Selm is a town in the
district of Unna, 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 ...
. It is situated approximately 20 kilometers 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 ...
and 25 kilometers west of
Hamm
Hamm (, Latin: ''Hammona'') is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northeastern part of the Ruhr area. As of 2016 its population was 179,397. The city is situated between the A1 motorway and A2 motorway. Hamm railwa ...
.
Geography
The town belongs to the southern part of the
Münsterland. It is surrounded by (beginning in the west)
Olfen
Olfen is a town in the district of Coesfeld, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
History
Bishop Wolfhelm, who originated from the Ulfloa Oberhof, gave the small town its name in 889. Wolfhelm was the fourth bishop of "Mimingardeford", today cal ...
,
Lüdinghausen
Lüdinghausen ( Westphalian: ''Lünkhusen'' or ''Lünksel'') is a town in district of Coesfeld in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the Dortmund-Ems Canal, approx. 25 km south-west of Münster.
Town parts
The t ...
,
Nordkirchen
Nordkirchen is a municipality in the district of Coesfeld, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Nordkirchen's most famous site is Schloss Nordkirchen, built in the 18th century for a local bishop and known as the Versailles of Westphalia, as it is ...
(all in the district of Coesfeld),
Werne
Werne an der Lippe (; Westphalian: ''Wäen'') is a town in the Federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia in the Unna district in Germany. It is located on the southern edge of the Münsterland region near the Ruhrgebiet. The population of Werne ...
,
Lünen
Lünen is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located north of Dortmund, on both banks of the River Lippe. It is the largest town of the Unna district and part of the Ruhr Area.
In 2009 a biogas plant was built to provide electric p ...
(both in the district of Unna),
Waltrop
Waltrop is a town in the district of Recklinghausen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the Datteln-Hamm Canal, approximately 15 km east of Recklinghausen and 15 km north-west of Dortmund.
Division of the town
The tow ...
, and
Datteln
Datteln is a town in the Recklinghausen (district), district of Recklinghausen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on a crossroads of four canals (Datteln-Hamm Canal, Wesel-Datteln Canal, Dortmund-Ems Canal and Rhein-Herne Canal), ...
(both belonging to the district of Recklinghausen).
History
The first traces of living people in the area date from the younger half of 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 ...
.
In 858 it was mentioned as ''Seliheim'' in the
Dreingau Dreingau is the medieval name of one of five Saxon pagi (i.e., boroughs) in what today is the Münsterland in Westphalia. During the Middle Ages documents referred to it as ''Dreine'', ''Dreni'', ''Drieni'', ''Dragini'', ''Dragieni'', ''Drachina'' ...
.
In the early Middle Ages Selm was ruled by the count of
Cappenberg, then by the
bishop of Münster
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
. In the beginning of the 19th century it was transferred 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 ...
, to which it remained, as part of the province of Westphalia, until 1946.
In 1906 the coal mine ''Zeche Hermann'' was established, transferring coal from 1,200 m under underground. The coal miners and their families lived in the ''Beifang'' quarter, which had in the origin a very rural landscape. The number of inhabitants increased from 2,000 to 10,000 in only one year, with c. 3,500 coal miners working at the plant. In 1926 the coal mine was closed.
After World War II numerous inhabitants from Beifang found work in Lünen, in a coal mine called ''Zeche Minister Achenbach''. They were brought to that coal mine by buses. After 1965 when the houses in Beifang were sold a lot of people from the south came to Selm to live there.
In 1975 , a village in the southern neighbourhood, was annexed to a part of Selm, which obtained city status in 1977. The Baroque church in Bork,
St. Stephanus, was built in the 1720s.
Selm is twinned with
Workington
Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207.
Loca ...
in the
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 ...
.
Historical population
The number of inhabitants shown here are from 31 December in the given year.
References
External links
*
Städtisches Gymnasium Selm– the local grammar/high school
{{Authority control
Unna (district)