History of the city of Kamen
The history of the city of Kamen goes back to ancient times. Kamen is first mentioned in a document in 1050 .
To Kamen's oldest story
The earliest traces of human settlement in various places in the Kamen city area date from the Neolithic (Neolithic Age, 5th – 2nd millennium BC). In this section of the prehistory the transition from wild boaring ( hunters and gatherers ) to the productive economy with arable farming and cattle breeding took place . Sowing and harvesting forced people to stay near their fields. So they had to settle down and built houses in small communities. In addition to the pronounced technique of making stone tools, the manufacture of fired clay vessels and the spinning and weaving of textiles were already widespread. Since the Kamen area lies on the foothills of the very fertile Soest Börde, the arable land in the Kamen area is also important for growing grain. The fertility of the soil is also evident in the size of the farms.
The spectacular discovery of a large Roman camp not far from the urban area in Bergkamen -Oberaden proves that the Romans were not only resident in the Rhineland . It was the largest Roman military camp north of the Alps. However, it only existed in the years 11–8 BC. Since a final subjugation of this part of Germania did not succeed, the Romans withdrew to the area on the left bank of the Rhine after the Varus Battle (9 AD). A large number of different finds document the everyday life of the Roman legionaries in Germania. Not far from there was the Roman camp Beckinghausen on the Lippe .
The discovery of the Roman camp in Oberaden was primarily thanks to Methler's pastor Otto Prein. In search of the legendary Roman camp Aliso , Prein researched the local landscape for Roman traces with reference to old field names , local sagas , ancient streets and observations of certain terrain formations . He had given the decisive information for the discovery of this camp. The next significant discovery he made in 1910 in the Westick district, in the corner between the Seseke and Körne rivers . Here, too, older traditional field names caught his attention. About 4 km southeast of the Roman camp in Oberaden he came across the field names Ambeilaufenden Turm , In den Böhren and Wöhrenwall and found several Roman pottery shards there not far from the course of the grains. When regulating the grains in 1921, the excavator came across a layer with numerous animal bones and shards of vessels , probably an early historical " landfill ". In 1926/27, under the leadership of the Gustav-Lübcke-Museum in Hamm , experimental excavations began there. A layer of Roman and Germanic sherds lying under the topsoil gave evidence of a settlement that existed long ago . But only the extensive excavations from 1930 to 1935, which were supplemented by individual investigations in 1936/37, provided evidence that a Germanic settlement had existed there from the beginning of the 2nd to the beginning of the 6th century.
To date, around 700 Roman coins from the 1st to 5th centuries, as well as a large number of Roman pottery, fibulae and other utensils have been found. They point to extensive trade relations between the locals who settled here and the Romans. The other finds give an insight into the living conditions at that time. In addition to the various vessels, fibulae, needles, belt and furniture fittings , parts of harness and Germanic jewelry , weapons and implements, some of which were made on site, were found. This is evidenced by the crucibles and molds and remains of a non-ferrous metal foundry as well as racing fireplaces and the associated iron slag. Finds that are relatively unspectacular for the viewer, but say a lot about the importance and size of this settlement.
In addition to rich small finds, the exploration of the settlement area has produced three house floor plans, which have gained considerable importance for historical house research. House III is the most important result of the Westick excavations. Found in the southern excavation areas, oriented from east to west, outlines were discovered on the basis of post marks with a length of 48 m (!) And a width of 7.5 m. Due to its size and equipment, it could have been the seat of a free man or a noble. A second, younger part of the building adjoins the oldest (eastern) part. Apparently both parts of the building were destroyed by fire and later rebuilt as a single building. On the north side is a 10 m long arbor-like porch. The finds are stored in the city. Gustav-Lübcke-Museum Hamm and in the Museum Kamen.
The interpretation of the name "Kamen" has not yet succeeded without contradictions. The same applies to the names of the Kamen districts.
Came in the Middle Ages
A settlement with the name Kamen is mentioned in the register of properties (Urbar C) of the Werden Abbey around 1050 , but the parish Kamen must have been older. Her early Kölnisches Severin - patronage and the remains of an older predecessor church affirm this. Today's mighty green sandstone tower of the Pauluskirche dates back to the middle of the 12th century. The crooked spire, the symbol of Kamen, was created 200 years later. It was deliberately built against the main wind direction, i.e. inclined to the southwest.
