Rüthen () is a town in the district of Soest, 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 ...

Geography

Rüthen is situated at the northeastern border of the natural preserve

Arnsberger Wald The Arnsberg Forest Nature Park (german: Naturpark Arnsberger Wald) is a nature park in the districts of Hochsauerlandkreis and Kreis Soest, Soest within the administrictive region of Regierungsbezirk Arnsberg, Arnsberg in the German state of No ...

between the

Haarstrang The Haar () or Haarstrang is a ridge of hills on the southern edge of the Westphalian Basin in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. From a natural region perspective it is the southern, submontane part of the Hellweg Börde, which stands ...

and the valley of the river

Möhne The Möhne () is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Ruhr. The Möhne passes the towns of Brilon, Rüthen and Warstein. There is a large artificial lake near the mouth of the river, the Möhne Reservoir, use ...

, approx. 20 km south of

Lippstadt Lippstadt () is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest town within the district of Soest. Lippstadt is situated about 60 kilometres east of Dortmund, 40 kilometres south of Bielefeld and 30 kilometres west of Paderborn. Ge ...

and south-west of

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...

. The highest point is the Wehberg with a height of , the lowest point the valley of the river Pöppelsche at . With an area of more than it is the largest town within the district of Soest.

Neighbouring municipalities

Division of the town

Today Rüthen is the commune largest in area in the district of Soest with an area of . After the local government reforms of 1975 Rüthen consists of the following 15 districts: * Rüthen (5,360 inhabitants) * Altenrüthen (550 inhabitants) * Drewer (780 inhabitants) * Hemmern (170 inhabitants) * Hoinkhausen (170 inhabitants) * Kallenhardt (1,810 inhabitants) * Kellinghausen (90 inhabitants) * Kneblinghausen (310 inhabitants) * Langenstraße-Heddinghausen (460 inhabitants) * Meiste (410 inhabitants) * Menzel (426 inhabitants) * Nettelstädt (111 inhabitants) * Oestereiden (870 inhabitants) * Weickede (25 inhabitants) * Westereiden (530 inhabitants)

International relations

Rüthen is twinned with: *

Dereham Dereham (), also known as East Dereham, is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Breckland District of the England, English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the A47 road, about 15 miles (25 km) west of the city ...

(

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

) – since 1983 *

Egeln Egeln () is a small town in the Salzlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") Egelner Mulde. Geography Egeln is situated on the river Bode, approx. nor ...

(

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...

) – since 1991

History

The city of Rüthen was first mentioned in a document of the Kloster Grafschaft (abbey earldom) in 1072. The area around Rüthen already belonged to the Erzbistum Köln (archbishopric Cologne) in the High Middle Ages. On 29 September 1200 Rüthen was given town law by the sovereign, the archbishop of Cologne Adolf I. von Altena. Starting in 1375 Rüthen belonged to the

Hanse The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label= Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German ...

, an economic alliance of trading cities and their guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe in the later Middle Ages. The merchants of the city had far reaching business connections and because of that were able to ensure wealth. In the following centuries, however, the importance of Rüthen decreased massively. Like many other cities in the duchy of

Westfalen Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

, Rüthen held witch trials. From 1573 to 1660, 104 people were tried as witches and wizards, at least 79 being sentenced to death. Freunnd Happen, who had been accused of being a sorcerer, was discharged after two months of torture on 23 September 1660.

Population development

Signs

Buildings

* Catholic Church St. Nikolaus. The church was built in the 13th century after a fire in the city. Its tower received its current top in 1712. * Catholic Church St. Johannes der Täufer. The other Catholic Church in Rüthen was built 1871–1874 with an older tower from 1737. In this tower there is a madonna figure generally considered the oldest piece of art of Rüthen. *Former Abbey of the order of capuchins. What used to be an abbey now houses 13 apartments. The historic garden has been reconstructed. *Former Abbey of the order of ursulines The 1749-built abbey was built exactly where 10 years earlier an abbey of another order burned down. Today it houses a bank. * The old cityhall is a 1726- to 1730-built complex noticeable for its façade and big, curved flight of stairs. *Of the medieval town fortifications, aside big parts of the city wall, only the Hachtor and the ''Hexenturm'' (

witches' tower Witch tower or Witches' Tower (german: Hexenturm) is a common name or description in English and other European languages for a tower that was part of a medieval town wall or castle, often used as a prison or dungeon. History The name is derive ...

) still exist. The Hachtor is an old town gate that has also been used as a prison. *The Jewish cemetery from 1625 is the oldest of its kind in Westfalen, located right next to the Hachtor. In the village of Kallenhardt you can find Schloss Körtlinghausen (1714), a small castle surrounded by water, a catholic church from 1722 and an old cityhall from the 14th or 15th century.

Nature

The Hohler Stein in Kallenhardt is a big cave in which archaeological findings from the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...

and

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

were made.

People

* Michael Stappert (around 1585/1590–1663), country priest and critic of witch-hunting * Jürgen Augustinowitz (born 1964), CDU, Politician, Member of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...

from 1990 until 1998 * Jürgen Haselünne (around 1821–1890), pedagogue * Anton Kopp (1796–1870), vicar general of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, founder of Westphalia (Michigan) * Stefan Gödde (born 1975), TV host * Joachim Winterscheidt (born 1979), Actor and Presenter * Marcel Höttecke (born 1987), footballer * Norman Harras, (born 1996), professional wrestler

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruthen Soest (district)