Bergheim ( Ripuarian: ''Berchem'') is a German town, some twenty km west of

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 ...

and the capital of the

Rhein-Erft-Kreis The Rhein-Erft-Kreis ( ksh, Rhing-Ärff-Kries) is a district in the west of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Neuss, district-free Cologne, Rhein-Sieg, Euskirchen, Düren. History The district in its current borders was ...

(district). The town's Niederaußem district is one of the most important suppliers for energy from

lignite Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...

s in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Geography

Bergheim is about 20 km west of Cologne, approximately 72 metres above sea level. Its highest point is the Glessener Höhe (Glessen Height) at 204 metres. The

Erft The Erft () is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It flows through the foothills of the Eifel, and joins the Lower Rhine (left tributary). Its origin is near Nettersheim, and its mouth in Neuss-Grimlinghausen south of the Josef Cardinal ...

River flows through Bergheim. The town lies in the Zülpicher Börde, which belongs to the

Kölner Bucht The Cologne Lowland,Dickinson 1953, 35, 461–64, 466–73.Elkins 1968, 229. also called the Cologne Bay or, less commonly, the Cologne Bight (german: Kölner Bucht), is a densely populated area of Germany lying between the cities of Bonn, Aache ...

. Economically and geographically Bergheim is in the Rhenish lignite coalfield.

History

There is a burial hill in Niederaußem, dating from about 4000 BC.

Romans 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 lette ...

settled in Bergheim around 50 BC. They constructed the major Roman road, the Via Belgica, that crossed the area where Bergheim is today. Later the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...

took control over the region. In the

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 ...

, Bergheim was granted city rights and later became part of the

County of Jülich A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

. In the 19th and 20th centuries Bergheim grew rapidly through the settlement of industry based on the local

coal. In

World War II 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 opposin ...

, the

Wesseling Wesseling () is an industrial German city on the Rhine bordering Cologne city on the south. With three chemical plants and a petroleum refinery within its city limits, it has an important place in the international petrochemical industry. Histor ...

synthetic oil plant was bombed during the Oil Campaign of World War II. Then in April 1944, a large underground plant for synthetic oil manufactured from lignite was set up outside Bergheim.

Districts

* Ahe * Auenheim * Bergheim-Mitte * Büsdorf * Fliesteden * Glesch * Glessen * Kenten * Niederaußem * Oberaußem * Paffendorf * Quadrath-Ichendorf * Rheidt-Hüchelhoven * Thorr * Zieverich

Points of interest

Points of interest are the

Niederaussem Power Station Niederaussem Power Station is a lignite-fired power station in the Bergheim Niederaussem/ Rhein Erft circle, owned by RWE. It consists of nine units, which were built between 1963 and 2003. It is the second-largest lignite coal power plant in o ...

with the world's tallest

cooling tower A cooling tower is a device that rejects waste heat to the atmosphere through the cooling of a coolant stream, usually a water stream to a lower temperature. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and ...

as well as the Kottenforst-Ville Nature Park.

Notable people

Gerhard Fieseler Gerhard Fieseler (15 April 1896 – 1 September 1987) was a German World War I flying ace, aerobatics champion, and aircraft designer and manufacturer. From birth to the 1918 armistice Born in Glesch (near Cologne), Fieseler joined the Air Serv ...

(1896–1987), fighter pilot in the First World War and aircraft constructor (Gerhard-Fieseler-Werke) *

Günter Grass Günter Wilhelm Grass (born Graß; ; 16 October 1927 – 13 April 2015) was a German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor, and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was born in the Free City of Da ...

(1927–2015), writer, Nobel Prize 1999, lived in Bergheim-Oberaussem for several years after the end of the World War II *

Sarah Kreuz The sixth season of '' Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' was aired on German channel RTL from January to May 2009. The season's winner, Daniel Schuhmacher, was awarded a contract with Sony BMG. The judges in this season were Dieter Bohlen, Nin ...

(born 1989), singer, second place with

DSDS ''Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' (''DSDS''; "Germany is looking for the Superstar") is a German reality talent show. Part of the ''Idol'' franchise, it was created by British media mogul Simon Fuller as a spin-off from the British show ''Po ...

* The footballer

Lukas Podolski Lukas Josef Podolski (; born Łukasz Józef Podolski, , on 4 June 1985) is a German professional footballer who plays as a forward for Ekstraklasa club Górnik Zabrze. Known for his powerful and accurate left foot, he is known for his explosive ...

grew up in Bergheim, played in the youth team of FC Jugend 07 Bergheim from 1991 onwards. In 1995 he changed to the D-youth of the 1. FC Köln *

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...

(born 1969), Formula 1 racing driver and seven-time world champion, attended the Geschwister-Scholl-Realschule in Bergheim *

Lukas Sinkiewicz Lukas Sinkiewicz (born 9 October 1985) is a Polish-German Association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football), defender who SV Lövenich/Widdersdorf. He last played for SSV Jahn Regensburg. He has represented Germany ...

(born 1985), footballer *

Victoria Ulbrich Queensberry was an all-female German pop group founded in late 2008. Formed during the seventh season of the television talent show ''Popstars'', '' Popstars – Just 4 Girls'', the original line-up consisted of singers (Leo), (Gabby), Antone ...

(born 1992), singer and former band member of Queensberry

Twin towns – sister cities

Datteln is twinned with: *

Andenne Andenne (; wa, Andene) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, Andenne had a total population of 25,240. The total area is 86.17 km² which gives a population density of 292 i ...

, Belgium *

Chauny Chauny () is a Communes of France, commune in the Aisne Departments of France, department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. History There has been a settlement on the site, more or less continuously, since at least the Carolingian era. Know ...

, France

References

http://www.wiktorp.cku.szkola.pl/Bergheim/Bergheim.htm {{Authority control Rhein-Erft-Kreis