Witten () is a city with almost 100,000 inhabitants in the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis (district) 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 betwee ...

Geography

Witten is situated in the

Ruhr The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , 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 2,800/km ...

valley, in the southern

Ruhr area The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , 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 2,800/km ...

Bordering municipalities

Bochum Bochum ( , also , ; wep, Baukem) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 364,920 (2016), is the sixth largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) of the most populous German federal state of N ...

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

* Herdecke * Wetter (Ruhr) *

Sprockhövel Sprockhövel is a town in the district of Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Sprockhövel is located in the southern suburban part of the Ruhr area. It is 6 km southeast of Hattingen, 8 km northwest of Gevelsb ...

* Hattingen

Boroughs

Witten is divided into eight boroughs and each borough is further divided into two or more city-districts. Every district has its own district-number: * Witten-Mitte: 11 Innenstadt, 12 Oberdorf-Helenenberg, 13 Industriegebiet-West, 14 Krone, 15 Crengeldanz, 16 Hauptfriedhof, 17 Stadion, 18 Industriegebiet-Nord, 19 Hohenstein * Düren: 21 Düren-Nord, 22 Düren-Sued * Stockum: 31 Stockum-Mitte, 32 Dorney, 33 Stockumer Bruch, 34 Wilhelmshöhe * Annen: 41 Tiefendorf, 42 Wullen, 43 Annen-Mitte-Nord, 44 Annen-Mitte-Süd, 45 Kohlensiepen, 46 Wartenberg, 47 Gedern * Rüdinghausen: 51 Industriegebiet-Ost, 52 Rüdinghausen-Mitte, 53 Buchholz, 54 Schnee * Bommern: 61 Steinhausen, 62 Bommerbank, 63 Bommerfeld, 64 Wettberg, 65 Buschey, 66 Bommeregge * Heven: 71 Papenholz, 72 Hellweg, 73 Wannen, 74 Heven-Dorf, 75 Lake *

Herbede Since 1975 the former city of Herbede is a part of the city of Witten (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany). As one of the eight boroughs of Witten, it is now called Witten-Herbede. Before the incorporation with Witten in 1975, Herbede was a city in th ...

: 81 Herbede-Ort, 82 Vormholz, 83 Bommerholz-Muttental, 84 Durchholz, 85 Buchholz-Kaempen

Population 1739–2020

History

Witten was first mentioned in historic sources in 1214, however the

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 Ag ...

Herbede (which was incorporated into the city in 1975) dates back to 851. The city was a mining town from 1578. In 1946, it was included in

on its establishment. In 1975 Witten was included in the administrative district Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis and it is now its biggest city. 1975 was also the year Witten was first counted to have more than 100,000 inhabitants, the threshold to be considered a large city ("Großstadt") in Germany.

Roburit Explosion

In the late 19th century Witten was known for the Roburit dynamite. This dynamite was once used by coal mines around the world. In 1906 an explosion occurred, resulting in the deaths of 41 people.

Politics

In the local elections of 2004 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 For ...

(SPD) was the largest party on the council with 24 seats. It was followed by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) with 18 and the

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (for ...

with 7, the WBG (a conservative lis) and Free Democrats with four each, FLW (also a conservative list) with three, National Democratic Party two, and the PDS/WAL (socialists) and AUF Witten (a left wing list) with one each. From 2004 to 2020, for the first time in its history, the council was led by a female mayor: Sonja Leidemann (SPD). In the election of 2020 she lost her mandate to Lars König (CDU).

Mayor

The current mayor of Witten is Lars König of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). 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, Sonja Leidemann , align=left,

, 12,365 , 34.5 , 11,365 , 40.0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Lars König , align=left, Christian Democratic Union , 10,595 , 29.6 , 17,036 , 60.0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Stefan Borggraefe , align=left, Pirate Party Germany , 4,005 , 11.2 , - , , align=left, Martin Strautz , align=left, Citizens' Forum , 2,276 , 6.4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Ursula Weiß , align=left, The Left , 2,227 , 6.2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Richard Surrey , align=left, Witten Citzen's Association/

Free Voters Free Voters (german: Freie Wähler, FW or FWG) in Germany may belong to an association of people which participates in an election without having the status of a registered political party. Usually it involves a locally organized group of voters ...

