Wülfrath is a town in the district of
Mettmann (district)
Mettmann () is a Kreis (district) in the middle of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring are the Ennepe-Ruhr, Rhein-Kreis Neuss, Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis and the
district-free cities Cologne, Leverkusen, Wuppertal, Solingen, Düsseldorf,
D ...
, 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 States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...
, Germany.
Geography
The town is situated on the mountain spurs of the
Bergische Land, between the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
,
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 ...
and
Wupper
The Wupper is a right tributary of the Rhine in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Rising near Marienheide in western Sauerland it runs through the mountainous region of the Bergisches Land in Berg County and enters the Rhine at Lever ...
rivers. It is located in the central part of the
Berg region, approx. 12 km northeast of
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...
.
The old town centre lies in the small valley of the
Angerbach
Angerbach is a right tributary of the Rhine in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It flows through Wülfrath and Ratingen, and discharges into the Rhine in Angerhausen, a district in the southern part of Duisburg.
See also
*List of rivers of Nort ...
, a brook which rises nearby and flows through the town. The newer parts of the town are built on the valley slopes.
History
Wülfrath was one of the first settlements to be made in a clearing in the great Imperial forest of the early
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
. The name means ''clearing of a man named Wolf'' and its date of origin is thought to be about 713. Around this has grown up the legend of a settler called Wolf who had been expelled from his clan and who is supposed to have made a clearing in the then luxuriant forest on the site of the present village centre.
In 875 the
hundreds (''Honnschaften'') and present suburbs of Flandersbach (''Flatmarasbeki'', i.e., Flattmar's brook) and Rützkausen (''Hrotsteninghuson'', i.e., the houses of Hrotse's people) are named in a description of the places owing tithes to
Werden Abbey
Werden Abbey (german: Kloster Werden) was a Benedictine monastery in Essen-Werden (Germany), situated on the Ruhr.
The foundation of the abbey
Near Essen Saint Ludger founded a monastery in 799 and became its first abbot. The little church w ...
on the Ruhr. In around 1100 the placename Wülfrath (''Wolverothe'') itself is at last mentioned in a document written in a monk's hand at the religious house at
Kaiserswerth
Kaiserswerth is one of the oldest quarters of the City of Düsseldorf, part of Borough 5. It is in the north of the city and next to the river Rhine. It houses the where Florence Nightingale worked.
Kaiserswerth has an area of , and 7,923 inh ...
.
The boundaries are given in a deed of grant of the
Emperor Henry VI
Henry VI (German: ''Heinrich VI.''; November 1165 – 28 September 1197), a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was King of Germany (King of the Romans) from 1169 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1191 until his death. From 1194 he was also King of Sic ...
dated 16 October 1165 as the courses of the Rhein, Ruhr and
Düssel
The Düssel is a small right tributary of the river Rhine in North Rhine Westphalia, Germany. Its source is east of Wülfrath. It flows westward through the Neander Valley where the fossils of the first known to be Neanderthal man were found ...
(''Tussella'') rivers. The eastern boundary was the old highway of the "Kölnische Straße" (''strata colonensis''), which ran from the bridge over the Ruhr at
Werden
Werden 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 situated at a median height of .
__ ...
via
Velbert
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 'Niede ...
and Wülfrath along the Düssel towards
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 ...
. The centre of the mediaeval village was a demesne farm or manor (Mollmershof), which as part of the lordship of
Hardenberg
Hardenberg (; nds-nl, Haddenbarreg or '' 'n Arnbarg'') is a city and municipality in the province of Overijssel, Eastern Netherlands. The municipality of Hardenberg has a population of about 60,000, with about 19,000 living in the city. It recei ...
was sold to the
Counts of Berg
Berg was a state—originally a county, later a duchy—in the Rhineland of Germany. Its capital was Düsseldorf. It existed as a distinct political entity from the early 12th to the 19th centuries.
The name of the county lives on in the modern ...
. Possession of this manor, to which an extensive group of scattered farms belonged, particularly in the hundreds of
Erbach and
Püttbach, also gave control of the
advowson
Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, ...
of the church, that is, the right to appoint the priest.
As early as 1265 the presence of a smith can be demonstrated from the tax and rent register. The estate of Puttbach in the hundred of the same name was in the possession of the
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...
in 1392. It became the administrative centre for the order's scattered properties, where every year the manorial court was held.
