Velbert (,

Low Rhenish In historical and comparative linguistics, Low Franconian is a linguistic category used to classify a number of historical and contemporary West Germanic varieties closely related to, and including, the Dutch language. Most dialects and languag ...

: ''Vèlbed'') is a town in the district 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 Mettmann (district), district of Mettmann, Germany's most densely populated rural district. The town lies ...

, in the German state of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

. The town is renowned worldwide for the production of locks and fittings.

Geography

Velbert is located on the hills of 'Niederberg' (meaning ''Lower Mountain''), part of the Berg region, approx. 20 kilometres north-east of the capital of

North Rhine Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

, and 12 kilometers north-west of

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, with a population of 355,000. Wuppertal is the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and List of cities in Germany by population, 17th-largest in Germany. It ...

on the south side of the

Ruhr The Ruhr ( ; , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr Area, sometimes Ruhr District, Ruhr Region, or Ruhr Valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 1,160/km2 and a populati ...

river. Velbert stands on the highest part of the Niederberg region and also in its centre. Its average elevation is around 230 metres above sea level; its highest point, at 303 metres, is the ''Hordt-Berg'', and its lowest, at around 70.6 metres, is in Nierenhof am Deilbach. The highest point in Velbert itself is 263 metres above sea level, at the corner of Friedrichstraße and Langenberger Straße.

Incorporation

As part of the reform of local government districts in North Rhine-Westphalia that came into effect on 1 January 1975, the formerly independent cities of Velbert, Neviges and Langenberg were merged to form the present city of Velbert.

History

Velbert was first mentioned in AD 875 as Feldbrahti and was ruled by the abbey at

Werden Werden ( Westphalian: ''Wadden'') is a southern borough of the city of Essen in Germany. It belongs to the city district ''IX Werden/Kettwig/Bredeney'' and has 9,998 inhabitants as of June 30, 2006. The borough occupies a space of and is situat ...

Administration

Velbert is divided into three administrative areas, reflecting the three former cities: Velbert-Mitte (''Central Velbert''), Neviges and Langenberg. There are also numerous suburbs, including Tönisheide, Losenburg, Nordpark, Langenhorst, Birth, Röttgen and Hefel.

Politics

The current mayor of Velbert has been Dirk Lukrafka of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since 2014. The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, with a runoff held on 27 September, and the results were as follows: ! rowspan=2 colspan=2, Candidate ! rowspan=2, Party ! colspan=2, First round ! colspan=2, Second round , - ! Votes ! % ! Votes ! % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Dirk Lukrafka , align=left, Christian Democratic Union , 12,730 , 40.9 , 12,352 , 50.4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Esther Kanschat , align=left,

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (, ), often simply referred to as Greens (, ), is a Green (politics), green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of the Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (formed in East Ger ...

, 6,686 , 21.5 , 12,132 , 49.6 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Rainer Hübinger , 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 Form ...

, 5,148 , 16.5 , - , , align=left, August-Friedrich Tonscheid , align=left, Velbert Differently , 1,915 , 6.2 , - , , align=left, Cem Demircan , align=left, Independent Velbert Citizens , 1,862 , 6.0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Helmut Stiegelmeier , align=left,

Pirate Party Germany The Pirate Party Germany (), commonly known as Pirates (), is a political party in Germany founded in September 2006 at c-base. It states general agreement with the Swedish Piratpartiet as a party of the information society; it is part of the i ...

, 1,262 , 4.1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Birgit Onori , align=left, The Left , 1,009 , 3.2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Marcel Stubbe , align=left,

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, 521 , 1.7 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 31,133 ! 98.3 ! 24,484 ! 99.4 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 540 ! 1.7 ! 137 ! 0.6 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 31,673 ! 100.0 ! 24,621 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 65,876 ! 48.1 ! 65,837 ! 37.4 , - , colspan=7, Source: City of Velbert
1st round

City council

The Velbert 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) , 9,471 , 30.4 , 4.2 , 21 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(Grüne) , 6,543 , 21.0 , 10.2 , 15 , 8 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(SPD) , 5,435 , 17.4 , 9.7 , 12 , 5 , - , , align=left, Independent Velbert Citizens (UVB) , 2,343 , 7.5 , 2.2 , 5 , 2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present), far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative p ...

