Siegen () is a
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 ...
in Germany, in the south
Westphalia
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 ...
n part 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 ...
.
It is located in the district of
Siegen-Wittgenstein in the
Arnsberg
Arnsberg (; wep, Arensperg) is a town in the Hochsauerland county, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the location of the Regierungsbezirk Arnsberg administration and one of the three local administration offices of the Hochs ...
region. The university town (nearly 20,000 students in the 2018–2019 winter semester) is the district seat, and is ranked as a "higher centre" in the South Westphalian urban agglomeration.
In 1975, municipal reforms and amalgamations lifted Siegen's population above the 100,000 mark.
Geography
Location
The city of Siegen lies in the basin of the upper reaches of the river
Sieg
The Sieg is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Rhine.
The river is named after the Sicambri. It is in length.
The source is located in the Rothaargebirge mountains. From here t ...
. From there, lateral valleys branch off in many directions. The heights of the surrounding mountains, wherever they are not actually settled, are covered in
coppice
Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which exploits the capacity of many species of trees to put out new shoots from their stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, which is called a copse, young tree stems are repeated ...
. To the north lies 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 ...
, to the northwest the
Rothaargebirge
The Rothaar Mountains (german: Rothaargebirge, , also ''Rotlagergebirge''), or Rothaar, is a low mountain range reaching heights of up to 843.1 m in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse, Germany.
It is believed that its name must once have been ...
and to the southwest 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 ...
.
The nearest cities to Siegen, taking into account average travelling distances, are
Hagen
Hagen () is the Largest cities in Germany, 41st-largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany. The municipality is located in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the south eastern edge of the R ...
to the north ,
Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
to the southeast ,
Koblenz
Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary.
Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman mili ...
to the southwest and
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 ...
to the west .
As the crow flies the distances to these places are, however, (Hagen), (Frankfurt), (Koblenz) and (Cologne).
The city lies on the German-Dutch holiday road called the
Orange Route The Orange Route ( nl, Oranje-Route, german: Oranier-Route) is a holiday route, that runs from Amsterdam in the Netherlands through North and Central Germany and returns to Amsterdam. It is 2,400 kilometres long and crosses the Netherlands and nine ...
, joining towns, cities and regions associated with the
House of Orange
The House of Orange-Nassau (Dutch language, Dutch: ''Huis van Oranje-Nassau'', ) is the current dynasty, reigning house of the Netherlands. A branch of the European House of Nassau, the house has played a central role in the Politics and governm ...
.
City area
![Stadtgliederung Siegen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Stadtgliederung_Siegen.png)
The city's total land area is roughly . Its greatest east-west span is about , and its greatest north-south span is about . City limits are long. Siegen lies at a median elevation of above sea level. The city's greatest elevation is the peak of the Pfannenberg at
above sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''.
The comb ...
at southern city limits. Siegen's lowest point is
above sea level
Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''.
The comb ...
at Niederschelden at southwestern city limits, which there also forms the state boundary with
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...
. Roughly 60% of the city's land is wooded, making Siegen one of Germany's greenest cities.
The city area is divided into six zones, called ''Bezirke'' in German and comparable to boroughs in some cities, which themselves are further divided into various communities (''Ortsteile'' and ''Stadtteile''). Each "borough" has a borough board consisting of 15 voting and 15 non-voting members who are appointed by city council with regard to each party's share of the vote in the municipal elections in the borough in question. The borough boards decide on matters particular to their respective boroughs. These matters are laid down in Siegen's city charter.
Administrative division
Siegen's six boroughs and communities belonging to each boroughs are:
*District I (
Geisweid
Geisweid is a suburban part (Stadtteil) of the city Siegen in Germany.
Geisweid, a northern part of Siegen, shares borders with Sohlbach in the north, Weidenau in the south-east, Langenholdinghausen in the west and Birlenbach in the south.
The ...
): Birlenbach, Meiswinkel, Langenholdinghausen, Geisweid, Dillnhütten, Sohlbach, Buchen, Niedersetzen, Obersetzen
*District II (Weidenau):
*District III (Ost): Kaan-Marienborn, parts of Alt-Siegen (Giersberg), Bürbach, Volnsberg, Breitenbach, Feuersbach
*District IV (Mitte): Alt-Siegen ''(parts not belonging to borough III or V)''
*District V (West): Seelbach, Trupbach and parts of Alt-Siegen (Wellersberg, Fischbacherberg, Achenbach, Rothenberg)
*District VI (Süd): Oberschelden, Gosenbach, Niederschelden, Eiserfeld, Eisern
Along with the boroughs and communities into which the city is divided, as mandated by law, there are also further subdivisions within the communities, each with its own name, but none with distinctly clear borders. They are called ''Quartiere'', which can be rendered as "quarters" or "neighbourhoods". Examples of these include the Unterstadt, the Oberstadt, Hammerhütte, Lindenberg, Charlottental, Haardter Berg (with the university) and the Alte Dreisbach. Some neighbourhoods even straddle community boundaries, like Sieghütte, parts of which can be found in both Siegen-Mitte and Weidenau. Moreover, some neighbourhoods even overlap each other. Unlike the boroughs (''Bezirke'') or communities (''Ortsteile'' and ''Stadtteile''), the ''Quartiere'' have no statistical or administrative importance. They do, however, serve some function as to their inhabitants' identity, but more practically than that, they are also useful for finding one's way with a city map and using in bus route names and on public notices and traffic signs. Many of the ''Hüttentalstraße'' city Autobahn's exits are also named after the ''Quartiere'' that they serve.
The communities of Weidenau, Geisweid, Birlenbach, Langenholdinghausen, Buchen, Sohlbach, Dillnhütten, Niedersetzen, Obersetzen and Meiswinkel formed from 1 July 1966 to 31 December 1974 the town of Hüttental. The communities of Eiserfeld, Eisern, Gosenbach, Niederschelden and Oberschelden formed the town of Eiserfeld between those same two dates.
Neighbouring communities
The city of Siegen borders in the north on the town of
Kreuztal
Kreuztal is a town in the Siegen-Wittgenstein district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Geography
Location
Kreuztal is a town in the low mountains of the northern Siegerland and lies at the western edge of the Rothaargebirge about 10 k ...
and the community of
Wenden, in the east on the town of
Netphen
Netphen () is a town in the Siegen-Wittgenstein district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It lies on the river Sieg, roughly 7 km northeast of Siegen.
Geography
Location
Netphen lies on the Rothaargebirge's southern slope and forms the ...
, in the southeast on the community of
Wilnsdorf
Wilnsdorf is a municipality in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Geography
The southern municipal limits, with the Kalteiche peak, part of the Rothaargebirge, form not only the community's highest point, at ...
, in the south on the community of
Neunkirchen, in the west on the community of
Mudersbach (
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 ...
in Rhineland-Palatinate) and in the northwest on the town of
Freudenberg.
History
The name Siegen comes from the possibly
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
river name Sieg. It is, however, unclear whether there is any relation between this name and the Celtic-
Germanic Sicambri (Ger. ''Sugambrer'') people, who in pre-Christian times lived in parts of North Rhine-Westphalia. The first documentary mention of the place called ''Sigena'' dates from 1079. The city's history is markedly shaped by mining, which locally began as far back as
La Tène times. Bearing witness to this longtime industry are the many mines that can be found within city limits.
In 1224, Siegen is mentioned as a newly built town whose ownership was shared by the Count of
Nassau
Nassau may refer to:
Places Bahamas
*Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence
Canada
*Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792
*Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...
, Heinrich the Rich, and
Engelbert II of Berg
Count Engelbert II of Berg, also known as Saint Engelbert, Engelbert of Cologne, Engelbert I, Archbishop of Cologne or Engelbert I of Berg, Archbishop of Cologne (1185 or 1186, Schloss Burg – 7 November 1225, Gevelsberg) was archbishop of C ...
