Süchteln is a borough (''

Stadtbezirk A ''Stadtbezirk'' (also called ''Ortsbezirk'' in Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate) is an administrative division in Germany, which is part of a larger city. It is translated as "borough". In Germany, ''Stadtbezirke'' usually only exist in a metropo ...

'') of

Viersen Viersen (; li, Veeëse) is the capital of the district of Viersen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Viersen is situated approximately 8 km north-west of Mönchengladbach, 15 km south-west of Krefeld and 20 km east o ...

, a town which is the centre of the '' Kreis'' 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 ...

, Germany. Süchteln was formerly an independent town; the Catholic parish church of St Clement is at its centre. The church was built in 1481 and has a well preserved tower 73 metres tall.

History

The first mention of the settlement of Süchteln was in 1116, in the books of the Abbey of St. Pantaleon in

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 ...

. It was granted the right to hold a market in 1423, when it belonged to the

Duchy of Jülich The Duchy of Jülich (german: Herzogtum Jülich; nl, Hertogdom Gulik; french: Duché de Juliers) comprised a state within the Holy Roman Empire from the 11th to the 18th centuries. The duchy lay west of the Rhine river and was bordered by th ...

. It has been chartered as a town since 1405. There was a celebration of "600 Years of Town Privileges in Süchteln" (''600 Jahre Stadtrechte Süchteln'') in 2005. The original document with the official

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...

of Süchteln is in the National Archives of France in Paris. From the end of the 19th century until the end of the 1950s, Süchteln was a flourishing centre of the

textile industry The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of yarn, cloth and clothing. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry. Industry process Cotton manufacturi ...

. In 1970, the city of Süchteln combined with Viersen,

Dülken Dülken is a town located in the North Rhine-Westphalia state of Germany. It has a population of about 20,000. It is a borough of the municipality of Viersen. It received its town charter in 1364 thus being the oldest part of the municipality of Vi ...

and Boisheim to form the modern city of Viersen.

Local culture

Irmgard of Süchteln is the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of Süchteln; the annual Irmgardisoktav (Irmgard Week) is held in her honour on the Heiligenberg, part of the Süchtelner Höhen (Süchteln Heights), which are the highest part of Viersen and where there is a chapel dedicated to her. Among other things, Süchteln is known for the LVR-Klinik Viersen, which is located there. This is a clinic operated by the ''Landschaftsverband Rheinland'' which includes the nationally known Rheinische Klinik für Orthopädie (Rhenish Orthopaedic Clinic) and also several psychiatric clinics (including paediatric and adolescent psychiatry), a forensic clinic, a clinic for the treatment of addiction, a gerontological institution, ergonomic and occupational therapy and an institute for clinical training.

Noteworthy residents

Born in Süchteln

* Matthias Nethenus (1618–1686), theologian * Karl Matthias Schiffer (1867–1930), union official and Reichstag member ( Centre Party) * Karl Müller (1884–1964), politician * Wilhelm van Kempen (1894–1981), art historian * Albert Vigoleis Thelen (1903–1989), author and translator * Hermann Schmitz (1904–1931), artist * Hellmut Trienekens (born 1938), waste disposal entrepreneur * Thomas Druyen (born 1957), sociologist * Frank Rehfeld (born 1962), author * Roland Kothes (born 1967), radio astronomer

Associated with Süchteln

* Irmgard of Süchteln (''circa'' 1013 - ''circa'' 1085), saint who is said to have settled in Süchteln * Heinrich von Rosenthal (1808–1865), mayor of Süchteln until 1843, then mayor of

Kettwig Kettwig is the southernmost borough of the city of Essen in western Germany and, until 1975, was a town in its own right. Kettwig is situated next to the Ruhr river, at a median height of 53 metres above sea level. It is the most recently incorpo ...

and of

Mettmann Mettmann () is a town in the northern part of the Bergisches Land, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the district of Mettmann, Germany's most densely populated rural district. The town lies east of Düsseldorf ...

* Peter Norrenberg (1847–1894), pastor, historian, and social reformer

Sources

* Joseph Deilmann. ''Geschichte der Stadt Süchteln''. Süchteln: Thelen, 1924. OCLC 72110195 * Walther Föhl. ''Süchteln, 1558-1958: Eine Festschrift der Stadt''. Schriftenreihe des Landkreises Kempen-Krefeld 5. 1958. OCLC 164116215 * Paul Schotes. ''Viersen-Süchteln''. Rheinische Kunststätten 100. Revised ed. Köln Neusser Druckerei und Verlag, 1991. * Arbeitsgruppe für Orts- und Heimatgeschichte im Stadtarchiv Viersen. ''600 Jahre Stadt Süchteln: Streiflichter''. Eigenverlag der Stadt Viersen, 2005. OCLC 70334565

References

External links

* Uwe Micha
Süchteln history site

Aerial views of Süchteln

Süchtelner Höhen
on Panoramio
Süchteln Brennt
annual rock festival {{DEFAULTSORT:Suchteln Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia