Gescher
| coat of arms | Germany map | |
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Coordinates: 51 ° 57 ' N , 7 ° 0' E |
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| Basic data | ||
| State : | North Rhine-Westphalia | |
| Administrative region : | Muenster | |
| Circle : | Bark | |
| Height : | 59 m above sea level NHN | |
| Area : | 80.84 km 2 | |
| Residents: | 17,254 (Dec. 31, 2019) | |
| Population density : | 213 inhabitants per km 2 | |
| Postal code : | 48712 | |
| Primaries : | 02542, 02863 | |
| License plate : | BOR, AH, BOH | |
| Community key : | 05 5 54 016 | |
| LOCODE : | DE GSR | |
| City structure: | 6 districts | |
City administration address : |
Marktplatz 1 48712 Gescher |
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| Website : | ||
| Mayor : | Thomas Kerkhoff ( CDU ) | |
| Location of the city of Gescher in the Borken district | ||
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The city Gescher [ gɛʃɐ ] ( Low German Gesker ) located in the western Münsterland in northwestern North Rhine-Westphalia and is a community of Borken in Münster Region . Since July 8, 2013, Gescher has had the official name affix Glockenstadt .
geography
Spatial location
The Berkel flows through Gescher . In the northeast, the Dinkel river grazes the urban area and forms the border to the neighboring municipality of Rosendahl for about 3 km . Gescher is about 3 km west of the A 31 motorway that connects Emden with the Ruhr area . Via the junction (33) Gescher- Coesfeld and the crossing B 525 , which connects the German-Dutch border at Südlohn- Oeding with the A 43 motorway, the place is conveniently located.
Urban area
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Hochmoor district
A district in which displaced persons also found a new home after 1945 (area code: 02863). The raised bog there was only drained in the 1960s using a deep plow.
Peasant communities
Nature reserves and archaeological monuments
In the area of the city of Gescher, located on both sides of the Berkel , are the four nature reserves Berkelaue I , Berkelaue II , Kuhlenvenn and northeast of Hochmoor the flora-fauna-habitat Fürstenkuhle . Non-governmental organizations, associations and activist groups such as the Biological Station Zwillbrock and the nature conservation association Gescher-Hochmoor as well as the NABU look after the protected areas. At the border of districts Estonians and Esch wage, west of Gescher, is a ground monument known as the Sunken Castle Brockhusen . East of Gescher in Berke Laue, spent the 1816 House Hengelborg, near an abandoned farm stead (Hofwüstung), the remains found in the district Harwick a typical for the Westmünsterland military memory , surrounded by moats , dated to 15-16. Century, possibly later.
Neighboring municipalities / cities
| City of Stadtlohn ( Borken district ) |
Municipality Rosendahl ( Coesfeld ) |
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| Municipality Südlohn ( Borken ) |
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City of Coesfeld ( Coesfeld district ) |
| City of Velen ( Borken district ) |
Reken municipality ( Borken district ) |
history
Early history and the Middle Ages
Historically, Gescher lies on the tribal border between the Brukterians and Chamaven . The border was in the wetlands to the west of Gescher (Estern). The escape castles of the sunken Borg , Rauschenburg and Hengelborg can also be found along these borders . The name Gescher is derived from Gasgare, later Gaschari, an upper court of the Borghorst monastery . After the building of a church by the monastery around the year 1000 and the establishment of the associated parish , a village settlement gradually developed. Gescher was founded in the wetland of the Siepen, whereby these Siepen were not drained or diverted, but built over. Corresponding names such as Waterstegge or Armlandstraße (a former Knüppeldamm over the Siepe) can still be found today . Siepen withdrew from Katharinenstrasse (Waterstegge) and also from Inselstrasse in the direction of Wening's wetlands . Further sieves from the southern and eastern areas were collected in the Graft and passed on from there under the Armlandstrasse. This still runs today on the left side of the Pankratius Church. These sieves still exist, partly piped or as extensive wetlands.
Modern times
In 1570 the settlement burned down almost completely. Reconstruction as well as looting and billeting during the Dutch Wars of Liberation and the Thirty Years War hampered the development of the settlement.
As a result of the French Revolutionary Wars , the Principality of Münster , to whose office Ahaus Gescher had belonged, was dissolved at the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss in 1803 . The parish came under the rule of the Prince of Salm . From 1811 to 1813 Gescher was part of France and from 1816 it was part of the Coesfeld district of Prussia .
In 1855 the Hall House, first mentioned in a document in 1390, is transformed into a foundation by Bishop Johann Georg von Münster, as an “educational institution for neglected boys of the Catholic denomination”. Haus Hall has belonged to the church since 1837. In 1929 the contract was expanded to include the care of people with disabilities.
