Lünen is a town 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 ...

. It is located north of

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

, on both banks of the

River Lippe The Lippe () is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Rhine and in length with an elevation difference of 125 metres and a catchment area of 4.890 km². The source is located at the edge of the Teutoburg ...

. It is the largest town of the Unna district and part of the

Ruhr Area The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...

. In 2009 a

biogas plant Biogas is a mixture of gases, primarily consisting of methane, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide, produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste and food waste. It is a r ...

was built to provide electric power to the city. Lünen is the first city in the world to receive electricity via public utility companies that is generated on the base of animal waste. The plant produces up to 6.6 MW, supplying 26,000 homes with heat and electricity.

Culture and main sights

Structure *Saint George's Church *Saint Mary's Church *Chateau of Schwansbell *Colani-UFO *Freiherr-vom-Stein School *Town hall of Lünen *Geschwister-Scholl School *Industrial Monument "Moor Crane" Museum *Museum of the town Lünen *Mining Museum in Lünen South *Mining residential Museum in Lünen Brambauer Theatre *Heinz-Hilpert theater

Politics

The current mayor of Lünen is

independent politician An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have political views th ...

Jürgen Kleine-Frauns since 2015; he was originally elected as a member of Together for Lünen (German: Gemeinsam für Lünen = GFL), but later left the party. The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, with a runoff held on 27 September, and the results were as follows: ! rowspan=2 colspan=2, Candidate ! rowspan=2, Party ! colspan=2, First round ! colspan=2, Second round , - ! Votes ! % ! Votes ! % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Rainer Schmeltzer , align=left,

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

, 10,864 , 40.9 , 9,824 , 48.9 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Jürgen Kleine-Frauns , align=left,

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

, 9,767 , 36.7 , 10,282 , 51.1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christoph Tölle , align=left, Christian Democratic Union , 4,341 , 16.3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Sascha Gottwald , align=left, Free Voters Lünen , 1,624 , 6.1 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 26,596 ! 97.7 ! 20,106 ! 98.9 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 641 ! 2.3 ! 215 ! 1.1 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 27,237 ! 100.0 ! 20,321 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 66,291 ! 41.1 ! 66,247 ! 30.7 , - , colspan=7, Source: City of Lünen
1st round

City council

The Lünen city council governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(SPD) , 9,066 , 33.9 , 7.0 , 19 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , 5,895 , 22.1 , 2.5 , 12 , 1 , - , , align=left, Together for Lünen (GFL) , 3,835 , 14.4 , 1.1 , 8 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) , 3,690 , 13.8 , 6.4 , 8 , 4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alternative for Germany (AfD) , 1,816 , 6.8 , New , 4 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP) , 922 , 3.5 , 0.7 , 2 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 846 , 3.2 , 0.9 , 2 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Voters Lünen (FW Lünen) , 501 , 1.9 , New , 1 , New , - , colspan=7 bgcolor=lightgrey, , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Independent Fohrmeister , 85 , 0.3 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Independent Rosenkranz , 85 , 0.2 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Independent God , 19 , 0.1 , New , 0 , New , - ! colspan=2, Valid votes ! 26,730 ! 98.2 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Invalid votes ! 480 ! 1.8 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 27,210 ! 100.0 ! ! 56 ! 2 , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 66,291 ! 41.1 ! 3.4 ! ! , - , colspan=7, Source
City of Lünen

Twin towns - sister cities

Lünen is twinned with: * Bartın, Turkey *

Demmin Demmin () is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. It was the capital of the former district of Demmin. Geography Demmin lies on the West Pomeranian plain at the confluence of the rivers ...

, Germany *

Kamień Pomorski Kamień Pomorski (; csb, Kamiéń; german: Cammin or ''Kammin'') is a town in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship of north-western Poland, on the Baltic coast. It is the seat of an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Kamień County which ...

, Poland *

Panevėžys Panevėžys (; Latin: ''Panevezen''; pl, Poniewież; yi, פּאָנעװעזש, ''Ponevezh''; see also other names) is the fifth largest city in Lithuania. As of 2011, it occupied with 113,653 inhabitants. As defined by Eurostat, the population ...

, Lithuania *

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

, England, United Kingdom *

Zwolle Zwolle () is a city and municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Overijssel and the province's second-largest municipality after Enschede with a population of 130,592 as of 1 December 2021. Zwolle is o ...

, Netherlands

Notable people

Jens Beutel Jens Beutel (12 July 1946– 8 May 2019) was a German judge and politician. A member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), he served as Oberbürgermeister (mayor) of Mainz, the state capital of Rheinland-Pfalz, from 1997 to 2011. During his tenur ...

(1946–2019), SPD politician, mayor of Mainz 1997–2011 *

Markus Brzenska Markus Brzenska (born 25 May 1984) is a German football coach and former player. Early life Markus Brzenska's parents, Joachim and Halina, and his older brothers, Sebastian and Marcin, were originally from the Upper Silesian town of Bytom (Germ ...

