Moers (; older form: ''Mörs''; archaic Dutch: ''Murse'', ''Murs'' or ''Meurs'') is a German

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

on the western bank of the Rhine, close to Duisburg. Moers belongs to the district of Wesel.

History

Known earliest from 1186, the county of Moers was an independent principality within the Holy Roman Empire. During the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Refo ...

it was alternately captured by Spanish and Dutch troops, as it bordered the Upper Quarter of

Guelders The Duchy of Guelders ( nl, Gelre, french: Gueldre, german: Geldern) is a historical duchy, previously county, of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the Low Countries. Geography The duchy was named after the town of Geldern (''Gelder'') in pr ...

. During the war it finally fell to Maurice of Orange. As it was separated from the Dutch Republic by Spanish

Upper Guelders {{unreferenced, date=November 2011 Upper Guelders or Spanish Guelders was one of the four quarters in the Imperial Duchy of Guelders. In the Dutch Revolt, it was the only quarter that did not secede from the Habsburg monarchy to become part of the ...

it did not become an integral part of the Republic, though Dutch troops were stationed there. After the death of William III of Orange in 1702, Moers was inherited by the king of Prussia. All Dutch troops and civil servants were expelled. In 1795 it was annexed by France. At the Congress of Vienna, in 1815 it was returned to Prussia and in 1871 it became part of the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

. A target of the Oil Campaign of World War II, the ''Steinkohlenbergwerke'' ( en, coal mine) ''Rheinpreussen'' synthetic oil plant in Moers, was partially dismantled

post-war In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...

Mayors

*1815–1820: Wilhelm Urbach *1822–1830: von Nievenheim *1830–1850: Friedrich Adolf Vinmann *1850–1859: Karl von Strampff *1860–1864: Gottlieb Meumann *1864–1897: Gustav Kautz *1898–1910: August Craemer *1910–1915: Richard Glum *1917–1937: Fritz Eckert *1937–1941: Fritz Grüttgen *1943–1945: Peter Linden *1945–1946: Otto Maiweg *1946: Karl Peschken *1946–1952: Wilhelm Müller *1952–1977: Albin Neuse (

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 the ...

) *1977–1999: Wilhelm Brunswick (

) *1999–2004: Rafael Hofmann ( CDU) *2004–2014: Norbert Ballhaus (

) *2014–: Christoph Fleischhauer ( CDU)

Sports

In 1985, the Moers Sports Club (volleyball) was formed, winning the 1989 Bundesliga championship.

Notable people

Gerhard Tersteegen Gerhard Tersteegen (25 November 1697 – 3 April 1769), was a German Reformed religious writer and hymnist. Life Tersteegen was born in Moers, at that time the principal city of a county belonging to the House of Orange-Nassau that formed a Pro ...

(1697–1769), lay preacher, mystic and poet * Georg Perthes (1869–1927), surgeon and radiologist ( Perthes disease) * Anna Erler-Schnaudt (1878–1963), contralto * Hans Dammers (1913–1944), Luftwaffe ace * Walter Niephaus (1923–1992), chess master * Hanns Dieter Hüsch (1925–2005), comedian, writer * Hubert Hahne (1935–2019), race car driver *

Herman Weigel Herman Weigel (born 22 March 1950 in Moers) is a German film producer and screenwriter. He is one of the writers and producer of the television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a tele ...

(born 1950), film producer and screenwriter * Jürgen Renn (born 1956), physicist and historian of science *

Helga Trüpel Helga Trüpel (born 21 July 1958) is a German politician who served as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2004 until 2019. She is a member of the Alliance '90/The Greens, part of the European Green Party. Educational background Helga T ...

(born 1958), politician (Alliance 90/The Greens) *

Jörg van Ommen Jörg Van Ommen (born 27 September 1962 in Moers, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a former German racing driver. He drove for Mercedes-AMG in the DTM in 1995 and 1996, finishing in second place in 1995 in a Mercedes C-Class. He also is the nephew o ...

(born 1962), race car driver * Katja Nass (born 1968), fencer *

Stephan Paßlack Stephan Paßlack (born 24 August 1970) is a German former professional footballer who played as a right-back. At international level, he represented Germany playing for the U21 team, the B team and the first team with whom he earned four caps sc ...