From the home-based processing of flax into linen, the technical textile industry arose during the 19th century, which was to shape economic life until the middle of the 20th century. In 1904, the Coesfeld – Gescher – Borken railway section was put into operation. The peat factory founded in 1906 in the south of the Tungerloh-Pröbsting farmers represented the nucleus of today's Hochmoor district .
Against the resistance of the church sponsor , at least 27 young people from Haus Hall fell victim to the Nazis' T4 murders .
Although fully integrated into social life (in the neighborhoods , in the fire brigade, in the military and in war clubs), after five and a half years of increasing exclusion, harassment and threats, Gescher's Jewish families are victims of rioting and violence: the apartments and shops as well as the prayer room in Armlandstr. 1a were devastated and partly set on fire during the November pogroms in 1938 . All male members of the Stein, Marx and Falkenstein families were placed in so-called protective custody for one to three weeks in the local prison . In December 1941, all of Gescher's Jewish residents, 20 people of all ages, including the two-year-old Eleonore Stein (born April 1, 1939, ✡ December 1941), were transported to Riga in Latvia to be murdered there. The Jewish cemetery , opened in 1867, exists despite being devastated twice.
Towards the end of the Second World War, the episcopal foundation Haus Hall was a war hospital . The structure of Gescher remained largely intact. On March 30, 1945 ( Good Friday ) Mayor Niemann handed over the community of Gescher to the approaching English allies. There were a few short firefights with retreating German soldiers. Mr. Ball assumed sovereignty over the city as a representative of the British occupation.
In the Hochmoor district, after 1945, many displaced persons , especially from Catholic Silesia, found refuge in the heavily expanded Hochmoor district, which was cared for by St. Andreas in Velen until 1961 .
In 1980, the Bell Museum opened as one of the city's most important figureheads; it was extensively renovated and expanded in 2010.
Incorporations
On July 1, 1969, in the first phase of local reorganization, the municipalities of Büren, Estern, Gescher, Harwick, Tungerloh-Capellen and Tungerloh-Pröbsting were merged to form the town of Gescher, with the Gescher office being dissolved. On January 1, 1975, it came from the Coesfeld district to the Borken district as part of the second reorganization program.
Population development
| year | Residents |
|---|---|
| 1834 | 3,784 |
| 1846 | 3,807 |
| 1849 | 3,790 |
| 1855 | 3,876 |
| 1858 | 3,806 |
| 1864 | 4,002 |
| 1871 | 3,912 |
| 1885 | 3,962 |
| year | Residents |
|---|---|
| 1890 | 4,048 |
| 1900 | 4,206 |
| 1905 | 4,486 |
| 1914 | 5,219 |
| 1926 | 5,943 |
| 1939 | 7.223 |
| 1950 | 10.177 |
| 1961 | 10,795 |
| year | Residents |
|---|---|
| 1981 | 14,397 |
| 1990 | 15.092 |
| 1995 | 16,154 |
| 2000 | 16,851 |
| 2005 | 17,146 |
| 2010 | 17.164 |
| 2011 | 16,869 |
| 2012 | 16,889 |
| year | Residents |
|---|---|
| 2013 | 16,887 |
| 2014 | 16,857 |
| 2015 | 17,118 |
| 2018 | 17.205 |
According to the 2011 census, a total of 16,869 people lived in Gescher on May 9th.
religion
Churches
- evangelical
- Gnadenkirche, Evang. Church community Gescher
- Catholic
- St. Mary's Assumption, Catholic parish. The church has been closed since 2011.
- St. Pankratius, Catholic parish
- St. Stephanus, Catholic parish (high moor)
- St. Antonius , cath. Motorway chapel with a medieval hagioscope
St. Anthony
Interior view of St. Anthony
Relief in St. Anthony
Denomination statistics
According to the 2011 census , 11.6% of the population were Protestant , 76.7% Roman Catholic and 11.7% were non-denominational , belonged to another religious community or did not provide any information. The number of Protestants and Catholics has fallen since then. At the end of 2018 Gescher had 17,205 residents, including 11,163 (64.9%) Catholic residents.
politics
The 2004, 2009 and 2014 local elections each produced the following results:
| 2004 | 2009 | 2014 | ||||
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| Political party | Voting share | Seats | Voting share | Seats | Voting share | Seats |
| CDU | 40.1% | 13 | 46.5% | 16 | 41.7% | 14th |
| SPD | 27.9% | 9 | 20.5% | 7th | 24.2% | 8th |
| UWG | 16.2% | 5 | 13.0% | 4th | 14.6% | 5 |
| GREEN | 8.1% | 2 | 11.4% | 4th | 13.1% | 5 |
| FDP | 7.7% | 3 | 8.6% | 3 | 6.3% | 2 |
| The left | - | - | 1.4% | 0 | 1.8% | 0 |
Mayors and city directors
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With the dissolution of the office of Gescher in 1969 and the merger of the surrounding communities to form the city of Gescher, the office of the mayor expired.
