a fire broke out in great summer heat on June 21 of the year, to which the city was almost completely destroyed, apart from a few houses at the Brückor and in Maarstrasse. Help came from the neighboring Guelders cities of Roermond and Venlo . Emperor Charles V, who in 1543 after taking Düren and Jülich on his train with a 30,000-strong army to Roermond personally stayed in Erkelenz, ended the wars of the Geldr Succession in the Peace of Venlo . The city came with the dissolved Duchy of Geldern to the Spanish House of Habsburg and became part of the Spanish Netherlands , the richest country in Europe at the time. As the inscription on a stone next to the entrance testifies, the town hall, which was destroyed in the town fire, was replaced by the structure that is still preserved today.

Geldrische exclave Erkelenz in the manuscript atlas of Christian Sgrothen , before 1573

Siege of Erkelenz in the Jülich-Klevian War of Succession in 1610

However, lasting peace did not return to the country, and epidemics struck the city several times. In 1580 it was almost depopulated by the plague. In 1607, during the Spanish-Dutch War , Dutch troops took the city and set it on fire. After Erkelenz had been besieged unsuccessfully in 1610 in the Jülich-Klevian War of Succession , in the Franco-Dutch War the army of the French King Ludwig XIV. Together with the troops of the Archbishop of Cologne was only able to attack the city on the evening of the fourth assault with cannons that had meanwhile been invented Captured May 9, 1674 when two of the four gates fell. That day it ceased to be a fortress. 400 deaths are said to have occurred among the attackers, six among the defenders. The conquerors forced the citizens to break through the walls and blew up the Bellinghovener and Oerath gates, both of which blocked their free passage into the Netherlands.

In the War of the Spanish Succession it was occupied by Prussian troops in 1702, who did not vacate it until 1713. In the Treaty of Utrecht in 1714 was Duke Johann Wilhelm of Jülich and Elector of the Palatinate Erkelenz, but which it paid homage only 1719th The city lost its centuries-old affiliation to the upper district of Geldern. From 1727 to 1754 the glory of Erkelenz was pledged to the Electoral Palatinate Privy Councilor Baron Johann Bernhard von Francken , who also stayed in the city for a while.

From 1794 to 1815 it belonged to France with the countries on the left bank of the Rhine and received a permanent French occupation force. Erkelenz first formed a municipality , from 1800 a Mairie (mayor's office) and since 1798 was the seat of the canton Erkelenz in the Arrondissement Crefeld, which was part of the Département de la Roer . In 1815 the King of Prussia became the new sovereign. In the years 1818/19 the dilapidated city wall and city gates were torn down. Instead of the city walls, today's four promenade streets were built, named after the respective cardinal points. From 1816 until the municipal reform in 1972, Erkelenz was the seat of the district of Erkelenz .

industrialization

Around 1825, Andreas Polke from Ratibor settled in the city and founded a pin factory . The neighboring Aachen area was the leader in this trade at the time. In 1841 Polke employed 73 workers in his factory , including 35 child workers under the age of 14; For the school-age among them he ran a factory school. Pins were manufactured in Erkelenz until around 1870. In 1852, Erkelenz was connected to the Aachen – Mönchengladbach railway line and, in addition to a station for passenger transport, was given a freight yard with shunting tracks , a drainage hill and a turntable . The increased volume of traffic to the Erkelenz train station made it necessary to expand the roads leading to the city from four directions to look like a lake, and in the decades that followed, buildings along today's Kölner Straße towards the train station took place beyond the medieval city limits.

In the 19th century, hand-weaving on looms existed mainly in the surrounding villages . The industrial era began in Erkelenz with the introduction of mechanical looms for cloth manufacture. Founded in 1854 and located on today's Parkweg in 1878, the Rockstoff factory I. B. Oellers, a mechanical weaving mill , in which 120 workers and 20 commercial clerks were employed at times. The mechanical plush weaving mill Karl Müller (corner of Kölner Straße - Heinrich Jansen Weg) had existed since 1872, employing another 400 hand weavers for the main business in Erkelenz in Erkelenz and in Bergisch and in the Rhön region. In 1897 the Halcour textile factory was established on Neusser Strasse, and in 1911 it had 67 male and 22 female members in its own health insurance company.

Historic facades of Kaiserstrasse (Theodor-Körner-Strasse) and the water tower, 1907

The real step into the industrial age took place in 1897 when the industrial pioneer Anton Raky relocated the headquarters of the International Drilling Company he founded to Erkelenz, known locally as Bohr . The favorable rail connection to the Ruhr area and the Aachen area was decisive for the location . In the years that followed, industrial workers and engineers moved to Erkelenz from outside, so that a housing shortage developed, which could only be alleviated by founding a non-profit building association. A new district was created between the city center and the railway line, popularly called Cairo (pronounced: Ka-i-ro) because of the strange-looking turrets on some houses . In 1909 the drilling company had 50 employees and 460 workers; in the war year 1916 it had 1,600 employees. When the city erected a bronze statue of Emperor Wilhelm I on the market on May 10, 1898, the work of the sculptor Arnold Künne , the monument was illuminated by arc lamps with electric light on the initiative of Raky . This marked the introduction of electricity in public spaces in Erkelenz . In the same year the first electric street lamps shone in Bahnhofstrasse (today Kölner Strasse) and the first house connections were laid.

House facades from the Wilhelminian style are evidence of the development at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. In the following two decades, the city built the waterworks with the water tower that can be seen from afar , the power plant , the slaughterhouse (architect Walter Frese ) and the bathing establishment on what is now Bernhard-Hahn-Straße . A large school building for the grammar school was built on the south promenade . The establishment of a grain distillery , a brewery , a malt house and a dairy served as new sales for agriculture. In 1910, Arnold Koepe built in the former weaving plush Karl Müller a mechanical workshop for the production of trams in mining . In 1916 Ferdinand Clasen took over the company and in 1920 founded the Erkelenzer Maschinenfabrik on Bernhard-Hahn-Straße from this company, which at times had 200 employees.

The world wars and the interwar period

During the First World War , the local economy also came to a standstill due to conscription, the reservation of rail traffic for troop transport and the transport of war material as well as the march of large troops through the city and the associated loads. To remedy the labor shortage, prisoners of war, mostly Russians, who were interned in a POW camp set up on the premises of the International Drilling Company in 1915, were mainly used in agriculture. In order to meet the needs of the war for metal, the citizens had to hand over their equipment and the churches had to hand over some of their bells for a small amount of compensation. The lost war cost 142 citizens of Erkelenz drafted for military service their lives, another 155 were wounded, some seriously.

After this war, which also brought the end of the German Empire , French occupation soldiers were stationed between 1918 and 1926 in Erkelenz 2000, until November 19, 1919, and Belgian occupation soldiers from December 1, 1919 . Barracks were built on Neusser and Tenholter Strasse as crew quarters and, in addition to confiscated quarters , apartments were built for the NCOs and officers on Freiheitsplatz, Graf-Reinald-Strasse and Glück-auf-Strasse.

Emergency money from the city of Erkelenz from 1921

Since at the beginning of the war gold and silver also had to be given away and the gold currency had been replaced by paper money, all goods became more expensive at barely affordable paper money prices despite the forced economy, so that the stock of paper money was finally exhausted and the local authorities were allowed to print their own paper money . In 1921 the city had paper bills printed as emergency money with individual values ​​of 50 and 75 pfennigs with a total value of 70,000 paper marks. This emergency money was partly put into circulation and redeemed again in 1922.

When the French and Belgians occupied the Ruhr area in January 1923 in order to transport coal and steel to their countries , the resistance later known as the Ruhrkampf also resulted in passive resistance in Erkelenz, in particular the railway workers, during which the Belgian secret police accompanied 14 men deported their families and, in some cases, exposed them to violence at night and in fog in unoccupied areas.

At the beginning of the occupation, France and Belgium had tried unsuccessfully to win the Rhineland over to join their countries, and they took the resistance that had flared up as an opportunity to try violence now. Separatist troops who had established themselves in various Rhenish cities by force of arms proclaimed the Rhenish Republic in Aachen . On October 21, 1923, such a troop also appeared in Erkelenz, hoisted the "Rhenish flag" at the town hall and the district office by force of arms under the protection of the Belgians and called on the municipal and state officials to now serve the Rhenish Republic. Officials and citizens refused, however, and took down the separatist flag the following day. To the great cheer of the population, the occupation troops withdrew a year later than foreseen by the Versailles Treaty on January 31, 1926. The bells of all churches rang in the midnight hour of liberation and this year Erkelenz also celebrated the 600-year award of his city rights.

After Hitler's so-called seizure of power on January 30, 1933 and after the Reichstag and local elections in March 1933, the National Socialists in Erkelenz, under the leadership of the NSDAP district leader Kurt Horst, first of all, like almost everywhere in the new municipal parliaments, rename streets and squares according to their size. Since April 1933 there was an Adolf-Hitler-Platz (Johannismarkt), a Hermann-Göring- Platz ( Martin-Luther- Platz) and a Horst-Wessel- Straße (Brückstraße) in Erkelenz . In May 1933 they drove the incumbent democratic mayor Ernst de Werth out of office under threat of “ protective custody ”, appointed Adolf Hitler as an honorary citizen and persecuted politically dissenters, trade unionists and clergy .

In July 1933, a so-called hereditary health court was set up at the Erkelenz district court, as at all district courts in the German Reich , whose task was the forced sterilization of physically and mentally handicapped people. From 1941 is later than was under Action T4 become known medical murders in the era of National Socialism systematic " destruction of life unworthy of life carried out", in which also the Nazareth House in Immerath was involved, and also as " asocial murdered" inferior "Designated Nationals" or were.

