Witten
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| Country | Germany |
| State | North Rhine-Westphalia |
| Administrative region | Arnsberg |
| District | Ennepe-Ruhr |
| Population | 101,019 source (2005) |
| Area | 72.40 km² |
| Population density | 1395 /km² |
| Elevation | 104 m |
| Coordinates | 51°26′ N 7°20′ E |
| Postal code | 58401 - 58456 |
| Area code | 02302 (in Buchholz: 02324) |
| Licence plate code | EN |
| Mayor | Sonja Leidemann (SPD) |
| Website | witten.de |
- For other uses, see Witten (disambiguation).
Witten is a university town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany in the southern Ruhr area in the Ruhr valley. It is the home of the Witten/Herdecke University, the first private university in Germany. The town has more than 100.000 inhabitants.
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[edit] Boroughs
Witten is divided into 8 boroughs and every of these boroughs is divided into city-districts. Every district has it own district-number.
- Witten-Mitte: 11 Innenstadt, 12 Oberdorf-Helenenberg, 13 Industriegebiet-West, 14 Krone, 15 Crengeldanz, 16 Hauptfriedhof, 17 Stadion, 18 Industriegebiet-Nord, 19 Hohenstein
- Dueren: 21 Dueren-Nord, 22 Dueren-Sued
- Stockum: 31 Stockum-Mitte, 32 Dorney, 33 Stockumer Bruch, 34 Wilhelmshoehe
- Annen: 41 Tiefendorf, 42 Wullen, 43 Annen-Mitte-Nord, 44 Annen-Mitte-Sued, 45 Kohlensiepen, 46 Wartenberg, 47 Gedern
- Ruedinghausen: 51 Industriegebiet-Ost, 52 Ruedinghausen-Mitte, 53 Buchenholz, 54 Schnee
- Bommern: 61 Steinhausen, 62 Bommerbank, 63 Bommerfeld, 64 Wettberg, 65 Buschey, 66 Bommeregge
- Heven: 71 Papenholz, 72 Hellweg, 73 Wannen, 74 Heven-Dorf, 75 Lake
- Herbede: 81 Herbede-Ort, 82 Vormholz, 83 Bommerholz-Muttental, 84 Durchholz, 85 Buchholz-Kaempen
[edit] Religions
Catholics: When Witten was first mentioned it was part of the Archbishopric of Cologne, since 1821 it is a part of the Paderbornian Bishopric, the borough of Herbede belongs to Essen. In the 19th century the Ruhr area pulled up to 500,000 Poles from East Prussia and Silesia, most of them were catholics. Hundreds, even a few thousand came also to Witten. So the catholic community grew up. Today between 30 and 40 percent of the population are catholics.
Protestants: In 1582 Witten became a part of Martin Luthers Reformation, until die late 19th century Witten was a protestantic town with just a few catholics inhabitants. Between 30 and 40 percent of the population are protestants today.
Muslims: There are four mosques in Witten, Annen and Herbede today, they were founded by immigrants from Turkey who came in the 1970s and 1980s. Between 5 and 8 percent of the population are muslims.
Jews: In 1815 the first jewish community was mentioned in Witten. 1938 the synagogue was destroyed duringt the so-called "Reichspogromnacht" (also known as Kristallnacht) of 9-10 November 1938. Today, just about a dozen Jews are living in Witten. They belong to the jewish community in Bochum.
[edit] Population 1739 - 2005
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[edit] History
It was first mentioned in historic sources in 1214, however the borough Herbede (which was incorporated into the city in 1975) even dates back to 851. The city was a mining town from 1578. In 1975 Witten was included in the administrative district "Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis" and it is now its biggest city. 1975 was also the year Witten was first counted to have more than 100,000 inhabitants, the threshold to be considered a large city ("Großstadt") in Germany.
[edit] Roburit Explosion
In the late 19th century Witten was known for the Roburit dynamite. This dynamite was once used by coal mines around the world. In 1906 a tragedy happened, when an explosion destroyed the factory. 41 men and women died.
[edit] Politics
[edit] The Council of Witten
64 councillors form the council of Witten. In the local elections of 2004 the German Labour Party, SPD, gained 24 councillors in the borough and form the largest party represented on the council, followed by the Conservative Party, CDU with 19 and the Greens with 7. They are followed by the WBG (a conservative list) with 4, FDP 4, FLW (also a conservative list) 2, NPD 2, PDS/WAL (socialists) 1 and AUF Witten (a left wing list) also 1. Since 2004 for the first time of its history the council is leaded by a female mayor: Sonja Leidemann, SPD.
[edit] Members of Parliament
[edit] Landtag
- 2005 - today: Thomas Stotko, MdL (SPD)
[edit] German Bundestag
- 1998 - today: Dr. Ralf Brauksiepe, MdB (CDU)
- 1998 - today: Christel Humme, MdB (SPD)
- 2005 - today: Irmingard Schewe-Gerigk, (B´ 90/Die Grünen)
- 2005 - today: Konrad Schily, (FDP)
[edit] Traffic
Witten is connected to the Autobahn network by the A 43 and A 44 motorways. It has a central station, connecting the city to the regional-train-network of Deutsche Bahn. Local service is carried out by the BOGESTRA, a joint venture between the cities of Bochum and Gelsenkirchen, to which most of the bus lines in Witten belong. There is a tram line connecting to Bochum. Public transport in the city is carried out according to the fare system of the VRR transport association.
[edit] Coat of arms of Witten
The coat of arms of Witten with its two lions once belong to the Everhards von Witten-Steinhausen and was first mentioned in 1283. The family of Witten-Steinhausen belongs to the founders of the town of Witten. Their slogan was: "Sigillum Hermanni de Wittene". Because of its long history this Coat of arms was the only one in the Ruhr area, that was not forbidden by the Allies in May 1945, after the End of the Second World War.
[edit] Bordering municipalities
[edit] Twinning
- Beauvais (France), since 1975
- London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, (United Kingdom), since 1979
- Mallnitz (Carinthia, Austria), since 1979
- district Lev Hasharon (Israel), since 1979
- Wolfen (Saxony-Anhalt, Germany), since 1990
- Kursk (Russia), since 1990
- Tczew (Poland), since 1990
- San Carlos (Nicaragua), since 1990 (friendship contract)
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