Schwerte

Schwerte
The church of st. Victor in Schwerte
Schwerte
Location of the town of Schwerte within Unna district
Coordinates	51°26′45″N 7°33′55″E
Administration
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Arnsberg
District	Unna
Mayor	Heinrich Böckelühr (CDU)
Basic statistics
Area	56.2 km2 (21.7 sq mi)
Elevation	120 m  (394 ft)
Population	48,259 (31 December 2010)
- Density	859 /km2 (2,224 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate	UN
Postal code	58239
Area code	02304
Website	www.schwerte.de

Schwerte is a town in the district of Unna, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Geography

Schwerte is situated in the Ruhr valley, at the south-east border of the Ruhr Area. South of Schwerte begins the mountainous Sauerland region.

Division of the town

After the local government reforms of 1975 Schwerte consists of the following districts:

• Schwerte
• Holzen
• Westhofen
• Ergste
• Geisecke
• Villigst
• Wandhofen

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Schwerte is twinned with:

Allouagne in France (since 1974, partnership transferred from Ergste) Béthune in France Cava de' Tirreni in Italy (since 1984) Hastings in United Kingdom Labuissière (now Bruay-la-Buissière) in France (partnership transferred from Westhofen)

Leppävirta in Finland (since 1992) Pjatigorsk in Russia Nowy Sącz in Poland (since 1984) Violaines in France (partnership transferred from Wandhofen)

History

Schwerte received civic rights in the 12th century.

The railway facility in the eastern district of Schwerte became a branch of the Buchenwald concentration camp in April 1944. The camp had 445 prisoners in August and 670 in November 1944. The number of escapees was comparatively high, in November 1944 48 prisoners escaped. The camp in Schwerte was disbanded in December 1944 and the remaining prisoners were brought back to Buchenwald.

Main Sights

• The Romanesque church of St. Victor has a carved altar of 1523, and stained glass of the 14th and 15th centuries.
• The Wuckenhof is a timber framed house built in the 16th century.
• The Ruhrtalmuseum is situated in a former town hall, that was built in 1547.
• The Rohrmeisterei was built in 1889 by a water purification company. It was a pumping station until 1924. Today it is part of the German route of industrial heritage (Route der Industriekultur).

Ruhrtalmuseum

Economy

Today, there are some industries left, which are confined to the manufacture of iron and steel goods.

Personalities

• Jens Ewald (born 1983 in Schwerte), a whitewater kayaker.
• Paul Kevenhörster (born 1941 in Schwerte), a political scientist
• Wolfgang Kleff (born 1946 in Schwerte), a former football (soccer) player.
• Thomas Kroth (born 1959), a former football (soccer) player, who lives in Schwerte.
• Detlef Lewe (1939–2008), was a sprint canoer and was living in Schwerte.
• Violetta Oblinger-Peters (born 1977 in Schwerte), a whitewater slalom canoer.
• Heinrich Rehkemper (born 1894 in Schwerte, died 1949), was a baritone singer.
• Carmen Rischer (born 1956 in Schwerte), a former rhythmic gymnast.
• Erwin Rösener (born 1902 in Schwerte, died 1946), was an SS-Obergruppenführer who was posthumously on the indictment at Nuremberg for war crimes.
• Rosemarie Trockel (born 1952 in Schwerte), an artist.

External links

• Official site (German)
• Heimatverein Ergste Internet site of the local history society of Ergste