In the course of the 12th century, the sovereigns, the Counts of Altena, had a castle built to the west near the later St. Paul's Church, as was later also in Mark near Hamm. The area of the sovereign castle was surrounded by a moat, rampart and palisades. The boundary can still be traced today in the course of the streets Wiemeling, Zur Wimme and the southern part of the dark street. In the south the Seseke formed the border. The entrance was laid out from today's Schulstrasse.
Since the sovereigns called themselves "von der Mark" since the 13th century, their territory was called " Grafschaft Mark ". Since the Archbishops of Cologne also claimed sovereignty, Kamen, because it was due to an easily passable Seseke crossing, had the significance of a border fortress against Cologne's claim to power.
Many historically interested people are familiar with the term “ Burgmannshöfe ”. At least ten of these courtyards are verifiable for Kamen. The importance of Kamen in the Middle Ages was so great that Kamen was named second among the Brandenburg cities for a long time after the capital Hamm. Quakenbrück , north of Osnabrück , was an equally important city that is aware of its medieval importance and calls itself "Burgmannsstadt Quakenbrück".
The Burgmannen in Kamen belonged to the ministerials of the sovereigns, that is, they were responsible for keeping the court as well as the administration and defense of the area. The Burgmannshöfe were therefore laid out near the city gates (for example, the von der Recksche Hof is located on today's Karstadt site). For these services they received their fiefs. Until the 19th century, the Burgmannshöfe retained their aristocratic freedom from all city burdens and taxes, even if they already had bourgeois owners.
Like most cities that have developed over time, Kamen also developed from a manor (castle). In the course of time, craftsmen, merchants and other subjects settled in the protected area of the castle. They earned their livelihood by providing for the sovereigns and castle men. The name "Bürger" is said to have its origin in this proximity to the sovereign castle. The sovereigns stayed in Kamen only occasionally. They moved from residence to residence. They also held court days in their castles. After these court days, the parish fairs or fairs were usually held. There is evidence that Kamen has had two annual markets for over 650 years. One in spring and the Severinsmarkt in October. The name is derived from the former patron saint of the Severinskirche, today's Pauluskirche. The massive, over 800-year-old tower of the Pauluskirche served as a defense and escape tower in the Middle Ages. The church with its old predecessor nave was within the fortifications of the sovereign castle.
As development continued, the settlement expanded to the west, north and east. In the south the Seseke did not allow any further expansion. The place was fortified after 1243 with a wall and a moat system. The southern boundary was the Seseke, which was brought closer to the wall and straightened as early as the Middle Ages. The city wall had a total of six city gates. The oldest city gate was at the bulwark, roughly where today's AWO house stands. It also had the name Langebrüggentor, as a wooden dam (Knüppeldamm) led to it, which is said to have led to the Seseke crossing as early as Roman times. The gate was closed in the 17th century. The mill gate led to the south, in the direction of Unna . It was on Bahnhofstrasse between Ostenmauer and Klosterstrasse. Like all city gates, it had a small gate in front that was called "Homey". After that, the May Bridge still has its name today. To the east, in the direction of Hamm, between the east and north walls was the east gate. Two city gates led north. The north gate or the cattle gate on Nordstraße, which led in the direction of Reck- Kamensche-Heide and Werne , and the Kämertor on Kämerstraße. The Kämertor was still called "Bergkämertor" in the 16th century and has been shortened in a misleading way over time. The sixth and last city gate was the west gate, which led to Lünen .
City walls and gates originally had a primarily protective function against enemy attacks. Secondly, it has a fiscal function. After the spread and further development of firearm technology, such a wall was hardly of any military importance as an obstacle. What remained was the tax side, that is, whoever wanted to go to the city as a trader had to pay the excise, the city tax. Only when this tax ceased to exist at the end of the 18th century did the city walls and gates no longer have any meaning. The wall and gates fell into disrepair, and the stones were used to build houses and the tower of Luther's Church. A small remnant of the east wall has been preserved on the Bohdeschen possession. It is one of the last relics of buildings from Kamen's significant past in the Middle Ages. Like all stone buildings in our region in the Middle Ages, the wall was built with the green Anröchter sandstone. The Pauluskirche tower and the Margaretenkirche in Methler are built from the same stone. Because of its young geological age, this stone is very soft and weathered strongly. Therefore the masonry of the Margaretenkirche had to be provided with a slush plaster.