(AfD) , 1,998 , 6.4 , New , 4 , New , - , , align=left, Velbert Differently (Anders) , 1,643 , 5.3 , 1.3 , 4 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP) , 1,392 , 4.5 , 0.4 , 3 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 1,174 , 3.8 , 1.6 , 3 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(Piraten) , 1,177 , 3.8 , 1.3 , 3 , 1 , - , colspan=7 bgcolor=lightgrey, , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Independent , 18 , 0.1 , New , 0 , New , - ! colspan=2, Valid votes ! 31,194 ! 98.5 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Invalid votes ! 471 ! 1.5 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 31,665 ! 100.0 ! ! 70 ! 8 , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 65,875 ! 48.1 ! 1.1 ! ! , - , colspan=7, Source
City of Velbert

Coat of arms

The first coat of arms was created in 1882 and abolished in local government reform of 1975. It showed the lion of the Counts, later Dukes, of Berg (originally the symbol of Limburg) and keys referring to locksmithing, a traditional industry in Velbert. After 1975 a new coat of arms was created that included heraldic symbols for all three formerly independent towns. The key, referring to Velbert's main traditional industry, was retained with a simpler design. Langenberg is represented by an oak leaf, referring to the oak in the old arms of Langenberg. The chevrons in the bit of the key refer to the coat of arms of the lords of Hardenberg, from the coat of arms of Neviges.

Economics

The main traditional industry of Velbert is small scale manufacturing, mostly metal based, typical products include locks, hinges, small tools, hoseclamps. Most companies are small to medium scale and many evolved from backyard forges. There are also companies producing parts for the automotive industry, for example the suppliers of vehicle access systems

Witte Automotive Headquarters in Velbert Paint shop at the plant in Ostrov, Czech Republic Witte Automotive (formerly Witte-Velbert GmbH & Co. KG) is a German automotive supplier of mechatronic locking systems for car doors, tailgates, interiors, and seats. T ...

and Huf. As well as this Stein & Co Gmbh, the makers of

Sebo SEBO is the brand name of vacuum cleaners made by Stein & Co GmbH, a company based in the German town of Velbert. They produce a range of upright and cylinder vacuum cleaners for domestic and commercial use. SEBO stands for ''SEmigewerbliche ...

vacuum cleaners, are based in the city.

Transportation

The autobahns serving Velbert are the Aachen-Kassel A 44 and the Velbert-Sonnborner Kreuz A 535. Velbert's

S-Bahn The S-Bahn ( , ), , is a hybrid urban rail, urban–suburban rail system serving a metropolitan region predominantly in German language, German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit syst ...

service runs every 30 minutes line S9, from

Recklinghausen Recklinghausen (; ) is the northernmost city in the Ruhr-Area and the capital of the Recklinghausen district. It borders the rural Münsterland and is characterized by large fields and farms in the north and industry in the south. Recklinghaus ...

Haltern am See Haltern am See (''Haltern at the lake'', before December 2001 only Haltern) is a medium-sized town in the northern part of the Recklinghausen (district), district of Recklinghausen in the Münster (region), ''Regierungsbezirk'' Münster in North Rh ...

–-

Gladbeck Gladbeck () is a town in the district of Recklinghausen (district), Recklinghausen in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Gladbeck is quite a young town, first recognised 21 July 1919 when it was given town rights. The town established itself aroun ...

Bottrop Bottrop () is a city in west-central Germany, on the Rhine–Herne Canal, in North Rhine-Westphalia. Located in the Ruhr area, Ruhr industrial area, Bottrop adjoins Essen, Oberhausen, Gladbeck, and Dorsten. The city had been a coal-mining and ...

–

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

- Nierenhof - Langenberg-

Neviges Velbert (, Low Rhenish: ''Vèlbed'') is a town in the district of Mettmann, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The town is renowned worldwide for the production of locks and fittings. Geography Velbert is located on the hills of 'Nied ...

- Rosenhügel-

Hagen Hagen () is a city in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, on the southeastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne and Volme meet the Ruhr (river), Ruhr. In 2023, the ...

, which is an attractive line to commuters though substantially to the east of the old town of Velbert, which has no railway connection left. The operational stations serving the city are Langenberg,

, Nierenhof and Rosenhügel. In 2011 most of the former railway line within the city was converted to a cyclepath. The former station buildings at Velbert-West and Velbert-Central are now restaurants, and the station at Velbert-Tönisheide is disused. All three were on the discontinued Niederberg Railway (

Wülfrath Wülfrath () is a town in the district of Mettmann (district), in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography The town is situated on the mountain spurs of the Berg (German region), Bergische Land, between the Rhine, Ruhr (river), Ruhr and Wupper ...

