Wuelfrath

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
coat of arms Germany map
Coat of arms of the city of Wülfrath
Wuelfrath
Map of Germany, position of the city of Wülfrath highlighted

Coordinates: 51 ° 17 '  N , 7 ° 2'  E

Basic data
State : North Rhine-Westphalia
Administrative region : Dusseldorf
Circle : Mettmann
Height : 262 m above sea level NHN
Area : 32.27 km 2
Residents: 20,957 (Dec. 31, 2019)
Population density : 649 inhabitants per km 2
Postal code : 42489
Primaries : 02058, 02053
License plate : ME
Community key : 05 1 58 036
LOCODE : DE WLF

City administration address : 		Am Rathaus 1
42489 Wülfrath
Website : www.wuelfrath.net
Mayoress : Claudia Panke ( independent )
Location of the city of Wülfrath in the Mettmann district
Düsseldorf Duisburg Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis Essen Köln Leverkusen Mülheim an der Ruhr Remscheid Rhein-Erft-Kreis Rhein-Kreis Neuss Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis Solingen Wuppertal Erkrath Haan Heiligenhaus Hilden Langenfeld (Rheinland) Mettmann Monheim am Rhein Ratingen Velbert Wülfrathmap
About this picture
Map of Wuelfrath
Climate diagram

Wülfrath is a medium- sized town in the Mettmann district ( North Rhine-Westphalia ) and the smallest medium- sized center in the Niederbergisches Land .

geography

Wülfrath, view of the old town

Geographical location

The city is located in the Niederbergisches Land between the Rhine , Ruhr and Wupper rivers . The old town center lies in a small valley through which the river Angerbach flows. The newer districts spread out on the slopes of the valley.

Neighboring communities

The Wülfrath urban area borders on the independent city of Wuppertal and on the cities of Velbert , Heiligenhaus , Mettmann and Ratingen (all of the district of Mettmann).

Districts

In addition to the city center of Wülfrath (Anger-Markt), there are the districts of Flandersbach , Rohdenhaus , Kocherscheidt , Schlupkothen and Düssel , as well as several smaller farms with very little residential development.

history

The city park

Wülfrath was one of the first clearing settlements in the great early medieval imperial forest. The borders were delimited in a deed of donation from Emperor Heinrich IV. Dated October 16, 1165 with the rivers Rhine , Ruhr and Düssel (Tussella). The eastern border was the old high path of the Kölnische Strasse (strata colonensis) . It ran from the Werdener Ruhrbrücke via Velbert and Wülfrath along the Düssel towards Cologne . The center of the medieval village was a manor (Mollmershof), which was sold to the Count von Berg in connection with the Hardenberg rule . With the possession of the court, which included an extensive Hofverband with many individual farms, particularly in the Honnschaften Erbach and Püttbach, the right was linked to determine the pastor.

The village of Wülfrath was first mentioned in writing towards the end of the 11th century as Wolverothe (= clearing of the settler named Wolf) in a parchment of the Kaiserswerth monastery . The origins go back much further. Based on the legend of the settler Wolf , who was expelled by his clan and who is said to have cleared the then abundant forest on the site of today's town center in order to settle there, the town's history can be traced back to about 713. At that time, the first church building (a small, early medieval hall church with a rectangular choir) could have stood on the site of today's church square. A Romanesque church has stood there since the 11th century , and was expanded to include Gothic elements in the 15th century . In the middle of the 15th century it is called St. Cornelius Church. The tower and north aisle with a partition wall to the central nave are Romanesque and probably from the 12th century. The central nave is Gothic from the 14th century. According to the keystone, the southern nave in late Gothic style was completed in 1524. The church is surrounded by a ring of houses and shops and is the center of a uniquely beautiful Altberg church square.

Most of these houses still exist today in their original state and are under monument protection, others have been rebuilt. Each of these houses had (and still has) a name next to the house number: Auf'm Keller (1678), Hamels (1678), Melanders (1678), Op der Ley (around 1600 - expanded in 1911), Auf'm Haus (1678), Großer Klaus (1686 - rebuilt 1964), Kleiner Klaus (1678), Scholle (1678), Hinter'm Turm (1678), Jostenhaus (built around 1738), Hechtsteinhaus (1678), Op de Trapp (1678) and Leonhards (rebuilt 1955).