In 1578 the village was destroyed by a great fire, which also burnt the roof and tower of the church. To help mitigate the severe losses of the inhabitants, the local prince, Duke Johann Wilhelm IV of Jülich-Kleve-Berg, granted them in 1579 a charter of market rights, permitting his ''village and parish of Wulfrod'' four free markets a year. But exactly one hundred years after the first fire, another destroyed the entire village centre with more than 70 houses.
After the transfer of the
Duchy of Berg
Berg was a state—originally a county, later a duchy—in the Rhineland of Germany. Its capital was Düsseldorf. It existed as a distinct political entity from the early 12th to the 19th centuries.
The name of the county lives on in the modern ...
to the
French and the establishment of the Grand Duchy of Berg, out of the hundreds Erbach, Püttbach, Obschwarzbach, Niederschwarzbach (all previously Amt
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 ...
), Flandersbach, Rützkausen (previously Amt
Angermund) and Oberdüssel (previously in the lordship of
Schöller) was formed in 1808 the municipality (''mairie'') of Wülfrath. In 1809 Obschwarzbach and Niederschwarzbach were added to Mettmann, in return for which, the hundred of Unterdüssel with the village of Düssel were given to Wülfrath.
After the wars of liberation the place came to
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
, as part of the newly created
Rhine Province
The Rhine Province (german: Rheinprovinz), also known as Rhenish Prussia () or synonymous with the Rhineland (), was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822 to 1946. It ...
. By an ordinance of 1827 Wülfrath was entitled to representation as part of the estate of towns in the Rhine Provincial Parliament. In 1856 it finally received full municipal rights with the passing of the town ordinance for the Rhine Province.
Church and other buildings
At the time of the first recorded reference in c. 1100, the first church building could already have been standing on the site of the present church square, a small early mediaeval church with a square choir. Since the 11th century a
romanesque church stood there, which was extended and enlarged in the 15th century with
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
additions. In the mid-15th century it was referred to as
Saint Cornelius' church. The tower and north aisle with the wall separating it from the nave are romanesque, probably from the 12th century. The nave is Gothic, from the 14th century. The south aisle in Late Gothic style was completed, according to a
capstone
CAPSTONE (Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment) is a lunar orbiter that will test and verify the calculated orbital stability planned for the Lunar Gateway space station. The spacecraft is a 12- ...
, in 1524. The church is surrounded by houses and shops built round it in a circle, forming a beautiful enclosed church square typical of the ancient Berg region.
The surrounding houses remain for the most part in their original state and are protected buildings, although others have been rebuilt. Each of them had (and still has) a name as well as a house number: ''Auf'm Keller'' (1678), ''Hamels'' (1678), ''Melanders'' (1678), ''Op der Ley'' (about 1600 - refurbished 1911), ''Auf'm Haus'' (1678),'' Großer Klaus'' (1686 - rebuilt 1964), ''Kleiner Klaus'' (1678), ''Scholle'' (1678), ''Hinter'm Turm'' (1678), ''Jostenhaus'' (refurbished about 1738), ''Hechtsteinhaus'' (1678), ''Op de Trapp'' (1678) and ''Leonhards'' (rebuilt 1955).
In 2001 a part of the historic Old Town yet again fell victim to the flames. During the night of 21 January 2001 a fire broke out which destroyed three of the old
half-timbered
Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...
houses. They had to be demolished, and have been replaced by modern buildings.
Economics
By the mid-19th century, more than 100 companies and businesses had established themselves, most of which were largish cottage industries, principally weaving on looms. After 1850, the first large-scale businesses, aided by steam technology, were created. Despite the strong industrialization of that time, the village's agricultural character was not completely lost, but today only isolated agricultural enterprises exist.
Of particular significance was the arrival of quarrying in Wülfrath, with the establishment of the ''Rheinisch-Westfälische Kalkwerke Dornap'' in 1887, and the ''Rheinische Kalksteinwerke Wülfrath'' in 1903. Wülfrath now has the largest chalk and limestone quarries in Europe. These undertakings have been a decisive influence on the development of the town, and have remained the principal component of Wülfrath's industrial life until now.
There continued to be numerous home-based weaving enterprises, as well as businesses involved in finishing leather and many other small firms. A branch of the
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
works at
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 ...
was founded here, rising out of the coachwork company ''Josef Hebmueller Soehne'', established 1889, and still extant as ''(Tedrive)''.
