Solingen (; li, Solich) is a city 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 state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...
, Germany. It is located some 25 km east of Düsseldorf along the northern edge of the region called
Bergisches Land
The Bergisches Land (, ''Berg Country'') is a low mountain range region within the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, east of Rhine river, south of the Ruhr. The landscape is shaped by woods, meadows, rivers and creeks and contains ...
, south of the
Ruhr area, and, with a 2009 population
of 161,366, is after
Wuppertal
Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and tow ...
the second-largest city in the Bergisches Land. It is a member of the regional authority of the
Rhineland
The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section.
Term
Historically, the Rhinelands ...
.
Solingen is called the "City of Blades", since it has long been renowned for the manufacturing of fine swords, knives, scissors and razors made by famous firms such as
WKC,
DOVO,
Wüsthof
Wüsthof (also known as Wüsthof Dreizackwerk (German) and Wüsthof Trident (English); sometimes spelled ''Wusthof'' or ''Wuesthof'') is a knife-maker based in Solingen, Germany. Family owned for seven generations, the company's main products ar ...
,
Zwilling J. A. Henckels,
Böker
Böker was one of the first companies to offer ceramic knives as a featured product line.
History
Böker traces its origin to the 17th century as a tool maker in Germany graduating to swords and blades by the 1800s. The company claims it was ...
, Güde, Hubertus, Diefenthal, Puma, Clauberg, Eickhorn, Linder, Carl Schmidt Sohn, Dreiturm, Herder, and numerous other manufacturers.
In medieval times, the
swordsmith
Bladesmithing is the art of making knives, swords, daggers and other blades using a forge, hammer, anvil, and other smithing tools. Bladesmiths employ a variety of metalworking techniques similar to those used by blacksmiths, as well as woodwork ...
s of Solingen designed the town's
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...
, which continues to the present. In the latter part of the 17th century, a group of swordsmiths from Solingen broke their guild oaths by taking their sword-making secrets with them to
Shotley Bridge
Shotley Bridge is a village, adjoining the town of Consett in County Durham, England. It is on the A694 road and beside the River Derwent which is crossed by the bridge giving the name. It was once the heart of Britain's swordmaking industry.
...
,
County Durham in England.
Geography
![Wupper bei Wupperbrücke Wiesenkotten 03 ies](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Wupper_bei_Wupperbr%C3%BCcke_Wiesenkotten_03_ies.jpg)
Solingen lies southwest of
Wuppertal
Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and tow ...
in the
Bergisches Land
The Bergisches Land (, ''Berg Country'') is a low mountain range region within the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, east of Rhine river, south of the Ruhr. The landscape is shaped by woods, meadows, rivers and creeks and contains ...
. The city has an area of , of which roughly 50% is used for agriculture, horticulture, or forestry. The city's border is long, and the city's dimensions are east to west and north to south. The
Wupper river, a right tributary of the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
, flows through the city for . The city's highest point at 276 metres (906 ft) is in the northern borough of
Gräfrath
Gräfrath or Graefrath is a district of Solingen in the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, about east of Düsseldorf.
History
There was an abbey
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the ...
at the Light Tower, previously the
water tower
A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towers often operate in conju ...
, and the lowest point at 53 metres (174 ft) is in the southwest.
Neighbouring cities and communities
The following cities and communities share a border with Solingen, starting in the northeast and going clockwise around the city:
*
Wuppertal
Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and tow ...
(
unitary urban district)
*
Remscheid
Remscheid () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is, after Wuppertal and Solingen, the third-largest municipality in Bergisches Land, being located on the northern edge of the region, on the south side of the Ruhr area.
Remscheid h ...
(unitary urban district)
*
Wermelskirchen
Wermelskirchen (; Ripuarian: ''Wärmelßkirrshe'') is a town in the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, southeast of Remscheid. It is home to one of Europe's biggest live Christmas trees (measuring 26m).
Coat of arms
...
(within the
Rheinisch-Bergischer district)
*
Leichlingen
Leichlingen (officially Leichlingen (Rheinland); Ripuarian: ''Lëijchlinge'') is a town in the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Leichlingen is a centre for apple and berry growing in the region.
Geography
Leichlingen ...
(Rheinisch-Bergischer district)
*
Langenfeld (within the
district of Mettmann)
*
Hilden
Hilden is a town in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is situated in the District of Mettmann, west of Solingen and east of Düsseldorf on the right side of the Rhine. It is a middle sized industrial town with a forest and numer ...
(Mettmann)
*
Haan
Haan () is a town in the district of Mettmann, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated at the western edge of the Bergisches Land, 12 km southwest of Wuppertal and 17 km east of Düsseldorf. In 1975, Gruiten was incorporated ...
(Mettmann)
City administration
Solingen currently consists of five
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle A ...
s. Each borough has a municipal council of either 13 or 15 representatives (''Bezirksvertreter'') elected every five years by the borough's population. The municipal councils are responsible for many of the boroughs' important administrative affairs.