In April 1933, as everywhere in Germany, the NSDAP organized a boycott of Jewish businesses. During the November pogroms in 1938 (the so-called “Reichskristallnacht”), anti-Jewish acts of violence finally occurred. The synagogue on the west promenade was ransacked by SS and SA men in command , Jewish men arrested, and Jewish houses and shops in the city looted and demolished. In March / April 1941, Jews were evicted from their homes all over Germany and concentrated in so-called Jewish houses , where they were only allowed to take the bare minimum of their belongings . On April 1, 1941, the National Socialists also forced the Jews who remained in the city of Erkelenz to leave their apartments and take up quarters in the Spiess-Hof , a homestead in Hetzerath, from where they went to the extermination camps via the Izbica ghetto in 1942 were deported.

Towards the end of the Second World War , Erkelenz was gradually evacuated like many other places in the Aachen area with the advance of the Allies on the German western border in mid-September 1944. Long streams of refugees moved eastward across the Rhine, and some of the farmers' cattle were also driven away. At the same time, thousands of civilians, prisoners of war and forced laborers were brought into the area to dig anti- tank trenches, under the supervision of armed SA from Saxony, which carried out numerous attacks and looting. In the course of the Rur Front two kilometers west of the city, armored trenches were dug in half an arc around it , minefields were laid out and infantry positions were expanded with a widely branched system of trenches and a strong hedgehog position.

The first large carpet of bombs fell on the city on October 8, 1944. In the second bomb attack on December 6, 1944, 44 people died. Fighter- bombers were active during the day and often at night between the bombings . Since December 1944, the city was also within range of Allied shell fire . Another bomb attack on January 16, 1945 killed 31 people, 16 of them in a bunker on Anton-Raky-Allee. In the SS combat force, the command was passed from top to bottom and, like the local party functionaries who had burned their files in fire for days, sat down in good time. The fourth and heaviest air raid on the city, now almost deserted by civilians, took place on February 23, 1945. About 90 four-engine bombers approached it in two waves. The following buildings, which had survived the war by then, were destroyed: the churches, the town hall, the court, the bathing establishment, the hospital, the schools, the kindergarten and only the tower of the Catholic parish church remained badly damaged. Three days later, on February 26, 1945, the 406th and 407th Infantry Regiments of the 102nd Infantry Division of the 9th US Army captured the city and the surrounding villages as part of Operation Grenade . At the end of this war, Erkelenz was largely destroyed and counted 300 dead from bombs, 1,312 fallen and 974 wounded in the then Erkelenz district.

the post war period

When the Allied troops marched in, the residents of the surrounding villages had to leave their homes and were interned. The abandoned apartments and houses were looted. The food supply collapsed. Liberated former Soviet slave laborers armed themselves with war material lying around and made the area unsafe by attacking civilians. At the end of March 1945 there were about 25 residents in Erkelenz; In the city, which was gradually filling up with returning evacuees, everything was lacking.

At the beginning of June 1945, the British replaced the Americans. Some of the leading National Socialists among those returning could be arrested and brought to justice. So-called " Persilscheine " were in great demand. The majority of the insignificant National Socialists and followers were forced to perform clearing and clearing work in the city. But also the other citizens, especially farmers, who had a horse or ox and a cart left, were called in for manual and tension services and the youth were also called upon to volunteer to help rebuild the city. Most of the work was done in self-help and the administration, which was just reorganizing itself, only paid attention to compliance with the most essential building regulations.

The first general municipal elections took place on September 15, 1946. From 1947 on, ' CARE packages ' filled with groceries and other items from the USA reached the city. In addition to the returning locals, more and more displaced persons from the German eastern areas had to be taken in, so that in the 1950s a new district emerged with the 'flax field'. During this time, the city also grew in the fields between the Buscherhof , which was only accompanied by a few houses, and the Oerather Mühle with the 'Marienviertel' around a new large city quarter, the streets of which on both sides of the old Marienweg leading to the Marien's pilgrimage in Holtum almost all names from East German cities. It was not until 1956 and 1957 that the population welcomed the last returnees from war and captivity at the station in Erkelenz with great sympathy .

Erkelenz today

With the construction of a boys' grammar school on today's Schulring, the construction of a further district began in 1965/1966, which is now generally known as the school district. In addition to other smaller residential and commercial areas that have meanwhile been developed, a large district with its own elementary school has been growing on Oestricher Kamp since the 1990s and is closed off by the so-called Nordtangente (Düsseldorfer Straße). The Bauxhof residential area adjacent to the Schulring, which was initially built for the families of British soldiers stationed in Germany and later served as a temporary home for repatriates and asylum seekers after their departure , lost its last function in 2007. The residential complex with an original capacity of up to 1200 residents was dissolved in 2008 and partially demolished.

Erkelenz-Nord and pedestrian bridge over Düsseldorfer Straße (Nordtangente) to Borschemich (new)

The approval of the Garzweiler II opencast mine on March 31, 1995 presented the city with new challenges, as a large part of the city area was to be excavated. Citizens' protest from the affected districts gathered under the umbrella of the “United Initiatives” . Various lawsuits by the city of Erkelenz against the opencast mine in the years 1997 to 2001 before the Administrative Court of Aachen and on the basis of the Higher Administrative Court of Münster were also dismissed, as was a constitutional complaint before the Constitutional Court of Münster. In view of the upcoming relocations, new building areas had to be developed, for example in Oerather Mühlenfeld since 2005 and in 2007 the first groundbreaking took place in " Immerath (new) " near Kückhoven and " Borschemich (new) ", which is being built north of the north bypass. The districts of Keyenberg (new), Berverath (new), Kuckum (new), Unterwestrich (new) and Oberwestrich (new) will be created between Borschemich and Rath-Anhoven (city of Wegberg). The first houses have been built (as of December 2018).

Incorporations

In its current form, the city of Erkelenz was created on the basis of the Aachen Reorganization Act of December 21, 1971 ( Aachen Act ). According to this law, the previous district of Erkelenz and the Selfkant district of Geilenkirchen-Heinsberg were merged on January 1, 1972. Erkelenz lost its district seat to Heinsberg and was merged with the communities Borschemich, Gerderath, Golkrath, Granterath, Hetzerath, Holzweiler, Immerath, Keyenberg, Kückhoven, Lövenich, Schwanenberg and Venrath as well as the places Geneiken and Kuckum. The urban area increased from 25.22 to 117.35 square kilometers.

Population development

In an appraisal in 1510, 496 housemates were counted in the town and parish of Erkelenz , and until around 1800 the population of the rural township did not rise significantly above 3000 inhabitants. With the beginning of industrialization and the construction of the railroad in the middle of the 19th century, the population gradually increased. There was a significant boost at the turn of the 20th century when the International Drilling Company settled in Erkelenz. Due to the war, the population stagnated around 1945 and also declined. At the end of the war in 1945 there were only about 150 inhabitants in the largely evacuated city center. In the 1950s and 1960s, the population rose sharply, particularly as a result of the influx of displaced persons from eastern Germany. The residential areas Flachsfeld and Marienviertel emerged. In the city, which was enlarged after the municipal reorganization in 1972, there was a further increase in population in the 1990s due to the influx of ethnic repatriates from Eastern European countries.

Population development of Erkelenz from 1821 to 2016

year Residents 1812 3,370 1855 4.162 1861 4.148 1895 4,168 1900 4,612 1908 5,816 1925 6,605 1935 7.162 1946 6,348 1950 7,475

year Residents 1955 9,274 1960 11,876 1965 12,765 1970 12,807 1972 34,174 1975 35,145 1980 38.175 1985 38,885 1990 39,957 1995 42,407

year Residents 2000 43,194 2005 44,625 2006 44,759 2007 44,781 2008 44,606 2009 44,583 2010 44,457 2016 43,388 2017 43,392

In the 2016 reporting year, the proportion of women was 51 percent of the total population (43,388). Non-Germans were 6.5 percent. In the age group from 0 to 18 years there were 16.5 percent, in the age group from 18 to 65 years 62.4 percent and in the age group of 65 years and over 21 percent. While the population grew steadily by a total of 10,607 inhabitants in the reporting period 1972 to 2007 solely due to immigration, it has fallen by 0.7 percent since then up to and including 2010. In the 2016 reporting year, the proportion of those born was 0.9 percent and those who died 1.2 percent, those who moved in was 6.4 percent and those who moved out were 6.1 percent, so that overall growth of + 0.08 percent results for the reporting year . Most of the newcomers came from Hückelhoven and Mönchengladbach (11 percent each) and most of those who moved away also went to Hückelhoven (11 percent) and Mönchengladbach (18 percent each).

Religions

The city of Erkelenz is (with the exception of the Protestant community Schwanenberg) predominantly Roman Catholic . The Catholic parish is named after St. Lambertus . Over the centuries, the diocese changed several times. Erkelenz belonged to the Diocese of Liège until 1559 , to the Diocese of Roermond until 1801, to the Diocese of Aachen from 1801 to 1821, to the Archdiocese of Cologne from 1821 to 1930 and since then to the new Diocese of Aachen . 1651 at the time of the Counter-Reformation erected Franciscans in the city a monastery . The associated church was consecrated to St. Anthony of Padua , popularly known as the Father's Church. Both were completely destroyed in World War II. Today only the Franziskanerplatz and the Patersgasse remind of the monastery and church.

The centuries-long rule of the Spanish Habsburgs prevented the emergence of a Protestant community. Only when the city became part of Prussia did the confessional composition of the inhabitants slowly change. Until 1900 the evangelical inhabitants belonged to the community Schwanenberg, which for centuries formed an evangelical enclave in the Erkelenzer Land. In that year the Evangelicals from Erkelenz merged with the Evangelical community of Lövenich, where a small Evangelical minority had lived since the Reformation. In 1902/03 a Protestant church was finally built in Erkelenz. Since 1959 the Erkelenzer has been separated from the Lövenich community and forms an independent parish.