After the settlement had reached a certain size, Kamen received city rights from the sovereign in the middle of the 13th century: its own constitution, a council for self-government and a separate city court for the lower jurisdiction. The oldest surviving city seal dates from 1284. The oldest evidence of city rights comes from 1346. In it, the sovereign, Count Adolf IV von der Mark (1327–1347), confirms the Kamenern their city rights, which they already own The times of his great-grandfather, Count Engelbert I von der Mark (1247–1277) pleased. Such confirmations are usually the rule. First awards are usually not confirmed in writing, but rather gradually (tacitly) granted.
As in most cities of the Middle Ages, the archery developed to defend the city of Kamen. This was necessary because there were still no standing armies and the few knights (Burgmannen) capable of fighting could not have protected the city on their own.
The archery began in most cities in the 13th and 14th centuries. At the beginning the weapons were bows and crossbows , later handguns , which were now spreading rapidly . There were frequent shooting exercises, which usually culminated once a year with the award of the best shooter. They shot at targets, at stars, and later at the "bird". The establishment of the archery was largely due to the fact that the Schützengenossenschaft was associated with an ecclesiastical significance by forming a brotherhood at the same time. The patron saint of Sagittarius was St. Sebastian, and that's how the riflemen called themselves St. Sebastian Brothers in many cities.
The founding of a quarantine house for lepers infected in the Holy Land proves that Kamener must also have participated in the crusades . The Kamener Leprosenhaus, which cannot be precisely located, was on the border between the Rottum and Overberge farmers. It was deliberately built far from the city.
At the end of the Middle Ages, the old town of Kamen had a relatively large area of approx. 29 hectares within the walling. The population was around 1,500 people. The geographically favorable location of Kamen on the important north-south trade routes and the sovereign support gave the city an exposed position among the cities of the county of Mark. Kamen was a member of the Hanseatic League , and in many Hanseatic cities on the Baltic Sea, Kamen merchants stayed as traders, but also as members of the city council . In Stockholm there was a “Kamener Viertel”, which was only inhabited by Kamen Hanse merchants. Individual citizens of Kamen were also members of the German Order of Knights in the Baltic States. The Kamener Jasper Linde (called Oemeken) was 1509-1524 Archbishop of Riga .
In addition to trade, handicrafts were particularly important. There were at least eight guilds in the city: bakers, merchants, linen weavers, blacksmiths, shoemakers, tailors, wollners and carpenters. The main export goods of Kamen mainly included leather goods (especially shoes) and canvas. The cultivation of flax for canvas production was particularly rewarding in the fertile Hellweg area. The Kamen shoemakers tanned their leather themselves, although there was a separate profession, the tanner , for this . The skins were cleaned and roughed on the Seseke (scrubbing) and tanned in nearby pits.
In Kamen there was also a nunnery (tertiary nuns), which had emerged from two beguinages in 1470. In the course of secularization , it was dissolved in 1818. This destroyed an important part of social security. Only later did the public sector take over this function. The Reformation reached Kamen in 1554. In Methler and Heeren this was the case a few years later. Since the Middle Ages, there have been three parishes within the current boundaries of the city: Kamen, Methler and Heeren. Until 1818 the three Catholic parishes belonged to the Archdiocese of Cologne , from then on to the Diocese of Paderborn . Jews have also been found in Kamen since the 14th century . Until 1736 they belonged to the Dortmund synagogue community . From that time on there was a separate Jewish community in Kamen, which had its prayer house on Kämerstrasse. The synagogue behind Bahnhofstrasse was not built until 1901 and was demolished in 1938. The architect was Max Lorf, who also built the Dortmund synagogue. The Kamen synagogue community maintained its own elementary school until 1912. Despite the small proportion of the total population, the Jewish fellow citizens were very well integrated, highly regarded and disproportionately represented in the civil associations.