The five city boroughs:
*
Gräfrath
Gräfrath or Graefrath is a district of Solingen in the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, about east of Düsseldorf.
History
There was an abbey
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the ...
*Wald (Solingen)
*(Solingen-)Mitte
*Ohligs/Aufderhöhe/Merscheid
*Höhscheid/Burg
The individuals boroughs are in part composed of separate quarters or residential areas with their own names, although they often lack precise borders. These areas are:
: Aufderhöhe: Aufderbech, Börkhaus, Gosse, Horn, Holzhof, Josefstal, Landwehr, Löhdorf, Pohligsfeld, Riefnacken, Rupelrath, Siebels, Steinendorf, Ufer, Wiefeldick
:
Burg
The German word Burg means castle. Burg or Bürg may refer to:
Places Placename element
* ''-burg'', a combining form in Dutch, German and English placenames
* Burg, a variant of burh, the fortified towns of Saxon England
Settlements
* Burg, Aar ...
: Angerscheid, Höhrath
:
Gräfrath
Gräfrath or Graefrath is a district of Solingen in the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, about east of Düsseldorf.
History
There was an abbey
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the ...
: Central, Flachsberg, Flockertsholz, Focher Dahl, Fürkeltrath, Heide, Ketzberg, Külf, Nümmen, Piepersberg, Rathland, Schieten, Zum Holz
: Höhscheid: Balkhausen, Bünkenberg, Dorperhof, Friedrichstal, Fürkelt, Glüder, Grünewald, Haasenmühle, Hästen, Katternberg, Kohlsberg, Meiswinkel, Nacken, Pfaffenberg, Pilghausen, Rölscheid, Rüden, Schaberg, Schlicken, Unnersberg, Weeg, Widdert, Wippe
: Merscheid: Büschberg, Dahl, Dingshaus, Fürk, Fürker Irlen, Gönrath, Hübben, Hoffnung, Limminghofen, Scheuren, Schmalzgrube
: Mitte: Entenpfuhl, Eick, Grunenburg, Hasseldelle, Kannenhof, Kohlfurth, Krahenhöhe, Mangenberg, Meigen, Müngsten, Papiermühle, Scheidt, Schlagbaum, Schrodtberg, Stöcken, Stockdum, Theegarten, Vorspel, Windfeln
: Ohligs: Brabant, Broßhaus, Buschfeld, Caspersbroich, Deusberg, Engelsberger Hof, Hackhausen, Keusenhof, Mankhaus, Maubes, Monhofer Feld, Poschheide, Scharrenberg, Schnittert, Suppenheide, Unterland, Wilzhaus, Verlach
: Wald: Bavert, Demmeltrath, Eschbach, Eigen, Fuhr, Garzenhaus, Itter, Kotzert,
Lochbachtal, Rolsberg, Vogelsang, Weyer
History
Middle Ages
Solingen was first mentioned in 1067 by a chronicler who called the area "Solonchon". Early variations of the name included "Solengen", "Solungen", and "Soleggen", although the modern name seems to have been in use since the late 14th and early 15th centuries.
Blacksmiths' smelters, dating back over 2000 years, have been found around the town, adding to Solingen's fame as a Northern Europe blacksmith centre. Swords from Solingen have turned up in places such as the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the British Isles. Northern Europe prized the quality of Solingen's manufactured weaponry, and they were traded across the European continent. Solingen today remains the knife-centre of Germany.
It was a tiny village for centuries, but became a fortified town in the 15th century.
Thirty Years' War
After being ravaged by 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 pe ...
with about 1,800 deaths in 1614–1619, Solingen was heavily fought-over during the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...
, repeatedly attacked and plundered, and the Burg Castle was destroyed.
Modern Age
Interwar period
![Stadt Solingen 1922](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Stadt_Solingen_1922.jpg)
In 1929, Ohligs located in the
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 ...
n
Rhine Province, by rail north of
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
became part of Solingen. Its chief manufactures were
cutlery and
hardware, and there were iron-foundries and
flour mill
A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separated ...
s. Other industries were brewing, dyeing, weaving and brick-making.
World War II
In
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, the Old Town was completely destroyed by a
bombing raid
Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in total war with the goal of defeating the enemy by destroying its morale, its economic ability to produce and transport materiel to the theatres of military operations, or both. It is a systemati ...
by the
RAF
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
in 1944; 1,800 people died and over 1,500 people were injured. As such, there are few pre-war sites in the centre.
Skinhead terrorism
In 1993 Solingen, the birthplace of
Adolf Eichmann became once again the scene of racist violence with its
1993 Solingen arson attack
The Solingen arson attack was one of the most severe instances of xenophobic violence in modern Germany. On the night of 28–29 May 1993, four young German men (ages 16–23) belonging to the far right skinhead scene, with neo-Nazi ties, set fi ...