(born 1970), footballer * Christian Ehrhoff (born 1982), ice hockey player *

Timo Weß Timo Weß (born 2 July 1982) is a field hockey player from Germany, who was a member of the Men's National Team that won the bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, and gold at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. He was born in ...

(born 1982), field hockey player *

Benjamin Weß Benjamin Weß (also spelled Wess; born 28 July 1985 in Moers) is a field hockey player from Germany and the younger brother of Timo Weß. He was a member of the Men's National Team that won the gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2 ...

(born 1985), field hockey player *

Regina Abelt Regina Abelt (; born 12 May 1954) is a German-born public figure who served as the first First Lady of Ethiopia from 22 August 1995 until 8 October 2001. Background Abelt was born in Germany. She worked as an aid worker in Rwanda from 1979 t ...

(born 1954), first

First Lady of Ethiopia First Lady of Ethiopia ( Ge'ez: የኢትዮጵያ ቀዳማዊት እመቤት) is a title for the wife of Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Prime Minister. Officially the concept of First Lady applied in Ethiopian politics since 1995. A ...

(1995–2001 *

Yannik Folgmann Yannik is a German male given name. Notable people with the name include: * Yannik Cudjoe-Virgil (born 1992), American American football player * Yannik Oenning (born 1993), German footballer * Yannik Oettl (born 1996), German footballer * Yann ...

(born 2005), SCP:SL Pro, Father, Daddy of Arndt van Huet

Politics

Mayor

The current mayor of Moers is Christoph Fleischhauer of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). 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, Christoph Fleischhauer , align=left, Christian Democratic Union , 15,313 , 38.4 , 17,457 , 57.9 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Ibrahim Yetim , 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 ...

, 12,208 , 30.6 , 12,679 , 42.1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Diana Finkele , 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 ...

, 4,534 , 11.4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Torsten Gerlach , align=left, Independent , 4,350 , 10.9 , - , , align=left, Claus Küster , align=left, Die Grafschafter , 1,518 , 3.8 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Dino Maas , 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 ...

, 1,238 , 3.1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Markus Helmich , align=left, Independent , 706 , 1.8 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 39,867 ! 98.6 ! 30,136 ! 99.3 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 553 ! 1.4 ! 214 ! 0.7 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 40,420 ! 100.0 ! 30,350 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 80,950 ! 49.9 ! 80,906 ! 37.5 , - , colspan=7, Source: City of Moers
1st round

City council

The Moers 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, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , 12,431 , 31.3 , 3.2 , 17 , 2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(SPD) , 11,593 , 29.2 , 8.5 , 16 , 4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(Grüne) , 6,563 , 16.5 , 7.5 , 9 , 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) , 2,548 , 6.4 , New , 3 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(FDP) , 1,860 , 4.7 , 0.3 , 2 , 1 , - , , align=left, Die Grafschafter (Graf) , 1,544 , 3.9 , 2.9 , 2 , 2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Die PARTEI , 1,302 , 3.3 , New , 2 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 1,125 , 2.8 , 3.5 , 2 , 1 , - , , align=left, Free Citizens' List Moers (FBM) , 733 , 1.9 , New , 1 , New , - ! colspan=2, Valid votes ! 39,699 ! 98.2 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Invalid votes ! 710 ! 1.8 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 40,409 ! 100.0 ! ! 54 ! ±0 , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 80,950 ! 49.9 ! ! ! , - , colspan=7, Source
City of Moers

Twin towns – sister cities

Moers is twinned with: * Maisons-Alfort, France (1966) * Bapaume, France (1974) * Knowsley, England, United Kingdom (1980) * Ramla, Israel (1987) * La Trinidad, Nicaragua (1989) * Seelow, Germany (1990) *

Stazzema Stazzema is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Lucca in the Italian region Tuscany, located about northwest of Florence and about northwest of Lucca. History During World War II, the village of Sant'Anna di Stazzema was the site of ...

, Italy (2019)

References

External links

*
Tourism and culture. Personal guide to the city of Moers
{{Authority control Cities in North Rhine-Westphalia Oil campaign of World War II Populated places on the Rhine Wesel (district) Districts of the Rhine Province