Heinsberg is a Kreis (district) in the west of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhab ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

with the town of

Heinsberg Heinsberg (; li, Hinsberg ) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the seat of the district Heinsberg. It is situated near the border with the Netherlands, on the river Wurm, approx. 20 km north-east of Sittard and 30 km ...

as its capital. Neighbouring districts are

Viersen Viersen (; li, Veeëse) is the capital of the district of Viersen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Viersen is situated approximately 8 km north-west of Mönchengladbach, 15 km south-west of Krefeld and 20 km east o ...

Neuss Neuss (; spelled ''Neuß'' until 1968; li, Nüss ; la, Novaesium) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Düsseldorf. Neuss is the largest city within the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district. I ...

Düren Düren (; ripuarian: Düre) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, between Aachen and Cologne on the river Rur. History Roman era The area of Düren was part of Gallia Belgica, more specifically the territory of the Eburones, a pe ...

and Aachen, the city of

Mönchengladbach Mönchengladbach (, li, Jlabbach ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border. Geography Municipal subdivisions Since 2009, the territory of Mönchengladba ...

and the Dutch province Limburg.

Geography

Heinsberg is the most westerly district of Germany, reaching 5°52'E in Selfkant municipality. Geographically it covers the lowlands of the Lower Rhine Bay.

Rivers

* Rur is the main river, crossing the district from southeast to northwest. * Wurm flows into river Rur, in Heinsberg. * Schwalm originates near Erkelenz. *

Niers The Niers (, ) is a river in Germany and The Netherlands, a right tributary of the river Maas (Meuse). Its wellspring is near Erkelenz, south of Mönchengladbach, in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany). Course and length The Niers flows through Mö ...

rises near Kuckum.

Towns and municipalities

History

Development of the district

The area fell to

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

in 1815, which in 1816 created the three districts Heinsberg,

Erkelenz Erkelenz (, li, Erkelens ) is a town in the Rhineland in western Germany that lies southwest of Mönchengladbach on the northern edge of the Cologne Lowland, halfway between the Lower Rhine region and the Lower Meuse (river), Meuse. It is a med ...

and Geilenkirchen. In 1932 the districts Heinsberg and Geilenkirchen were merged, and in 1972 Erkelenz district was merged as well. In 1975 the district reached its present size when the municipality Niederkrüchten was moved to the district

Prominent role in the Covid-19 pandemic

The district became a center of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. The

Robert Koch Institute The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) is a German federal government agency and research institute responsible for disease control and prevention. It is located in Berlin and Wernigerode. As an upper federal agency, it is subordinate to the Feder ...

listed Heinsberg as an especially affected area (). Since the first cases were discovered in this area, the district was around two weeks "ahead" of the rest of

. A research group of the

University of Bonn The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...

started to use the affected area as a testing site to study the

novel coronavirus Novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a provisional name given to coronaviruses of medical significance before a permanent name is decided upon. Although coronaviruses are endemic in humans and infections normally mild, such as the common cold (caused b ...

and to search for ways to handle the situation in the best possible way.

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

, in the right the black lion on yellow ground of the

duchy of Jülich The Duchy of Jülich (german: Herzogtum Jülich; nl, Hertogdom Gulik; french: Duché de Juliers) comprised a state within the Holy Roman Empire from the 11th to the 18th centuries. The duchy lay west of the Rhine river and was bordered by th ...

. The bottom part derives from the coat of arms of the former district Erkelenz, the

fleur-de-lis The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in th ...

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 Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. Textiles made from flax are known i ...

and

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...

trading in

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heinsberg (District) Districts of North Rhine-Westphalia