875 were Honnschaften and modern neighborhoods Flandersbach (Flatmarasbeki = the brook, settled on the Flattmar) and Rützkausen (Hrotsteninghuson = at the houses of the clan of Hrotsen) in the description of the tenth district of an der Ruhr Monastery are called, as in 1533, the Hofgut To Fudickar (HStA Düsseldorf, inventory of Werden Abbey, IX a, no. 6) with weir storage facility and outer courtyards. In 1256 the Catholic St. Maximin Church in Düssel (Dussela) was mentioned, but the oldest parts of the Romanesque pillar basilica can be dated to the early 12th century. Around the year 1100 the place name Wülfrath ( Wolverothe , which later developed into Wulfrod, then Wulfrath to today's Wülfrath) was mentioned for the first time in a parchment written by monks from the Kaiserswerth monastery.

A blacksmith can be attested to as early as 1265 on the basis of the tax and interest registers . The Püttbach estate in the Wülfrath Honnschaft of the same name is owned by the Teutonic Knight Order in 1392 . It was the Oberhof for the free float of the Order , in which the annual Hofgericht was held.

In 1578 a major fire broke out in the village, which reduced the settlement to ashes and caused the roof and the church spire to go up in flames. In order to help the seriously injured residents, the sovereign, Duke Wilhelm V of Jülich-Kleve-Berg , known as Wilhelm the Rich , issued a market letter in 1579 which gave his "Dorff und Kirspel Wulfrod" four free annual markets. But no sooner was this fire forgotten than exactly one hundred years later the village was devastated again by a major fire. The entire town center with over 70 houses was turned into a field of rubble.

After the transfer of the Duchy of Berg to the French in 1806 and the proclamation of the Grand Duchy of Berg , in 1808 the honnships Erbach , Püttbach , Obschwarzbach , Niederschwarzbach (previously all of the Mettmann office), Flandersbach, Rützkausen (previously the Angermund office) and Oberdüssel (before the Schöller office) became the municipality (Mairie) Wülfrath formed. 1809 Obschwarzbach and Niederschwarzbach Mettmann were affiliated. For this, the Unterdüssel community came to Wülfrath with the village of Düssel.

After the Wars of Liberation , the place - as part of the newly formed Rhine Province - became part of Prussia in 1815. By ordinance, Wülfrath was appointed to represent the cities in the Rhineland Provincial Parliament in 1827 . In 1856 it finally received full city rights through the awarding of the city ​​regulations for the Rhine Province .

In 2001 part of the historic old town was again destroyed by flames. On the night of January 21, a fire broke out in the heart of the old town, killing three old half-timbered houses. The completely destroyed houses had to be demolished and have now been replaced by modern new buildings.

At the end of September 2013, the Anger-Markt, which is to represent a new commercial center of the city, was opened on the former town hall and town hall area.

Municipal reorganization

The municipal reorganization, which came into force on January 1, 1975, brought the city a great loss of territory and population; the population fell by around 3,000. Parts of the Upper Flandersbach were reclassified to Velbert, parts of the Düsseler Höhe and Hahnenfurth and the Dornap district to Wuppertal. An area of ​​around 3 km² with 166 inhabitants at that time was taken over by Mettmann.

Population structure

By far the largest proportion of the population are made up of those over 50. Every third citizen of Wülfrath is at least 50 years of age or older, which is why Wülfrath is considered an "old town". The proportion of the female population outweighs the male population at 51.5%. The proportion of foreigners is around ten percent.

Population development

Population development of Wülfrath from 1980 to 2015
The new town hall
Rheinkalk administration building
retirement home
A memorial to the war victims
Large memorial to the war victims

Source: State Office for Data Processing and Statistics (LDS NRW)

Population on December 31
by nationality
year all in all German Foreigners
1980 20,916 18,752 2.164
1985 20,794 18,856 1.938
1987 20,769 18,949 1,820
1988 21,115 19,129 1,986
1989 21,460 19,421 2,039
1990 21,987 19,839 2.148
1991 22,098 19,843 2,255
1992 22,272 19,790 2,482
1993 22,236 19,759 2,477
1994 22,127 19,655 2,472
1995 22,046 19,600 2,446
1996 22,210 19,682 2,528
1997 22,399 19,861 2,538
1998 22,545 19,978 2,567
1999 22,574 20,020 2,554
2000 22,531 20,025 2,506
2001 22,669 20.163 2,506
2002 22,618 20.184 2,434
2003 22,479 20,049 2,430
2005 22,190 19,867 2,323
2010 21,299 19,079 2,220
2015 21,223 18,701 2,522
2017 21,196 17,342 3,854

Religions

Evangelical Churches:

Catholic Church: Catholic parish St. Maximin Wülfrath with the churches:

  • St. Joseph, town center
  • St. Maximin, Düssel
  • St. Petrus Canisius, Rohdenhaus