, when four skinheads, with neo-Nazi ties, set fire to the house of a large Turkish family. Three girls and two women died; fourteen other family members, including several children, were injured, some of them severely.
Population
Solingen's population doubled between the years 1880 and 1890 due to the incorporation of the town of Dorp into Solingen in 1889, at which time the population reached 36,000. The population again received a large boost on August 1, 1929 through the incorporation of Ohligs, Wald, Höhscheid, and Gräfrath into the city limits. This brought the population above the 100,000 mark, which gave Solingen the distinction of being a "large city" (''Großstadt''). The number of inhabitants peaked in 1971 with 177,899 residents, and the 2006 population figure was 163,263.
The following chart shows the population figures within Solingen's city limits at the respective points in time. The figures are derived from
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
estimates or numbers provided by statistical offices or city agencies, with the exception of figures preceding 1843, which were gathered using inconsistent recording techniques.
30.9% of the population of Solingen has foreign roots (statistics 2012).
Politics
Mayor
The current Mayor of Solingen is Tim Kurzbach of the
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
Fo ...
(SPD), elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2020. The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows:
! colspan=2, Candidate
! Party
! Votes
! %
, -
,
, align=left, Tim Kurzbach
, 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
Fo ...
, 31,836
, 55.4
, -
,
, align=left, Carsten Heinrich Becker
, align=left,
Christian Democratic Union
, 15,776
, 27.4
, -
,
, align=left, Raoul Torben Brattig
, align=left,
Free Democratic Party
, 2,869
, 5.0
, -
,
, align=left, Andreas Lukisch
, align=left,
Alternative for Germany
, 2,499
, 4.3
, -
,
, align=left, Adrian Scheffels
, align=left,
The Left
, 2,172
, 3.8
, -
,
, align=left, Jan Michael Lange
, align=left, Citizens' Association for Solingen
, 1,624
, 2.8
, -
,
, align=left, Arnold Falkowski
, align=left, Free Citizens' Union
, 700
, 1.2
, -
! colspan=3, Valid votes
! 57,476
! 99.1
, -
! colspan=3, Invalid votes
! 523
! 0.9
, -
! colspan=3, Total
! 57,999
! 100.0
, -
! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout
! 126,301
! 45.9
, -
, colspan=5, Source
State Returning Officer
City council
![2020 Solingen City Council election](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/2020_Solingen_City_Council_election.svg)
The Solingen 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
! +/−
, -
,
, align=left,
Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
, 17,326
, 30.2
, 3.9
, 16
, 1
, -
,
, 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
Fo ...
(SPD)
, 16,229
, 28.3
, 1.3
, 15
, ±0
, -
,
, align=left,
Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)
, 10,428
, 18.2
, 7.0
, 9
, 3
, -
,
, align=left,
Free Democratic Party (FDP)
, 3,178
, 5.5
, 0.6
, 3
, ±0
, -
,
, align=left,
Alternative for Germany (AfD)
, 2,892
, 5.0
, 2.1
, 3
, 1
, -
,
, align=left,
The Left (Die Linke)
, 2,435
, 4.2
, 0.7
, 2
, 1
, -
,
, align=left, Citizens' Association for Solingen (BfS)
, 1,842
, 3.2
, 1.1
, 2
, ±0
, -
,
, align=left,
Die PARTEI
(''Party for Labour, Rule of Law, Animal Protection, Promotion of Elites and Grassroots Democratic Initiative''), or Die PARTEI (''The PARTY''), is a German political party. It was founded in 2004 by the editors of the German satirical magazi ...
(PARTEI)
, 1,367
, 2.4
, New
, 1
, New
, -
,
, align=left, Alternative Citizens' Initiative (ABI)
, 635
, 1.1
, New
, 1
, New
, -
, colspan=7 bgcolor=lightgrey,
, -
,
, align=left, Free Citizens' Union (FBU)
, 531
, 0.9
, New
, 0
, New
, -
,
, align=left, Solingen Active (Aktiv)
, 417
, 0.7
, New
, 0
, New
, -
,
, align=left, Independents
, 34
, 0.1
, –
, 0
, –
, -
! colspan=2, Valid votes
! 57,314
! 98.8
!
!
!
, -
! colspan=2, Invalid votes
! 695
! 1.2
!
!
!
, -
! colspan=2, Total
! 58,009
! 100.0
!
! 52
! ±0
, -
! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout
! 126,301
! 45.9
! 2.2
!
!
, -
, colspan=7, Source
State Returning Officer
Transport
Rail
Solingen Hauptbahnhof
Solingen Hauptbahnhof is the only railway station in Solingen, Germany, to be served by ICE and IC long distance trains. Solingen-Mitte station serves central Solingen, but only has Regionalbahn trains.
