Lünen is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. 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. It is the largest town of the

Unna district The Unna () district is a Kreis (district) in central North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring authorities are the district of Coesfeld, the city of Hamm, the districts of Soest and Märkischer Kreis, the cities of Hagen and Dortmund, and th ...

and part of the Ruhr Area. In 2009 a biogas plant 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 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 For ...

, 10,864 , 40.9 , 9,824 , 48.9 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Jürgen Kleine-Frauns , align=left, Independent , 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 Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...

(Grüne) , 3,690 , 13.8 , 6.4 , 8 , 4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist * * * * * * * political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. I ...

(AfD) , 1,816 , 6.8 , New , 4 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party ideologically based on liberalism. Current parties with that name include: *Free Democratic Party (Germany), a liberal political party in ...

(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 Bartın is a city in northern Turkey and the central district of the province of Bartın. Formerly a district of Zonguldak Province, Bartın was made into a province seat in 1991 with the constitution of its province, including four districts: ...

, Turkey * Demmin, Germany * Kamień Pomorski, Poland * Panevėžys, Lithuania * Salford, England, United Kingdom * Zwolle, 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 (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 p ...

(born 1951), footballer * Björn Höcke (born 1972), AfD politician, Member of Landtag in Thuringia * Theodor Kleine (1924–2014), sprint canoer, Olympic medalist * Friedhelm Konietzka (1938–2012), football player and coach * Wilhelm Kuhne (born 1926), priest (Monsignore) and former rector of the Hardehausen Abbey * Michael Mendl (born 1944), actor * Max Raabe (born 1962), singer and conductor of the Palast Orchester in Berlin *

Berndt Röder Berndt Röder (born 3 December 1948 in Lünen, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German politician, representative of the German Christian Democratic Union. Röder was born on 3 December 1948 in Lünen and married with three children. He studied law ...

(born 1948), CDU politician, former president of the

Hamburgische Bürgerschaft The Hamburg Parliament (german: Hamburgische Bürgerschaft; literally “Hamburgish Citizenry”) is the unicameral legislature of the German state of Hamburg according to the constitution of Hamburg. As of 2011 there were 121 members in the parli ...

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-Westpha ...

(born 1955), politician

, later The Left, Member of Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia 1998–2012 * Max Simon (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 (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 (1897–1985), orientalist and indologist * Wolfgang Wendland (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