The Oberbergischer Kreis ( ksh, Boverbärjische Kreiß) is a ''Kreis'' (

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

) in the state 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 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 ...

. Neighboring districts are

Ennepe-Ruhr The Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis is a district in the center of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is part of the southern Ruhr urban area and has ca. 324,000 inhabitants (2012). The district's seat (capital city) is Schwelm; the largest of its nine towns ...

Märkischer Kreis The Märkischer Kreis is a district ('' Kreis'') in central North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighbouring districts are Unna, Soest, Hochsauerland, Olpe, Oberbergischer Kreis, Ennepe-Ruhr, and the city of Hagen. History The district was create ...

, Olpe,

Altenkirchen Altenkirchen () is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, capital of the district of Altenkirchen. It is located approximately 40 km east of Bonn and 50 km north of Koblenz. Altenkirchen is the seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("co ...

Rhein-Sieg The Rhein-Sieg-Kreis ( ksh, Rhein-Siech-Kreis) is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the south of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis, Oberbergischer Kreis, Altenkirchen, Neuwied, Ahrweiler, Euskirchen, ...

Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis The Rheinisch-Bergische Kreis is a Kreis (district) in the Cologne Bonn Region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Kreis Mettman, Oberbergischer Kreis and Rhein-Sieg, and the district-free cities Cologne, Leverkusen, Sol ...

, and the urban districts

Remscheid Remscheid () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is, after Wuppertal and Solingen, the third-largest municipality in Bergisches Land, being located on the northern edge of the region, on the south ...

and

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and to ...

Name

The district was named after the region known as ''Bergisches Land'', which belonged to the

County of Berg Berg was a state—originally a county, later a duchy—in the Rhineland of Germany. Its capital was Düsseldorf. It existed as a distinct political entity from the early 12th to the 19th centuries. The name of the county lives on in the modern ...

for most of the medieval era. What is called "Oberbergisch" ("upper Bergian") lies in the southeast of that earldom. By 1740, descriptions of the area distinguished between "Niederbergisch", which was north of the river

Wupper The Wupper is a right tributary of the Rhine in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Rising near Marienheide in western Sauerland it runs through the mountainous region of the Bergisches Land in Berg County and enters the Rhine at Lever ...

, and "Oberbergisch" to its south. In 1816, after the entire Rhineland was annexed 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 em ...

, the districts of Waldbröl, Homburg, Gimborn, Wipperfürth, and Lennep were created within the area now covered by the district. In 1825 the districts Gimborn and Homburg were merged into the district Gummersbach. In 1932 it was merged with the district of Waldbröl, and the region became known as ''Oberbergischer Kreis''. The restructuring of 1969/75 created the current boundaries of the district.

Geography

The Oberbergischer Kreis covers the hills west of the

Sauerland The Sauerland () is a rural, hilly area spreading across most of the south-eastern part of North Rhine-Westphalia, in parts heavily forested and, apart from the major valleys, sparsely inhabited. The Sauerland is the largest tourist region in ...

and north of the

Westerwald The Westerwald (; literally 'Western forest') is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Massif ( or Rhenish ...

. It constitutes the eastern part of the

Bergisches Land The Bergisches Land (, ''Berg Country'') is a low mountain range region within the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, east of Rhine river, south of the Ruhr. The landscape is shaped by woods, meadows, rivers and creeks and contains over ...

nature reserve. Situated at an altitude of 100–520 meters above sea level, it is rich in wood and water (numbering ten artificial lakes) and thus a recreational area for citizens from

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, 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 ...

and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The prevailing rock is

greywacke Greywacke or graywacke (German ''grauwacke'', signifying a grey, earthy rock) is a variety of sandstone generally characterized by its hardness, dark color, and poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments or lit ...

, which was and in places still is mined in large stone quarries.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms is a combination of the heraldic signs of the territories the district belonged to. The red-white bar in the top symbolizes the

County of Mark The County of Mark (german: Grafschaft Mark, links=no, french: Comté de La Marck, links=no colloquially known as ) was a county and state of the Holy Roman Empire in the Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle. It lay on both sides of the Ruhr River ...

and the lion that of

Berg Berg may refer to: People *Berg (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) *Berg Ng (born 1960), Hong Kong actor * Berg (footballer) (born 1989), Brazilian footballer Former states *Berg (state), county and duchy of the Holy ...

