Werdohl () is a town in the district
Märkischer Kreis
The Märkischer Kreis is a district ('' Kreis'') in central North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighbouring districts are Unna, Soest, Hochsauerland, Olpe, Oberbergischer Kreis, Ennepe-Ruhr, and the city of Hagen.
History
The district was creat ...
, 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
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
Geography
Werdohl is located in the hills of the
Sauerland, at a double meander of the river
Lenne
The Lenne is a tributary of the river Ruhr in the Sauerland hills, western Germany. It has caused flooding in recent years.
Having its source on top of the ''Kahler Asten'' near Winterberg in an intermittent spring at an elevation of , the Len ...
and its confluent, the Verse. The highest elevation is the ''Hölzerne Klinke'' with 448.8m above sea level, the lowest is in valley of Lenne at the boundary to the city
Altena
Altena (; Westphalian: ''Altenoa'') is a town in the district of Märkischer Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The town's castle is the origin for the later Dukes of Berg. Altena is situated on the Lenne river valley, in the northern stre ...
with 162m.
Werdohl shares borders with (clockwise) Altena, Neuenrade, Plettenberg, Herscheid and Lüdenscheid.
A large part of the area, about 19.2 km², is meadows and forests and is used for agriculture and forestry, followed by 3.18 km² of residential areas and 1.24 km² are commercial and industrial areas.
Urban districts
The city centre is located at the banks of the river Lenne and at the foot of surrounding hills. The townships are Versevörde, where the river Verse flows into the river Lenne, Königsburg, Rodt and Erlhagen.
Kettling lies upstream of the Lenne at the border to Plettenberg. Ütterlingsen, Dresel and Elverlingsen are downstream of the Lenne towards the border to Altena.
Following the Verse from upstream from Versevörde to Lüdenscheid, the townships Osmecke, Pungelscheid, Kleinhammer, Eveking, Bärenstein and Oberborbecke are located upstream in the valley of the Verse (Versetal) or on the hills forming the valley.
History
The first document which mentions Werdohl dates to the year 1101. Bishop Heinrich II. from
Paderborn
Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...
mentions the church of Werdohl, which was donated by count Erpo of Padberg to the monastery Boke/Flechtdorf. In 1220 the Priorat Berentrop took over the ownership, which in 1300 was bought by count Everhard II. of the
Mark
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* F ...
.
Werdohl was long administrated in the Amt Neuenrade, however at the end of the 19th century the population of Werdohl was higher than those of the other municipalities in the Amt together. On June 1, 1891 Werdohl left the Amt and became self-administrated, after it failed to get the seat of the Amt administration to be moved to Werdohl. On April 19, 1936 the municipality received city rights.
Coat of arms
The
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 ...
of Werdohl shows a rose, which was already present in the seal of the church. To the right are three chain segments, the symbol of the family Neuhoff, a noble family which resided in the municipality in the past. The bottom part shows the red-white chequered bordure as the symbols of the counts of the Mark.
The first attempt of Werdohl to receive a coat of arms was started in 1915, when they asked Dr. Hildebrandt of the editorial staff of the ''Deutscher Herold'' in Berlin to create a concept for a coat of arms. The draft already resembled the later coat of arms, only the rose was in silver on black ground. However the war and then the end of monarchy in Germany delayed for several years. In 1929
Otto Hupp
Hermann Joseph Otto Hubert August Constantin Hupp (May 21, 1859 – January 31, 1949) was a German graphical artist. His main working area was heraldry, yet he also worked as a typeface designer, creating commercial symbols and metal works.
Life a ...
created two drafts of the coat of arms, one of which was then accepted by the municipality council on August 29, 1929. It later turned out that the coat of arms need to be officially granted, which happened on January 16, 1935.
In 1936 the ''Landrat'' of
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 ...
lobbied to have the coat of arms changed. He requested a draft from the heraldic Waldemar Mallek, which showed a Zeppelin in the top part, the chain in bottom, separated by the chequered bordure. It was however not accepted by the mayor of Werdohl, and was not pursued further.
Economy
Amongst the biggest employers headquartered in Werdohl are Schaeffler Engineering, a company of
Schaeffler Group
Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG, also known as Schaeffler Group (''Schaeffler-Gruppe'' in German), is a German manufacturer of rolling element bearings for automotive, aerospace and industrial uses. It was founded in 1946 by brothers Dr. ...
, nickel alloy producer
VDM Metals and the technology company
Vossloh
Vossloh AG is a rail technology company based in Werdohl in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The SDAX-listed group has achieved sales of around €930 million in 2016 with more than 4,000 employees (as of 2017).
Vossloh is a global ...
, market leader for rail fasteners and switch systems.
International relations
Werdohl is
twinned with:
Since April 6, 1975 Werdohl has a
city partnership with the English district
Derwentside
Derwentside was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district in County Durham, England.
The district took its name from the River Derwent, which made up part of the northern border of the district. Its main towns were Consett and Stanley, ...
. Since August 10, 1990 it has a partnership with the city
Stavenhagen in
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in po ...
.
References
External links
Official site
{{Authority control
Märkischer Kreis