(born 1984), footballer *

Karl-Heinz Granitza Karl-Heinz Granitza (born 1 November 1951) is a German former professional footballer who played as a forward. In the United States, he is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. Granitza was born in Lünen, North Rhine-Westphalia. He ...

(born 1951), footballer *

Björn Höcke Björn Höcke (born 1 April 1972) is a German politician and a member of Alternative for Germany (AfD). Along with Andreas Kalbitz, Höcke is the leader of the AfD's far-right "Der Flügel" faction, which the German government's Federal Offic ...

(born 1972), AfD politician, Member of Landtag in Thuringia *

Theodor Kleine Theodor "Theo" Kleine (4 September 1924 – 12 February 2014) was a German sprint canoer who competed in the late 1950s. He won a silver medal in the K-2 10000 m at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. Kleine also won two gold medals at the ...

(1924–2014), sprint canoer, Olympic medalist *

Friedhelm Konietzka Friedhelm "Timo" Konietzka (2 August 1938 – 12 March 2012) was a German professional football player and manager who played as a striker. He earned his nickname "Timo" due to a supposed resemblance to the Soviet commander Semyon Timoshen ...

(1938–2012), football player and coach *

Wilhelm Kuhne Wilhelm may refer to: People and fictional characters * William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm" * Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Other uses * Mount ...

(born 1926), priest (Monsignore) and former rector of the

Hardehausen Abbey Hardehausen Abbey (''Kloster Hardehausen'') is a former Cistercian monastery located near Warburg in the district of Höxter in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. History In 1009 ''Herswithehusen'' became the property of Meinwerk, bi ...

Michael Mendl Michael Mendl (born Michael Sandrock; 20 April 1944) is a German actor. He has appeared in more than 100 films since 1975. He is best known internationally for his role in '' Downfall'', the 2004 movie about Adolf Hitler's final days inside the ...

(born 1944), actor *

Max Raabe Max Raabe (born Matthias Otto, 12 December 1962) is a German jazz singer. He is best known as the founder and leader of the Palast Orchester. Career Raabe developed an interest in the sound of German dance and film music of the 1920s and 193 ...

(born 1962), singer and conductor of the

Palast Orchester The Palast Orchester (literal translation, Palace Orchestra) is a German orchestra, based in Berlin, constituted in the manner of dance bands of the 1920s and 1930s. Its repertoire specialises in cabaret and popular songs of the Weimar period in G ...

in Berlin * Berndt Röder (born 1948), CDU politician, former president of the Hamburgische Bürgerschaft *

Rollergirl Nicole Safft (born 19 November 1975), known professionally as Rollergirl, is a German singer with a number of successful tracks such as "Dear Jessie (Rollergirl song), Dear Jessie" (a loose cover of the Dear Jessie, Madonna song) and "Love U Mo ...

(born 1975), singer *

Rüdiger Sagel Rüdiger Sagel (born 9 August 1955 in Lünen) is a German politician currently with the Left Party and previously with the Alliance '90/The Greens. From 1998 until 2012 he was a member of the state parliament (''Landtag'') for North Rhine-Westph ...

(born 1955), politician Alliance 90/The Greens, later The Left, Member of Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia 1998–2012 *

Max Simon Max Simon (6 January 1899 – 1 February 1961) was a German SS commander and war criminal during World War II. Simon was one of the first members of the SS in the early 1930s. He rose through the ranks of the SS, and became a corps commander dur ...

(1899–1961), SS officer and war criminal *

Andreas Thiel Andreas Thiel (born March 3, 1960) is a former German handball player who competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics, in the 1992 Summer Olympics and in the 1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympia ...

(born 1960), handball player *

Eckhart Tolle Eckhart Tolle ( ; ; born Ulrich Leonard Tölle, February 16, 1948) is a German-born spiritual teacher and self-help author of ''The Power of Now'' and '' A New Earth''. After being recommended by Oprah Winfrey, his first book, ''The Power of No ...

(born 1948), spiritual teacher and author *

Clara Vogedes Clara Vogedes née Homscheidt (1892–1983) was a German painter. Life Clara Vogedes was born into an upper-middle-class family in Krefeld. At the end of her school years she studied foreign languages in Rolle on Lake Geneva, graduating w ...

(1892–1983), artist *

Ernst Waldschmidt Ernst Waldschmidt (July 15, 1897, Lünen, Province of Westphalia – February 25, 1985, Göttingen) was a German orientalist and Indologist. He was a pupil of German indologist Emil Sieg. He taught at Berlin University and began teaching at the ...

(1897–1985), orientalist and indologist *

Wolfgang Wendland Wolfgang Wendland (born 9 November 1962 in Lünen, Germany) is a German musician, actor, film producer and politician. Wendland is lead singer of Die Kassierer, a German punk rock band. His films concern the regional problems of the town of ...

(born 1962), singer, politician of the Pogo party *

Dieter Zorc Dieter Zorc (born 17 October 1939 – 16 October 2007) was a German football defender. He was the father of Michael Zorc Michael Zorc (born 25 August 1962) is a German former footballer who played as a central midfielder. Nicknamed "Susi" in h ...

(1939–2007), footballer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lunen Unna (district) Members of the Hanseatic League