Heinsberg (district)

Heinsberg
—  District  —
Country  Germany
State North Rhine-Westphalia
Adm. region Cologne
Capital Heinsberg
Area
 • Total 627.7 km2 (242.4 sq mi)
Population (31 December 2010)[1]
 • Total 254,936
 • Density 406.1/km2 (1,051.9/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Vehicle registration HS
Website http://www.kreis-heinsberg.de

Heinsberg is a Kreis (district) in the west of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Viersen, district-free city Mönchengladbach, Neuss, Düren and Aachen, and also the Dutch province Limburg.

Contents

History

The area fell to Prussia in 1815, which in 1816 created the three districts Heinsberg, Erkelenz and Geilenkirchen. In 1932 the districts Heinsberg and Geilenkirchen were merged, and in 1972 the Erkelenz district was merged as well. In 1975 the district got its present size when the municipality Niederkrüchten was moved to the district Viersen.

Geography

Geographically it covers the lowlands of the Niederrheinische Bucht.

Rivers

Coat of arms

The coat of arms show two lions in the top part, in the left the silver lion of the city and the dukes of Heinsberg, in the right the black lion on yellow ground of the duchy of Jülich. The bottom part derives from the coat of arms of the former district Erkelenz, the fleur-de-lis from the city of Erkelenz represent the Maria-abbey in Aachen, and the blue flax flower in the middle remembers the old tradition of flax and linen trading in Erkelenz.

Towns and municipalities

Towns Municipalities
  1. Erkelenz
  2. Geilenkirchen
  3. Heinsberg
  4. Hückelhoven
  5. Übach-Palenberg
  6. Wassenberg
  7. Wegberg
  1. Gangelt
  2. Selfkant
  3. Waldfeucht

References

External links

Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Kreis_Heinsberg Kreis Heinsberg] at Wikimedia Commons