Wermelskirchen (; Ripuarian: ''Wärmelßkirrshe'') is a town in the

Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis The Rheinisch-Bergische Kreis is a Kreis (district) in the Cologne Bonn Region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Kreis Mettman, Oberbergischer Kreis and Rhein-Sieg, and the district-free cities Cologne, Leverkusen, ...

, 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 inhab ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, southeast 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. Remsche ...

. It is home to one of Europe's biggest live

Christmas tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas. The custom was further developed in early modern G ...

s (measuring 26m).

Coat of arms

Wermelskirchen Knochenmühle - Knochenmühle 06 ies

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 i ...

of the city of Wermelskirchen looks like a silver shield split into thirds. In the left field is an oak tree. In the right field there is a Swan and pictured in the middle field there is a church.

Education

Wermelskirchen has an

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual exp ...

, a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

church and a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

school.

Economy

The city has the head office of OBI and the origin of the

caster A caster (or castor) is an undriven wheel that is designed to be attached to the bottom of a larger object (the "vehicle") to enable that object to be moved. Casters are used in numerous applications, including shopping carts, office chairs, ...

manufacturer TENTE.

Twin towns – sister cities

Wermelskirchen is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: * Forst, Germany * Loches, France

Notable people

* Carl Leverkus (1804–1889), founder of a German chemical and pharmaceutical company and the

namesake A namesake is a person, geographic location, or other entity bearing the name of another. History The word is first attested around 1635, and probably comes from the phrase "for one's name's sake", which originates in English Bible translations ...

of the city of

Leverkusen Leverkusen () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the south, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne, and to the north the state capital, Düsseldorf. With about 161,000 inhabitants, Leverkusen is on ...

Uwe Boll Uwe Boll (; born June 22, 1965) is a German filmmaker. He came to prominence during the 2000s for his adaptations of video game franchises which often starred international stars like Jason Statham, Burt Reynolds, Ray Liotta, Christian Slater, E ...

(born 1965), film director and writer, restaurateur and founder of Bauhaus Restaurant chains in Canada *

Thomas Kleine Thomas Kleine (born 28 December 1977) is a German football manager and former player. He is the manager of SpVgg Bayreuth. Career Born in Wermelskirchen, Kleine began his career in the youth ranks of his hometown club SV 09 Wermelskirchen wher ...

(born 1977), footballer *

Christian Lindner Christian Wolfgang Lindner (born 7 January 1979) is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) serving as the Federal Minister of Finance since 8 December 2021. He has been the party leader of the liberal FDP since 2013 and a Memb ...

(born 1979), politician

Honorary citizens

* 1876: Ludwig von Bohlen * 1884: Carl Leverkus * 1895:

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 ...

* 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 fr ...

References

External links

Official website

Website of the borough Dabringhausen
Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia Districts of the Rhine Province {{RheinischBergischerKreis-geo-stub