, Archbishop of
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 ...
after the latter transferred one half of the ownership to the former. Moreover, there is proof that the ''Oberes Schloss'' ("upper stately home") was already standing at this time. On 19 October 1303, the town was granted ''Soester Stadtrecht'', or Soest town rights. The town remained under the two overlords' joint ownership until 1 February 1381, only then passing fully into Nassau hands.
In the 16th century, the town of Siegen bore a formidable defensive look. It was surrounded by mighty walls with 16 towers and three town gates, and was home to a great castle. The town was stricken several times by townwide fires. Documents record such fires in 1592, and from 10 to 20 April 1695.
In 1536, Heinrich the Rich built a "paedagogium" in the buildings that had once housed a
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
Monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
. It later grew into today's
Gymnasium at Siegen's ''Löhrtor'' (gate).
John VII of Nassau-Siegen ("John the Middle") built the ''Unteres Schloss'' ("lower stately home") on the site of an old Franciscan Monastery. In 1616, John VII founded a knightly war school in the still standing old armoury on Burgstraße, "expressly to produce an officer corps for Calvinism".
[
]
His son John VIII ("The Younger") returned in 1612 to the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, and wanted to use force to make the townsfolk also convert back to
Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
. In 1632, Nassau-Siegen was conquered by the Swedes, after which his half-brother
John Maurice of Nassau-Siegen, the Dutch commander in Brazil, re-introduced Protestantism. John VIII died in 1638 and was succeeded by his only son
Johan Frans Desideratus, who had to cede part of Nassau-Siegen (north of the Sieg river) to the Protestant branch of the family.
John Maurice's leadership served in 1650–1651 to bring about a split in the Siegerland along denominational lines. Under Wilhelm Hyacinth of Nassau-Siegen, violence broke out between the two denominational groups. When on 29 March 1707 townsman Friedrich Flender was killed, Wilhelm Hyacinth was himself unseated and furthermore driven out of the town. Wilhelm Hyacinth was the last in the line of Nassau-Siegen's Catholic rulers, dying in 1743. Already in 1734, though, the Reformed line had died out, too, with Friedrich Wilhelm's death, leading
Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
, house = Habsburg
, spouse =
, issue =
, issue-link = #Children
, issue-pipe =
, father = Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor
, mother = Eleonore Magdalene of Neuburg
, birth_date ...
to transfer power in the territory to the Prince of
Orange
Orange most often refers to:
*Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis''
** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower
*Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum
* ...
and the Prince of
Nassau-Diez. Under their leadership, mining, the main source of wealth, blossomed, along with agriculture and
silviculture
Silviculture is the practice of controlling the growth, composition/structure, and quality of forests to meet values and needs, specifically timber production.
The name comes from the Latin ('forest') and ('growing'). The study of forests and wo ...
. When Prince William of Orange refused to join the
Confederation of the Rhine
The Confederated States of the Rhine, simply known as the Confederation of the Rhine, also known as Napoleonic Germany, was a confederation of German client states established at the behest of Napoleon some months after he defeated Austria an ...
, founded by
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
, he found himself unseated by the French leader and the Siegerland passed to the Grand Duchy 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 ...
. After Napoleon's downfall in 1813, however, William I regained his former German inheritances, but in 1815 he ceded them to the
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...
for the Grand Duchy of
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
. Siegen was assigned to the
Siegen district, first in the
Koblenz region, and as of 1817 in the
Arnsberg region within the Prussian
Province of Westphalia
The Province of Westphalia () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946. In turn, Prussia was the largest component state of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918, of the Weimar Republic and from 1918 ...
.
Under Prussian rule, Siegen developed into the South Westphalian centre that it is today. On 1 March 1923, Siegen was set apart from the district bearing its name, and became a
district-free town, while still keeping its function as seat of the district of which it was no longer part, and which was itself merged with Wittgenstein district under district reform in 1975. Siegen also lost its district-free status at this time, becoming part of the new Siegen-Wittgenstein district, the name that the district has borne since 1984.
During World War II, Siegen was repeatedly bombed by the
Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
owing to a crucial railroad that crossed through the town. On 1 April 1945, the US
8th Infantry Division began the Allied ground assault against Siegen and the dominating military-significant high ground north of the river. The battle against determined German forces at Siegen continued through 2 April 1945, until organized resistance was finally overwhelmed by the division on 3 April 1945.
Religion
![Marienkirche siegen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Marienkirche_siegen.jpg)
The town of Siegen belonged in the beginning to the
Archbishopric of Mainz
The Electorate of Mainz (german: Kurfürstentum Mainz or ', la, Electoratus Moguntinus), previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In the ...
, or more precisely to its deaconry of
Arfeld. There was a White Nun
convent
A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...
in town that folded in the 15th century. Furthermore, there was a
Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
Monastery that was dissolved in 1533 after the Nassau overlords had introduced the
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
in 1530. After that, the town was first
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
, but in 1550, the Principality of Nassau converted to the Reformed Church. Subsequently, Siegen was a predominantly
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
town, but not so strongly that the
Counterreformation
The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...
could not gain ground in 1623, with one fifth of the townsfolk and those living in the surrounding area becoming Catholic once again. As of 1626, there was once more a monastery in town, this time a
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
one. After passing to Prussia in 1815, the union between Lutheran and Reformed churches was introduced in Siegen, as it was throughout Prussia, but the town's parishes kept their Reformed emphasis. As part of the Westphalian Provincial Church (now the Church of Westphalia), Siegen became the seat of a Superintendency. A similar entity still exists in Siegen, known as the ''Kirchenkreis'', or church district, to which all the city's parishes nowadays belong, unless they are Free Church parishes. This church district encompasses the whole of South Westphalia all the way to
Olpe.
The town's Catholics, even after the Reformation, still belonged to the
Archbishopric of Mainz
The Electorate of Mainz (german: Kurfürstentum Mainz or ', la, Electoratus Moguntinus), previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In the ...
. With the restructuring of the Catholic Church early in the 19th century, Siegen was assigned to the
Archbishopric of Paderborn and became the seat of a district
synod
A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...
, today a deaconry, to which all the district's Catholic parishes belong. Paderborn was raised to Archbishopric in 1929.
Besides the Roman Catholic Church, Siegen also has a
Greek Orthodox
The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek language, Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the Eastern Orthodox Church, entire body of Orthodox (Chalced ...
parish and a
Romanian Orthodox
The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; ro, Biserica Ortodoxă Română, ), or Patriarchate of Romania, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates i ...
parish.
Moreover, there are various
free church
A free church is a Christian denomination that is intrinsically separate from government (as opposed to a state church). A free church does not define government policy, and a free church does not accept church theology or policy definitions from ...
es established in Siegen, among them several Evangelical Free Church parishes (
Baptists
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
), an Evangelical-Methodist Church, an
Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church
The Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church (german: Selbständige Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche, abbreviated SELK) is a confessional Lutheran church body of Germany. It is a member of the European Lutheran Conference and of the International ...
(SELK), a
Seventh-day Adventist
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventism, Adventist Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the Names of the days of the week#Numbered days of the week, seventh day of the ...
parish, several Free Evangelical parishes (FeG), the Achenbach Christian Community, the Christian Assembly,
Calvary Chapel
Calvary Chapel is an association of evangelical churches, maintains a number of radio stations around the world and operates many local Calvary Chapel Bible College programs.
Beginning in 1965 in Southern California, this fellowship of churc ...
and the Siegen-Meiswinkel Mission Community.
Further religious communities in Siegen are
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
, the
New Apostolic Church
The New Apostolic Church (NAC) is a Christian denomination, Christian church that split from the Catholic Apostolic Church during an 1863 schism in Hamburg, Germany.
The church has existed since 1863 in Germany and since 1897 in the Ne ...
, the
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...
, an Original Christianity community and
Baháʼí. Moreover, owing to a great number of Turkish and Arab migrants in Siegen, the Muslim community is also very much in evidence there and there are several mosques in Siegen run by Turkish, Arab and Albanian communities. There are said to be more than 15,000 Muslims out of Siegen's total population.