A small Jewish community also existed in the Middle Ages, but it perished. It was not until 1852 that Jews settled down again ; they had had a prayer room in Burgstrasse since 1865 and bought a residential building on the west promenade in 1869 to set up a synagogue . In 1865 a Jewish cemetery was laid out on what is now Neusser Strasse, and it still exists. In 1925 there were 57 Jews in the city. After the Holocaust, a few survivors returned to Erkelenz. 23 stumbling blocks in the city center remind of the fate of the Jewish residents who were deported during the National Socialist era .

→ Main article : Jewish cemetery

In addition to the Catholic and Protestant congregations, there is also a church of God today . At the last statistical survey in 1987, 72 percent of the population were Catholic, 22 percent Protestant, 1.5 percent Islamic and 1.2 percent of other faiths. 3.3 percent did not provide any information.

politics

Local election

The (new) town hall on Johannismarkt

Allocation of seats in the council of the city of Erkelenz

In the council election on May 25, 2014, the CDU received the most votes. Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen and SPD received almost the same number of votes and are the next largest parliamentary group with nine seats each on the city council. 36,715 citizens were eligible to vote. 18,939 voters exercised their right to vote, which corresponds to a turnout of 51.6 percent (2009: 53.7 percent). 98.8 percent of the votes cast were valid.

Political party	CDU	SPD	Green	FDP	BÜG	UWG	NPD
be right	8148	3620	3607	1170	969	867	318
in percent	43.6	19.4	19.3	6.3	5.2	4.7	1.7
2009 1	+1.6	+4.1	+3.6	−3.6	−1.4	+0.8	+0.6

Remarks:

¹ compared to the 2009 council election

In the simultaneous mayoral election, Peter Jansen of the CDU was again mayor with 53.97 percent of the vote (+ 1.51 percent) ² The distribution of votes was as follows:

Political party	CDU	SPD	Green
candidate	Jansen	Wolters	Honold-Ziegahn
be right	9998	4570	3954
in percent	53.97	24.67	21.36

² Compared to the mayoral election in 2009

Mayor since 1814

• 1814–1815 Heinrich Terstappen
• 1815-1822 R. Erdmann
• 1822–1827 Anton Jansenius
• 1827–1851 Carl Hofstadt
• 1851–1860 Theodor Büschgens
• 1860–1861 H. Spieß
• 1861–1900 Franz Reinkens
• 1900–1916 Bernhard Hahn
• 1916–1932 Johannes Spitzlei
• 1932–1934 Ernst de Werth
• 1934 Heinrich Feemers, come.
• 1934–1944 Gustav Meyer
• 1945 Hermann Künkels (appointed)
• 1945 Peter Classen (appointed)
• 1945–1946 Josef Stehr (appointed)
• 1946 Heinrich Sieben (appointed)
• 1946–1948 Wilhelm Schmitter (CDU)
• 1948–1949 Jakob Storms (CDU)
• 1949–1952 Heinrich Sieben (CDU)
• 1952–1969 Hermann Jansen (CDU)
• 1969–1994 Willy Stein (CDU)
• 1994–1999 Theo Clemens (CDU)
• 1999-2004 Erwin Mathissen (SPD)
• since 2004 Peter Jansen (CDU)

coat of arms

	Blazon : "Divided by blue and silver, above a striding, double-tailed, red-tongued and armoredgolden lion, below a red medlar flower with five-pointed golden, green-dotted lugs and green sepals."
	Justification of the coat of arms: The coat of arms shows the connection between the city and the counts and later dukes of Geldern, as it is the Geldrian lion and the so-called Geldrian rose (variation of the heraldic rose ). The colors and the flag of the city have their origin in the coat of arms. The colors are blue and white (silver), the flag is covered with the shieldless heraldic figures.

Town twinning

The twin town of Saint-James (France) is on the border between Normandy and Brittany , near Mont Saint-Michel . The partnership was decided on October 12, 1974. There are also city friendships with Bad Windsheim (Bavaria) and Thum (Ore Mountains).

Youth participation

The youth participation Erkelenz has been an official working group at the round table of the city of Erkelenz since August 2013 . It represents the interests of children and young people, as well as the interests of young adults under 29 years of age. Care is taken to ensure that apart from the team of speakers, no children or young people come into direct contact with politics. The youth participation of Erkelenz is therefore non-partisan.

Culture and sights

City Hall

House Spiess

Blancken mill

Art and cultural life, cinema, museum

The old town hall, the town hall, the Leonhard chapel, Haus Spiess and the castle are central locations for numerous art and cultural events. There are regular theater guest performances, children's theater, cabaret, comedy, art exhibitions by professional artists, music events and poetry readings. The main sponsor of communal cultural work is Kultur GmbH as a subsidiary of the city of Erkelenz.

The Stadthalle Erkelenz is after extensive renovation and expansion work since 3 January 2009 - powered by the Culture GmbH Erkelenz - central event center for cultural projects and events with an average of 40,000 visitors per year.

The Gloria Filmpalast has three halls with different programs for more than 500 spectators.

In Lövenich, the Rhenish Fire Brigade Museum shows more than 800 exhibits on an exhibition area of ​​1500 square meters.

Buildings in the city center

See also : List of architectural monuments in Erkelenz

St. Lambertus

→ Main article : St. Lambertus (Erkelenz)

Today's Catholic parish church of St. Lambertus had three previous buildings, the first of which was a Franconian hall building and was extended at the beginning of the 11th century to a Romanesque longitudinal building, which in turn gave way to a Gothic nave that was consecrated in 1418 and destroyed in World War II. The 83 meter high church tower was built in 1458 in the style of Flanders or Brabant towers.

Castle and city wall

→ Main article : City fortifications (Erkelenz)

The castle, which had fallen into ruin since the city was conquered in 1674, was restored in the mid-1950s. It also had smaller towers on the city side and a drawbridge over a moat. Not far away on Wallstrasse are even larger remains of the former city wall.

Old Town Hall

→ Main article : Old Town Hall (Erkelenz)

The old town hall on the market dates from 1546, the previous building of which was destroyed by the city fire of 1540. The brick building with late Gothic elements, resting on whitewashed pillars , was rebuilt after severe war damage until 1956. On the south side there is a free-standing carillon with 24 bronze bells.

Leonhard's Chapel

The Leonhardskapelle is a former church (inn church), first mentioned in a document in 1540, which belonged to the municipal hospital for poor people and hospital (inn) that existed as early as 1452. In addition to the principal house, which included the apartments for the innkeeper and the innkeeper, as well as infirmaries and a larger hospital ward (Beyert), the inn had a rectangular inner courtyard with single-storey apartments for the poor, but also for travelers. A garden with a well and a small brewery were available for personal use. The main features of the inner courtyard with a fountain are still there today. After it was confiscated by the French in 1827, the church was converted into a primary school and, after being restored in 1989/1990, is now used for cultural purposes.

House Spiess

The three-wing house Spiess was built in 1806 on Franziskanerplatz in the Couven style named after the Aachen architect and builder Johann Joseph Couven with classicist and late baroque elements. It bears the name of its builder, Johann Joseph Spiess, an Alsatian , the officer of the bodyguard of the French King Louis XVI. and during the French occupation (1797-1814) was under Napoleon domain administrator and rentmaster in Erkelenz. The building has been in the possession of the city since 1978, which had a garden based on the French model in symmetrical shapes on a plot of land behind it, which has since been developed elsewhere, and uses the property for representative receptions, weddings and exhibitions.

Blancken mill

See also : List of windmills in North Rhine-Westphalia

The Blancken mill was built in 1799 as the last of the Erkelenz windmills , hence also called Neumühle, by the married couple Peter and Mechtilde Blancken. At the end of the 19th century, it ceased operations. The last owner and miller was Heinrich Pasch, which is why the mill was also called Pasch-Mühle. The Blancken mill and the Immerather mill are the only ones of 14 windmills that were still in use in the Erkelenzer Land around 1900. In 1991, the now dilapidated mill was restored from the outside true to the original and given a new tower dome and wings. In addition to the stone year “1799”, the tower bears the initials of the builder “MB - PB” as iron wall anchors, and the hood bears the inscription “Bloes mech but jet”. Inside there is a restaurant.

Other structures

The street Im Pangel at the castle and the Patersgasse at Franziskanerplatz with their old houses. The 39 meter high water tower on Neusser Straße was built in 1903. The tower shaft, which tapers towards the top and protrudes again, is structured by cornices and carried a steel Intze container that held 200 cubic meters of water. In 2004 the tower was decommissioned and in 2011 a private individual converted it into his residential tower. The Karlskapelle in Oestrich, built in 1844, was the only church in the Archdiocese of Cologne that was consecrated to Charlemagne .

Buildings in the districts

Haus Hohenbusch near Hetzerath is a former monastery of the Kreuzherren . The evangelical court church is located in Lövenich. House Keyenberg and House Paland in Borschemich are former knight seats. The latter was demolished in 2015 as well as Haus Pesch in 2010 in preparation for the Garzweiler II opencast mine . The landmarked Immerather tower windmill had been abandoned to decay since 2004 and was torn down by RWE on October 18, 2018 without prior notice. Other monuments in the affected localities, such as Immerath Cathedral , also had to give way to open-cast mining.

Fountains and art in the street scene

Six wells can be found in Erkelenz. As the inscription on a stone found in it indicates, a historical fountain at the Leonhard Chapel was completed on May 7, 1637 by Joes Berck from the guild of well builders. The Franziskusbrunnen on Franziskanerplatz is reminiscent of the former Franciscan monastery and was designed by the Erkelenz sculptor Michael Franke. The city fountain on the market with the motifs lion and loquat (Geldrische rose) from the city's coat of arms was created by the local sculptor Peter Haak on the occasion of the 650th anniversary of the city's rights (1976). Haak also created a relief fountain in front of the district court on Konrad-Adenauer-Platz. The pump on the Reifferscheidts place, made of stainless steel and bronze by the artist Albert Sous , is reminiscent of the former location of one of the numerous draw and pump wells in the city. Bonifatius Stirnberg designed the play fountain on the north promenade with moving bronze animals and invites you to play.