Homburg Castle Homburg Castle is an old hill castle in Nümbrecht, Oberbergischer Kreis in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. History and construction The ''Homburg'' is first mentioned in records of 1276. Gottfried I of Sayn from the House of Sponhei ...

(near

Nümbrecht Nümbrecht is a municipality in the Oberbergischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is a health resort, known for its good climate. Geography Nümbrecht is located about 40 km east of Cologne. Neighbouring places Division of ...

) was the seat of the Princes of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg.

Politics

Nazi Era

Robert Ley Robert Ley (; 15 February 1890 – 25 October 1945) was a German politician and Labour Union, labour union leader during the Nazi era; Ley headed the German Labour Front from 1933 to 1945. He also held many other high positions in the Party, inc ...

, a Nazi politician who helped organize the recruitment of slave labor during World War II, and published an anti-Semitic newspaper, the Westdeutscher Beobachter, was born in Niederbreidenbach, a town in Oberbergischer Kreis.

District Administrator

*1945-1951: Dr. August Dresbach, CDU *1951-1952: Fritz Eschmann,

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 ...

*1952-1956: Wilhelm Henn, CDU *1956-1961: Fritz Eschmann, SPD *1961-1964: Reinhard Kaufmann, CDU *1964-1969: Dr. Heinrich Schild, CDU *1969-1989: Hans Wichelhaus, CDU *1989-1994: Hans-Leo Kausemann, CDU *1994-1999: Herbert Heidtman, SPD Since the October 1st, 1999 there is only one (directly elected)

District Administrator A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

who at the same time is head of management: *1999-2004: Hans-Leo Kausemann, CDU *2004-2015: Hagen Jobi, CDU *2015-today: Jochen Hagt, CDU

District Administrator for the management

*1946-1979: Dr. Friedrich-Wilhelm Goldenbogen, CDU *1979-1987: Dr. Dieter Fuchs, CDU *1987-1994: Dr. Gert Ammermann, CDU *1995-1999: Heribert Rohr, SPD

Economy

The district's economy is marked by small and middle-sized industry, particularly in the areas of plastic and metal processing.

Places of interest

* The so-called "colored churches" (with medieval wall and cover paintings) are known nationally * Stalactite cave in

Wiehl Wiehl () is a municipality in the Oberbergischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located approximately 41 km east of Cologne. The neighbouring municipalities Reichshof, Waldbröl, Nümbrecht, Much, Engelskirchen and Gummersb ...

* Rhenish industry museum in

Engelskirchen Engelskirchen (literally "angel’s churches") is a municipality in Oberbergischer Kreis, Germany in North Rhine-Westphalia, about east of Cologne. The neighbouring municipalities are (clockwise from the west) Overath, Lindlar, Gummersbach, Wiehl ...

* House Dahl * Open-air museum in

Lindlar Lindlar ( ) is a municipality in the Oberbergischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located about 30 km east of Cologne. Geography Lindlar is located between latitudes 50°58' and 51°5' N. and longitudes 7°15' and 7°28' E ...

Gimborn Castle Gimborn Castle (german: Schloss Gimborn) is a former moated castle situated in a remote valley of the upper Leppe in the municipality of Marienheide in the Oberbergischer Kreis of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. History Gimborn Castle is a castl ...

Hückeswagen Castle Hückeswagen Castle is the castle of the town of Hückeswagen in the Oberbergische Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most p ...

and the historical part of

Hückeswagen Hückeswagen ) is a town in the north of Oberbergischen Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is part of the governmental district of Cologne. Geography Hückeswagen is situated on the river Wupper. Two dams, Bevertal dam and Wuppertal ...

Ehreshoven Castle Ehreshoven Castle (german: Schloss Ehreshoven) is a moated castle in Engelskirchen, Oberbergischer Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located near the village of Ehreshoven, about by road east of Cologne. Several kilometres to the nort ...

Denklingen Castle Denklingen Castle is a historic building in the Denklingen district of Reichshof in the Oberbergischer Kreis of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. History Originally Denklingen seems to have been the seat of the old Grafschaft Sayn court and the ...

Towns and municipalities

References

External links

Official website

tourist website

{{Authority control Districts of North Rhine-Westphalia Bergisches Land