Municipal reform
The following communities and rural areas have been amalgamated with Siegen:
*1902 and 1912: parts of Buschgotthardshütten
*1934: parts of Achenbach
*1937: parts of Achenbach and Buschgotthardshütten
*1966: Trupbach, Seelbach, Breitenbach, Bürbach, Kaan-Marienborn and Volnsberg
*1969: Feuersbach
*1974: towns of Hüttental and Eiserfeld
Population development
![Population Statistics Siegen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Population_Statistics_Siegen.png)
In 1897, Siegen had 20,000 inhabitants. By 1939, this figure had doubled to 40,000. In the World War II, the town lost roughly 30% of its inhabitants (12,000). The population had fallen to 28,000 by 1945 and only in 1952 did it once again reach prewar levels.
On 1 January 1975, Siegen's population surpassed 100,000 through the amalgamation of Hüttental (38,867 inhabitants in 1974) and Eiserfeld (22,354 inhabitants in 1974), making it a city. With 117,224 inhabitants it also at the same time reached its all-time highest population. At the end of June 2005, according to the North Rhine-Westphalia State Office for Data Processing and Statistics (''Landesamt für Datenverarbeitung und Statistik Nordrhein-Westfalen''), 105,328 people made Siegen their main abode. Since 1975, the population has fallen by roughly 10% (12,000).
The following chart shows population figures for Siegen's municipal area, however big it was at each given time. Up to 1833, most figures are estimates, and thereafter census figures (¹) or official estimates by the statistical office of the time or the town/city administration itself. The given figures indicate from 1843 the "population present in the town" (''Ort Anwesende Bevölkerung''), from 1925 the "dwelling population" (''Wohnbevölkerung''), and since 1987 the "Population in the place of main residence" (''Bevölkerung am Ort der Hauptwohnung''). Before 1843, population figures come from irregular surveying procedures.
¹ Census figure
Politics
Mayor
The current mayor of Siegen is Steffen Mues of the
Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020 and the results were as follows:
! colspan=2, Candidate
! Party
! Votes
! %
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Steffen Mues
, align=left,
Christian Democratic Union
, 22,807
, 57.6
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Ingmar Schiltz
, 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 ...
, 6,525
, 16.5
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Michael Groß
, 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 ...
, 5,402
, 13.6
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Henning Zoz
, 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 ...
, 3,031
, 7.7
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Melanie Becker
, align=left,
The Left
, 1,847
, 4.7
, -
! colspan=3, Valid votes
! 39,612
! 98.6
, -
! colspan=3, Invalid votes
! 555
! 1.4
, -
! colspan=3, Total
! 40,167
! 100.0
, -
! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout
! 80,568
! 49.9
, -
, colspan=5, Source
City of Siegen
At the city's helm since the 13th century, there have been several mayors of whom evidence survives. In 1304 and 1305, a council ("consules") was mentioned for the first time. As early as 1224, however, documents mention ''Burgmänner'' ("Castle Men") as well as three ''Bürgermeister'' ("Mayors") who were changed yearly. As of 1500, only two mayors were chosen every year. In the 18th century, the
guild
A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...
s were achieving ever greater influence in the town. Thereafter the "ruling" or "office-holding" old
shoemaking
Shoemaking is the process of making footwear.
Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand, often by groups of shoemakers, or cobblers (also known as '' cordwainers''). In the 18th century, dozens or even hundreds of masters, journeymen ...
master represented the "common townsfolk" on the council. The
mediaeval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
town charter was kept right up until 1809, and parts of it even held until 1815, but that year there was a self-endorsing council with 12 members, over which presided the mayor. As of 1824, the suburbs got their own chief administrator who was subordinate to the mayor of Siegen. In 1836, the Prussian municipal system was introduced. After the town was separated from Siegen district in 1923, the mayor was given the title ''Oberbürgermeister'' (roughly equivalent to Lord Mayor). The mayor who came to office in 1919 kept his position right through the time of the
Third Reich
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
, whereas some mayors in other German and Austrian towns, whose political views were at odds with the
Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
', were removed forcibly.
After the Second World War, the military government of the
British Zone of Occupation
Germany was already de facto occupied by the Allies from the real fall of Nazi Germany in World War II on 8 May 1945 to the establishment of the East Germany on 7 October 1949. The Allies (United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and France ...
installed a new mayor, and in 1946 it introduced a new town charter based on a British model, leading to a "Council of the town" elected by the people, whose members were called ''Stadtverordnete'' (town councillors). In the beginning, the council chose one from its midst as the mayor as the town's head and representative, which was an honorary function. Furthermore, as of 1946, the council also began choosing a full-time ''Oberstadtdirektor'', or Higher Town Director, to lead the town's administration.
After Siegen was reunited with the district of the same name in 1975, these two officials bore the titles ''Bürgermeister'' and ''Stadtdirektor'' respectively. In 1999, this two-headed arrangement was forsaken in favour of a single city leader, with the title ''Bürgermeister'', who serves as chairman or chairwoman of city council, leader of city administration and city representative. The mayor is directly elected.
Mayors (''Bürgermeister'' and ''Oberbürgermeister'') since 1919
*1919–1945: Alfred Fißmer, ''Oberbürgermeister''
*1945: Fritz Fries, ''Oberbürgermeister''
*1945–1946: Otto Schwarz, ''Oberbürgermeister''
*1946–1948: Ernst Weißelberg, ''Oberbürgermeister''
*1948–1956: Ernst Bach, ''Oberbürgermeister''
*1956–1961: Erich Pachnicke, ''Oberbürgermeister''
*1961–1966: Karl Eckmann, ''Oberbürgermeister''
*1966–1975: Karl Althaus, ''Oberbürgermeister''
*1975–1979: Friedemann Keßler, ''Bürgermeister''
*1979–1990: Hans Reinhardt, ''Bürgermeister''
*1990–1994: Hilde Fiedler, ''Bürgermeisterin''
*1994–1999: Karl Wilhelm Kirchhöfer, ''Bürgermeister''
*1999–2007: Ulf Stötzel (CDU), ''Bürgermeister''
*2007–today: Steffen Mues (CDU), ''Bürgermeister''
''Stadtdirektoren'' and ''Oberstadtdirektoren'' 1946–1999
*1946–1954: Max Baumann, ''Oberstadtdirektor''
*1954–1975: Kurt Seibt, ''Oberstadtdirektor''
*1975–1985: Hans Mohn, ''Stadtdirektor''
*1985–1989: Volker Oerter, ''Stadtdirektor''
*1989–1995: Otto-Werner Rappold, ''Stadtdirektor (left office early with effect on 2 December 1995 by his own wish)''
*1995–1999: Ulrich Mock, ''Stadtdirektor (at first as Dr. Rappold's
General Agent until 31 January 1997, then appointed fulltime ''Stadtdirektor'')''
City council
![2020 Siegen City Council election](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/2020_Siegen_City_Council_election.svg)
The Siegen 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)
, 12,366
, 31.3
, 3.3
, 22
, 1
, -
, bgcolor=,
, 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 ...
(SPD)
, 8,582
, 21.7
, 7.1
, 15
, 4
, -
, bgcolor=,
, 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 ...
(Grüne)
, 6,704
, 17.0
, 5.4
, 12
, 4
, -
,
, align=left, Independent Voters' Association (UWG)
, 3,172
, 8.0
, 0.2
, 6
, 1
, -
, 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)
, 2,877
, 6.3
, 2.5
, 5
, 2
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left,
Free Democratic Party (FDP)
, 2,481
, 6.3
, 0.3
, 4
, ±0
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left,
The Left (Die Linke)
, 2,000
, 5.1
, 1.0
, 4
, ±0
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left,
Volt Germany
Volt Germany (, mostly known by the abbreviated name Volt) is a social-liberal pro-European, eurofederalist political party in Germany. It is the German branch of Volt Europa, a political movement that operates on a European level.