, 1,793 , 5.0 , - , , align=left, Michael Hasenkamp , align=left, CityClimate Witten , 1,110 , 3.1 , - , , align=left, Hans-Peter Skotarzik , align=left, Witten.Direct , 1,052 , 2.9 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Norman Kerner , 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 the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

, 397 , 1.1 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 35,820 ! 98.1 ! 28,401 ! 98.7 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 709 ! 1.9 ! 369 ! 1.3 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 36,529 ! 100.0 ! 28,770 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 78,110 ! 46.8 ! 77,920 ! 36.9 , - , colspan=7, Source: City of Witten
1st round

City council

The Witten 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,

(SPD) , 9,052 , 25.2 , 10.0 , 16 , 9 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , 8,349 , 23.2 , 0.3 , 15 , 2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(Grüne) , 7,404 , 20.6 , 7.6 , 13 , 4 , - , , align=left, Citizens' Forum (BF) , 2,182 , 6.1 , 4.4 , 4 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist * * * * * * * political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. ...

(AfD) , 1,681 , 4.7 , New , 3 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Pirate Party Germany (Piraten) , 1,536 , 4.3 , 2.2 , 3 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 1,441 , 4.0 , 2.0 , 3 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Witten Citzens' Association/

(WGB-FW) , 1,120 , 3.1 , 0.9 , 2 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP) , 838 , 2.3 , 0.1 , 2 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Die PARTEI , 739 , 2.1 , New , 1 , New , - , , align=left, CityClimate Witten (SKW) , 631 , 1.8 , New , 1 , New , - , , align=left, Witten.Direct (W.D) , 535 , 1.5 , New , 1 , New , - , colspan=7 bgcolor=lightgrey, , - , , align=left, Alternative Independent Progressive Witten (AUF) , 227 , 0.6 , 0.6 , 0 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP) , 139 , 0.4 , New , 0 , New , - , , align=left, Grassroots Democratic List Witten (BLW) , 87 , 0.2 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Independent Norman Kerner , 13 , 0.0 , New , 0 , New , - ! colspan=2, Valid votes ! 35,974 ! 98.5 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Invalid votes ! 547 ! 1.5 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 36,521 ! 100.0 ! ! 64 ! 8 , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 78,108 ! 46.8 ! 0.4 ! ! , - , colspan=7, Source
City of Witten

State Landtag

In the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia, Witten is part of the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis II constituency. Nadja Büteführ of the SPD was elected as representative in the 2017 state election. Verena Schäffer of the Greens also ran in the constituency and was elected to the Landtag on her party's state list.

Federal parliament

In the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Comm ...

, Witten is part of the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis II constituency. Axel Echeverria of the SPD was elected as representative in the

2021 German federal election Federal elections were held in Germany on 26 September 2021 to elect the members of the 20th Bundestag. State elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern were also held. Incumbent chancellor Angela Merkel, first elected in 2005, chose not ...

Transport

Witten is connected to the

Autobahn The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track' ...

network by the A 43 and A 44 motorways. It has a

central station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

, connecting the city to the regional-train-network of

Deutsche Bahn The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder. describes itself as the ...

with direct connections to Hagen, Bochum, Essen, Siegen, Wuppertal, Düsseldorf, Aachen or Dortmund. Local service is carried out by the BOGESTRA, a joint venture between the cities of Bochum and Gelsenkirchen, to which most of the bus lines in Witten belong. There is a tram line connecting to

. From mid-December on, there will be two tram lines, which will run in Witten (lines 309 and 310). When the new track to Langendreer is completed (September 2020), the tram lines will ride to the station of Bochum-Langendreer (309) or to Wattenscheid-Höntrop via Bochum main station (310). Public transport in the city is carried out according to the fare system of the VRR transport association.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of Witten with its two lions once belong to the Everhards von Witten-Steinhausen and was first mentioned in 1283. The family of Witten-Steinhausen belongs to the founders of the town of Witten. Their slogan was: ''"Sigillum Hermanni de Wittene"''. Because of its long history this coat of arms was the only one in the Ruhr area, that was not forbidden by the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

in May 1945, after the end of the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