Other churches and religious communities:

politics

Municipal council

Composition of the Council (36 seats)
Political party 1999 Seats 2004 Seats 2009 Seats 2014 Seats
Christian Democratic Union ( CDU ) 44.9% 16 39.4% 14th 31.4% 12 37.7% 13
Social Democratic Party of Germany ( SPD ) 32.4% 12 27.1% 10 21.8% 8th 26.7% 9
Democratic Left Wülfrath (DLW) 10.9% 4th 16.8% 6th 16.0% 6th 6.0% 2
Alliance of Greens / Wülfrath Voting Community ( Greens / WWG) 6.5% 2 9.1% 3 7.8% 3 9.4% 3
Free Democratic Party ( FDP ) 5.3% 2 7.5% 3 8.6% 3 4.3% 1
WG ( community of voters ) - - - - 14.4% 6th 15.9% 6th

mayor

Claudia Panke has been the elected mayor of Wülfrath (independent) since 2009 . In the mayoral election in 2009, Panke was elected the new mayor of Wülfrath with 26.96% of the vote. She was able to prevail over incumbent Barbara Lorenz-Allendorff , who received 24.42%. Due to a new NRW municipal electoral law, no runoff election was necessary for the first time.

In the mayoral election in 2014, Claudia Panke was re-elected as mayor with 69.49% of the votes in the first ballot. Claudia Panke's term of office ends in September 2020.

Finances

The debts of the city of Wülfrath as of December 31, 2012 were 85,945,047 euros. This corresponds to a per capita debt of 4,079 euros per inhabitant. As one of the first municipalities in Germany, the city of Wülfrath has voluntarily introduced a so-called sustainability statute for the area of ​​city finances, with the help of which the city aims to reduce its debts and thus reduce the repayment and interest burdens.

coat of arms

The Wülfrath city ​​coat of arms , which developed after 1840 from an old church seal of the Evangelical Reformed parish, was redesigned by the Düsseldorf heraldist and painter Wolfgang Pagenstecher in 1938 and officially recognized by the Upper President of the Rhine Province. It shows a shepherd who sticks his stick (stick) into the throat of a wolf attacking him . This representation is intended on the one hand to symbolize the victory of good over evil and on the other hand to refer to the development of the town center. It hardly reminds of the settler Wolf, who is believed to be the founder of the city.

Town twinning

Furthermore, the city of Wülfrath had taken on the following sponsorship :

  • Army Music Corps 7, from October 24, 2000 to December 21, 2006 (the orchestra association was dissolved in January 2007)

Culture and sights

Niederbergisches Museum

Buildings

Wülfrath has a historic church square and an old town with a pedestrian zone. The residential area of Düsseler Tor has a kindergarten in the design language of Friedensreich Hundertwasser . Other sights are the Schlupkothen quarry with its educational and adventure trail (EUROGA 2002 plus) and the cycle and art trail (EUROGA 2002 plus). Outside the city is the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial .

Museums

Regular events

  • Rosenmontagszug the Kalkstadtnarren
  • Shooting festival with fair (mostly on the second weekend in September)
  • City festival , called Potato Festival , annually in September
  • Christmas market: The Christmas market, called Herzog-Wilhelm-Markt, takes place annually on the church square and begins on the Friday before the 1st Advent

Photo gallery

  • Bronze sculpture "Der Kalker" in the pedestrian zone

  • Wülfrath, old town house

  • Wülfrather church square

  • Wülfrather church square

  • Ev. City church Wülfrath

  • Right wing of the Protestant town church

  • Rear part of the Protestant town church

  • Inner courtyard of the Wasserburg Düssel

  • Catholic Church of St. Maximin in Düssel

Economy and Infrastructure

Lime extraction in
Wülfrath

By the middle of the 19th century, more than 100 commercial and industrial enterprises had settled. These were larger house businesses - mostly home weaving mills. After 1850, the first larger companies with steam power were founded. Despite the strong industrialization at the time, the agricultural character was not completely lost. Today there are only a few farms left.

The founding of the Rheinisch-Westfälische Kalkwerke Dornap in 1887 and the Rheinische Kalksteinwerke Wülfrath in 1903 (today jointly part of the Belgian Lhoist Group as Rheinkalk) were formative for Wülfrath . As the largest limestone quarry in Europe, the Rheinkalk works in Flandersbach is still the focus of Wülfrath's industry.

There were also numerous weaving mills, leather processing companies, an outsourced branch of the Ford factory in Cologne, which emerged from the body factory Josef Hebmueller Söhne founded in 1889 and still exists today (tedrive Steering Systems GmbH) and many small businesses.