Italian And ...
(Volt)
, 1,187
, 3.0
, New
, 2
, New
, -
, colspan=7 bgcolor=lightgrey,
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Independent Bach
, 171
, 0.4
, New
, 0
, New
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Independent Schulte
, 15
, 0.0
, New
, 0
, New
, -
! colspan=2, Valid votes
! 39,555
! 98.6
!
!
!
, -
! colspan=2, Invalid votes
! 553
! 1.4
!
!
!
, -
! colspan=2, Total
! 40,108
! 100.0
!
! 70
! 4
, -
! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout
! 80,568
! 49.8
!
!
!
, -
, colspan=7, Source
City of Siegen
Coat of arms
Siegen's civic
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...
might be described thus: Argent a town wall embattled gules with an open gateway argent, therein in an inescutcheon azure a lion rampant Or armed and langued gules, issuant from the wall a bishop in robe and mitre azure (trimmed in argent) holding in his hand dexter a crozier argent with crook Or sinister, in his hand sinister, upraised, an open book argent with pages edged gules.
The bishop in the city's arms is the Bishop of
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 wall symbolizes the city itself, and the
inescutcheon
In heraldry, an escutcheon () is a shield that forms the main or focal element in an achievement of arms. The word can be used in two related senses. In the first sense, an escutcheon is the shield upon which a coat of arms is displayed. In the s ...
in the gateway shows the Lion of Nassau in blue and gold (or yellow), which are Nassau's colours. The arms are based on the oldest known town seal, from 1248. The inescutcheon once also had gold billets (upright rectangles) around the lion, but these do not appear in what became the town's (and later city's) coat of arms in 187
Sights
![wmsiegen 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Wmsiegen_01.jpg)
Although the town was about 80% destroyed in the World War II, Siegen has kept a number of buildings worth seeing, such as the two stately homes, the ''Oberes Schloss'' and the ''Unteres Schloss''.
Oberes Schloss
The castle on the Siegberg was first mentioned in a document in 1259 and was the family seat of the House of Nassau. Since 1905, the Siegerland Museum has been here. Alongside regional exhibits – among them an artificial demonstration mine – are many paintings. The centrepiece of this collection is made up of works by the man who is arguably the best known native,
Peter Paul Rubens
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...
. There is also quite a comprehensive collection of portraits of members of the Houses of Nassau and Orange. The top floor is devoted to 19th-century home décor. A kitchen from the Siegerland, a bedroom and many pieces of furniture from the
Biedermeier
The ''Biedermeier'' period was an era in Central Europe between 1815 and 1848 during which the middle class grew in number and the arts appealed to common sensibilities. It began with the Congress of Vienna at the end of the Napoleonic Wars in ...
era give one an impression of life in the region in bygone days.
Unteres Schloss
Late in the 17th century, the Lower Stately Home came into being in its current form, somewhat like an open rectangle. The
Evangelical
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...
line of the House of Nassau-Siegen resided here. Also belonging to the ''Schloss'' is the ''"Dicker Turm"'', or "Fat Tower" with a
carillon
A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a keyboard and consists of at least 23 cast-bronze bells. The bells are hung in fixed suspension and tuned in chromatic order so that they can be sounded harmoniou ...
. In 1959, the then town of Siegen built a memorial for victims of war and tyranny. Inside the ''Schloss'' is also found the crypt of the Evangelical branch of the Nassau princely house.
Today, the ''Schloss'' serves as a state authority building in which the North Rhine-Westphalia Building and Property Establishment, the State Environment Office, the Office for Occupational Health and Safety and the Attendorn Correctional Facility (Siegen Branch Facility) are all housed. By the city's plans, a university is supposed to move into the ''Unteres Schloss'' within the next few years, but at this time, the plan is failing to find any financial backing.
Churches
Two churches in downtown Siegen are to be brought to the visitor's attention: The ''Martinikirche'' dating from the 11th century and the ''Nikolaikirche'' at the marketplace with its unusual eight-sided shape and its golden ''Krönchen'' ("coronet") – the city's landmark – on the church tower, which is a prominent feature of Siegen's skyline (Siegen is sometimes called ''Krönchenstadt'' for this unusual feature). Another church is the ''Marienkirche'', built by the Jesuits between 1702 and 1729. Also worth seeing are Siegen's Old Town and several museums in the city core.
Gasometer
In the southwest of the city core, at the foot of the Ziegenberg, is a spherical gas holder, or
gasometer
A gas holder or gasholder, also known as a gasometer, is a large container in which natural gas or town gas is stored near atmospheric pressure at ambient temperatures. The volume of the container follows the quantity of stored gas, with pressu ...
, which is protected by law as a monument. It is one of the oldest spherical gas holders still preserved. Another peculiarity is its riveted casing. Only three other such gas holders are known to exist worldwide (all in Germany, in
Schwerte
Schwerte ( Westphalian: ''Schweierte'') is a town in the district of Unna, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Geography
Schwerte is situated in the Ruhr valley, at the south-east border of the Ruhr Area. South of Schwerte begins the mountainous ...
,
Offenburg
Offenburg ("open borough" - coat of arms showing open gates; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemmanic: ''Offäburg'') is a city located in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With nearly 60,000 inhabitants (2019), it is the largest city and the ad ...
and
Bielefeld
Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Detmold and the ...
). The holder had to be moved a few metres owing to construction on the municipal Autobahn, the ''Hüttentalstraße'', and in the residential area of Ziegenberg, and it now forms the symbolic sun as part of a scale model of the planets above the gas holder.
Cemeteries
Within Siegen's city limits are 36 municipally run
cemeteries
A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...
. Ten of them are already closed and are available for burials only because of existing laws. The cemeteries have a total area of 730 000 m² with roughly 65,000 graves. Characteristic of regional cemeteries are hillside graves and a green, parklike layout that even affords wildlife a chance at reoccupying the land.
Cemeteries within city limits are:
*Lindenbergfriedhof
*Hermelsbacher Friedhof
*Stockfriedhof
*Geisweider Friedhof
*Haardter Friedhof
*Gilbergfriedhof
*Friedhof Kaan-Marienborn
*Neuer Friedhof Niederschelden
Culture
Theatre
![Apollo-Theater Siegen dima](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Apollo-Theater_Siegen_dima.JPG)
In the Apollo-Theater (a downtown former 1930s cinema that underwent remodelling and opened in mid-2007), Siegen has one of the current decade's most important newly built theatres. A controlling interest in this venture is held by TheaterSiegen intendant Magnus Reitschuster.
Since 1992, the media and cultural house Lÿz has been a venue for
cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...
, music and theatre in Siegen. On the two stages, roughly 150 events appear every season.
Bigger events take place at the ''Bühne der Stadt'' ("City's Stage", with about 820 seats), the Siegerlandhalle (1 800 m², 2,300 seats) or the Bismarckhalle. As well, there are regular open-air concerts and productions in the inner yard at ''Unteres Schloss''.
Orchestras and choirs
*Philharmonie Südwestfalen
*Evangelische Kantorei Siegen
*Bach-Chor Siegen
*Sängerkreis Siegerland
Museums
The main centre of art in Siegen are the Museum for Contemporary Art and the ''Haus Seel'' – city gallery.
The Siegerland Museum is dedicated to regional history. The Oranienstraße House, built at 1900 in the Italian country house style, is attached to the Siegerland Museum since 1993 as an exhibit forum. There is a varied program of temporary exhibitions of all kinds, from archaeological excavations to contemporary avant-garde art. Poet and author readings are also part of the program, such as classic concerts.
In Geisweid is found the Beatles Home Museum, run by Harold Krämer. According to the 2000
Guinness Book of Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
, the 27 m² museum is the smallest public museum in the world devoted to the four
Liverpudlian
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
musicians. The collection holds more than 17,000 recordings, souvenirs, film posters, and
autograph
An autograph is a person's own handwriting or signature. The word ''autograph'' comes from Ancient Greek (, ''autós'', "self" and , ''gráphō'', "write"), and can mean more specifically: Gove, Philip B. (ed.), 1981. ''Webster's Third New Inter ...
s and other memorabilia.