Coat of arms
After 1840, the Wülfrath
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...
, modelled on an old seal of the Lutheran Reformed municipality, was designed by the Düsseldorf heraldic and painter Wolfgang Pagenstecher. In 1938 the arms were again re-designed and officially recognized by the President of the Rhine Province. The arms, showing a shepherd in mediaeval costume fending off a wolf with his staff, symbolize the victory of good over evil and refer to the town's name, although not particularly to the settler Wolf.
Schools
(External links here are in German):
*Grundschule Ellenbeek, 16 Tiegenhöfer Straße
*Grundschule Lindenschule, 26 Lindenstraße
*Grundschule Parkschule, 14 Parkstraße
*Hauptschule Wolverothe, 5 Schulstraße
*Theodor-Heuss-Realschule, 20 Bergstraße
*Städtisches Gymnasium, 63 Kastanienallee
*Schule für Lernbehinderte, 3 In den Eschen
*Volkshochschule Mettmann-Wülfrath, 189 Wilhelmstraße
Politics
Mayors
In September 2020, Rainer Otto Ritsche was elected mayor of Wülfrath.
'' Previous mayors ''
* 1975-1984: Ulrich Schiller (CDU)
* 1984-1988: Helmut Kuhnert (SPD)
* 1988-1995: Alois Huning (CDU)
* 1995-2004: Ulrich Eilebrecht (independent)
* 2004-2009: Barbara Lorenz-Allendorff (independent)
* 2009-2020: Claudia Panke (independent)
* 2020-: Rainer Otto Ritsche (independent)
City council
The city council has 46 seats. The elections in 2020 showed the following results:
Twinned towns
*
Ware
Ware may refer to:
People
* Ware (surname)
* William of Ware (), English Franciscan theologian
Places Canada
* Fort Ware, British Columbia
United Kingdom
* Ware, Devon
*Ware, Hertfordshire
* Ware, Kent
United States
* Ware, Elmore County ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, United Kingdom (since 1971)
*
Bondues
Bondues (; nl, Bonduwe) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.
Since 1997, Bondues has housed a Museum devoted to the Resistance of the Nord-Pas de Calais region. The Fort of Bondues, also known as Fort Lobau, was built near ...
,
Nord-Pas-De-Calais
Nord-Pas-de-Calais (); pcd, Nord-Pas-Calés); is a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Hauts-de-France. It consisted of the departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais. Nord-Pas-de-Cala ...
, France (since 2003)
*
Ames
Ames may refer to:
Places United States
* Ames, Arkansas, a place in Arkansas
* Ames, Colorado
* Ames, Illinois
* Ames, Indiana
* Ames, Iowa, the most populous city bearing this name
* Ames, Kansas
* Ames, Nebraska
* Ames, New York
* Ames, Ok ...
,
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
, United States (since 1985)
Sponsorship
*Since 24 October 2000, the town ha
sponsoredth
Army Music Corps 7of the
Bundeswehr
The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...
, based in Düsseldorf
Sites of interest
Museums
*
Niederbergisches Museum, Bergstrasse 22-24
*
Zeittunnel Wülfrath, Hammerstein 5
Others
*Historical church square
*''Düsseler Tor''
Events
*Weekly market, every Saturday from 7:00 to 12:00 (CET)
*Annual summer fair of the allotments at ''Erbacher Berg''
*Annual city celebration, the ''Kartoffelfest'' (''Potato Fair''), in September
*Annual Christmas market, known as ''Duke William's Market'', at the end of November.
Notable people
'' Sons and daughters: ''
*
Wolfgang Kuck (born 1967), volleyball player
* Werner Weber (1904–1976), jurist
'' Persons with relationship to the city: ''
*
Friedensreich Hundertwasser
Friedrich Stowasser (15 December 1928 – 19 February 2000), better known by his pseudonym Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser (), was an Austrian visual artist and architect who also worked in the field of environmental protection ...
(1928–2000), artist; Designed the dome at the Kindergarten '' Düsseler Tor ''
*
Gottfried Daniel Krummacher (1774–1837), theologian, 1801–1816 Pastor in Wülfrath
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Wülfrath Town Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wulfrath
Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia
Mettmann (district)