Due to the changed municipal code of 1994, the dual leadership - city director and honorary mayor - ceased to exist in 1999 . Since then there has only been the full-time mayor. He is elected directly. He is chairman of the council, head of the city administration and representative of the city.
badges and flags
coat of arms
Gescher's coat of arms from 1937 to 1969
flag
The city was granted the right to use a coat of arms and a flag in a document issued by the Münster district government on January 20, 1971.
coat of arms
Blazon : "The coat of arms of the city of Gescher shows two silver (white) hunting horns turned away from each other on a green shield."
The coat of arms goes back to old hunting rights granted by the Bishop of Münster. The influential von der Beeke family, who had lived in Gescher since 1421, also had the hunting horns in their coat of arms.
flag
Description of the flag: "The flag is striped lengthways in three strips in a ratio of 1: 3: 1 from green on white to green (meaning is cross-striped) and shows the city coat of arms in the shield in the white strip."
Culture and sights
Bell City
The bell foundry Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock , located since 1790, owes its reputation as the “bell town” to Gescher. In 1980 the Westphalian Bell Museum was opened. One of the most famous and largest bells from Gescher is the World Youth Day bell "John Paul II" in the chimes of the St. Apostles' Basilica in Cologne.
regional customs
Äppelken poop Äppelken (apples, small apples)
In this old custom , which takes place every year on the day of Archangel Michael (September 29th), the children go from house to house and sing an old Low German song, whereupon they get sweets from the residents of the house. In this old custom, the children were originally given apples, which could not be used as windfalls or because of their small size.
carnival
The annual carnival parade in Gescher with the reputation of Gescher Helau! traditionally takes place two weeks before Rose Monday. This old tradition is based on the forty-hour prayer , which in the 19th century was put on Rose Monday in many places in the Münsterland to counteract the carnival going on before the forty-day Lent on Ash Wednesday. The pious Gescheraner, however, circumvented this restriction by bringing the carnival forward. Even if the forty-hour prayer no longer takes place on Rose Monday, this tradition has been preserved in Gescher over the decades. To commemorate the more than 200-year-old carnival customs since the French time in 1810, the carnivalists from Gescheran donated the bronze sculpture “ Die Wurstaufholer ” by the artist Bernd Heinemann from Netphen-Salchendorf . The sculpture shows two carriers with gaff and Schneese for suspending the sausage ends. The bronze sculpture was cast by the Gescher bell foundry . In Gescher, too, the carnival (from Latin carne levare , `` to take away meat '') was fought heavily from the pulpit before the beginning of Lent , because since the Middle Ages, clearly secular mockery at the church, including disguise , has been intensified and inspired by the anti-church French rule , manifested.
Museums
The city of Gescher is known beyond its borders for its large number of museums:
- Westphalian Bell Museum Gescher
- Museum courtyard "Auf dem Braem"
- Carriage Museum
- Peat museum
- Beekeeping Museum, Westphalian-Dutch
Architectural monuments
In addition, a number of monumental buildings have been preserved in Gescher .
education
schools
- Gescher comprehensive school
- Von Galen School
- Primary school association Pankratius school and school on the raised bog
- Brothers Grimm School, special needs school in the district of Borken with a special focus on language
- House Hall , Priv. Special school with a special focus on intellectual development
Kindergartens
- Ev. Kindergarten garden of Gethsemane
- Kindergarten Small World
- Kindergarten Colorful World
- Kindergarten St. Ludgerus
- Kindergarten St. Pankratius
- Kindergarten St. Maria Goretti
- Kindergarten St. Marien
- Kindergarten St. Stephanus
- Kindergarten St. Antonius Haus Hall
Economy and Infrastructure
traffic
Gescher is located, with its own exit, on the A 31 and the B 525 .
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Today Gescher is no longer connected to the rail network. By 1985, the station was Gescher at the railway Empel-Rees Minster (Baumberge Railway) which was dismantled here - today's regional rail -line RB 63 , however, is running on only the portion Coesfeld - Munster .
Gescher is connected to numerous official and signposted regional bike trails , including a. to the 100 Castles Route , the Flamingo Route , the Berkel Route, the Aare Route and the Agri-Cultura Route.
