Forest (Solingen)

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Forest district
City of Solingen
Coat of arms of the municipality of Wald
Coordinates: 51 ° 11 '2 "  N , 7 ° 2' 28"  E
Height : 150-200 m above sea level NHN
Area : 7.86 km²
Residents : 24,440  (Dec. 31, 2015)
Population density : 3,109 inhabitants / km²
Incorporation : August 1, 1929
Postcodes : 42719, 42655
Area code : 0212
map
Location of the Wald district in Solingen
Evangelical church in Solingen-Wald am Walder Rundling
Evangelical church in Solingen-Wald am Walder Rundling

Forest is the oldest and smallest district in terms of area in Solingen .

geography

The district of Wald, which is also an urban district , is located in the northwest of Solingen and borders (clockwise) on the neighboring town of Haan and the Solingen districts of Gräfrath , Mitte , Merscheid and Ohligs . The Walder city center (Wald-Mitte) lies on a ridge between the Ittertal and the Lochbachtal .

History (since 1019)

The first mention of a Christian community in Wald can be found in a document dated May 3, 1019 AD by the Archbishop of Cologne , Heribert of Cologne , in which he stated the ownership of the “ Fronhof and church called Wald” (curtim et ecclesiam que Walda vocatur) confirmed. A church building, probably a wooden church, must have already existed at this point in time. The name probably comes from the very heavily forested region of the Bergisches Land .

The area that is part of the forest today was largely uninhabited due to its dense forests and impassable terrain, presumably until the 11th century . As in the entire region of the Bergisches Land, so-called single farm settlement with very few residents was initially common. The native Walder population , mostly simple farmers and craftsmen, have 100% self-sufficient . The associated urbanization effect was intensified by clearing and the forest developed from a small clearing settlement to a medieval village. Around 1150 a new stone church was built; the resulting Romanesque west tower is still preserved today and is accessible. This church tower is now the oldest building in Solingen.

Bronze sculpture: grinder on the pleated disk
Grinder on the pleated disk, Henryk Dywan , 1984, bronze sculpture

In 1185 the nearby Gräfrath was taken out of the parish of Wald, as it had come to its own influence through the monastery in the village . In 1218 court districts were created in the Bergisches Land, and Wald became an independent judicial district . In 1314 a court is mentioned at Deutzer Hof in Wald. The parish of Wald also belonged to the Solingen office, first mentioned in 1363 . In 1590, Wald, which belonged to Freedom Gräfrath , was reformed together with the latter and the Walder Church became Protestant . For centuries, the forest economy shaped the manufacture of blades in the grinding cabins on the numerous streams in the city area. The population lived mostly scattered in individual courtyards and farmhouses that did not change much . Big changes only came about forests with the Industrial Revolution . The historic center of Wald is shown as a monument area in the monument list of the city of Solingen . On October 13, 1807, forest was raised to the rank of mayor . It essentially consisted of the three honors Itter , Scheid and Limminghofen . Individual farms were also added to Wald from other honors, such as Bavert, Vogelsang or Gönrath. In 1818 the hall of the Walder Church was rebuilt because the previous one had to be demolished.

Wald received the city charter according to the Prussian city code in 1856. In 1890, Wald received its city ​​arms .

The manufacture of umbrellas was of the greatest economic importance for the industrialized forest . The Kortenbach und Rauh company , which conquered the world market with its most famous product, the Kobold , was particularly connected with the city of Wald . At peak times, more than 1,000 people found work in the forest. In 1887 the Solingen – Wald – Vohwinkel railway , known as the corkscrew railway due to its winding course, was put into operation. As a result, Wald was connected to the rail network with the Walder Bahnhof . In 1892, Wald received a town hall at the location of today's Friedrich-Ebert-Straße. The imposing brick building still presents its magnificent facade in the style of the Nordic Renaissance . In 1928, with the construction of the Jahnkampfbahn , a sports stadium was opened in Wald, which established a long tradition in sports history. The Jahnkampfbahn, also known as the Walder Stadium , still exists today and is currently the only sports stadium in the Bergisch city of Solingen.

In 1929, Wald was merged with the then city of Solingen and the cities of Gräfrath , Höhscheid and Ohligs to form the city of Solingen. At the time of the unification of the cities, the population of Wald was around 27,000.

The damage caused by the Second World War was far less in Wald than in the inner city of Solingen, which was almost completely destroyed. In response to the influx of refugees in the first post-war years, entire settlements quickly emerged in Wald in order to cope with the prevailing housing shortage. Examples are the Spar- und Bauvereinssiedlung am Wasserturm and the Stettiner Strasse / Gleiwitzer Strasse settlement, whose street names are reminiscent of former German eastern cities, the places of origin of the refugees.