The largest employer in Wülfrath is the Bergische Diakonie Aprath , which operates, among other things, several old people's homes as well as children's homes and socio-therapeutic facilities. PUKY , based in Wülfrath, is a medium-sized manufacturer of children's vehicles.

traffic

In the district of Aprath, Wülfrath has a connection to the S 9 S-Bahn line on the Wuppertal-Vohwinkel-Essen-Überruhr line . The Wülfrath-Aprath stop is today the only remaining train station in Wülfrath and can be reached by bus from Wülfrath city center once an hour. However, there is also an hourly express bus from Wülfrath city center to Wuppertal. The Wülfrath station was in the center of Wülfrath on the Angertal and Niederbergbahn , but their traffic has been suspended for a long time.

The S-Bahn line 28 from Mettmann - Stadtwald to Wuppertal Hauptbahnhof will be extended by the end of 2017 . It is led from Mettmann-Stadtwald to Wuppertal-Vohwinkel via a new branch line of the Düsseldorf-Derendorf-Dortmund Süd railway line through Wülfrath-Düssel, where it will be given the new Düssel-Hahnenfurth stop .

Wülfrath is connected to the German motorway network via the A 535 (AS Wülfrath).

health

The only hospital in town, the Ev. Herminghaus-Stift hospital was closed at the end of 2006 after being taken over by the St. Antonius Clinics . Care is now provided by the hospitals in the neighboring cities of Mettmann , Velbert and Wuppertal .

Public facilities

Municipal high school Wülfrath (east view)
Free Active School Wülfrath

schools

  • Elementary School Ellenbeek
  • Elementary school Lindenschule
  • Primary school park school
  • Private primary school of the Free Active School Wülfrath
  • Secondary school Wülfrath
  • Wülfrath municipal high school
  • Private comprehensive school of the Free Active School Wülfrath (with upper secondary school since the school year 2014/15)

Libraries and Archives

  • Wülfrath city archive
  • Wülfrather media world (city library)
  • Adult Education Center Mettmann-Wülfrath

Personalities

sons and daughters of the town

People connected to the city

literature

  • Ulrich Bauckhage: For example: Wülfrath 1919–1949 - A small German town on the way through National Socialism . Frohn Verlag, Essen 1988, ISBN 3-88578-108-5 .
  • Jutta de Jong: Wülfrath: A foray around the turn of the century . Geiger Verlag, Horb am Neckar, 1993, ISBN 3-89264-836-0 .
  • Julius Imig: Wülfrath - home book of a Niederbergischen town . Henn, Ratingen near Düsseldorf, 1962.
  • Wolfgang Heinrichs and Hartmut Nolte: Wülfrath . Sutton Verlag, Erfurt 2000, ISBN 3-89702-240-0 .
  • Wolfgang Heinrichs and Hartmut Nolte: Lexicon of the Wülfrath church history. Verlag Traugott Bautz, Nordhausen 2008. ISBN 978-3-88309-454-0
  • Wolfgang Heinrichs and Hartmut Nolte: Wülfrath - Pictures through the ages . Geiger Verlag, Horb am Neckar, 2010, ISBN 978-3-86595-389-6 .
  • Wolfgang Heinrichs and Hartmut Nolte: Wülfrath: the sixties . Sutton, Erfurt 2013, ISBN 978-3-9540031-0-5 .
  • Willi Münch : Wülfrath . 1979, ISBN 3-7927-0491-9 .
  • Horst G. Hütten: Wülfrath out of the sewing basket. Told from the history of an old city with a pen and contemporary quotes . 1976, ISBN 3-921986-34-6 .
  • Kurt Wesoly: City Atlas Wülfrath . Published by the Office for Rhenish Regional Studies Cologne, Rheinland-Verlag, 1996, ISBN 3-7927-1567-8 .

Web links

Commons : Wülfrath  - Collection of Images

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. ↑ Martin Bünermann, Heinz Köstering: The communities and districts after the municipal territorial reform in North Rhine-Westphalia . Deutscher Gemeindeverlag, Cologne 1975, ISBN 3-555-30092-X .
  3. ^ Municipal profile Wülfrath, city. (PDF; 222 kB) Information and Technology North Rhine-Westphalia (as of July 20, 2011).
  4. ↑ Federal and State Statistical Offices: Integrated Debt of Municipalities and Municipal Associations - Proportional model calculation for inter-municipal comparison. - As of December 31, 2012 - Community publication
  5. ↑ Sustainability statutes of the city of Wülfrath. Retrieved August 30, 2014.