History
The first station in the area of ...
is served by
Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn
The Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn (german: S-Bahn Rhein-Ruhr) is a polycentric and electrically driven S-train network covering the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region in the German federated state of North Rhine-Westphalia. This includes most of the Ruhr (and ...
line S1 from
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...
and
Düsseldorf Airport
Düsseldorf Airport (german: link=no, Flughafen Düsseldorf, ; until March 2013 ''Düsseldorf International Airport''; ) is the international airport of Düsseldorf, the capital of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is about north ...
Station. S-Bahn
line S7 links Solingen (including the station nearest the city centre,
Solingen Mitte, and
Solingen-Grünewald) to
Wuppertal
Wuppertal (; "''Wupper Dale''") is, with a population of approximately 355,000, the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city of Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and tow ...
via
Remscheid
Remscheid () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is, after Wuppertal and Solingen, the third-largest municipality in Bergisches Land, being located on the northern edge of the region, on the south side of the Ruhr area.
Remscheid h ...
,
Remscheid-Lennep and
Wuppertal-Ronsdorf. This line has been operated by
Abellio Deutschland
Abellio Deutschland is a public transit operator in Germany operating bus and rail networks. Headquartered in Berlin, it is a subsidiary of the Dutch state-owned Abellio.
History
Abellio Deutschland was formed by the Essen public transit c ...
since 15 Dec. 2013. The
Rhein-Wupper-Bahn
The Rhein-Wupper-Bahn is a Regionalbahn service in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It connects the cities of Wuppertal, Solingen, Leverkusen, Cologne and Bonn and it is operated by National Express.
Route
The line runs mainly over t ...
(RB 48) runs over the
Gruiten–Köln-Deutz line to Bonn-Mehlem via
Opladen
Opladen, now a district of Leverkusen, used to be the capital of the Rhein-Wupper-Kreis (Rhine-Wupper-District) until 1975. Opladen station is located northeast from Cologne on the railway to Wuppertal. It is also on the Autobahn A3. Population ...
and
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
. It has been operated by
National Express
National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...
as of 13 Dec. 2015.
Trolleybus
Solingen has a
trolleybus
A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or trol ...
network, one of only three in Germany remaining besides
Eberswalde
Eberswalde () is a major town and the administrative seat of the district Barnim in the German State ( Bundesland / ''federated state'') of Brandenburg, about 50 km northeast of Berlin. Population 42,144 (census in June 2005), geographi ...
and
Esslingen am Neckar
Esslingen am Neckar (Swabian: ''Esslenga am Neckor'') is a town in the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany, seat of the District of Esslingen as well as the largest town in the district. Within Baden-Württemberg it is th ...
.
Air transport
The nearest airports are
Düsseldorf Airport
Düsseldorf Airport (german: link=no, Flughafen Düsseldorf, ; until March 2013 ''Düsseldorf International Airport''; ) is the international airport of Düsseldorf, the capital of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is about north ...
and
Cologne Bonn Airport
Cologne Bonn Airport (german: Flughafen Köln/Bonn 'Konrad Adenauer') is the international airport of Germany's fourth-largest city Cologne, and also serves Bonn, former capital of West Germany. With around 12.4 million passengers passing thr ...
. Both airports can be reached by train from Solingen-Hauptbahnhof (change trains at
Köln Messe/Deutz station
Köln Messe/Deutz station (called ''Köln-Deutz'' until November 2004, Colognian: , ) is an important railway junction for long-distance rail and local services in the Cologne district of Deutz in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It i ...
for the S-Bahn 13 to Cologne Bonn Airport).
Other easily reached airports are
Frankfurt Airport
Frankfurt Airport (; german: link=no, Flughafen Frankfurt Main , also known as ''Rhein-Main-Flughafen'') is a major international airport located in Frankfurt, the fifth-largest city of Germany and one of the world's leading financial centres ...
(
ICE train stop),
Dortmund Airport
Dortmund Airport is a minor international airport located east of Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It serves the eastern Rhine-Ruhr area, the largest urban agglomeration in Germany, and is mainly used for low-cost and leisure charter flight ...
(railway station "
Holzwickede
Holzwickede () is a municipality in the district of Unna in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
It is twinned with Weymouth, Louviers and Colditz
Colditz () is a small town in the district of Leipzig, in Saxony, Germany. It is best known for Co ...
" on the RE7 trainline) and the low cost
Weeze Airport
Weeze Airport , less commonly known as ''Niederrhein Airport'', is a minor international airport in the Lower Rhine region of Germany. It is used by Ryanair. The airport is situated southwest of the municipality of Weeze () and northwest of ...
(coaches from Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof).
Religion
Christianity
Solingen has belonged from its beginnings to the
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne
The Archdiocese of Cologne ( la, Archidioecesis Coloniensis; german: Erzbistum Köln) is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and northern Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany.
History
The Electorate of Cologn ...