The Walder town center was subjected to structural changes several times in the post-war period . Taking into account the increasing traffic , the construction of a western bypass road began in 1956 to relieve the lower Friedrich-Ebert-Strasse, today's Stresemannstrasse. In 1961 the project, to which several historical buildings fell victim, was completed. However, this did not contribute to any significant relaxation, the narrow circular road in the area around the church remained an obstacle for the fast through traffic. At the end of the 1980s, the construction of the southern bypass began and the stretch of road between Deutzerhof and the Schwindstrasse / Wiedenhofer Strasse intersection was created. The through traffic was diverted around the town center, which became a pedestrian zone after the renovation was completed in 1991 .

The railway line and the station in Wald were gradually shut down from the 1980s, today a popular cycle path , the corkscrew route, leads over the former railway embankment .

coat of arms

  • Walder city arms (since 1890)

Blazon : A triangular silver (white) shield shows a blossoming oak tree on green pasture. On the trunk of the oak leans a small triangular shield placed diagonally to the left in black and silver (white) trimmed borders; on a golden (yellow) background a silver (white) rod of Mercury vertically over a crossed black hammer and mallet. In the upper coat of arms you can see a crenellated city wall with a closed gate and three towers.

Residential quarters

The district of Wald consists of several residential quarters , some residential quarters are typical Bergische Hofschaften with only a few houses and a large number of centuries-old Bergische half-timbered houses :

Bavert, Bech, Demmeltrath, Eigen, Eschbach , Felder Hof, Itter, Krausen, Lochbach, Mummenscheid, Rolsberg, Sonnenschein, Scheid and Vogelsang

Culture and sights

Half-timbered houses in the center of Wald

Wald is known for the Walder Theatertage , which takes place annually in June. Originally the result of a theater competition for young actors, the Walder Theatertage has developed into a “cultural spectacle” that is well known beyond the city limits. International street theater groups shape the program. The theater days are organized by Peter Wirtz.

The center of Wald is essentially formed by the road called Walder Rundling , Walder Schlauch or Walder Dorp around the Walder Church , which defines the area . Due to the structural changes in the post-war period, some Bergische half-timbered houses were demolished. But especially the streets and alleys behind the church were almost completely spared by the newer traffic planning and today show a mixture of old Bergisch half-timbered houses and picturesque residential houses from the Wilhelminian era . The entire town center is therefore protected as a monument area. The privately operated Laurel & Hardy Museum has been located in the former Walder Kotten since 2003 . It shows exhibits and films by the comedian duo Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy , who became known in Germany as Dick and Doof .

Also worth mentioning is the Ittertal leisure center, which is located in the Itter valley on the border with the neighboring town of Haan . On the one hand, it consists of a leisure facility with sports areas and an outdoor pool in summer and an ice rink in winter.

Personalities

sons and daughters of the town

Honorary citizen

Born in Wald, Carl Russ emigrated to Switzerland and joined the chocolate manufacturer Suchard , which was already the largest Swiss chocolate factory and which continued to expand under his leadership. On February 12, 1908, Ruß in Wald was awarded honorary citizenship for his services . Imperial Chancellor Otto von Bismarck was also made an honorary citizen of Walder in 1895.

See also

Web links

Commons : Forest  - collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Document printed in Erich Wisplinghoff : Rheinisches Urkundenbuch. Older documents up to 1100 , Volume 1: Aachen – Deutz, Peter Hanstein-Verlag, Bonn 1972, No. 131, pp. 190–195; Digitized at the University and State Library Bonn. As far as we know today, the document, which has only survived in later copies, is a forgery from the middle of the 12th century.
  2. ↑ a b http://www.solingen-internet.de/si-hgw/gesch_zahlen.htm History of Solingen on solingen-internet.de , accessed on February 13, 2015
  3. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) 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. Monument areas on solingen.de , accessed on February 13, 2015 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.solingen.de
  4. ↑ http://www.zeitspurensuche.de/02/sgowal1.htm#Notizen History of the district on zeitspurensuche.de , website with secondary sources, accessed on February 13, 2015
  5. ↑ http://www.solingen-internet.de/si-hgw/100jahre-kortenbach&rauh.htm Overview of the company on solingen-internet.de , accessed on February 22, 2015
  6. ↑ http://www.zeitspurensuche.de/02/sgowal1.htm
  7. ^ Solinger Tageblatt  from the series  search for traces / street names