The oldest documented settlement was Methler . The name Methler is mentioned for the first time in a deed of donation for the Gereonstift in Cologne from the year 898, making it the oldest documented part of Kamen. The Margaretenkirche in Methler is a very old and special church due to its furnishings. Its tower - like the tower of the Pauluskirche in Kamen-Mitte - dates from the 12th century. The special thing is the nave, which was built 100 years later. It was built in the rare transitional late Romanesque style. The building without aisles has a variety of art-historical features inside. Starting with the unique ceiling paintings from the period around 1250, the sculptures of St. Margaret and John the Evangelist, Our Lady from the 15th century, the baroque pulpit and the baptismal font. Anyone who has ever been inside this church is captivated by its charm. All art treasures survived the Reformation after 1560 and were not removed. The Margaret Church is a popular place to visit, especially at Christmas time.
The name of the church is derived from St. Margaret. It comes from the Greek and means "the pearl". Legend has it that Margarete lived in the 3rd century. Her father Aegidius, a pagan priest, rejected her because she had become a Christian. Because she did not return the love of a Roman prefect, she was imprisoned and later beheaded. She is the patron saint of pregnant women.
The oldest written references of the neighborhoods are: Around 1100 Werve, in BECOMING Besitztumsverzeichnis, 1178 a Gerhard is from Herne (= Heeren) first mentioned, 1220 will Südkamen in the "big" and "little bailiwick role" of Count Friedrich von Isenberg- Altena first time mentioned, the first written mention of Westick is found around 1250, and of Rottum in 1332.
Pre-industrial coming
Kamen's economic boom was followed by a period of decline from the end of the 15th century. It should last about 400 years. The reasons were, among other things, the shift of trade routes from north-south to west-east, which is also due to the decline of the Hanseatic League, as well as the enlargement of the territory. Since 1391 the counties Mark and Kleve were united in personal union. Since 1417 at the latest, the sovereigns, now dukes of Kleve, no longer resided in Kamen. Since the sovereignty was secured, Kamen lost its political power.
This negative development was exacerbated by the frequent city fires that broke out particularly often between the 15th and 18th centuries. The occurrence of epidemics, e.g. B. the plague, led to a decline in the population. Many wars ravaged the country. In addition to the losses in the wars, there were high contributions. Only an economically healthy community could recover from this.
The theologian Anton Praetorius taught at the Latin school in Kamen from 1586 to 1588 .
The market in Kamen had lost its importance for long-distance trade. The crafts only produced for the surrounding area and for their own use in the city. Until the arrival of industry , Kamen remained a relatively insignificant small agricultural town.
When in 1609 the County of Mark fell with Kamen to the Electors of Brandenburg, who later became the Prussian kings, there was hardly any sovereign support for the towns of the County of Mark. The Prussian rulers paid little attention to their western provinces.
The Thirty Years' War did not stop at the Kamen region either. Contributions, billeting and epidemics burdened the city enormously. As a result of this great war, standing armies were formed, which made the importance of the rifle system as a defensive device of the cities superfluous.
An episode from the time of the Thirty Years' War connects Kamen with German literary history. The most important writer of the Baroque era, Christoffel von Grimmelshausen, describes his experiences and the like in his famous picaresque novel “ Simplizissimus ”. a. as the " hunter of Soest ". During his stay there, he and his companion "Springinsfelt" made many forays through the Kamen region. In 1632 a soldier named Springinsfelt reports the birth of his son Hans-Jürgen to the Protestant pastor in Kamen. A genealogical check showed that this is apparently the same person.
In the age of the absolutist state and later of mercantilism , a self-governing community was no longer in demand. In 1732 Kamen lost part of the city's self-government and in 1753 its own lower jurisdiction.
Another typically medieval aspect of a city, the communal use of pastures and forests, was abolished at the beginning of the 19th century. Kamen had until then a relatively large common property, the "Reck-Kamensche-Heide", which extended to Bergkamen-Overberge. In 1834 this common land was finally divided ; the area was divided into small plots and transferred to private owners.
In the course of the division of the heath, the officers' corps of the bachelor guild in Kamen also claimed part of the heather for themselves. This meant the "Schützenplatz" at the so-called Buddenheck, located by the Bergkamen farmers. The property of seven acres, part of the former Linkampschen Heide, was assigned to the city of Kamen in 1834, which left it to the Kamener Schützenverein.
The last step in the dissolution of the medieval constitution was taken with the abolition of the guild system in 1810. For Kamen, too, this meant a further weakening of economic strength. The guilds had a great influence in the city at times. Until then, the most represented craftsmen had always been the linen weavers and shoemakers.