Established businesses
The Episcopal House Hall Foundation is the place of residence and workplace for people with disabilities and the largest employer in Gescher. The headquarters of Huesker Synthetic GmbH, a manufacturer of geosynthetics, agricultural and industrial textiles, is also located in Gescher . The headquarters of the mechanical engineering company Ruthmann is located in Gescher-Hochmoor . One of the oldest bell foundries in Germany, Petit & Gebr. Edelbrock , is also located in Gescher.
Personalities
sons and daughters of the town
- August Wessing (1880–1945), Catholic clergyman and Nazi victim in Dachau concentration camp
- Heinrich Hörnemann (1906–1977), politician (CDU)
- Winfried Pielow (1924–2018), literary scholar, writer and radio play author
- Josef Alfers (* 1940), em. at the High Cathedral in Münster
- Peter Schmidt (* 1944), writer
- Mark Braun (1962–2008), German architect
- Franz-Josef Höing (* 1965), Senior Building Director of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
- Veronika Schäpers (* 1969), book artist
Honorary citizen
So far the only honorary citizen of the city of Gescher is Anton Huesker, a former textile manufacturer who was made an honorary citizen on June 25, 1936 because of his special social achievements. The Westphalian Textile Association also mentions the outstanding achievements of Anton Huesker in its writings.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ 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 )
- ↑ Federal Agency for Nature Conservation: Protected areas around Gescher ,
- ↑ OpenStreetMap: Gescher urban area with raised bog
- ↑ OpenStreetMap: Berkelaue I upstream of the Berkel to Coesfeld
- ↑ OpenStreetMap: Berkelaue II in the northeast green belt of the city of Gescher
- ↑ OpenStreetMap: city area Gescher with high moor (between high moor and Gescher, on the district border to Coesfeld in the source area of the Heubach )
- ↑ OpenStreetMap: Fürstenkuhle, northeast of Hochmoor
- ↑ NABU : Das Kuhlenvenn - a success story , p. 15, saved as a memento on January 7, 2016
- ↑ Naturschutzverein Gescher-bog: naturschutz-gescher-hochmoor.de downloaded on 16 May 22020
- ↑ Gescherblog: Franz Josef Art: New waters for moor frogs in the Fürstenkuhle , downloaded on May 16, 2020
- ^ City of Gescher: Brockhusen Castle "Sunken Castle" , saved as a memento on November 14, 2017
- ↑ City of Gescher: Wehrspeichergrften district Harwick , saved as a memento on November 14, 2017
- ^ Bernhard Frings: All patients are to be reported ... - NS-'euthanasia' and sanatoriums and nursing homes in the diocese of Münster , 1994 from Aschendorff Münster, ISBN 978-3-402-03269-5
- ^ A b Hendrik M. Lange: Memories: Jews in Gescher. Impulses for dealing with local places of remembrance , saved as a memento on May 19, 2020.
- ↑ Martin Wissen: Discovered characters. The Jews in Gescher , undated , Ed .: Heimatverein Gesche.r Volume 6.
- ^ Fred Hertz : Four hundred and forty-six years and ten days. achterland verlags compagnie, complete creation: Franz Gescher, Vreden, 2002, ISBN 3-933377-71-4 .
- ^ Heimatverein Hochmoor: Heimatverein Velen as a guest in Hochmoor , downloaded as a memento on May 19, 2020.
- ↑ Martin Bünermann: The communities of the first reorganization program in North Rhine-Westphalia . Deutscher Gemeindeverlag, Cologne 1970, p. 96 .
- ^ City of Gescher Religion , 2011 census
- ↑ Statistics 2018 , accessed on August 18, 2020
- ^ Main Statute of the City of Gescher, § 2. (PDF) Retrieved on February 4, 2013 .
- ^ Coat of arms and flag of the city of Gescher. (PDF; 664 kB) Accessed February 4, 2013 .
- ^ Stadtgemeinschaft der Karnevalisten Gescher eV: "Events: Customs connects" - 2018 , Gescheraner Customs in keywords
- ↑ Borkener Heimatverein eV: Borkener Customs in the course of the year - an overview , custom terms explained
- ↑ Free University of Berlin, Institute for Dutch Studies: West Munsterland dialects Low German in the border region , word meaning Schneese: straight stick, on which sausages u. Ham hung in the chimney (approx. 1 m long stick for 10-15 sausages; lay across the logs in the chimney)
- ↑ Internetpublikation kathisch.de: Colorful hustle and bustle also caused criticism. Contempt and Connection: The Church and Carnival
- ^ Münsterland eV: Cycling in Gescher | Münsterland eV Tourism. Retrieved June 9, 2017 .