Regular events
*Early in the year: SILA (''Siegerlandausstellung'' – Siegerland Exhibition), even-numbered years only
*March to November, first Saturday in each month:
Flea market
A flea market (or swap meet) is a type of street market that provides space for vendors to sell previously-owned (second-hand) goods. This type of market is often seasonal. However, in recent years there has been the development of 'formal' ...
in Siegen-Geisweid (since 1970), no new goods
*June to August: ''"Mittwochs in"'' different bands every Wednesday in Siegen-Weidenau
*June: ''Johannimarkt'', a
fair
A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks.
Types
Variations of fairs incl ...
held for some 400 years
*June/July: ''Siegener Sommerfestival'', plays, cabaret, theatre, music and cinema since about 1990. (In 2006, instead of the traditional summer festival, a World Cup festival was held)
*July: ''Stadtfest'' (City Festival), even-numbered years only
*July: ''Rubensfest'', odd-numbered years only
*August: Siegen Open-Air Cinema
*August:
Christopher Street Day
Christopher Street Day (CSD) is an annual European LGBTQ+ celebration and demonstration held in various cities across Europe for the rights of LGBTQ+ people, and against discrimination and exclusion. It is Germany's and Switzerland's counterp ...
(CSD), since 2000
*August: ''Siegtal-Pur'' All streets only opened for bikes (the HTS (local Motorway) too)
*Summer: Street Festival at the Corn Market
*October: 2nd Sunday: ''Bürgerfest Geisweid''
*November: ''Geisweider Adventsmarkt'', since about 1985
*December: Christmas market, since about 1980
Dialect
The city and its surrounding region speak in addition to standard German also have a characteristic local dialect:
Siegerländisch
Siegerländisch (german: Siegerländer-Platt, locally called ''Sejerlännr Pladd'') is the northeasternmost dialect of the Moselle Franconian Dialect Group. Siegerländisch is spoken in the region around the city of Siegen in Germany. The dialect ...
.
Tales and legends
The ''Dilldappe'' is an old mythical creature from the Siegerland. It lives mainly in the Siegerland ''Hauberg'' (coöperatively managed woodlots). Early in the 1980s, the writer and cartoonist Matthias Kringe first published a calendar about the creature, written in the local dialect of German.
The Rubens Prize of the City of Siegen
The Rubens Prize of the City of Siegen, founded in 1955, is awarded every five years to a painter or
graphic artist
A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, p ...
whose life's work has been groundbreaking on the European stage. The title recalls the painter-diplomat
Peter Paul Rubens
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...
, who expressed in his life's work the thought of European unity, long before it could become a political reality. Peter Paul Rubens – who was born in Siegen, grew up in Cologne and
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, , trained in art in Italy, was esteemed in France and acted as a diplomat in Spain and England – as the main master of European Baroque painting set those artistic and European standards to which the awarding of the prize has been bound since 1957–1958.
Past prizewinners:
*
Hans Hartung
Hans Hartung (21 September 1904 – 7 December 1989) was a German-French painter, known for his gestural abstract style. He was also a decorated World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, ...
(1957/1958)
*
Giorgio Morandi
Giorgio Morandi (July 20, 1890 – June 18, 1964) was an Italian painter and printmaker who specialized in still life. His paintings are noted for their tonal subtlety in depicting simple subjects, which were limited mainly to vases, bottles, b ...
(1962)
*
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...
(1967)
*
Antoni Tàpies
Antoni Tàpies i Puig, 1st Marquess of Tápies (; 13 December 1923 – 6 February 2012) was a Catalan People, Catalan painter, sculptor and art theorist, who became one of the most famous European artists of his generation.
Life
The son of Jo ...
(1972)
*
Fritz Winter (1977)
*
Emil Schumacher
Emil Schumacher (29 August 1912 in Hagen, Westfalen – 4 October 1999 in San José, Ibiza) was a German painter. He was an important representative of abstract expressionism in post-war Germany.
In 2009 the Kunstquartier Hagen was inaug ...
(1982)
*
Cy Twombly
Edwin Parker "Cy" Twombly Jr. (; April 25, 1928July 5, 2011) was an American Painting, painter, Sculpture, sculptor and photographer. He belonged to the generation of Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns.
Twombly is said to have influenced you ...
(1987)
*
Rupprecht Geiger
Rupprecht Geiger (26 January 1908 – 6 December 2009) was a German abstract painter and sculptor. Throughout his career, he favored monochromicity and color-field paintings. For a time, he concentrated solely on the color red.
Life and work
...
(1992)
*
Lucian Freud
Lucian Michael Freud (; 8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists. He was born in Berlin, the son of Jewis ...
(1997)
*
Maria Lassnig
Maria Lassnig (8 September 1919 – 6 May 2014) was an Austrian artist known for her painted self-portraits and her theory of "body awareness".Attias, Lauri''Maria Lassnig'', ''Frieze'', May 1996. She was the first female artist to win the Grand ...
(2002)
*
Sigmar Polke
Sigmar Polke (13 February 1941 – 10 June 2010) was a German painter and photographer.
Polke experimented with a wide range of styles, subject matters and materials. In the 1970s, he concentrated on photography, returning to paint in the 1980s ...
(2007)
*
Bridget Riley
Bridget Louise Riley (born 24 April 1931) is an English painter known for her op art paintings. She lives and works in London, Cornwall and the Vaucluse in France.
Early life and education
Riley was born on 24 April 1931 in West Norwood, No ...
(2012)
*
Niele Toroni
Niele Toroni (born 15 March 1937 in Muralto) is a Swiss painter. He lives and works in Paris.
Work
In 1966 Toroni started a practice he calls "Travail-Peinture". Toroni's method, brushstrokes made with imprints of a no. 50 paintbrush repeated a ...
(2017)
Sport
The city sport league includes 160 sport clubs in which roughly 37,000 members are active. National importance was achieved in 2005 by the
Sportfreunde Siegen
Sportfreunde Siegen is a German association football club based in Siegen, North Rhine-Westphalia. After going through insolvency in 2008, the first team was forcibly relegated to the fifth-tier NRW-Liga. Promotion to fourth division Regionallig ...
men's
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
team at
Leimbachstadion
Leimbachstadion is a multi-use stadium in Siegen, 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 ...
when they rose from the ''
Regionalliga Süd'' up to the
2nd Bundesliga, although the next year they dropped back down again. As six-time German Champions, the TSV Siegen women's football team was very successful in the 1990s.
Transport
Air transport
In the south of the district in the community of
Burbach lies the
Siegerland Airport
Siegerland Airport or ''Siegerlandflughafen'' in German is a small regional airport in Burbach in the Siegerland region near Siegen, Germany. It was formerly served by the Scheuerfeld–Emmerzhausen railway and is presently used as the mainten ...
. There are no scheduled services to other German cities. The airport is mainly used for general aviation and parachuting.
Bicycle transport
The city of Siegen lies on
European long-distance path E1 running from the middle of Sweden to
Umbria
it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, ...
in Italy. There is, however, no organized cycling trail network in Siegen. Riding in bus lanes is sporadically allowed. Bicycle transport is generally poorly developed in Siegen. Owing to
dual carriageway
A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...
s within the city and nearby, as well as transport planning that rather favours cars, bicycle transport has been somewhat thwarted. Together with the partly hilly topography, there is therefore little in the way of bicycle transport in Siegen.
Rail transport
Siegen station
Siegen Hauptbahnhof is the main station of the town of Siegen, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is in close to the modern centre of Siegen, which includes the bus station and the Sieg Carré and City Galerie shopping centres.
His ...
lies at the junction of the following railway lines:
* The two-track
electrified
Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source.
The broad meaning of the term, such as in the history of technology, economic history ...