-Velbert-

Heiligenhaus Heiligenhaus (; Limburgish: ''Hillijehoes'') is a town in the district of Mettmann, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in the suburban Rhine-Ruhr area. It lies between Düsseldorf and Essen. Bochum University of Applied Sciences (Hochschule B ...

–

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 incorp ...

). Velbert also used to have a tram service, and was the meeting point of tramlines from Heidhausen, Neviges, Wülfrath and Hösel with Heiligenhaus. Nowadays a number of bus routes connect Velbert to the surrounding cities. The city belongs to the ''

Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr The Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (), abbreviated VRR, is a public transport association (Verkehrsverbund) in the Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It covers large parts of the Ruhr, Ruhr area, the Lower Rhine region including Düsse ...

''.

Twin towns – sister cities

Velbert is twinned with: *

Châtellerault Châtellerault (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Châteulrô/Chateleràud''; ) is a commune in the Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in France. It is located in the northeast of the former province Poitou, and the residents are cal ...

, France (1965) *

Corby Corby is a town and civil parish in the North Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, England, northeast of Northampton. In 2021 it had a population of 68,164. From 1974 to 2021, it was the administrative headquarters of the Borough of ...

, England, United Kingdom (1966) *

Igoumenitsa Igoumenitsa () is a coastal city in northwestern Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit of Thesprotia. Igoumenitsa is the chief port of Thesprotia and Epirus, and one of the largest passenger ports of Greece, connecting northwestern Main ...

, Greece (2012) *

Podujevë Podujevë or Besianë ( sq-definite, Podujeva or ''Besiana'') or Podujevo is a List of cities in Kosovo, city and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality in the District of Pristina, Pristina District in Kosovo. Podujevë is the largest municip ...

, Kosovo (2019)

Friendly cities

Velbert also has friendly relations with: *

Hacıbektaş Hacıbektaş (historically Sulucakarahöyük) is a town and district of Nevşehir Province in the Central Anatolia Region, Turkey, Central Anatolia region of Turkey. It is the seat of Hacıbektaş District.Morąg Morąg (; , ) is a town in northern Poland in Ostróda County in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. It is the seat of Gmina Morąg (commune). Geography The town is situated in the western uplands of the historic Prussia region. Its centre is loc ...

, Poland (2016)

Sites of interest

Theatres

* The central theatre of the town is in Forum Niederberg.

Museums

The town's museum is also located in Forum Niederberg. It is the ''German museum for locks and metal fittings''. The museum exhibits a broad variety of keys and locks.

Buildings

* Maria, Königin des Friedens, or Nevigeser Wallfahrtsdom, also known as Mariendom, in Neviges which was designed by the famous architect

Gottfried Böhm Gottfried Böhm (; 23 January 1920 – 9 June 2021) was a German architect and sculptor. His reputation is based on creating highly sculptural buildings made of concrete, steel, and glass. Böhm's first independent building was the Cologne ...

* Hardenberg Castle in Neviges * Historical town centres in Neviges and Langenberg * Event Church in Langenberg * Bürgerhaus (Citizen's house) in Langenberg * Transmission towers in Langenberg for MW, FM and TV (303.7 m and 170m high) * City hall incl. Thomas-Carré in Velbert-Mitte * The Art Nouveau church called Christuskirche (Christ Church) in Velbert-Mitte

Notable people

Lüder Lüers Kindernothilfe (KNH) is a charity organization and was founded in 1959 by a group of Christians in Duisburg, Germany, in order to help needy children in India. Over time, it has become one of the largest Christian organizations in Europe for ch ...

(1926–2022), German horticultural architect, engaged in founding

Kindernothilfe Kindernothilfe (KNH) is a charity organization and was founded in 1959 by a group of Christians in Duisburg, Germany, in order to help needy children in India. Over time, it has become one of the largest Christian organizations in Europe for ch ...

* Alexander Mies (born 1992), German racing driver *

Dieter Ramsauer Dieter Ramsauer (2 May 1939 in Velbert – 23 April 2021 in Schwelm) was a German engineer who was the founder of the international operating company Dieter Ramsauer Konstruktionselemente GmbH (DIRAK), operating in the fields of development, produ ...

(1939–2021), German engineer *

Walter Schlüter Walter Schlüter, (1911 – November 1977), was a West German racing and rally driver, who won the 1954 European Rally Championship. Racing Driver Walter was a fuel wholesale by trade, from Velbert. He became racing in the 1930, notably in a mo ...

(1911–1977), German racing driver

References

External links

* {{Authority control Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia Mettmann (district)