(''Erzbistum Köln''), and more specifically to the
Archdeaconry of the
Probst (''provost'') of
St. Kunibert, the
deanery of Deutz. Although the
Protestant 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 ...
gradually made gains in the city, which was under the control of the
Counts of Berg
Berg was a state—originally a county, later a duchy—in the Rhineland of Germany. Its capital was Düsseldorf. It existed as a distinct political entity from the early 12th to the 19th centuries.
The name of the county lives on in the modern ...
, the population by and large remained Roman Catholic for a while. The Catholic community was newly endowed by the local lord in 1658 and in 1701 received a new church building. In 1827 Solingen became the seat of its own deanery within the newly defined Archdiocese of Cologne, to which the city's current parishes still belong.
As mentioned, the Reformation only gradually gained a foothold in Solingen. A
reformed church affiliated with the Bergisch
synod was established in 1590, and the city's
parish church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...
became reformed in 1649.
Lutherans
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 ...
had been present in Solingen since the beginning of the 17th century, and a Lutheran congregation was founded in 1635. In 1672 a formalized religious agreement was reached between the city's religious groups. The Reformation was also introduced in Gräfrath in 1590, where a church council was apparently established in 1629. The Reformed and Lutheran churches were formed into a
united church community in 1838 following the general
merger of Reformed and Lutheran churches in
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 ...
in 1817.
The
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
parishes originally belonged to the district synod of Lennep, today part of the city
Remscheid
Remscheid () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is, after Wuppertal and Solingen, the third-largest municipality in Bergisches Land, being located on the northern edge of the region, on the south side of the Ruhr area.
Remscheid h ...
. A new synod was established in Solingen in 1843, and the city acquired its own
superintendent
Superintendent may refer to:
*Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank
*Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator
*Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...
, a form of church administrator. This formed the basis for the present-day Church District of Solingen, a member of the
Evangelical Church in the Rhineland
Protestant Church in the Rhineland (german: Evangelische Kirche im Rheinland; EKiR) is a United Protestant church body in parts of the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Hesse (Wetzlar). This is actually th ...
. With the exception of the
free churches
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 ...
, most Protestant churches belong to the Church District of Solingen.
Today approximately 34% of Solingen's population belongs to Protestant churches, and roughly 26% belong to Catholic churches. Other church communities in Solingen include
Greek Orthodox
The term Greek Orthodox Church ( Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also cal ...
,
Evangelical Free (including
Baptist
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 ...
and
Brethren),
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...
,
Seventh-day Adventist
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...
,
Pentecostal
Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement ,
Salvation Army, and
free churches.
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 nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...
,
Jehovah's Witnesses and the
New Apostolic Church also have communities in Solingen.
Gallery
Solingen St. Clemens.jpg, Catholic Church St. Clemens
Walder Kirche 1.jpg, Protestant Church Wald
Rupelrath kapelle 01.jpg, Protestant Chapel of St. Reinoldi in Rupelrath
Lutherkirche Solingen.jpg, Martin-Luther-Church in Solingen-Mitte
Evangelische Kirche Solingen-Unterburg.jpg, Protestant Church Burg
Solingen-Gräfrath Historischer Ortskern E 39.JPG, Protestant Church Gräfrath
DorperKircheSG 004.JPG, Protestant Church, Dorp
Islam
Most of the Turkish immigrants belong to the Muslim faith and they have several mosques/worship places in Solingen:
*
DITIB Solingen Wald
* Mesjid Nur
* Islamische Gemeinde Milli Görüs (
IGMG)
* Islamisches Kulturzentrum
* Solingen Camii (Verband der Islamischen Kulturzentren, VIKZ)
Main sights
![Muengstener300x225](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Muengstener300x225.jpg)
*
Burg Castle, the castle of the counts of Berg
*
, a railway bridge connecting Solingen with the neighbour town of
Remscheid
Remscheid () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is, after Wuppertal and Solingen, the third-largest municipality in Bergisches Land, being located on the northern edge of the region, on the south side of the Ruhr area.
Remscheid h ...
. Standing at 107 m above the ground, it is the highest
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
in Germany. It was constructed in 1897 and originally named the ''Kaiser-Wilhelm-Brücke'' after
Wilhelm I
William I or Wilhelm I (german: Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 2 January 1861 and German Emperor from 18 January 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the ...
* ''Klosterkirche'', former convent church (1690)
Museums
* Rhineland Industrial Museum
Hendrichs Drop Forge, an Anchor Point of ERIH, The
European Route of Industrial Heritage
The European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH) is a tourist route of the most important industrial heritage sites in Europe. This is a tourism industry information initiative to present a network of industrial heritage sites across Europe. The ...
* German Blade Museum, presenting swords and cutlery of all epochs
* Art Museum Solingen (Museum of Art)
* Museum Plagiarius, the Plagiarius exhibition shows more than 350 product units – ''i.e.'', original products and their brazen plagiarisms – in direct comparison. The registered society conducts an annual competition that awards the anti-prize "Plagiarius" to those manufacturers and distributors that a jury of peers have found guilty of making or selling "the most flagrant" imitations.
