Bergheim ( Ripuarian: ''Berchem'') is a German town, some twenty km west of Cologne and the capital of the

Rhein-Erft-Kreis The Rhein-Erft-Kreis ( ksh, Rhing-Ärff-Kries) is a district in the west of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Neuss, district-free Cologne, Rhein-Sieg, Euskirchen, Düren. History The district in its current borders was ...

(district). The town's

Niederaußem Niederaußem is a section of the town of Bergheim, North Rhine-Westphalia, located 18 km west of Cologne. It has 6000 inhabitants and is well known for its power station. History Various archaeological finds attest to the presence of ...

district is one of the most important suppliers for energy from

lignite Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...

s in Europe.

Geography

Bergheim is about 20 km west of Cologne, approximately 72 metres above sea level. Its highest point is the Glessener Höhe (Glessen Height) at 204 metres. The Erft River flows through Bergheim. The town lies in the Zülpicher Börde, which belongs to the Kölner Bucht. Economically and geographically Bergheim is in the Rhenish lignite coalfield.

History

There is a burial hill in Niederaußem, dating from about 4000 BC. Romans settled in Bergheim around 50 BC. They constructed the major Roman road, the Via Belgica, that crossed the area where Bergheim is today. Later the Franks took control over the region. In the Middle Ages, Bergheim was granted city rights and later became part of the County of Jülich. In the 19th and 20th centuries Bergheim grew rapidly through the settlement of industry based on the local

coal. In World War II, the Wesseling synthetic oil plant was bombed during the Oil Campaign of World War II. Then in April 1944, a large underground plant for synthetic oil manufactured from lignite was set up outside Bergheim.

Districts

* Ahe * Auenheim * Bergheim-Mitte * Büsdorf * Fliesteden * Glesch * Glessen * Kenten *

* Oberaußem * Paffendorf * Quadrath-Ichendorf * Rheidt-Hüchelhoven * Thorr * Zieverich

Points of interest

Points of interest are the Niederaussem Power Station with the world's tallest cooling tower as well as the Kottenforst-Ville Nature Park.

Notable people

Gerhard Fieseler Gerhard Fieseler (15 April 1896 – 1 September 1987) was a German World War I flying ace, aerobatics champion, and aircraft designer and manufacturer. From birth to the 1918 armistice Born in Glesch (near Cologne), Fieseler joined the Air S ...

(1896–1987), fighter pilot in the First World War and aircraft constructor (Gerhard-Fieseler-Werke) *

Günter Grass Günter Wilhelm Grass (born Graß; ; 16 October 1927 – 13 April 2015) was a German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor, and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was born in the Free City of Da ...

(1927–2015), writer, Nobel Prize 1999, lived in Bergheim-Oberaussem for several years after the end of the World War II * Sarah Kreuz (born 1989), singer, second place with DSDS * The footballer Lukas Podolski grew up in Bergheim, played in the youth team of FC Jugend 07 Bergheim from 1991 onwards. In 1995 he changed to the D-youth of the

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., commonly known as simply FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English, is a German professional football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 as a merger of the clubs ''Kölner Ballspi ...

* Michael Schumacher (born 1969), Formula 1 racing driver and seven-time world champion, attended the Geschwister-Scholl-Realschule in Bergheim *

Lukas Sinkiewicz Lukas Sinkiewicz (born 9 October 1985) is a Polish-German Association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football), defender who SV Lövenich/Widdersdorf. He last played for SSV Jahn Regensburg. He has represented Germany ...

(born 1985), footballer * Victoria Ulbrich (born 1992), singer and former band member of Queensberry

Twin towns – sister cities

Datteln is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: *

Andenne Andenne (; wa, Andene) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, Andenne had a total population of 25,240. The total area is 86.17 km² which gives a population density of 292 i ...

, Belgium *

Chauny Chauny () is a Communes of France, commune in the Aisne Departments of France, department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. History There has been a settlement on the site, more or less continuously, since at least the Carolingian era. Know ...

, France

References

http://www.wiktorp.cku.szkola.pl/Bergheim/Bergheim.htm {{Authority control Rhein-Erft-Kreis