Ruhr–Sieg line ''(Ruhr-Sieg-Strecke)'' is used for regional services, usually hourly, of the ''Ruhr-Sieg-Express'' (RE 16) and the ''Ruhr-Sieg-Bahn'' (RB 91).
* The
Rothaar Railway
The Rothaar Mountains (german: Rothaargebirge, , also ''Rotlagergebirge''), or Rothaar, is a low mountain range reaching heights of up to 843.1 m in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse, Germany.
It is believed that its name must once have been ...
''(Rothaarbahn)'' is served, usually hourly by ''Rothaar-Bahn'' (RB 93) services, connecting in
Erndtebrück
Erndtebrück is a municipality in the Siegen-Wittgenstein district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Geography
Location
Erndtebrück situated on the river Eder in the Rothaargebirge, approx. 20 km northeast of Siegen.
Neighbouring com ...
to ''Obere Lahntal-Bahn'' (RB 94/RMV Line 43) services, usually two-hourly, on the
Upper Lahn Valley Railway ''(Obere Lahntal-Bahn)''.
* The two-track electrified
Dill Railway
The Dill Railway (German: ''Dillstrecke'') is a 73 km-long double-track electrified railway line, which runs from Giessen in Hesse to Siegen in North Rhine-Westphalia. Until 2002 InterRegio trains operated the connection to Düsseldorf, Nord ...
''(Dill-Strecke)'' is served, usually two-hourly, by the ''Rhein-Sieg-Express'' (RE 9) and the ''Main-Sieg-Express'' (RE 99) and hourly by the ''Sieg-Dill-Bahn'' (RB 95) (only to and from
Dillenburg
Dillenburg, officially Oranienstadt Dillenburg, is a town in Hesse's Gießen (region), Gießen region in Germany. The town was formerly the seat of the old Dillkreis district, which is now part of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis.
The town lies on the German-N ...
).
* The mostly two-track electrified
Sieg line ''(Siegstrecke)'' is served, usually hourly, by the ''Rhein-Sieg-Express'' (RE 9) and ''Sieg-Dill-Bahn'' (RB 95) services (only to and from Au).
Bus transport
On 18 March 1895, the ''Netphener Omnibusgesellschaft'' opened the world's first busline using a petrol-powered omnibus, running a service from its base in
Netphen
Netphen () is a town in the Siegen-Wittgenstein district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It lies on the river Sieg, roughly 7 km northeast of Siegen.
Geography
Location
Netphen lies on the Rothaargebirge's southern slope and forms the ...
to Siegen and Deuz. Today, local road transport offers many regional, express and local buses, along with a night bus service connecting Siegen with its outlying communities and neighbouring towns. They are run by the South Westphalia Transport Services (''Verkehrsbetriebe Westfalen-Süd''; VWS) whose headquarters are in Siegen.
For the whole of local public transport, the tariff of the South Westphalia Transport Community (''Verkehrsgemeinschaft Westfalen-Süd''; VGWS) applies, regardless of the North Rhine-Westphalia tariff.
Roads
With regard to long-distance roads, the city of Siegen is connected to
Autobahn
The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...
en
A 45 (
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 ...
–
Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg (; South Franconian: ''Aschebersch'') is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is its administrative seat.
Aschaffenburg belonged to the Archbishopric ...
) and
A 4 (
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 ...
–
Olpe), and to Federal Highways (''
Bundesstraße
''Bundesstraße'' (German for "federal highway"), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.
Germany
Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km.
German ''Bundesstraßen'' ...
n'') 54, 54n, 62 and 62n.
Siegen is home to the tallest bridge of the A 45 and one of the highest in Germany, the Siegtalbrücke. Built from 1964 to 1969, it is approximately 96 m high and 1 050 m long.
![Siegtalbrücke](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Siegtalbr%C3%BCcke.jpg)
The shape that the city takes has much to do with the ''Hüttentalstraße'' (HTS) (Federal Highways 54n and 62n) which serves as a municipal Autobahn – much of it elevated – that runs through the city area.
The A 4 between
Wenden and
Kreuztal
Kreuztal is a town in the Siegen-Wittgenstein district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Geography
Location
Kreuztal is a town in the low mountains of the northern Siegerland and lies at the western edge of the Rothaargebirge about 10 k ...
has been newly built. In the heights over Kreuztal's outlying community of Krombach, it now joins with the HTS. On this 12-kilometre stretch of highway are eight valley bridges as well as ten under- and overpasses. This new part was opened on 1 December 2007.
Economy
![Siegen neue Mitte](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Siegen_neue_Mitte.jpg)
Siegen is South Westphalia's service and administrative centre. Much of its industry is based on
metalworking
Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on every scale ...
.
Pedestrian precinct
Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in whi ...
s in Bahnhofsstraße ("Railway Station Street") and Kölner Tor ("Cologne Gate"), both downtown, have made
shopping
Shopping is an activity in which a customer browses the available goods or services presented by one or more retailers with the potential intent to purchase a suitable selection of them. A Retail#Shopper profiles, typology of shopper types ha ...
in Siegen very convenient, as have the shopping centres City-Galerie (opened in 1998) and ''Sieg Carré'' (opened in 2006, both downtown) and ''Siegerlandzentrum'' (Siegen-Weidenau), and the Marburger Straße shopping street (downtown). In 2005, an
IKEA
IKEA (; ) is a Dutch multinational conglomerate based in the Netherlands that designs and sells , kitchen appliances, decoration, home accessories, and various other goods and home services. Started in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA has been t ...
store and a Peek & Cloppenburg location opened.
Public institutions
Siegen is home to the Siegen-Wittgenstein district administration and location of a Chamber of Industry and Trade (''Industrie- und Handelskammer'', or IHK, one of 81 such regional institutions in Germany) for the districts of Siegen-Wittgenstein and
Olpe.
Home to the Siegen State Court, a local court and a labour court, the city is also an important court centre.
Media
In Siegen, the ''
Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln (''West German Broadcasting Cologne''; WDR, ) is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the conso ...
'' (WDR) maintains a studio where regional radio and television news for South Westphalia is produced. The daily broadcast goes out in the "South Westphalia" regional window following the programme ''Aktuelle Stunde'' (a newsmagazine show) on WDR's third channel. Moreover, WDR also runs a transmission facility for
VHF radio and television (once also
medium wave
Medium wave (MW) is the part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the daytime ...
) at the Giersberg.
Daily newspapers in Siegen include not only the ''Siegener Zeitung'' but also local editions of the ''Westfälische Rundschau'' and the ''Westfalenpost''. All three appear in the morning, although the first was until 2000 an afternoon paper. Furthermore, at the ''"Obergraben"'' is found the regional, Radio-
NRW-connected Radio Siegen's studio building.
Education
In the early decades of the 17th century, the
Herborn Academy The Herborn Academy ( la, Academia Nassauensis) was a Calvinist institution of higher learning in Herborn from 1584 to 1817. The Academy was a centre of encyclopaedic Ramism and the birthplace of both covenant theology and pansophism. Its faculty ...
temporarily relocated to Siegen, in the buildings of the ''Unteres Schloss'', which came to an end when the
Plague
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pes ...
broke out.
Siegen's oldest school is the ''Gymnasium am Löhrtor'', a grammar school.
Other Schools:
Grammar schools
* Gymnasium am Löhrtor (GAL)
* Fürst-Johann-Moritz-Gymnasium (FJM)
* Peter-Paul-Rubens-Gymnasium, formerly known as ''Ganztagsgymnasium am Rosterberg''
* Evangelisches Gymnasium (EV)
* Gymnasium auf der Morgenröthe (GAM)
Primary schools
*Albert Schweitzer Schule
*Birlenbacher Schule
*Burgschule
*Diesterwegschule
*Dreisbachschule
*Eiserner Schule
*Fischbacherbergschule
*Friedrich Flender Schule
*Geisweider Schule
*Giersbergschule
*Glückaufschule
*Gosenbacher Schule
*Grundschule Eiserfeld
*Grundschule Kaan-Marienborn
*Hammerhütter Schule
*Hüttentalschule
*Jung Stilling Schule
*Lindenbergschule
*Nordschule
*Obenstruthschule
*Sonnenhangschule
*Spandauer Schule
Higher education
Siegen is headquarters of the
University of Siegen
The University of Siegen (german: Universität Siegen) is a public research university located in Siegen, North Rhine-Westphalia and is part of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, a society of Germany's leading research universities. The Univers ...