In 1806 Kamen, like the other cities in the region, was occupied by Napoleonic troops. Kamen then belonged to the Ruhr Department of the Grand Duchy of Berg. The mayor of Kamen was now called Maire. The Code Napoléon , the French code of law that was more liberal than Prussian laws, was introduced. After seven years (1813), with the Wars of Liberation, French rule came to an end and Kamen was again ruled by the Prussians.
The Kamener Schützen were able to organize themselves again after the victory over Napoleon and founded the Kamener Schützenverein in 1820. With the defense of the cities now in the hands of the military, the rifle clubs were more sociable. Now rifle clubs were also established in the villages, including Heeren, Südkamen and Methler.
Because of the high debts of Kamen, the relatively large urban property outside the city, in the Feldmark, had to be sold or leased. Kamen gradually strengthened its economy when, in 1847, the line of the " Cologne-Mindener Railway " touched the city area.
The enormous changes in traffic technology brought about by the railroad become clear when one looks at the state of freight and passenger transport before the railway was built. The country roads that existed were in poor condition, although since 1822 they had been upgraded to “art roads” in Westphalia. In addition to the wagons, only the post office existed as a means of public transport. For the majority of people, walking to distant destinations was a matter of course. Many craftsmen and merchants also wandered around the country with their goods "on foot". The wagons were extremely dependent on the weather and road conditions.
The only alternative to the roads were the waterways. However, most of the rivers were not navigable at all or, like the Lippe and Ruhr, were only partially navigable. During the emergence of industrialization, there was a lack of a means of transport that was independent of terrain and weather, with which raw materials and products could be transported quickly and inexpensively over long distances. So the plan arose in business circles to build a railway line from the Rhine to the Weser .
Even Friedrich Harkort pointed out in the magazine "Hermann" in 1825 on the economic importance of this mode of transport. In 1843 the "Köln-Mindener-Eisenbahngesellschaft" was finally founded, which wanted to carry out the construction. The early railroad construction was done exclusively in the private sector; the state limited itself to the approval process. In 1845, for example, the “Highest Cabinet Order” stipulated that the route should lead via Dortmund, Kamen, Hamm, Ahlen / Westf., Rheda and Bielefeld to Minden.
The Prussian state saw no need to build a railway even when businessmen pointed out the military importance of the railway (including fast troop transports). In fact, in 1848/49 soldiers were transported by train against the civil revolt in Iserlohn . The troops were taken by train to Kamen and from here they were led across the road. Friedrich Harkort called the railway the "hearse with which feudalism is carried to the grave."
In 1845, the construction of the line began in this region. The “Kreis Hammer Wochenblatt” reported at that time of an extremely rigid approach by the railway workers. Land and fencing were evidently no obstacle to the work. In 1846 the “five-arch bridge” was built near Kamen. Since it crossed the swampy Seseke area, thousands of oak trunks had to be driven into the ground beforehand. Since this bridge has remained almost unchanged to this day, it is one of the oldest railway bridges in West Germany.
In May 1847 the time had come. On May 2nd the first train passed through Kamen to Hamm; on May 15, the official inauguration of the station in Kamen and Hamm took place. The Kamen pastor Friedrich Proebsting called the Kamen train station at the inauguration a "port on one of the largest rivers in Europe". He shouldn't have overestimated the importance of this railway line. In the same year three locomotives drove the route. They had previously been given the names "Dortmund", "Hamm" and "Camen". These locomotives were the first German railway vehicles manufactured by “ Saxonia ” in Dresden .
In October 1847 the line was opened to the Weser town of Minden. A year later, a continuous route to Berlin was established. After initially only carrying people, goods traffic began on June 1, 1847. The first express train also passed through Kamen: On May 1, 1851, it took 13 hours for the Berlin-Cologne route; a year later only 11 hours. In 1858 the Cologne-Minden line was expanded to double tracks. (To date, the line in Kamen is only double-tracked, which is now a very significant bottleneck for railway operations due to the amalgamation of slow freight traffic and fast passenger traffic.)
Construction of the Kamen station building began shortly after the route opened. It was completed in 1854. It was built in the classical style based on a sample book by Karl-Friedrich Schinkel . The station building is also one of the oldest buildings on the Cologne-Mindener Railway.