Culture

* Hebezeug-Museum – a museum dedicated to cranes and hoist founded by

J. D. Neuhaus J. D. Neuhaus is a company based in Witten., Germany, that manufactures air-powered hoist Hoist may refer to: * Hoist (device), a machine for lifting loads * Hoist controller, a machine for raising and lowering goods or personnel by means of a ca ...

and is located on the Route der Industriekultur. * Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik, festival for contemporary chamber music, held annually at the end of April *

Twin towns – sister cities

Witten is twinned with: *

Beauvais Beauvais ( , ; pcd, Bieuvais) is a city and commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise département, in the Hauts-de-France region, north of Paris. The commune of Beauvais had a population of 56,020 , making it the most popul ...

, France (1975) * Barking and Dagenham, England, United Kingdom (1979) * Mallnitz, Austria (1979) * Lev HaSharon, Israel (1979) * Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Germany (1990) *

Kursk Kursk ( rus, Курск, p=ˈkursk) is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym rivers. The area around Kursk was the site of a turning point in the Soviet–German stru ...

, Russia (1990) *

Tczew Tczew (, csb, Dërszewò; formerly ) is a city on the Vistula River in Eastern Pomerania, Kociewie, northern Poland with 59,111 inhabitants (December 2021). The city is known for its Old Town and the Vistula Bridge, or Bridge of Tczew, which pl ...

, Poland (1990) * San Carlos, Nicaragua (1990) *

Mekelle Mekelle ( ti, መቐለ, am, መቀሌ, mäqälle, mek’elē) or Mekele is a special zone and capital of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Mekelle was formerly the capital of Enderta awraja in Tigray. It is located around north of the Ethiop ...

, Ethiopia (2016)

Religions

Roman Catholic

When Witten was first mentioned in historical documents, it was part of the Archdiocese of Cologne. Since 1821 it has been a part of the

Diocese of Paderborn The Prince-Bishopric of Paderborn (german: Fürstbistum Paderborn; Hochstift Paderborn) was an ecclesiastical principality (Hochstift) of the Holy Roman Empire from 1281 to 1802. History The Diocese of Paderborn was founded in 799 by Pope ...

; however, the borough of Herbede belongs to the

Diocese of Essen The Diocese of Essen is a bishopric of the Catholic Church in Germany, founded on 1 January 1958. The Bishop of Essen is seated in Essen Cathedral (''Essener Dom'' or ''Essener Münster''), once the church of Essen Abbey, and over one thousand y ...

. In the 19th century the Ruhr area drew up to 500,000

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in ...

from

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label= Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

and

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. S ...

, most of whom were Catholic. Hundreds settled in Witten, leading to a growth in the Catholic community. Today, between 30 and 40 per cent of the population is Catholic.

Protestant

In the 16th century Witten was influenced by

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

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 in ...

, and until the late 19th century, Witten was a predominantly Protestant town with just a few Catholic inhabitants. Between 30 and 40 per cent of the population is Protestant today.

Muslims

There are four mosques in Witten, Annen and Herbede today, founded by immigrants from Turkey who arrived in the 1970s and 1980s. Between five and eight per cent of the population is Muslim.

Jews

In 1815 the first Jewish community was mentioned in Witten. In 1938 the synagogue was destroyed during the so-called " Reichspogromnacht" (also known as ''

Kristallnacht () or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation fro ...

'') of 9–10 November 1938. Today, only about a dozen Jews live in Witten. They belong to the Jewish community in

. Since 1994 the place of the former synagogue is marked with a memorial.

Notable people

* Ingeborg Danz (born 1961), concert singer *

Theodor Detmers Theodor Detmers (22 August 19024 November 1976) was a German naval officer and captain of the German auxiliary cruiser ''Kormoran'' during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Detmers command ...