, founded on 1 August 1972 as the ''Gesamthochschule Siegen''.
As well, the
Fachhochschule für Oekonomie & Management has a study centre, which is shared with the Academy of Administration and Economics.
Siegen also has various general-education and professional schools, and the Siegerlandkolleg.
Twin towns – sister cities
Siegen is
twinned with:
*
Spandau (Berlin), Germany (1952)
*
Katwijk
Katwijk (), also spelled Katwyk, is a coastal municipality and town in the province of South Holland, which is situated in the mid-western part of the Netherlands.
The Oude Rijn ("Old Rhine") river flows through the town and into the North Se ...
, Netherlands (1963, formerly
Rijnsburg
Rijnsburg () is a village in the eastern part of the municipality of Katwijk, in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The name means Rhine's wikt:Special:Search/burg, Burg in Dutch.
History
The history starts way before the ...
)
*
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
, England, United Kingdom (1966, formerly
Morley Morley may refer to:
Places England
* Morley, Norfolk, a civil parish
* Morley, Derbyshire, a civil parish
* Morley, Cheshire, a village
* Morley, County Durham, a village
* Morley, West Yorkshire, a suburban town of Leeds and civil parish
* M ...
)
*
Ypres
Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though
the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality co ...
, Belgium (1967)
*
Zakopane
Zakopane ( Podhale Goral: ''Zokopane'') is a town in the extreme south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Voivodeship; since 1999, it has been par ...
, Poland (1989)
*
Plauen
Plauen (; Czech language, Czech: ''Plavno'') is, with around 65,000 inhabitants, the fifth-largest city of Saxony, Germany after Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Zwickau, the second-largest city of the Vogtland after Gera, as well as the larges ...
, Germany (1990)
Notable people
*
Henry III of Nassau-Breda
Count Henry III of Nassau-Dillenburg-Dietz (January 12, 1483, Siegen – September 14, 1538, Breda), Lord (from 1530 Baron) of Breda, Lord of the Lek, of Dietz, etc. was a count of the House of Nassau.
He was the son of Count John V of Nassau-D ...
(1483–1538), Count of Nassau and Lord of Breda
*Tilemann Stella (1525–1589),
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
scholar and librarian, mathematician, geometerer, cartographer and astronomer
*
John VII ‘the Middle’ of Nassau-Siegen (1561–1623), Count of Nassau-Siegen and military theorist
*
Peter Paul Rubens
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...
(1577–1640), Baroque painter
*
Johann Heinrich Bisterfeld (1605–1655), philosopher, polyhistor
*
Georg Wilhelm de Gennin
Georg Wilhelm de Gennin (russian: Георг Вильгельм де Геннин) or Vilim Ivanovich de Gennin (russian: Вилим Иванович де Геннин) (11 October 1665 — 12 April 1750) was a German-born Russian military office ...
(1676–1750), Russian military officer and engineer; baptized here
*
Franz Hunolt
Fr. Franz Hunolt S.J. (31 March 1691, at Siegen – 12 September 1746, at Trier) was a popular German Catholic priest and preacher.
Life
The name of this renowned preacher is spelled in various ways in the catalogues of the Society of Jesus—Hum ...
(1691–1746), Jesuit, theologian
*
Adolph Diesterweg
Friedrich Adolph Wilhelm Diesterweg (29 October 1790 in Siegen7 July 1866 in Berlin) was a German educator, thinker, and progressive liberal politician, who campaigned for the secularization of schools. He is said to be precursory to the reform ...
(1790–1866), pedagogue and mastermind of reform education
*
Heinrich Kreutz
Heinrich Carl Friedrich Kreutz (September 8, 1854 – July 13, 1907) was a German astronomer, most notable for his studies of the orbits of several sungrazing comets, which revealed that they were all related objects, produced when a very lar ...
(1854–1907), astronomer and publisher
*
Charles H. Daub (1855–1917), member of the
Wisconsin State Assembly
The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin.
Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...
*
Fritz Busch
Fritz Busch (13 March 1890 – 14 September 1951) was a German conductor.
Busch was born in Siegen, Westphalia, to a musical family, and studied at the Cologne Conservatory. After army service in the First World War, he was appointed to senior p ...
(1890–1951), conductor
*
Adolf Busch
Adolf Georg Wilhelm Busch (8 August 1891 – 9 June 1952) was a German–Swiss violinist, conductor, and composer.
Life and career
Busch was born in Siegen in Westphalia. He studied at the Cologne Conservatory with Willy Hess and Bram Elderin ...
(1891–1952), German-Swiss violinist and conductor
*
Walter Kraemer
Walter Kraemer (Krämer) (; 21 June 1892 – 6 November 1941) was a German politician of the German Communist Party ( KPD) and member of the resistance against Nazism. From 1932/33, he was a deputy of the Prussian Landtag, was arrested in 1933 an ...
(1892–1941), politician (
KPD
The Communist Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, , KPD ) was a major political party in the Weimar Republic between 1918 and 1933, an underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and a minor party in West German ...
) and resistance fighter against Nazism
*
Paul Giesler
Paul Giesler (15 June 1895 – 8 May 1945) was a German Nazi Party functionary responsible for acts of brutality which included killing opponents of the regime in southern Germany. He first joined the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in 1922; he reenrolled on ...
(1895–1945), Nazi functionary, Premier of
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
*
Heinrich Gontermann
Heinrich Gontermann (25 February 1896 – 30 October 1917) was a German fighter ace credited with 39 victories during the First World War.
Early life
Born in Siegen, Southern Westphalia, on 25 February 1896,''Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter ...
(1896–1917), fighter ace
*
Friedrich Middelhauve (1896–1966), publisher and politician (FDP)
*
Hermann Giesler
Hermann Giesler (2 April 1898, Siegen – 20 January 1987, Düsseldorf) was a German architect during the Nazi era, one of the two architects most favoured and rewarded by Adolf Hitler (the other being Albert Speer).
Early life and World W ...
(1898–1987), architect
*
Ernst Achenbach
Ernst Achenbach (9 April 1909, in Siegen, Westphalia – 2 December 1991, in Essen) was a German lawyer, diplomat and politician of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), who served as a member of the Bundestag (1957–1976), as a Member of th ...
(1909–1991), politician (FDP)
*
Herbert Schäfer
Herbert Schäfer (16 August 1927 in Siegen – 16 May 1991 in Siegen) was a German international footballer who played for Sportfreunde Siegen. He also competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics and in the 1956 Summer Olympics
The 1956 Summer Olym ...
(1927–1991), football player and coach
*
Walter Schneider (1927–2010), motorcycle racing driver
*
Bernd Becher
Bernd is a Low German short form of the given name Bernhard (English Bernard).
List of persons with given name Bernd
The following people share the name Bernd.
*Bernd Brückler (born 1981), Austrian hockey player
*Bernd Eichinger (1949–2011), ...
(1931–2007), conceptual artist and photographer
*
Heinfried Birlenbach (1940–2020), shot putter
*
Joachim Frank
Joachim Frank () (born September 12, 1940) is a German-American biophysicist at Columbia University and a Nobel laureate. He is regarded as the founder of single-particle cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), for which he shared the Nobel Prize i ...
(born 1940), German-American biophysicist and a Nobel laureate
*
Rolf Stommelen
Rolf Johann Stommelen (11 July 1943 – 24 April 1983) was a racing driver from Siegen, Germany. He participated in 63 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, achieving one podium, and scored a total of 14 championship points. He also partici ...
