Unkel

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Coordinates: 50°35′N, 7°12′E

Unkel
Country	Germany
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
District	Neuwied
Population	5,299 (2006)
Area	8.16 km²
Population density	609 /km²
Elevation	53 m
Coordinates	50°35′ N 7°12′ E
Postal code	53572
Area code	02224
Licence plate code	NR
Mayor	Gerhard Hausen
Website	unkel.de

Unkel is a municipality in the district of Neuwied, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, near Remagen, approx. 20 km southeast of Bonn.

Unkel is also the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde ("collective municipality") Unkel, which consists of the following Ortsgemeinden ("local municipalities"):

• Bruchhausen
• Erpel
• Rheinbreitbach
• Unkel

Contents 1 Religion 2 Geography 2.1 Geographical position 2.2 Neighbor townships 2.3 City organization 3 Sights 4 Sister city 5 Famous citizens

[edit] Religion

Unkel is primarily Catholic. Approximately 55% of the inhabitants are Catholic and 15% Protestant. 18% of the residents don't belong to a religious denomination, 8% are Muslim.

[edit] Geography

[edit] Geographical position

The city is located at then verge of the "Naturpark Rhein-Westerwald" at the Middle Rhine Valley, the downtown is about 4 km away from the border to North Rhine-Westphalia

[edit] Neighbor townships

Unkel abuts on (from North to South) Rheinbreitbach, Bruchhausen, Windhagen, Linz, Erpel und Remagen.

[edit] City organization

Unkel consists of the districts Unkel, Scheuren and Heister.

[edit] Sights

The most important sight is the "Freiligrathaus", which is located at the rhine promenade. It is a baroque palace, built in 1760. Ferdinand Freiligrath lived there from 1839 until 1841

The rhich featured Catholic rarish church "St. Pantaleon" accommodates a feretory. Furthermore, the most of the city wall is well-presurved.

[edit] Sister city

Kamen, Germany

[edit] Famous citizens

• Willy Brandt, former Chancellor of Germany, spent the last years of his life, from 1979 until 1992, in Unkel. Many famous politicians visited him there, like Helmut Kohl or Mikhail Gorbachev. The market place is named after him. His work room can be visited on demand.
• Konrad Adenauer, who became first Chancellor of West Germany, found refuge in Unkel during the time of national socialism.
• Fritz Henkel, the inventor of Persil (laundry detergent) and founder of the Henkel Company, had his summer home in Unkel. He donated a fire-brigade car and a park, which was named after him.
• Ferdinand Freiligrath, a German writer, started his literary career in Unkel. The house he lived in is now called Freiligrathaus.
• Stefan Andres, author of the novella 'Wir sind Utopia'.
• Leonhard Reinirkens, a writer, is honorary citizen of Unkel.