The local sculptor Ursula Klügel designed the figures of the dancing Möhn and the market woman Äppels Bell on the market square. Michael Franke's Die Zwei Lesenden is in front of the city library . The abstract figure “Sower” in front of the vocational school also comes from Peter Haak. Other modern sculptures and sculptures were set up in the Ziegelweiherpark and most recently on Kölner Strasse.

Parks

→ Main article : Old cemetery (Erkelenz)

The old cemetery on Brückstrasse was laid out in 1825 and is now a listed building. The city park on Theodor-Körner-Straße is a former park property of the cloth manufacturer IB Oellers. The green belt separates a residential area from Gewerbestrasse Süd. The Ziegelweiherpark is located between the city center and Oestrich. The brick pond is a former pit, now filled with water, in which clay was dug for the brick fire. Other nearby pits were used as rubbish dumps in the 1930s and filled with rubble from the destroyed city in the 1940s, to eventually serve as a park, covered with topsoil. The private Lahey Park is located between the villages of Kückhoven and Holzweiler.

Sports

Between the city center and the school center are the indoor and outdoor swimming pools, which were newly built in 2012, and include the Willy Stein Stadium, the Erkasporthalle and the Karl Fischer Sports Hall. A skate park is available for the youngsters. Flying enthusiasts find Kückhoven the largest pure Ultralight - airfield in Germany and a model airfield . Each district has a gym or multi-purpose hall. Seven tennis facilities and a private indoor tennis center are available. Various riding arenas and riding arenas are available.

Regular events

Erkelenz Carnival Guard - Session opening on November 11th

Carnival parades take place in the Erkelenzer Land from Carnation Saturday to Violet Tuesday . In Erkelenz the move takes place on Rose Monday. The Lambertusmarkt is a city festival in connection with the early fair and takes place from Corpus Christi on the second weekend after Pentecost . The castle fair is held in autumn on the second weekend in September. Fair and rifle festivals are celebrated in the individual villages. The stubble field of the Catholic rural youth is an annual party event for teenagers and young adults in the urban area. The Electrisize Festival for electronic dance music has been held annually in August since 2012, and in 2019 one of the largest local events with almost 25,000 visitors.

societies

In the city center and in the districts there is a lively club life, so not all clubs can be presented here. The oldest existing club in the city center is the Erkelenz Carnival Society 1832. Sports clubs with a long tradition are the Gymnastics Club Erkelenz 1860 and the SC 09 Erkelenz . The most successful club in town comes from the small town of Hoven, the cycling club Viktoria Erkelenz-Hoven 1921 is a multiple German champion in its discipline. The football ladies of the STV Lövenich reached the final of the DFB-Pokal 1986/87 (women) once, which was lost on June 20, 1987 with 2: 5. But the music clubs of the city of Erkelenz should also be mentioned, such as B. the Städtischer Musikverein Erkelenz e. V. founded in 1829. 15 historical rifle brotherhoods are active in the individual districts of Erkelenz , which are part of the Erkelenz e. V. are grouped together. The Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Lande e. V. has over 1326 members. In ten working groups he devotes himself, among other things, to researching and presenting the history of Erkelenz, maintaining the dialect, maintaining local historical music (Cornelius Burgh Choir) and maintaining the “Old Brückstrasse Cemetery”.

dialect

The Erkelenz dialect, which is still spoken by the older generation but also permeates colloquially in the younger generation, belongs to the Dutch language , which is approaching English. The essential feature is that it generally did not go along with the High German sound shift and that the voiceless consonants t, p and k, which were shifted to s, f and ch in High German, are still in the original Germanic phonetic level (Teke = sign, Dorp = Village, rik = rich). The Germanic long vowels i, u and o, which have become ei, au and u in High German, are still preserved (Win = wine, Hus = house, Bok = book). The Erkelenzer Land lies on the dividing line between the early Salian and Ripuarian Franks, which merged to form the Franconian tribe at the end of the 5th century . The language of the Salian Franks in the north-west was interspersed with Anglo-Saxon and Frisian ( Ingwaeon ) elements. The Ripuarian francs , up about Düren and in the south of Cologne Zuelpich stretched have, however, implemented the High German sound shift in part. The language border here is the Benrath line , which , coming from Benrath , runs north of Grevenbroich and Jüchen and on the Erkelenz area, where it follows the old Landwehr against Jülich, between the city and Holzweiler, Katzem and Lövenich. It continues to Baal , Linnich and Aachen. So one speaks in Erkelenz, as defined for the Lower Franconian language north of this line, but also make = maken, as defined for the language south of the Uerdinger line , which transitions into High German , ich = ech instead of ik. Due to the centuries of isolation of the city, the Erkelenz dialect was also shaped by political and ecclesiastical, i.e. administrative, borders, so that it differs from neighboring dialects in sometimes essential parts. A significant past tense of the weak verbs is his own, which points to Ginger influence. In the Erkelenz dialect it says ech lachet, ech röket instead of the Lower Franconian forms ech lachde (I laughed), ech rökde (I moved). It is in Lower Franconian on the Geldrischer sound level - southern Lower Franconian - and tends to stretch short vowels and pronounce long vowels in two syllables (Volk = Volek, Milch = Melek). In the “working group dialect” of the Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Lande e. V., numerous people dedicate themselves to cultivating the local dialect at readings and dialect concerts.

kitchen

The traditional cuisine is Rhineland . Substantial stews such as pea , bean and lentil soup are popular. In Erkelenz potato pancakes are called potato pancakes and are eaten on a buttered slice of black bread and served with applesauce or turnip tops. For Shrove be Mutzen and Nicholas to Christmas Weckmänner baked. Panhas is written in Erkelenz Pannas, is dark in contrast to Westphalian and is served with onion rings, mashed potatoes and applesauce. The Rhenish sauerbraten is often a Sunday dish and is usually served with boiled potatoes and red cabbage . A hearty vegetable side dish for many dishes is sauerkraut , which is also served with pork knuckle . Mussels , which came into the country early from the North Sea on the, albeit distant, shipping routes of the Rhine and Maas, are offered in the autumn months and in spring green asparagus is grown in Lövenich and strawberries there and in Matzerath . There are different types of mustard in the Alte Senfmühle Terhorst. The Erkelenzer Urkorn is no longer distilled in Erkelenz itself, but according to an old Erkelenz recipe. A typical regional type of beer is Alt.

Economy and Infrastructure

Advertisement of the Int. Drilling company around 1900

Industry and commerce

Today Erkelenz has a broad and diverse branch structure. In the manufacturing industry and handicrafts, the city has around 300 companies, with the focus in the manufacturing industry being on mechanical engineering. The international drilling company of Anton Raky developed into the Wirth machine and drilling equipment factory, which manufactures large drilling rigs and tunnel boring machines for mining , oil and gas extraction and machines for foundation construction and sells 90 percent of them worldwide with over 480 employees. The main shareholder of the company is now the Norwegian conglomerate Aker Solutions . In 2014 a restructuring took place within the group, the Erkelenzer factory is now part of mhwirth, which belongs to the Akastor group.

Subsequently, other mechanical engineering producers settled down, for example the Wilhelm Hegenscheidt company from Ratibor after the Second World War , a manufacturer of wheelset processing machines and fixed and straightening rolling machines for crankshafts of car and truck engines. The company with around 330 employees and further locations in the USA, India, South Africa and Australia was merged in 1995 by Vossloh AG with Maschinenfabrik Deutschland to form Hegenscheidt-MFD. In 2000, when it changed hands, it was integrated into NSH (Niles-Simmons-Hegenscheidt GmbH Machine Tool Group), which is one of the 50 largest machine tool manufacturers in the world.

In 1937 the Statz trouser factories were founded, which have belonged to the Brinkmann Group in Herford since 2001. The Leeser company, with more than 150 employees, produces rubber profiles for technical applications, and there are numerous medium-sized companies of all kinds in the industrial areas around the city . Hellwig-Boats, for example, produces 150 boats for sports and cabin cruisers far from open waters leave the shipyard annually.

In the Kölner Strasse

Around 800 service companies, shops and offices complete the picture. A diverse range of retail outlets, from large supermarkets to small specialist shops with 350 businesses, makes up the largest share. A weekly market takes place every Tuesday morning and every Friday morning in the market at the old town hall. There are 11 hotels and other accommodation providers with 189 beds. A total of 10,709 employees subject to social security contributions were counted in the urban area in 2009, which makes up 24 percent of the total population. Of these, 42 percent were in the service industry, 31 percent in the manufacturing industry and 24 percent in trade, hospitality and transport. The long-term average unemployment rate has been 12 percent.

Agriculture

In 1995 the agricultural area in the town, which has also been characterized by agriculture since time immemorial, comprised 8,873 hectares, which makes up 75 percent of the urban area. Of this, 91.8 percent was arable land , 5.3 percent permanent grassland and 2.4 percent tree nurseries . 48.3 percent of the acreage was used with grain , especially wheat , and 39 percent with sugar beet . In total there are 225 farms in the city, of which 145 are still full-time farms with 900 employees.

media

Press

The weekly newspaper for the Erkelenz district was the first local newspaper to appear from 1834 to 1847 (?) . The Erkelenzer Kreisblatt provided information on current affairs from 1854 to 1943. Today there are three daily newspapers. The Rheinische Post is the only one that still has a local editorial office in Erkelenz and has an extensive local section (Erkelenzer Zeitung). The Heinsberger Volkszeitung and the Heinsberger Nachrichten appear with a joint local section in the Aachen newspaper publisher . In addition, free advertising papers are distributed weekly , such as B. the Super Sunday or the HS week , which is based in Erkelenz.