*
Laurel and Hardy Museum
Zentrum für verfolgte Künste(Center for Persecuted Arts)
Parks and gardens
*
Botanischer Garten Solingen
The Botanischer Garten Solingen is a botanical garden located at Vogelsang 2a, Solingen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is open daily without charge.
Garden
The garden dates to 1952 when the city opened its first greenhouse on a 4-hectare ...
, a
botanical garden
A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
* Bärenloch
* Walder Stadtpark in Solingen-Wald
* Gustav-Coppel-Park
* Süd-Park
* Brückenpark beneath the
Sports
American football
The Solingen Paladins are an American football club from Solingen in North Rhine-Westphalia, which was founded in 2006. In the 2020 season, the Paladins will play their third season in GFL2 Nord, the second-highest division in Germany.
Baseball
The
Solingen Alligators
The Solingen Alligators are a German baseball and softball club from Solingen, North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), ...
are a baseball and softball club from Solingen. The club was founded in 1991 and the first men's team was promoted to the first division of the Baseball Bundesliga for the 2003 season. It has played there in every season since, winning the league championship in 2006 and 2014. The club claims over 250 members.
Chess
The ''Schachgesellschaft Solingen e.V. 1868'' is best known for its chess team, which plays in the Schachbundesliga (
Chess Bundesliga
The term Chess Bundesliga (german: Schach-Bundesliga) normally refers to the premier league of team chess in Germany established in 1980. It is arguably the strongest league of its kind and attracts many high-rated grandmasters.
Austria also has ...
), the top tier of the German chess league system, and is the most successful club in German chess history, having won a record 12 national titles (1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1980, 1980/81, 1986/87, 1987/88, 1996/97 and 2015/16), three national cups (1986, 2006 und 2009) and 2 European cups (1976 and 1990).
Handball
In
handball, Solingen's most successful team is ''
Bergischer HC
Bergischer Handball-Club 06 is a handball club from the cities of Wuppertal and Solingen, Germany, that plays in the Handball-Bundesliga.
History
The club originates from a 2006 contract between Stefan Adam, then chairman of LTV Wuppertal, an ...
'', playing in the top-tier
Handball-Bundesliga
The Handball-Bundesliga (HBL) is the top German professional handball league. From 2007 onwards, the league was sponsored by Toyota and has officially been called the ''Toyota Handball-Bundesliga''. This lasted until 2012 when the Deutsche Kr ...
which they were promoted to for the second time in 2013, reaching 15th place in the
2013–14 campaign and therefore staying in the top flight for a second consecutive season. ''BHC''
originates from a 2006 cooperation between the ''SG Solingen'' and rivals ''LTV Wuppertal'' from the nearby
city of the same name. The club advertises itself as a representative of the entire
Bergisches Land
The Bergisches Land (, ''Berg Country'') is a low mountain range region within the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, east of Rhine river, south of the Ruhr. The landscape is shaped by woods, meadows, rivers and creeks and contains ...
region. The team plays its home games at both Solingen's ''Klingenhalle'' (2,600 seats) and Wuppertal's ''Uni-Halle'' (3,200 seats).
Reception
![Hapag cargo ship Solingen in 1966 at the West Indies, Central America - Island - Service](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Hapag_cargo_ship_Solingen_in_1966_at_the_West_Indies%2C_Central_America_-_Island_-_Service.jpg)
In May 1955, the city of Solingen took over the
partnership
A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments ...
of the German general cargo ship ''Solingen'' of the
Hamburg-American Packet Transit Actien-Gesellschaft (Hapag).
Twin towns – sister cities
Solingen is
twinned with:
*
Gouda, Netherlands (1957)
*
Chalon-sur-Saône, France (1960)
*
Cramlington
Cramlington is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England,
6 miles (9 kilometres) north of Newcastle upon Tyne, and 10 miles (16 kilometres) north of its city centre. The name suggests a probable founding by the Danes or Anglo-Saxons. T ...
, England, United Kingdom (1962)
*
Jinotega
Jinotega () (derived from Náhuatl: ''Xiotenko'' ‘place next to the jiñocuajo trees’) is the capital city of the Department of Jinotega in north-central Nicaragua.
The city is located in a long valley surrounded by the cool climate and D ...
, Nicaragua (1985)
*
Ness Ziona
Ness Ziona ( he, נֵס צִיּוֹנָה, ''Nes Tziyona'') is a town in central Israel. In it had a population of , and its jurisdiction was 15,579 dunams ().
History Early history
Lying within Ness Ziona's city bounds is the ruin of an Arab vi ...
, Israel (1986)
*
Thiès
Thiès (; ar, ثيس, Ṯyass; Noon: ''Chess'') is the third largest city in Senegal with a population officially estimated at 320,000 in 2005. It lies east of Dakar on the N2 road and at the junction of railway lines to Dakar, Bamako and St- ...
