Erndtebrück is a municipality in the Siegen-Wittgenstein district, in

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Geography

Location

Erndtebrück situated on the river Eder in the

Rothaargebirge The Rothaar Mountains (german: Rothaargebirge, , also ''Rotlagergebirge''), or Rothaar, is a low mountain range reaching heights of up to 843.1 m in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse, Germany. It is believed that its name must once have been ...

, approx. 20 km northeast of

Siegen Siegen () is a city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly sho ...

Neighbouring communities

Erndtebrück borders on

Netphen Netphen () is a town in the Siegen-Wittgenstein district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It lies on the river Sieg, roughly 7 km northeast of Siegen. Geography Location Netphen lies on the Rothaargebirge's southern slope and forms the ...

, the communities of

Hilchenbach Hilchenbach () is a town in the Siegen-Wittgenstein '' Kreis'' (district) of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Location Hilchenbach is about northeast of Siegen. The town borders in the south on Netphen, in the west on Kreuztal, in the ...

Bad Berleburg Bad Berleburg (, earlier also Berleburg) is a town, in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is one of Germany's largest towns by land area. It is located approximately northeast of Siegen and northwest of ...

Bad Laasphe Bad Laasphe () is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in the Siegen-Wittgenstein district. Geography Location The town of Bad Laasphe lies in the upper Lahn Valley, near the stately home of :de:Schloss Wittgenstein, Wittgenstein Castle ( ...

and

Kirchhundem Kirchhundem is a German community in North Rhine-Westphalia. It belongs to the Olpe district. Geography Location The community of Kirchhundem lies in the Olpe district's southeast in the south Sauerland and belongs to the so-called ''Bilste ...

in the district of Olpe, and

Schmallenberg Schmallenberg ( Westphalian: ''Smalmereg'') is a town and a climatic health resort in the High Sauerland District, Germany. By area, it is the third biggest of all cities and towns of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the second biggest o ...

in the

Hochsauerlandkreis Hochsauerlandkreis (meaning “High Sauerland District” in German) is a Kreis (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Soest, Paderborn, Höxter, Waldeck-Frankenberg, Siegen-Wittgenstein, Olpe, Mär ...

Constituent communities

*Balde *Benfe *Birkefehl *Birkelbach *Röspe *Schameder *Womelsdorf *Zinse

History

Erndtebrück had its first documentary mention in 1256, celebrating 750 years of existence in 2006. The village was first known by the name Ermingardibruggern, and was the seat of a knightly family, and later a customs office with market rights.

Politics

Municipal council

The council's 22 seats are apportioned thus, in accordance with municipal elections held on 30 August 2009: *

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been t ...

7 seats * CDU 7 seats * FDP 5 seats *UWG 3 seats Note: UWG is a citizens' coalition.

Mayor

*2004–2015: Karl-Ludwig Völkel (SPD) *2015–incumbent: Henning Gronau (SPD)

Coat of arms

Erndtebrück's civic

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

might heraldically be described thus: Party per fess, above in azure a bridge Or, below in argent two pallets sable. The community was granted these arms in 1958. The bridge in the chief is a

canting ' (IPA: , VOS Spelling: ''tjanting'', jv, ꦕꦤ꧀ꦛꦶꦁ, Tjanting) is a pen-like tool used to apply liquid hot wax ( jv, ) in the batik-making process in Indonesia, more precisely '' batik tulis'' (lit. "written batik"). Traditional ''T ...

symbol, referring to Erndtebrück's last syllable (''Brücke'' is "bridge" in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

), but also to an actual bridge built over the river Eder at Erndtebrück in 1830. Below in the shield are the arms of the Counts of Wittgenstei

Town partnerships

Bergues Bergues (; nl, Sint-Winoksbergen; vls, Bergn) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is situated to the south of Dunkirk and from the Belgian border. Locally it is referred to as "the other Bruges in Flanders". Bergues ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, since 1973

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

The community is connected to its neighbours by Federal Highways (''Bundesstraßen'') 62 and 480. Furthermore,

train In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...

s run on the

Rothaar Railway The Rothaar Mountains (german: Rothaargebirge, , also ''Rotlagergebirge''), or Rothaar, is a low mountain range reaching heights of up to 843.1 m in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse, Germany. It is believed that its name must once have been ...

to both

and

, and on the Upper Lahn Valley (''Obere Lahntalbahn'') to

Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approximate ...

. Until 1944, there was also a rail connection to

Altenhundem Lennestadt (occasionally also ''die Lennestadt'') lies in the Sauerland in southeast North Rhine-Westphalia and is a community in Olpe district. It is the district's most populous municipality. Lennestadt itself is not an actual town but a commu ...

with the Erndtebrück-Altenhundem line, but this came to an end late in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as retreating German Army units blew its bridges up. Some of the tunnels along the line are still preserved.

Public institutions

Erndtebrück is home to the German Air Force's Reserve Range of Command 2 (Einsatzführungsbereich 2), formerly 5th Teaching Group of Technical School 1 (V. Lehrgruppe der Technischen Schule 1), the Air Force's programming centre for air defence and a health squad to take care of the airmen.

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the community

*Wilhelm Busch (1861–1929), instrument builder and father of musicians and actors

Fritz Fritz originated as a German nickname for Friedrich, or Frederick (''Der Alte Fritz'', and ''Stary Fryc'' were common nicknames for King Frederick II of Prussia and Frederick III, German Emperor) as well as for similar names including Fridolin an ...

Adolf Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name used in German-speaking countries, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Flanders, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and to a lesser extent in vari ...

Willi Willi is a given name, nickname (often a short form or hypocorism of Wilhelm) and surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Willi Apel (1893–1988), German-American musicologist * Willi Boskovsky (1909–1991), Austrian violinis ...

, Hermann and

Heinrich Heinrich may refer to: People * Heinrich (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Heinrich (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Hetty (given name), a given name (including a list of peo ...

Busch.

References

External links

Erndtebrück

* ttp://www.schameder.de/ Schameder {{DEFAULTSORT:Erndtebruck Municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia Rothaar Mountains Siegen-Wittgenstein Installations of the German Air Force