Television and radio

The WDR -Television reported in the local time from Aachen also Erkelenz. Promotec GmbH in Erkelenz operates the local TV news magazine www.myregio.tv on the Internet , which provides information about events in the region every 14 days. The Lövenich district was the seat of HS-TV regional television for the Heinsberg district until November 2011 . In a fortnightly magazine broadcast at over 60 terminals in the entire district, it reported exclusively on regional topics. The local radio station Welle West was discontinued in 2007 and since then broadcast 100'5 Das Hitradio as the local radio station . from Eupen in Belgium, Antenne AC from the Aachen region and Radio 90.1 Mönchengladbach .

Public facilities

City library and Leonhard's chapel

The Erkelenz city library is located right next to the Leonhard Chapel. It offers more than 45,000 media and has around 50,000 visitors a year.

The Hermann Josef Hospital in the center of Erkelenz is an acute hospital with 367 beds. It is an academic teaching hospital , the RWTH Aachen .

The local court , the tax office and the Erkelenz representation of the Federal Employment Agency (department of the BA Aachen) are also responsible for the neighboring cities of Hückelhoven and Wegberg.

traffic

Rail transport

→ Main article : Erkelenz train station

Erkelenz owns the station of the same name on the Aachen – Mönchengladbach railway line . Today it is the most important stop between Aachen and Mönchengladbach in terms of the number of people entering and leaving the station. In the vicinity of the train station there are park-and-ride spaces and transfer options to express bus , regional bus and city ​​bus services . The station forecourt, bus station and platform systems were extensively modernized in 2007. The old station building from the 1950s was demolished in 2012 to make way for a new building which, in addition to the travel center and a kiosk, also houses a hotel, a restaurant, a café and several shops. From 1992 to 2002, Erkelenz was an interregional system stop.

Bus transport

Erkelenz train station / central bus station

line	course
401	Erkelenz Bf  - Erkelenz ZOB - Doveren  - Hückelhoven  - Ratheim  - ( Dremmen  Bf -) Oberbruch  - Grebben  - Heinsberg  Kreishaus - Heinsberg Busbf
402	Erkelenz  ZOB - Erkelenz Bf  - Erkelenz Süd - Baal Bf  - Doveren  - Hückelhoven  - Millich  - Ratheim  - Dremmen  Bf - Oberbruch  - Grebben  - ( Heinsberg  Kreishaus -) Heinsberg Busbf
405	Erkelenz Bf  - ( Erkelenz  ZOB -) (Grambusch - Schwanenberg  - Gerderhahn  -) Gerderath  - Myhl  - Wassenberg  - Birgelen  - Elsum Castle  - Effeld  - Ophoven  - Kempen  - Karken  - Heinsberg Busbf (- Heinsberg Employment Agency)
406	Erkelenz Bf  - Matzerath  - Houverath  - Golkrath  - Kleingladbach  - ( Ratheim  - Millich  -) Hückelhoven  - Hilfarth  - Brachelen  - ( Lindern Bf  -) Linnich  SIG Combibloc
408	Erkelenz Bf  - ( Erkelenz  ZOB -) ( Oerath  -) Holtum  - Uevekoven  - Wegberg  Busbf - Harbeck  - Rickelrath  - Merbeck  - Tetelrath  - Silverbeek  - Niederkrüchten
412	Erkelenz train station  - Borschemich (new)  → Mennekrath  ← Kuckum market (new) - Keyenberg market (new) - Rath-Anhoven  - Kipshoven  - Moorshoven  - Beeck  - Gerichhausen  - Wegberg train station  - Wegberg  bus station
418	Erkelenz Bf  - ( Erkelenz  ZOB -) ( Isengraben  -) Schwanenberg  - Geneiken  - Wildenrath  - Tüschenbroich  - Watern  - Wegberg  Busbf (-  Wegberg Bf  - Merbeck  - Tetelrath  - Silverbeek  - Niederkrüchten )
EK1	Erkelenz Bf  - Terheeg  - Venrath  - Kuckum  - Keyenberg  - Holzweiler  - Immerath  - Erkelenz Bf
EK2	Erkelenz Bf  - Lövenich  - Katzem
EK3	Erkelenz Bf  - Immerath  - Holzweiler  - Keyenberg  - Kuckum  - Venrath  - Terheeg  - Erkelenz Bf
EK4	Erkelenz Bf - ( Erkelenz  South -) Oerather Mühlenfeld - Oerath  - Erkelenz Bf  or (Erkelenz ZOB -) Erkelenz Bf - Oestrich  - Mennekrath  - Borschemich (new)  - Erkelenz Bf / Erkelenz ZOB
SB1	Express bus: Erkelenz train station  - Wassenberg  - Heinsberg bus station  - Geilenkirchen train station  - Palenberg train station
SB81	Express bus: Erkelenz Bf  - Rheindahlen  - Rheydt  - Mönchengladbach Hbf

The Erkelenz GmbH transport company (also known as Kraftverkehr for short ) was established in the Erkelenzer Land as early as 1934 , and by 1938 already had eleven buses on seven lines. In 1965 the company had its own depot in Erkelenz. The transport company Erkelenz was merged on January 1st, 1975 with the Geilenkirchener Kreisbahn in one operation under the company Kreiswerke Heinsberg GmbH . The latter was renamed WestEnergie und Verkehr GmbH in 2003 through the merger of Kreiswerke Heinsberg (KWH) and Westdeutsche Licht- und Kraftwerke (WLK) . When the energy division was spun off in 2015, the company was renamed WestVerkehr GmbH.

In Erkelenz there are a total of three central bus stations (ZOB): ZOB Bahnhof, ZOB Krefelder Straße and ZOB Kölner Tor. The central bus station at the train station serves as the most important bus station; it is also approached by express buses , and here there are transfer options to regional and express trains operated by DB . The stop at the Kölner Tor serves as a junction close to the city center, the ZOB on Krefelder Straße as an important stop for the Erkelenz school center.

In addition to its importance for the transport of schoolchildren, bus transport is also important as a feeder to the train station for the surrounding communities and larger villages. For example, Hückelhoven and Ratheim only have access to the rail network on weekends via lines 401 (Heinsberg - Hückelhoven - Hetzerath - Erkelenz) and 402 (formerly the SB4) (Heinsberg - Hückelhoven - Baal - Erkelenz).

Road traffic

The federal highway 57 leads past the city, the federal highway 46 Heinsberg - Neuss directly touches Erkelenz, here are the two junctions Erkelenz-Ost (Terheeg) and Erkelenz-Süd (Granterath). In the east of the urban area, the federal motorway 61 Venlo - Koblenz touches the city. There the federal motorway 44 Aachen - Mönchengladbach also touches the city area for a short distance. The joint junction for the last two motorways is located east of Jackerath in the municipality of Titz.

In the city center there is, in addition to the usual parking spaces, a large car park near the city center (Dr.-Josef-Hahn-Platz) and four parking garages (train station, Stadtpassage, Ostpromenade, Aachener Straße), the occupancy of which is controlled by a modern electronic parking guidance system.

bicycle

Erkelenz is connected to the cycle path network of North Rhine-Westphalia . The city is integrated in the cycle path network of the district of Heinsberg with special path markings, so-called nodes . On November 22, 2011, the city became the 65th member of the “Working Group on Bicycle-Friendly Cities, Communities and Districts in North Rhine-Westphalia”. V. "and can thus officially bear the title" Bicycle-friendly city in NRW ".

The Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Lande has created flyers for its cycle themed tours " Route against forgetting ", "Medlar tree tour", "Harvest thanksgiving tour" and "Arnold von Harf Weg".

education

Around 5527 students attended the schools in Erkelenz in 2016. The character of a school town becomes clear in the large school center on Schulring, where almost all secondary schools, including two grammar schools, are located. In the 7th grade, 21 percent went to secondary school, 29 percent to secondary school and 50 percent to grammar school. 4.6 percent remained without a school leaving certificate.

Municipal schools

At the Cusanus High School

The "Higher Citizens' School for Boys", founded in 1830 as the successor to an old Latin school, had become the "Royal Progymnasium " in 1856 and in 1923 a full grammar school . Since 1905 there had also been the “St. Canisius Higher Girls School”, a middle school run by the school sisters of the “Poor Maidservants of Jesus Christ”. After the high school and girls' school were completely destroyed in the last days of the Second World War, boys and girls were taught together in a newly built high school. The originally humanistic and finally modern language grammar school was divided into a boys 'grammar school and a girls' grammar school in 1965. The former boys' grammar school, now located on Schulring, was transformed into a coeducational school in 1968 and named after the universal scholar Cusanus in 1980 . In 2012 there were around 1900 students. The Cusanus-Gymnasium Erkelenz (CGE) is one of the largest high schools in North Rhine-Westphalia. In the immediate vicinity is the former girls' high school, which is named after the baroque musician and composer Cornelius Burgh from Erkelenz and which became a co-educational school in 1985 . The four-class Cornelius-Burgh-Gymnasium (CBG) offers a bilingual branch (German - English) and is attended by around 1020 students in 2012. Again in the immediate vicinity on the Schulring is the municipal secondary school , which has existed since 1966 and also offers a bilingual branch (German - French). The Realschule and the Cusanus-Gymnasium bear the title European School due to their bilingual teaching and extended foreign language offerings and numerous international partnerships and projects, the Realschule has meanwhile adapted this name and has been called Europaschule Erkelenz since the end of 2008.

The city of Erkelenz had two community secondary schools (GHS) until 2011 , one in the city center and one in Gerderath. Due to the falling number of pupils, the GHS Gerderath was closed at the end of the 2010/2011 school year and merged with the “GHS Erkelenz for the whole day”.

Of the ten Erkelenz primary schools , three are located in the city center: In addition to the Catholic Franziskus School, there are the Luise Hensel School and Astrid Lindgren School. The only Protestant primary school is in the Schwanenberg district .

The Pestalozzi School , a special needs school with a special focus on learning, includes various student companies. One of these companies produces Erkelenzer Möhnen dolls.

District schools

The vocational college on the west promenade is sponsored by the district of Heinsberg . 2563 students (year 2007) study here in almost 100 classes. The college brings together all major occupational directions and school types. The vocational college rooms are also used by the Anton-Heinen - Volkshochschule des Kreises. The Heinsberg district music school uses its own building on the Schulring.

Other schools

Other schools include the specialist seminar for geriatric care of the Arbeiterwohlfahrt (AWO) in Immerath and the nursing school in the Hermann Josef Hospital.

Telephone prefixes

In Erkelenz the area code is 02431. In contrast to this, other numbers have to be dialed when calling in several districts: 02164 for Borschemich, Holzweiler, Keyenberg, Kuckum and Lützerath, 02432 for Gerderath, 02433 for Hetzerath and 02435 for Lövenich and Katzem.

Personalities

Sons and daughters

This section names some well-known people who were born and raised in Erkelenz, who worked here or whose names are closely connected to the city:

• Arnold von Harff (* 1471 at Harff Castle, Bedburg ; † January 1505). The knight and pilgrim lived from 1499 on a no longer preserved castle behind today's Gut Nierhoven near Lövenich .
• August Montforts (born September 18, 1850 in Gerderath ; † July 7, 1926 Mönchengladbach); Engineer, inventor and factory owner
• Peter Wimars (* in Erkelenz; † February 16, 1494 in Kues an der Mosel ), secretary of Cardinal Nikolaus von Kues (Cusanus)
• Mathias Baux (* in Mennekrath; † 1569 (?)) Was mayor (1562/63) and town clerk in Erkelenz (1544–1558). He wrote the chronicle of the town of Erkelenz (last entry 1569) and the Erkelenz legal book and was the poet of the Geldernlied (1499).
• Theodoor van Loon (* 1581 / 1582 in Erkelenz, † 1649 in Maastricht ) was a Flemish painter of the Baroque
• Cornelius Burgh (* around 1590 in Cologne, † around 1637/38 in Erkelenz), composer from the early modern period
• Johann Bernhard von Francken (1668–1746), ambassador and minister of the Electoral Palatinate, held the "Glory of Erkelenz" as pledge from 1727 to 1754 .
• Sybille Ohoven (born April 21, 1679 in Erkelenz; † November 24, 1773 in Erkelenz) founded the Ohoven Studienstiftung in her will in 1772. For over 100 years the foundation has supported schoolchildren and students from the Erkelenzer Land. Sybille Ohoven was buried in the parish church.
• Wilhelm Philipp Gentis (born March 10, 1696 in Erkelenz; † July 5, 1758 in Antwerp), State Councilor and, as Dominikus de Gentis, Bishop of Antwerp from 1749 to 1758
• Heinrich Jansen (* around 1705; † 1779 in Erkelenz) was an important Baroque wood sculptor and altar carver well beyond the city limits , created among other things the high altars of the St. Remigius Church in Viersen (1730) and the Kreuzherrenkloster in Brüggen (1755 ).
• Hermann-Josef Gormanns (* 1796; † 1867), notary and judicial advisor in Erkelenz, founder of the Hermann-Josef Hospital
• Carl Platz (* 1818 Saalfeld ; † 1890), gardener, founded the tree nursery in the Erkelenzer Land.
• Reinhold Vasters (born January 2, 1827 in Erkelenz; † June 14, 1909 in Aachen), goldsmith for sacred art and master forger
• Pauline Sels, née Hoffstadt (born January 29, 1828 in Erkelenz, † April 27, 1908 in Neuss) established the Clemens Sels Museum with a foundation in Neuss .
• Conrad Anton Beumers (born March 1, 1837 in Erkelenz; † 1921), goldsmith in Düsseldorf.
• Leo Heinrichs (born August 15, 1867 in Oestrich , † February 23, 1908 in Denver , Colorado ), Father in the Franciscan Order , shot by an anarchist in Denver in 1908 during Holy Mass . A beatification process has started.
• Joseph Geyser (born March 16, 1869 in Erkelenz; † April 11, 1948 in Siegsdorf ), philosopher, professor in Münster, Freiburg and Munich, representative of the Philosophia perennis
• Joseph Hahn (born October 18, 1883 in Erkelenz; † November 10, 1944), member of the Center Party , publisher of the newspaper Erkelenzer Kreisblatt , imprisoned for a few weeks in 1944 as part of the Gewitter campaign, died of the consequences after his release in the same year his concentration camp detention.
• Eduard Wessel (born May 30, 1883 in Wittlich; † December 21, 1944 in Erkelenz), District Administrator of the Erkelenz district from 1933 to 1945
• Jakob Herle (* 1885 in Erkelenz; † 1957), entrepreneur and association official
• Jack Schiefer (born April 16, 1898 in Sinnersdorf , † January 29, 1980 in Erkelenz), social democrat , writer, resistance fighter and prisoner during the Nazi era , first district administrator in 1945 and chief district director in the then Erkelenz district in 1946
• Joseph Emond (* 15 November 1898 in Erkelenz-Terheeg; † 7 February 1975 Euskirchen-Kirchheim), a Catholic priest and in 2013 of the memorial Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations honored
• Werner Müller (born February 10, 1900 in Frankfurt; † May 5, 1982 in Düsseldorf), director of Bohr , sentenced to death by the People's Court on October 14, 1943 for degrading military strength , pardoned to life imprisonment in February 1944 , survived and rebuilt the drilling rig factory was opened again after the war. From February 12 to October 12, 1946, he was appointed by the British military government to the district of Erkelenz.
• Karl H. Fell (born December 16, 1936 in Erkelenz; † 1996), politician (CDU)
• Rassem Yahya (born August 24, 1938), a Syrian national basketball player and German national basketball league player ( BBL ) from Palestine , among other things German basketball champion in 1962 and 1969 as well as the 1967 cup winner of the German Basketball Federation . For more than twenty-five years as a doctor of surgeon , until 2005, worked in his own specialist practice in Erkelenz.
• Klaus Tenfelde (born March 29, 1944 in Erkelenz; † July 1, 2011 in Bochum ), German historian, professor of social history and social movements, director of the Institute for Social Movements at the Ruhr University in Bochum.
• Ricarda Brandts (born August 26, 1955 in Erkelenz), lawyer
• Ralf Georg Czapla (born June 24, 1964 in Immerath), literary and cultural scientist
• Heinz Lengersdorf (born November 4, 1966 in Erkelenz), classical pianist
• Claudia Kemper (* 1973), historian
• Lewis Holtby (born September 18, 1990 in Erkelenz), professional football player
• Simon Unge , bourgeois Simon Wiefels, (born August 31, 1990 in Erkelenz), German web video producer on YouTube .

Honorary citizen

• Franz Jungbluth (born October 4, 1809 in Aldenhoven ; † December 28, 1872 in Aachen), Judicial Councilor in Aachen, he regulated the estate of his deceased uncle Hermann Josef Gormann. This gave rise to the Gormann Foundation (later: Hermann Josef Foundation), which built the hospital in 1871. Franz Jungbluth was the first person to receive honorary citizenship .
• Franz Reinkens (born December 3, 1826 in Burtscheid ; † July 4, 1905 in Aachen), 39 years, from 1861 to 1900, mayor
• Hermann Joseph Kamp (born April 28, 1849 in Merzenhausen ; † June 4, 1931 in Erkelenz), the prelate , honorary dean and monsignor, was pastor at St. Lambertus from 1903 to 1931.
• Bernhard Hahn (born February 22, 1855 in Soller ; † December 13, 1931 in Erkelenz), mayor from 1900 to 1916, initiated the modernization of the city.
• Anton Raky (born January 5, 1868 in Seelenberg ; † August 22, 1943 in Berlin ), pioneer of drilling technology, founder of the International Drilling Company in Erkelenz and generous patron of the city
• Wilhelm Meyer (born November 28, 1856 in Orsbeck , † August 30, 1934 in Erkelenz), counselor and notary in Erkelenz, long-time alderman of the city
• Alfred von Reumont (born March 15, 1863 in Aachen; † July 30, 1942 in Fahr / Rhein), district administrator of the Erkelenz district from 1895 to 1928
• Johannes Spitzlei (November 27, 1866 in Cologne; † October 24, 1934 in Mönchengladbach), Mayor of Erkelenz from 1916 to 1932
• Jakob Herle (born June 25, 1885 in Erkelenz; † September 8, 1957 in Erkelenz), managing director of industrial associations, imprisoned in the Soviet occupation zone / GDR from 1945 to 1952
• Edmund Knorr (born October 11, 1885 in Ratheim , † January 9, 1979 in Erkelenz), teacher, conservationist and ornithologist
• Hermann Jansen (born March 25, 1889 in Kleingerichhausen ; † March 20, 1972 in Erkelenz), Mayor of Erkelenz from 1952 to 1969
• Heinrich Maassen (born December 17, 1889 in Oestrich; † November 27, 1971 in Lövenich), full-time and honorary mayor of Lövenich for around four decades
• Johann Corsten (born June 12, 1892 in Keyenberg; † March 22, 1982 in Immerath), official pension master, mayor, long-time brother mayor of the St. Sebastianus rifle brotherhood Immerath
• Eugen Gerards (born April 6, 1904 in Oestrich; † May 31, 1985 at Hauerhof), farmer at Hauerhof near Katzem and from 1958 to 1970 member of the CDU state parliament
• Alex Schäfer (born July 11, 1905 in Wanlo, † April 11, 1980 in Erkelenz); Dreher and from 1959 to 1971 councilor and deputy mayor in Kückhoven
• Konrad Büschgens (born September 15, 1906 in Kückhoven; † December 26, 1984 in Erkelenz), farmer and from 1966 to 1971 mayor of Kückhoven
• Alois Jost (born September 22, 1908 in Hehlrath / Aachen; † June 11, 1993), lawyer, city director of the city of Erkelenz from 1952 to 1971
• Jakob Franzen (born September 16, 1919 in Gerderath; † June 6, 2008), Weber, member of the Gerderath municipal council since 1946, mayor of Gerderath from 1947 to 1972 and councilor of Erkelenz from 1972 to 1992
• Louis Rabel (born February 6, 1922 in Huisnes-sur-Mer (F), † November 2, 1996), mayor of the French twin town of Saint-James. He was made an honorary citizen on March 12, 1987 .
• Willy Stein (born June 28, 1925 in Gelsenkirchen; † October 28, 2003 in Erkelenz), teacher and long-time mayor
• Arnold Poll (born September 14, 1925 in Gey , † April 16, 2016 in Houverath) the prelate and pastor in Houverath built the Children's Mission Aachen and the Sternsinger on
• Michel Thoury (born July 20, 1942 in Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët ; † February 17, 2015 on the Autoroute A84 near Pont-Farcy), dentist and from 1983 to 2014 mayor of the French twin town of Saint-James
• Yannick Duval (born June 24, 1953 in Saint-James), president of the Tricots St. James and long-time chairman of the partnership committee in Saint James