, Senegal (1990)
*
Aue
Aue may refer to:
* Aue (toponymy), a frequent element in German toponymy meaning "wetland; river island; river"
Places
* Aue, Saxony, a mining town in Saxony, Germany
* Aue (Samtgemeinde), a collective municipality in Uelzen District, Lower Sax ...
, Germany (1990)
Since 1990, Solingen also sponsors
Złotoryja County in Poland.
[
]
Notable people
*Johann Wilhelm Meigen
Johann Wilhelm Meigen (3 May 1764 – 11 July 1845) was a German entomologist famous for his pioneering work on Diptera.
Life
Early years
Meigen was born in Solingen, the fifth of eight children of Johann Clemens Meigen and Sibylla Margareth ...
(1764–1845), entomologist
* J. C. C. Devaranne (1784–1813), helped to lead resistance against Napoleonic occupation in 1813
*Karl Mager Karl Mager (January 1, 1810 – June 10, 1858) was a German educator.
Mager was born in Gräfrath. He studied philology in Bonn, Berlin, and Paris, and stayed in Paris for some years, during which time he wrote ''Versuch einer Geschichte und Charak ...
(1810–1858), school educator and school politician
* Karl Adams (1811–1849), mathematician and teacher
*Albert Bierstadt
Albert Bierstadt (January 7, 1830 – February 18, 1902) was a German-American painter best known for his lavish, sweeping landscapes of the American West. He joined several journeys of the Westward Expansion to paint the scenes. He was not ...
(1830–1902), landscape painter
*Adolf Kamphausen
Adolf Kamphausen (10 September 1829 – 13 September 1909, in Bonn) was a German Protestant theologian. He was known for his liberal views in regard to Biblical exegesis.[Carl Klönne
Carl Klönne (26 May 1850 - 20 May 1915) was a German Banker.
Life
Carl Klönne was born in Solingen, a city famous for centuries as a centre for sword and knife making which during the nineteenth century grew to become an important industrial ce ...]
(1850–1915), banker
* Ernst Otto Beckmann (1853–1923), chemist
*Ludwig Woltmann
Ludwig Woltmann (born 18 February 1871 in Solingen; died 30 January 1907) was a German anthropologist, zoologist and neo-Kantian.
He studied medicine and philosophy, and obtained doctorates in the two fields from the University of Freiburg in 1 ...
(1871–1907), anthropologist, zoologist and neo-Kantian
* Artur Möller van den Bruck (1876–1925), writer
*Albert Müller
Albert Müller (29 November 1897 Basel, Switzerland - 14 December 1926) was a Swiss Expressionist painter, glass artist, draftsman, graphic artist and sculptor.
Life
Müller was born in Basel in 1897. In 1917, he graduated as a glass painter from ...
(1891–1954), communist and politician
*Paul Voss (1894–1976), designer
* Paul Franken (1894–1944), socialist politician, victim of Stalinism
*Karl Allmenröder
''Leutnant'' Karl Allmenröder (3 May 1896 – 27 June 1917) was a German World War I flying ace credited with 30 aerial victories. The medical student son of a preacher father was seasoned in the trenches as an 18-year-old artilleryman in ...
(1896–1917), fighter pilot
* Hanns Heinen (1895–1961), writer, journalist and publicist
* Carl Clauberg (1898–1957), Nazi gynecologist and war criminal
* Erwin Bowien (1899–1972), painter and writer
*Hermann Friedrich Graebe
Herman Friedrich Graebe or Gräbe (19 June 1900 – 17 April 1986) was a German manager and engineer in charge of a German building firm in Ukraine, who witnessed mass executions of the Jews of Dubno on 5 October 1942 by Nazis and in the ghet ...
(1900–1986), manager and engineer, 'Righteous Among the Nations' by Israel
*Josef Dahmen
Josef Dahmen (21 August 1903 – 18 January 1985) was a German stage, film and television actor.Youngkin p. 462.
Dahmen was married to the actress Gisela von Collande, with whom he had a daughter Andrea Dahmen. His granddaughter Julia Dahmen is ...
(1903–1985), actor
* Adolf Eichmann (1906–1962), SS-''Obersturmbannführer
__NOTOC__
''Obersturmbannführer'' (Senior Assault-unit Leader; ; short: ''Ostubaf'') was a paramilitary rank in the German Nazi Party (NSDAP) which was used by the SA ('' Sturmabteilung'') and the SS (''Schutzstaffel''). The rank of ''Oberstu ...
'' and major organiser of the Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
* Georg Meistermann (1911–1990), painter of sacred and secular glass windows
*Jürgen Thorwald Jürgen Thorwald (born Heinz Bongartz, October 28, 1915; died April 4, 2006) was a German writer, journalist and historian known for his works describing the history of forensic medicine and of World War II.
