Schwelm

Schwelm
Schwelm
Town
	Coat of arms
	Location of Schwelm within Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis district
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Arnsberg
District	Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis
Government
• Mayor	Gabriele Grollmann
Area
• Total	20.5 km2 (7.9 sq mi)
Elevation	213 m (699 ft)
Population (2022-12-31)
• Total	28,723
• Density	1,400/km2 (3,600/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	58332
Dialling codes	02336
Vehicle registration	EN
Website	www.schwelm.de

Schwelm is a town in the district of Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis in the administrative region of Arnsberg within the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Geography

Schwelm is situated in the southeast of the "Ruhrgebiet", the Ruhr district of Germany, between Westphalia and the "Bergisches Land". Schwelm is commonly known as the "Pforte Westfalens" ("Gate to Westphalia").

Neighbouring places

Surrounding towns include Ennepetal, Gevelsberg, Sprockhövel and Wuppertal.

Division of the town

Schwelm is called the "town of neighbourhoods". It is made up of the following 13 neighbourhoods:^[2]

Aechte de Muer
Brunnen
Fronhof
Linderhausen
Loh
Möllenkotten
Oberstadt
Oehde
Ossenkamp
Parliament
Rote Wasser
Winterberg
Zur alten Post

History

The history of Schwelm can be traced back to the ninth century, where it is first mentioned as "Suelmiu". The city of Schwelm was officially established in 1496 and became seat of the Ennepe-Ruhr district in 1929. According to its area, Schwelm is the smallest town in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Language/dialect

A Westphalian variety of high German is spoken in Schwelm (Westphalian: from old Saxon Westfal = "western land"). The Westphalian dialect belongs to the low Saxon dialects, which is a part of the family of low German dialects. Compared to other German regions (e.g., Bavaria or Swabia) the dialect does not have a strong influence on the everyday speech. Especially the elderly population is still able to speak Schwelm's original Westphalian tongue, called Schwelmer Platt, which is quite different from standard high German and bears a certain resemblance to Dutch.

Points of interest

Schwelm has got a particularly pretty historical town center with many old houses, some of which date back to the 18th century. The Altmarkt is a historical market place lying in front of the tall Christuskirche, the town's principal Protestant church. From the Altmarkt, the decorative street Kölner Strasse leads uphill and is part of the former road to Cologne.

Until 2011, Schwelm was home to the Brauerei Schwelm, the "Schwelm Brewery", one of few remaining private breweries in North Rhine-Westphalia. Established in 1830 by Haarmann & Kathagen, the brewery was one of the first worldwide to switch from wooden to metal storage containers. The original administration building, the Rietz'sche Haus built in 1701, is among the most appealing houses in the town center. Most of the brewery's historic production site, however, was torn down in 2012.

The oldest piano manufacturer in the world is located in Schwelm. Since 1794, Rud. Ibach Sohn has been building pianos and, until 1904, organs in Schwelm.

Europe's biggest fair-trade organisation "GEPA" was founded in Schwelm in the 1970s, but is now located in Wuppertal.

Notable citizens

Friedrich Christoph Müller (1751 in Allendorf (Lumda) - 1808): theologian and cartographer (in Schwelm between 1785 and 1808)
Gustav Heinemann (July 23, 1899 - July 7, 1976): third president of the Federal Republic of Germany (from 1969 to 1974)
Johannes Joachim Degenhardt (January 31, 1926 - July 25, 2002): Cardinal and archbishop of Paderborn
Franz Josef Degenhardt (March 12, 1931): political singer/songwriter
Friedrich Niewöhner (September 7, 1941 - November 1, 2005): philosophy historian
Martin Grötschel (October 9, 1948): mathematician and laureate of the Leibniz price
Rolf Rüssmann (October 13, 1950 - October 2, 2009): footballer and football manager
Judith Kuckart (June 17, 1959): tripper, choreographer, stage director and author
Torsten Schmidt (February 18, 1972): racing cyclist and participant of the Tour de France
Olivia Luczak (November 24, 1981): Polish-German amateur boxer