(1902–1976), officer * Felix Dornebusch (born 1994), football player *

Mirko Englich Mirko Englich (born 28 August 1978) is a German Greco-Roman wrestler. He won two silver medals at the European Wrestling Championships in 2003 and 2008. Englich won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), of ...

(born 1978), wrestler *

Dennis Eilhoff Dennis Eilhoff (born 31 July 1982) is a German former professional footballer who played as a football goalkeeper. Career Youth Born in Witten, West Germany, Eilhoff began his career with SC Delbrück in 1990. Four years later he played for Tu ...

(born 1982), football player * Robert Graf (1923–1966), actor *

Martin Geck Martin Geck (19 March 1936 – 22 November 2019) was a German musicologist. He taught at the Technical University of Dortmund. His publications concerned a number of major composers. Among the composers in whom he specialised was Johann Sebastia ...

(1936–2019), musicologist * Ralf Kapschack (born 1954), politician (SPD) * Carsten Keuler (born 1971), football player *

Jochen Nickel Jochen Nickel (born 10 April 1959) is a German actor. He has appeared in more than 160 films and TV series since 1988. Life Nickel, a trained road builder, came to the stage in 1981 and was a member of the theater group Theaterpathologisches In ...

(born 1959), actor * Sorina Nwachukwu (born 1987), sprinter *

Paul Pleiger Paul Pleiger (28 September 1899, in Buchholz, now part of Witten, Westphalia – 22 July 1985, in Hattingen) was a German state adviser and corporate general director. The miner's son underwent training as an engineer and soon afterwards establ ...

(1899–1985), state adviser and corporate general director *

Alexandra Popp Alexandra Popp (; born 6 April 1991) is a German footballer and Olympic gold medalist. She plays as a striker for VfL Wolfsburg and the Germany national team. She previously played for FCR 2001 Duisburg and 1. FFC Recklinghausen. Popp was nam ...

(born 1991), football player * Andreas Reckwitz (born 1970), sociologist * Stephan Remmler (born 1949), singer * Moritz Römling (born 2001), football player *

Otto Schlüter Otto Schlüter (12 November 1872 in Witten – 12 October 1959 in Halle) was a German geographer. Schlüter was a professor of geography at the University of Halle Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universitä ...

(1872–1959), geographer * Joseph Schmidt-Görg (1897–1981), musicologist and composer *

Otto Schott Friedrich Otto Schott (1851–1935) was a German chemist, glass technologist, and the inventor of borosilicate glass. Schott systematically investigated the relationship between the chemical composition of the glass and its properties. In this wa ...

(1851–1935), chemist * Erich Schöppner (1932–2005), boxer * Michael Schulz (born 1961), football player *

Josef Sieber Josef Sieber (28 April 1900 – 3 December 1962) was a German film actor. Selected filmography * ''Pappi'' (1934) * ''Punks Arrives from America'' (1935) * ''Joan of Arc'' (1935) * ''The Gypsy Baron'' (1935) * ''The Last Four on Santa Cruz'' (193 ...

(1900–1962), film actor * Wilhelm Utermann (1912–1991), writer and journalist *

Willi Veller Wilhelm "Willi" Veller (9 October 1896, Witten, Province of Westphalia – 22 June 1941) was a German politician and member of the Nazi Party and the SA. As chief of police (''Polizeipräsident'') in Wuppertal, he oversaw Kemna concentration cam ...

(1896–1941), politician (NSDAP) *

Tanja Wedhorn Tanja Wedhorn (born 14 December 1971 in Witten) is a German actress. She studied acting at the Berlin University of the Arts and lives in Berlin. She has two sons. Tanja Wedhorn became famous for her performance in the leading role of Germany' ...

(born 1971), actress * Charles Paul Wilp (1932–2005), artist and photographer *

Rosi Wolfstein Alma Rosalie (Rosi) Wolfstein (after 1948, Rosi Frölich: 27 May 1888 – 11 December 1987) was a German socialist politician. After the murder of her friend and mentor, the communist pioneer Rosa Luxemburg, she inherited Luxemburg's copious col ...

(1888–1987), politician (KPD)

References

{{Authority control Holocaust locations in Germany