Thorwald was a native of Solingen, Rhe ...
(1915–2006), writer, journalist and historian
*Christel Rupke
Christel Rupke (7 March 1919 – 16 November 1998) was a German swimmer. She competed in the women's 100 metre backstroke at the 1936 Summer Olympics.
References
External links
*
1919 births
1998 deaths
German female swimmers
...
(1919–1998), swimmer
*Walter Scheel
Walter Scheel (; 8 July 1919 – 24 August 2016) was a German statesman. A member of the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP), he first served in government as the Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development from 1961 to 1966 and l ...
(1919–2016), politician ( FDP), the 4th President of Germany
The president of Germany, officially the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: link=no, Bundespräsident der Bundesrepublik Deutschland),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international corres ...
(1974–1979)
*Bettina Heinen-Ayech
Bettina Heinen-Ayech (3 September 1937 – 7 June 2020) was a German painter. She became known for her colorful landscape views of Algeria.
Between 1955 and 2017 she had many exhibitions worldwide and won several prizes.
Heinen-Ayech died on 7 J ...
(1937–2020), painter an publicist
* Klaus Lehnertz (born 1938), athlete
* Adolf Weil (1938–2011), motocross rider
*Christoph Wolff
Christoph Wolff (born 24 May 1940) is a German musicologist. He is best known for his works on the music, life, and period of Johann Sebastian Bach. Christoph Wolff is an emeritus professor of Harvard University, and was part of the faculty sinc ...
(born 1940), musicologist
*Pina Bausch
Philippine "Pina" Bausch (27 July 1940 – 30 June 2009) was a German dancer and choreographer who was a significant contributor to a neo-expressionist dance tradition now known as . Bausch's approach was noted for a stylized blend of dance m ...
(1940–2009), dancer and choreographer
*Ulay
Frank Uwe Laysiepen (; 30 November 1943 – 2 March 2020), known professionally as Ulay, was a German artist based in Amsterdam and Ljubljana, who received international recognition for his Polaroid art and collaborative performance art with long ...
(1943–2020), artist
*Wolfgang Schwerk
Madhupran Wolfgang Schwerk is an ultra-marathon runner, born 28 July 1955 http://www.vfum.de/index.php?id=875 and now living in Solingen, Germany. He was a trained retail-salesman, baritone opera singer, farmer, carpenter, and poultry breeder bef ...
(born 1955), Ultramarathon runner
* Timotheus Höttges (born 1962), CEO of Deutsche Telekom
*Richard David Precht
Richard David Precht (; born 8 December 1964) is a German philosopher and author of successful popular science books about philosophical issues. He hosts the TV show " Precht" on ZDF.
He is an honorary professor of philosophy at the Leuphana ...
(born 1964), philosopher, writer and publicist
*Veronica Ferres
Veronica Maria Cäcilia Ferres (; born 10 June 1965) is a German film, television, and stage actress. Her 2007 portrayal of Sara Bender in ''Die Frau vom Checkpoint Charlie'', based on the true story of Jutta Fleck, earned her the award for Be ...
(born 1965), actress
*Sebastian Thrun
Sebastian Thrun (born May 14, 1967) is a German-American entrepreneur, educator, and computer scientist. He is CEO of Kitty Hawk Corporation, and chairman and co-founder of Udacity. Before that, he was a Google VP and Fellow, a Professor of Co ...
(born 1967), entrepreneur, educator and computer scientist
*Jens Weidmann
Jens Weidmann (born 20 April 1968) is a German economist who served as president of the Deutsche Bundesbank between 2011 and 2021. He also served as chairman of the Board of the Bank for International Settlements.
Before moving to the Bundesbank, ...
(born 1968), President of Deutsche Bundesbank
* Mola Adebisi (born 1973), TV-presenter
* Marco Matias (born 1975), German-Portuguese singer
*Fahriye Evcen
Fahriye Evcen Özçivit (born 4 June 1986) is a German-born Turkish actress and model. She is known for her roles as Necla Tekin in the TV series ''Yaprak Dökümü'' based on the novel by Reşat Nuri Güntekin, and as Feride in the TV series ' ...
(born 1986), actress
*Kevin Kampl
Kevin Kampl (born 9 October 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Bundesliga club RB Leipzig. Born in Germany, he has represented the Slovenia national team at international level. Besides Germany, he has played in Au ...
(born 1990), Slovenian footballer
*Christoph Kramer
Christoph Kramer (born 19 February 1991) is a German professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach. He represented the Germany national team.
After a season in their reserve team, Kr ...
(born 1991), footballer
The founders of Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, which later became the automobile company Studebaker, trace their lineage to bladesmen from the region that migrated to America in 1736.
References
External links
*
Travel guide from ''die-bergischen-drei.de''
*
*
*
{{Authority control
Cities in North Rhine-Westphalia
Members of the Hanseatic League