The railroad had developed into the most important and cheapest means of transport of goods and people in a short time. Without the railroad, industrial development would not have been possible to this extent - and, conversely, without industrial development, the railroad would not have been possible. Before motor vehicles existed, the railroad was the most important means of transport in the country.
The railway line brought about rapid development of the region to the left and right of the railway. The best known example is the city of Oberhausen . Before the railway was built, it was just a small settlement on a manor. Because a train station was built there for traffic reasons and the mining industry settled down, an important industrial city developed there in a short time.
The proximity to the railway also determined the location of the “Courl” colliery. It was railway early 1850s, close to the Cologne-Minden sunk . The machine transport and the coal removal were guaranteed without any problems.
The first miners were recruited in the region. They lived mostly in their own houses or rented privately. It was only when the demand for labor rose sharply that miners were recruited from the eastern provinces of Prussia. For these people, living space had to be created quickly. Between 1874 and 1895, a total of eight sections of the “Kaiserau” miners' settlement and similar houses in (Dortmund-) Husen and (Dortmund-) Kurl were built. Of the former sections, Section 7 (Germaniastraße, listed) and Section 8 (Röntgenstraße) still exist today: examples of the fact that building was very simple in the late phase of miners' housing.
Initially, people walked to work. Later, the miners were able to take the colliery train to their workplace. After the Second World War , more and more public transport was used. Fares were now also in a better proportion to income.
Several citizens from Kaiserau decided to take care of the missing stop on the railway line themselves. Approval from the Reichsbahn and the other authorities was obtained, the building material - z. T. used - self-procured. In May 1948, the "Westick-Kaiserau stop" was inaugurated. People were proud of the self-help improvement in local public transport not only for Kaiserau, but also for the communities of Methler, Westick and Wasserkurl.
After the construction of the railway, industrial companies could slowly settle in Kamen. The first company to start production in 1850 was the Friedrich paper and cardboard factory on Weststrasse on the site of the former Cappenberger Hof. In 1854 the Möllenhof cigar factory was established in the city center. In 1868 the non-ferrous metal and iron foundry of the Jellinghaus brothers moved to what is now Westicker Strasse. Other metal processing companies were added. The municipal savings bank was established in 1857 and the municipal gas works in 1865. The Städtische Sparkasse was of decisive importance for the middle-class start-up. It was only through the opportunity to take out loans that industrial development took place. The gasworks founded a few years later, the forerunner of the Kamener Stadtwerke, supplied the energy required to operate steam engines and the lighting.
The population reached the level of around 3,700 in 1870.
Came as a mining town
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After mining moved in in 1873, Kamen changed considerably. Up to this time the development had only grown slightly beyond the medieval city limits. Most of the houses were built from half-timbered houses until the turn of the century . Only a few secular stone buildings were built in the middle of the century. Most of the houses on the Old Market, for example, are still built in the old half-timbered style, although their façades simulate stone buildings.
An enormous structural change also occurred in the Methler and Heeren-Werve districts with the arrival of mining. Until then, these villages were exclusively agricultural. Traditionally, the handicraft was only important in the cities.
In the so-called " Gründerzeit ", not only the economy, but also the club system, with the shooting clubs at the top, received an enormous boost. Every long-established citizen, if he was self-respecting, had to be a member of the rifle club or another respected civil society. The rifle festival , meanwhile the central festival of the city or the village before the fair, was of enormous importance. In most cities or villages it only lost this importance in the last few decades. The industrial workers who were later recruited were excluded from civil society for a long time. They founded their own clubs. In most cities there are parallel association traditions, some of which have survived to this day.
The economic structure had changed to the detriment of handicrafts, metal and leather processing were industrialized. Many masters and journeymen were now forced to look for work in industry. So after 1873 several metalworking companies and three shoe factories were established in Kamen, which could produce much cheaper than the craft. The artisanal linen weaving had almost come to a standstill since the middle of the 19th century due to the cheaper competition from cotton and mechanical looms.
The greatest structural change, however, was caused by the arrival of the coal industry in Kamen. At the "Monopol" colliery that was built in 1873, coal mining began in 1879 with the "Grillo 1" shaft at a depth of 400 m. In 1887 work began on the “Grillo 2” shaft, and in 1906 with “Grillo 3” in the south of what was then Bergkamen. In 1888 mining began in Heeren with the “Königsborn 2” shaft to change the community. In the course of time, mining companies also settled in the wider area of Kamen. The pit field of the Monopol colliery was by far the largest in the Ruhr area for a long time.