literature

Illustrated books

• Edwin Pinzek: Erkelenz - A city changes its face , illustrated book with explanatory texts. City of Erkelenz 1966
• Edwin Pinzek: Erkelenzer Land. Works of art and architectural monuments. Illustrated book with explanatory texts. District and Stadtsparkasse Erkelenz, Erkelenz 1973.
• Klaus Barisch, Friedel Krings, Josef Rick: Erkelenz , illustrated book with accompanying texts, Rheinland-Verlag, Pulheim 1980, ISBN 3-7927-0539-7 .
• Erkelenz - in the middle and all around - city and country in transition . (Illustrated book) Published by the Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Lande e. V., Erkelenz 2012
• Hiram Kümper, Christina Clever-Kümper: Erkelenz , Rheinische Kunststätten No. 556, Cologne 2015, ISBN 978-3-86526-109-0

Historical

• Josef Gaspers, Leo Sels: History of the city of Erkelenz . Erkelenz 1926
• Albert Huyskens : The share of the Aachener Münsterstift in the development of the manor of Erkelenz into a city . Verlag Jakob Herle, Erkelenz 1929
• Studies on the history of the city of Erkelenz from the Middle Ages to the early modern period. Published by the city administration on the occasion of the 650th anniversary of the city of Erkelenz. (Series of publications of the city of Erkelenz 1) Rheinland-Verlag, Cologne 1976, ISBN 3-7927-0285-1 .
• Barbara Karbig: The rulership of the Aachen Marienstift in Erkelenz. In: Writings of the Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Lande e. V., Volume 11, Erkelenz 1991.
• Maria Meurer: Erkelenz private 1920–1970. Personal city history (s) . Sutton Verlag , 2000, ISBN 3-89702-183-8 .
• Stefan Grates: The great coin almanac on old currencies in the Erkelenzer Land , Volume 1/2006.

Periodicals

• Erkelenz History and Antiquity Association . 10 booklets, Erkelenz 1920 to 1930
• Home calendar of the Erkelenzer Lande . District of Erkelenz in cooperation with the Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Lande, 21 volumes, Erkelenz 1952 to 1972.
• Writings of the Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Lande e. V . Monographs and anthologies, 31 volumes, Erkelenz 1981 to 2018 appear within this series.
• Series of publications by the city of Erkelenz . 12 volumes, Erkelenz since 1976.
• Home calendar of the Heinsberg district . 47 volumes, Heinsberg 1973 to 2019.

Web links

Commons : Erkelenz  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Wikivoyage: Erkelenz  - travel guide

Wikisource: Erkelenz in the Topographia Circuli Burgundici (Mathäus Merian)  - sources and full texts

• Website of the city of Erkelenz
• Churches and chapels in the city of Erkelenz
• Pictures from Erkelenz
• Monuments in the city of Erkelenz
• www.kultur-erkelenz.de - cultural events
• St. Lambertus - website of the parish with information on the listed church tower
• Erkelenz in the gene wiki
• Virtual Museum of the Lost Homeland