(1943–1983),
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
racer
*
Josef Clemens
Josef Clemens (born 20 June 1947 in Siegen) is a German bishop. He was Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity from November 2003 until it ceased operations on 1 September 2016. He was personal secretary to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (la ...
(born 1947), bishop
*
Klaus Scheer
Klaus Scheer (born October 4, 1950) is a German football manager and former footballer.
External links
*
1950 births
Living people
German footballers
German football managers
Sportfreunde Siegen players
FC Schalke 04 players
1. FC ...
(born 1950), football player and coach
*
Christoph Bode
Christoph Bode (born May 13, 1952 in Siegen/North Rhine-Westphalia) is a literary scholar. His fields are British and American literature, comparative literature, literary theory, narratology, and travel writing. He is full professor and chair of ...
(born 1952), literary scholar
*
Reinhard Goebel
Reinhard Goebel (; born 31 July 1952 in Siegen, West Germany) is a German Conducting, conductor and baroque violin, violinist specialising in early music on Historically informed performance, authentic instruments and professor for historical perf ...
(born 1952), conductor and violinist
*
Annegret Kober
Annegret Kober (born 4 June 1957) is a retired German backstroke swimmer who won a bronze medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in the 4 × 100 m medley relay. In the relay, West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the F ...
(born 1957), swimmer
*
Bernward Koch (born 1957), musician
*
Burkhard Jung
Burkhard Jung (born 7 March 1958 in Siegen) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been the 21st lord mayor (''Oberbürgermeister'') of Leipzig (Saxony) since March 29, 2006. In addition, he has been president of th ...
(born 1958), Lord Mayor of
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
*
Dieter Falk
Dieter Falk (born 5 December 1959 in Klafeld-Geisweid, now Siegen) is a German music producer, keyboardist, Christian composer, and arranger.
Discography
* 1985: ''One Time''
* 1985: ''Instrumental Journey''
* 1987: ''Today''
* 1989: ''Dieter F ...
(born 1959), music producer, keyboardist and composer
*
Peter Autschbach (born 1961), guitarist
*
Frank Heinrich
Frank Heinrich (born 25 January 1964) is a German theologian, social pedagogue and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Background and education
Heinrich was born in Siegen. At the age of three he moved to the southern part of ...
(born 1964), theologian and politician (MdB)
*
Navid Kermani
Navid Kermani (; fa, نوید کرمانی; ; born 27 November 1967 in Siegen, Germany) is a German writer and orientalist. He is the author of several novels as well as books and essays on Islam, the Middle East and Christian-Muslim dialogue. ...
(born 1967), orientalist and Islamic studies scholar
*
Petra Lobinger (born 1967), athlete
*
Peter Stein (born 1968), politician (CDU)
*
Monika Meyer (born 1972), footballer
*
Sabrina Mockenhaupt
Sabrina Mockenhaupt (born 6 December 1980 in Siegen) is a German long-distance runner who specialises in track events and the marathon. She is a two-time winner of the Cologne Marathon and has also won the Frankfurt Marathon and the Berlin Half ...
(born 1980), long distance runner
*
August Wittgenstein
, image = Sayn Wittgenstein Wappen WWB 261.jpg
, image_size =200px
, caption =
, spouse =
, issue =
, house = Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
, father = Prince Ludwig Ferdinand of Sayn-Wittge ...
(born 1981), prince and actor
*
Florian Kringe
Florian Kringe (born 18 August 1982) is a German former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
Career
Born in Siegen, Kringe started his career with TSV Weißtal and Sportfreunde Siegen. From 1994 to 2002 he played for Borussia Dort ...
(born 1982), footballer
*
Moritz Volz
Moritz Volz (born 21 January 1983) is a German former professional association football, footballer, media pundit and scout. He is the assistant coach at Galatasaray S.K. (football), Galatasaray.
Volz played as a right-back with FC Schalke 04, S ...
(born 1983), footballer
*
Christian Nüchtern
Christian Nüchtern (born 28 January 1992) is a former German competitive ice dancer. With skating partner Shari Koch, he is the 2014 Bavarian Open silver medalist, 2017 Winter Universiade bronze medalist, and 2019 German national champion.
Ca ...
(born 1992), ice dancer
*
Andromache
In Greek mythology, Andromache (; grc, Ἀνδρομάχη, ) was the wife of Hector, daughter of Eetion, and sister to Podes. She was born and raised in the city of Cilician Thebe, over which her father ruled. The name means 'man battler' or ...
(born 1995), Greek singer, Cypriot representative in the
Eurovision Song Contest 2022
The Eurovision Song Contest 2022 was the 66th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Turin, Italy, following the country's victory at the with the song "" by Måneskin. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and h ...
Honorary citizens
Siegen has conferred honorary citizenship upon the following persons:
*1887:
Heinrich von Achenbach Heinrich may refer to:
People
* Heinrich (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
* Heinrich (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
*Hetty (given name), a given name (including a list of peo ...
, High President of the Province of
Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a states of Germany, state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an ar ...
*1891:
Otto von Bismarck
Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...
, Reich chancellor
*1933:
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
, Reich chancellor*
*1933:
Paul von Hindenburg
Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (; abbreviated ; 2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German field marshal and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany fro ...
, General Field Marshal and Reich President
For all those listed up to here, honorary citizenship, according to Enactment no. 21 to the amended German Municipal System of 1 April 1946, has been forfeited. *According to the city council of Siegen Adolf Hitler's honorary citizenship was lapsed by British military law. Caused by political discussion the city council denied Hitler's honorary citizenship posthumously on 29 August 2007.
*1953:
Alfred Fißmer, retired ''Oberbürgermeister''
Honorary citizens of the former town of Hüttental:
*Josef Höfer, Prelate
*Karl Barich, chairman of the board of Stahlwerke Südwestfalen (South Westphalia Steelworks)
Gallery
References
Further reading
* Heinrich Silbergleit: ''Preußens Städte: Denkschrift zum 100jährigen Jubiläum der Städteordnung vom 19. November 1808.'' Heymann, Berlin 1908
* Heinrich von Achenbach: ''Die Haubergs-Genossenschaften des Siegerlandes.'' After the Bonn printing in 1863 newly published by the (then) Town of Siegen, Forschungsstelle Siegerland, Siegen 1963
* Heinrich von Achenbach: ''Geschichte der Stadt Siegen.'' Erg. Nachdr. der Ausg. Vorländer, Siegen 1894. Verlag Die Wielandschmiede, Kreuztal 1983
* Heinrich von Achenbach: ''Aus des Siegerlandes Vergangenheit.'' 2. erg. Nachdr. der Ausg. Siegen 1898. Verlag Die Wielandschmiede, Kreuztal 1982
*
Erich Keyser Erich Keyser (12 October 1893 – 21 February 1968) was a Nazi activist and far-right nationalist historian connected with the anti-Polish ideology of Ostforschung and the racist Volkisch movement. He supported German expansion in Central and Easter ...
(publisher): ''Westfälisches Städtebuch.'' In: ''Deutsches Städtebuch.'' Band III 2. Teilband.
Kohlhammer Verlag
W. Kohlhammer Verlag GmbH, or Kohlhammer Verlag, is a German publishing house headquartered in Stuttgart.
History
Kohlhammer Verlag was founded in Stuttgart on 30 April 1866 by . Kohlhammer had taken over the businesses of his late father-in-law ...
, Stuttgart 1954
* Walther Hubatsch (publisher): ''Westfalen.'' In: ''Grundriss zur deutschen Verwaltungsgeschichte 1815–1945.'' Band 8 Reihe A: ''Preußen.'' Marburg an der Lahn 1980,
External links
Official websiteHistorical and contemporary information about Siegen and Siegerland
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{{Authority control
Cities in North Rhine-Westphalia
Siegen-Wittgenstein
Burial sites of the House of Nassau-Siegen