The demand for workers for the mining industry had grown. Soon the labor force in the area was no longer sufficient. The mines were now recruiting workers from the eastern regions of Europe. The miners hired by the Monopol colliery came from Upper and Lower Silesia, Austria, Hungary, Italy, etc. By 1890, the Kamen colliery was already employing almost 1,200 miners. As a result, the number of inhabitants rose by leaps and bounds: from around 3,700 in 1870 to over 10,000 in 1902.
The construction of many miners' homes had become necessary. First of all, the large open spaces of the former Burgmannshöfe in the urban area were built on with colony of miners. In 1899, the Dortmund Oberbergamt named the following colonies in connection with the “Monopol” mine: Vogelhof, Rungenhof, Schulzhof, Vohwinkel, Lutherheim and Westentor as well as Gut Reck in Lerche (now Hamm-Lerche). After 1900, miners' houses were also built outside the old town center. In the area of the municipalities of Westick and Methler, the "Courl" colliery, which has been operating since 1851, had miners' houses built in the eight sections of the "Kaiserau Colony " in the last quarter of the 19th century , thus initiating a structural change here as well.
In addition to the gas works, the city also built the water supply, which now had to provide healthy water for many people. Since 1888, Kamen von Unna has taken over drinking water by pipeline. Before that, there were over 180 wells in the city for the water supply. The last well preserved is still on the west wall. Electricity was only supplied to Kamen at the end of 1920. The colliery had already covered its electricity needs 30 years earlier with its own generation.
In the wake of the development of the mining industry, other professional groups came to the cities of the Ruhr area besides the miners and their families, who also needed living space. The influx of miners from the east led to social problems with the long-established population. The people of Kamen and the new citizens lived very close together in the old town center.
The increase in the population also required more schools, especially in the elementary school sector. Today's grammar school developed from the Kamen Latin School of the Middle Ages. The mining companies also had to contribute to the costs of building and maintaining these schools. Since 1873 there was also a newspaper in Kamen, the “Volksfreund”, which was printed in (Dortmund-) Hörde. In 1883 a second daily newspaper, the “Märkische Zeitung”, now printed in Kamen, was added.
The Kleinbahn Unna – Kamen – Werne (UKW), which ran through Kamen since 1906, provided the necessary local transport connections. First to Unna and Bergkamen (today Bergkamen-Mitte), since 1912 also to Werne , where mining began there that same year. Since 1934, buses have been running between Unna and Kamen instead of the rail-bound trams. The mines were connected to one another with the company's own mines' railways. In addition to coal, they also transported the miners to their often remote workplaces.
The high proportion of miner families changed the social structure and at the same time polarized the social contrasts. There were numerous founding of workers' associations and interest groups. The miners found their political home especially in the social democracy. Already in the first miners' strike in 1889, the workforce of the "Monopol" colliery was almost completely involved. Although the mayor of Kamen requested the military to protect the colliery, there were no arguments. This political orientation of the miners made it difficult for the National Socialists to gain a foothold early on in the mining towns.
In the two world wars, miners had to extract more coal in order to meet the enormous demand for raw materials for the armaments industry . During the last war, the colliery and thus the city area were frequent targets of the Allied bomber units. However, compared to other cities in the Ruhr area, Kamen got off lightly. The chemical works of Schering AG in neighboring Bergkamen with their coal liquefaction plants were exposed to the strongest attacks .
After the end of the war, the mines were the first companies that were allowed to resume work. In 1946, in the Bergkamen part of the “Monopol” colliery (Grimberg 3/4) there was a serious mine accident caused by a firedamp explosion in which over 400 miners, some of them from Kamen, lost their lives.
In 1983 the “Grillo” mine of the “Monopol” colliery in Kamen was shut down after exactly 110 years. Since the "Königsborn 2/5" mine has not been in operation since 1976, we can no longer find any mining facilities in today's Kamen. The grounds of the former collieries are now made available for modern projects.
literature
- Goehrke, Klaus: Burgmannen, citizens, miners. A history of the city of Kamen, Greven 2010 ISBN 978-3-00-032132-0 .