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Population of the municipalities of North Rhine-Westphalia on December 31, 2019 - update of the population based on the census of May 9, 2011. State Office for Information and Technology North Rhine-Westphalia (IT.NRW), accessed on June 17, 2020 .   ( Help on this )
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Landesbetrieb Information und Technik Nordrhein-Westfalen (IT.NRW), municipal profile Erkelenz, city. (PDF; 222 kB) Accessed April 9, 2019 . 
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} percentages are rounded
4. ↑ Diercke, Weltatlas , Westermann Verlag, Braunschweig 1957, page 22 f.
5. ↑ Debra Zizkat and Hans-Wilhelm Cuber, Cusanus-Gymnasium Erkelenz, weather station Erkelenz / Haus Hohenbusch.
6. ↑ Hans Frohnhofen: Mergeln im Lövenicher Feld in: Heimatkalender der Erkelenzer Lande, Erkelenz 1959, page 18 ff.
7. ^ Structure of the city. City of Erkelenz, accessed on April 9, 2019 . 
8. ↑ Jürgen Driehaus , The prehistoric time in the district of Erkelenz , in: Heimatkalender der Erkelenzer Lande, Erkelenz 1967, pages 105 ff.
9. ↑ ^{a b} Jürgen Weiner: A ribbon ceramic settlement with a well near Erkelenz-Kückhoven. In: Writings of the Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Lande. Volume 12, Erkelenz 1992, pages 17 ff.
10. ↑ ^{a b} Institute for historical regional studies of the Rhineland at the University of Bonn, Rheinischer Städteatlas , III No. 15, Cologne 1976, page 1
11. ^ Mathias Baux: The chronicle of the city of Erkelenz. In: Annals of the historical association for the Lower Rhine. Volume 5, Cologne 1857, page 70
12. ↑ Peter Anton Tholen: The excavations in the parish church of St. Lambertus zu Erkelenz in: Early church building in the district of Heinsberg , Museum publications of the district of Heinsberg Volume 8, Heinsberg 1987, pages 206 ff.
13. ^ Leo Gillessen: On place names and settlement studies of the district of Erkelenz (Part I). In: Home calendar of the Erkelenzer Lande. Erkelenz 1967, page 145. The same, on topography and settlement history of the district of Erkelenz (Part II) in: Heimatkalender der Erkelenzer Lande, Erkelenz 1968, page 82
14. ↑ Paul ter Meer: Place names of the district of Erkelenz - An attempt at their interpretation. Erkelenz 1924, pages 8 f.
15. ^ Theodor Joseph Lacomblet , document book for the history of the Lower Rhine , Düsseldorf 1840, page 63; Friedel Krings et al. a., 1000 years of Erkelenz, a look back at the 1000 year celebration , Erkelenz 1967, opening credits, copy of the document from the 13th century (at Commons); Theo Schreiber, Erkelenz - a city in the course of history in: Writings of the Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Lande, Volume 12, Erkelenz 1992, pages 43 ff., Another copy of the certificate
16. ↑ Josef Gaspers, Leo Sels u. a. History of the city of Erkelenz , Erkelenz 1926, pages 13 f.
17. ↑ Friedel Krings, Zur Geldrischen Geschichte der Stadt Erkelenz , in: Heimatkalender der Erkelenzer Lande, Erkelenz 1960, page 53
18. ^ Mathias Baux: The chronicle of the city of Erkelenz. In: Annals of the historical association for the Lower Rhine. Volume 5, Cologne 1857, page 44
19. ^ Klaus Flink: City development and economic forces in Erkelenz , series of publications of the city of Erkelenz. Volume 2, Cologne 1976, pages 8 f.
20. ^ Severin Corsten: Erkelenz receives city rights. In: Studies on the history of the city of Erkelenz from the Middle Ages to the early modern period. Series of publications by the city of Erkelenz, Volume 1, Cologne 1976, pages 137 ff.
21. ↑ Josef Gaspers, Leo Sels u. a. History of the city of Erkelenz, Erkelenz 1926, page 4
22. ^ Herbert Claessen (ed.): History of the Erkelenzer Land. From a day before the District Administrator Claessen in 1863, in: Writings of the Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Lande, Volume 20, Erkelenz 2006, page 92.
23. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, 4th edition, Volume 7, Leipzig and Vienna 1890, pages 52 f.
24. ^ Friedel Krings, The medieval fortifications of the city of Erkelenz, in: Heimatkalender der Erkelenzer Lande, Erkelenz 1957, page 55
25. ↑ Josef Gaspers, Leo Sels u. a. History of the city of Erkelenz, Erkelenz 1926, page 10
26. ↑ Josef Gaspers, Leo Sels u. a. History of the city of Erkelenz, Erkelenz 1926, pages 7 ff.
27. ↑ Josef Gaspers, Leo Sels u. a. History of the city of Erkelenz, Erkelenz 1926, page 154.
28. ^ Friedel Krings, The medieval fortifications of the city of Erkelenz , in: Heimatkalender der Erkelenzer Lande, Erkelenz 1957, page 57
29. ^ Institute for historical regional studies of the Rhineland at the University of Bonn, Rheinischer Städteatlas , III No. 15, Cologne 1976, page 3
30. ^ Friedel Krings, The medieval fortifications of the city of Erkelenz, in: Heimatkalender der Erkelenzer Lande, Erkelenz 1957, page 56
31. ^ ^{A b c d} Edwin Pinzek, in: Important buildings and works of art in Erkelenz , a series of the city of Erkelenz
32. ^ Mathias Baux: The chronicle of the city of Erkelenz. In: Annals of the historical association for the Lower Rhine. Volume 5, Cologne 1857, page 45
33. ↑ Josef Gaspers, Leo Sels u. a. History of the city of Erkelenz, Erkelenz 1926, pages 4 ff., 104
34. ^ Herbert Claessen (ed.): History of the Erkelenzer Land. From a day before the District Administrator Claessen in 1863, in: Writings of the Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Lande, Volume 20, Erkelenz 2006, page 92
35. ↑ Josef Gaspers, Leo Sels u. a. History of the city of Erkelenz, Erkelenz 1926, pages 5 f.
36. ^ Mathias Baux: The chronicle of the city of Erkelenz. In: Annals of the historical association for the Lower Rhine. Volume 5, Cologne 1857, page 46
37. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Institute for historical regional studies of the Rhineland at the University of Bonn, Rheinischer Städteatlas , III No. 15, Cologne 1976, page 4
38. ^ Mathias Baux: The chronicle of the city of Erkelenz. In: Annals of the historical association for the Lower Rhine. Volume 5, Cologne 1857, page 49
39. ^ Herbert Claessen (ed.): History of the Erkelenzer Land. From a day before the District Administrator Claessen in 1863, in: Writings of the Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Lande, Volume 20, Erkelenz 2006, pages 93 ff.
40. ^ Mathias Baux: The chronicle of the city of Erkelenz. In: Annals of the historical association for the Lower Rhine. Volume 5, Cologne 1857, page 56
41. ↑ Josef Gaspers, Leo Sels u. a. History of the city of Erkelenz, Erkelenz 1926, pages 3 f
42. ↑ Josef Gaspers, Leo Sels u. a. History of the city of Erkelenz, Erkelenz 1926, pages 6 f.
43. ↑ Herbert Claessen, Weltgeschichte zu Gast in Erkelenz , in: Writings of the Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Lande, Volume 20, Erkelenz 2006, Pages 144 f.
44. ↑ Josef Gaspers, Leo Sels u. a. History of the city of Erkelenz, Erkelenz 1926, page 5
45. ↑ Illustration by Frans Hogenberg from 1610: Von Gulich the crew wolgemut, Gen Erckelens with gutter hat, ... ( digitized version )
46. ^ Friedel Krings, Zur Geldrischen Geschichte der Stadt Erkelenz , in: Heimatkalender der Erkelenzer Lande, Erkelenz 1960, page 51
47. ^ Mathias Baux: The chronicle of the city of Erkelenz. In: Annals of the historical association for the Lower Rhine. Issue 5, Cologne 1857, pages 64 ff.
48. ↑ Kastner: The documents of the city archive, p. 180
49. ↑ Josef Gaspers, Leo Sels u. a. History of the city of Erkelenz, Erkelenz 1926, pages 57 ff.
50. ↑ Josef Gaspers, Leo Sels u. a. History of the city of Erkelenz, Erkelenz 1926, pages 73 ff
51. ↑ Josef Lennartz, The Complaint of Franz Schaeven and The End of the City Wall , Writings of the Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Lande, Volume 1, Erkelenz 1981, pages 20 ff.
52. ↑ Josef Gaspers, Leo Sels u. a. History of the city of Erkelenz, Erkelenz 1926, page 83
53. ↑ Josef Lennartz and Theo Görtz, Erkelenzer Streets , writings of the Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Landes, Volume 3, Erkelenz 1982, pages 105, 128
54. ↑ Josef Gaspers, Leo Sels u. a. History of the city of Erkelenz, Erkelenz 1926, page 77
55. ↑ Josef Lennartz and Theo Görtz, Erkelenzer Streets, writings of the Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Landes, Volume 3, Erkelenz 1982, page 66
56. ↑ Josef Gaspers, Leo Sels u. a. History of the city of Erkelenz, Erkelenz 1926, pages 95 ff.
57. ↑ Josef Gaspers, Leo Sels u. a. History of the city of Erkelenz, Erkelenz 1926, pages 99, 129
58. ↑ Josef Gaspers, Leo Sels u. a. History of the city of Erkelenz, Erkelenz 1926, pages 96, 101 f.
59. ↑ Josef Gaspers, Leo Sels u. a. History of the city of Erkelenz, Erkelenz 1926, page 99 f
60. ↑ Josef Gaspers, Leo Sels u. a. History of the city of Erkelenz, Erkelenz 1926, p. 100 ff.
61. ↑ W. Frenken et al. a. in: National Socialism in the Heinsberg District , Museum Writings of the Heinsberg District, Volume 4, Heinsberg 1983, page 55
62. ↑ Josef Lennartz and Theo Görtz, Erkelenzer Streets, writings of the Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Landes, Volume 3, Erkelenz 1982, pages 94, 122, 51
63. ↑ W. Frenken et al. a. in: National Socialism in the Heinsberg District , Museum Writings of the Heinsberg District, Volume 4, Heinsberg 1983, pages 103 ff., 57 ff., 75 ff.
64. ↑ Harry Seipolt, "... comes from an antisocial and hereditary clan" . Forced sterilization and Nazi euthanasia in the Heinsberg district 1933–1945, in: Heimatkalender des Heinsberg district, 1992, pages 112 ff.
65. ↑ W. Frenken et al. a. in: National Socialism in the Heinsberg District , Museum Writings of the Heinsberg District, Volume 4, Heinsberg 1983, pp. 93 ff.
66. ↑ W. Frenken et al. a. in: National Socialism in the Heinsberg District , Museum Writings of the Heinsberg District, Volume 4, Heinsberg 1983, page 96
67. ^ Jack Schiefer: Diary of an Unworthy of Defense , Grenzland-Verlag Heinrich Hollands, Aachen 1947, page 110; Writings of the Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Lande, Volume 12, Erkelenz 1992, page 229
68. ↑ W. Frenken et al. a. in: National Socialism in the Heinsberg District , Museum Writings of the Heinsberg District, Volume 4, Heinsberg 1983, page 98
69. ^ Jack Schiefer: Diary of an Unworthy of Defense , Grenzland-Verlag Heinrich Hollands, Aachen 1947, page 110; Writings of the Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Lande, Volume 12, Erkelenz 1992, Pages 301 f. and page 236
70. ↑ Jack Schiefer, Destruction and Reconstruction in the Erkelenz District , Grenzland-Verlag Heinrich Hollands, Aachen 1948, pages 8 ff., 17 ff., 153 f.
71. ^ Josef Lennartz, When Erkelenz sank in rubble , Stadt Erkelenz 1975, pages 4 ff., 52 ff., 102 ff.
72. ^ Jack Schiefer, Destruction and Reconstruction in the Erkelenz District , Grenzland-Verlag Heinrich Hollands, Aachen 1948, pages 24 ff., 49 f.
73. ↑ Rheinische Post of July 7, 2007
74. ^ Federal Statistical Office (ed.): Historical municipality directory for the Federal Republic of Germany. Name, border and key number changes in municipalities, counties and administrative districts from May 27, 1970 to December 31, 1982 . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart / Mainz 1983, ISBN 3-17-003263-1 , p. 307 .
75. ^ Mathias Baux: The chronicle of the city of Erkelenz. In: Annals of the historical association for the Lower Rhine. Volume 5, Cologne 1857, page 6
76. ↑ Statistics of the district of Erkelenz , in: Heimatkalender der Erkelenzer Lande . District of Erkelenz in cooperation with the Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Lande, 21 volumes, Erkelenz 1952 to 1972
77. ↑ Josef Gaspers, Leo Sels u. a. History of the city of Erkelenz, Erkelenz 1926, page 116 ff.
78. ^ Hubert Rütten, traces of life - search for traces, Jewish life in the former district of Erkelenz , writings of the Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Lande Volume 22, Erkelenz 2008
79. ↑ Land Returning Officer North Rhine-Westphalia City Erkelenz Council Election May 25, 2014, . Retrieved November 23, 2015.
80. ↑ Youth participation in Erkelenz - Official working group of the round table . ROUND TABLE ERKELENZ. Archived from the original on May 21, 2014. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved May 23, 2014. 
81. ↑ Erkelenz round table . ROUND TABLE ERKELENZ. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
82. ↑ Hans Otto Brans Das Hospital or Gasthaus zu Erkelenz from the 15th to the 20th century , writings of the Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Lande Volume 12, Erkelenz 1992, pages 73 ff.
83. ↑ Immerather Mühle demolished due to opencast mining. In: WDR.de. October 18, 2018, accessed October 24, 2018 . 
84. ↑ Josef Lennartz and Theo Görtz, Erkelenzer Streets, writings of the Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Landes, Volume 3, Erkelenz 1982, page 163
85. ↑ Josef Gaspers, Leo Sels u. a. History of the city of Erkelenz, Erkelenz 1926, pages 161 ff.
86. ↑ Josef Lennartz and Theo Görtz, Erkelenzer Streets, writings of the Heimatverein der Erkelenzer Landes, Volume 3, Erkelenz 1982, page 51
87. ↑ Route timetable 401. (PDF) AVV, December 11, 2016, accessed on March 10, 2017 . 
88. ^ City of Erkelenz. Ministry of Construction, Housing, Urban Development and Transport of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, accessed on November 29, 2012 . 
89. ↑ The place of birth is mentioned in his will, according to Wim Hupperetz: Nieuwe Gegevens over de 17e-eeuwse Zuid-Nederlandse schilder Theodorus van Loon. In: De Maasgouw 116 (1997), pp. 137-144
90. ^ Archives of the city of Erkelenz

This article was added to the list of excellent articles on February 22, 2008 in this version .