Bergisch Gladbach () is a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

in the

Cologne/Bonn Region The Cologne Bonn Region (German: ''Region Köln/Bonn'') is a metropolitan area in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany, covering the cities of Cologne, Bonn and Leverkusen, as well as the districts of Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis, Oberbergischer ...

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, and capital of the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis (district).

Geography

Bergisch Gladbach is located east of the river

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...

, approx. 10 kilometers east of

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

Neighbouring municipalities

Beginning in the north clockwise the neighbouring municipalities and neighbouring towns are: Odenthal, Kürten, Overath,

Rösrath Rösrath (; ) is a town in the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis (district) in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The earliest known documents mentioning the settlement ''Rösrath'' can be found in documents dated to 1356. There have been findings of Pale ...

and Leverkusen.

History

Early settlements existed in the 13th century, but the town was officially founded in 1856. Altes Schloss Bensberg and City Hall, June 2021

The word ''Bergisch'' in the name does not originate from its location in the county of Berg and was not added to distinguish it from

Mönchengladbach Mönchengladbach (, li, Jlabbach ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border. Geography Municipal subdivisions Since 2009, the territory of Möncheng ...

as believed by many people, but from the counts who gave their name to the region. At the start of the 12th century the counts of Berg settled in the area and it later became the duchy (under Napoleon, the grand duchy) of Berg. This is where the first part of the name (''Bergisch'') comes from, the town being located in the former county of Berg. It is the administrative headquarters ('Kreisstadt') of the Rheinish-Bergisch district (or 'Kreis'). The second part of the name, ''Gladbach'' (cognate with English ''Ladbrooke'') originates from Low Rhenish (''Bergisches Platt'') and means ''canalised stream'', referring to the small river (the ''Strunde'') that was artificially canalised (''laid'') in early medieval times. In ''Bergisch Platt'', the regional dialect, ''laid'' is said ''gelaat'', a word which eventually evolved to ''glad'' (in this case the 'd' is pronounced as a 't'). The second part of the word, ''bach'' is the standard German word for a small stream, referring in this case to the ''

Strunde Strunde is a river of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It flows through Bergisch Gladbach, and joins the Flehbach or Faulbach near Cologne- Buchheim. See also *List of rivers of North Rhine-Westphalia A list of rivers of North Rhine-Westphal ...

''. In 1975 the town incorporated neighbouring Bensberg and when it reached a population of 100,000 in 1977 it was given city status.

Economy

Paper manufacturing, printing, glass wool manufacturing, chocolate, and high-tech industries make up a large part of Bergisch Gladbach's economy.

Politics

Mayor

The current mayor of Bergisch Gladbach is Frank Stein of 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). The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Candidate ! Party ! Votes ! % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Frank Stein , align=left,

, 25,321 , 52.3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Buchen , align=left, Christian Democratic Union , 18,973 , 39.2 , - , , align=left, Iro Herrmann , align=left, Citizens' Party GL , 2,093 , 4.3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Günther Schöpf , align=left, Alternative for Germany , 2,014 , 4.2 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 48,401 ! 99.3 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 358 ! 0.7 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 48,759 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 89,995 ! 54.2 , - , colspan=7, Source
City of Bergisch Gladbach

City council

The Bergisch Gladbach 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, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , 17,463 , 36.2 , 5.7 , 20 , 6 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) , 13,858 , 28.7 , 12.8 , 16 , 6 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(SPD) , 9,209 , 19.1 , 5.0 , 10 , 5 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP) , 2,438 , 5.1 , 0.5 , 3 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alternative for Germany (AfD) , 2,213 , 4.6 , 0.2 , 3 , ±0 , - , , align=left, Citizens' Party GL (BGL) , 1,398 , 2.9 , 1.2 , 2 , 1 , - , , align=left, Free Voters' Association Bergisch Gladbach (FWG) , 1,645 , 3.4 , New , 2 , New , - ! colspan=2, Valid votes ! 48,224 ! 98.8 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Invalid votes ! 597 ! 1.2 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 48,821 ! 100.0 ! ! 56 ! 6 , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 89,995 ! 52.3 ! 0.1 ! ! , - , colspan=7, Source
City of Bergisch Gladbach

Twin towns – sister cities

Bergisch Gladbach is twinned with: *

Beit Jala Beit Jala ( ar, ) is a Palestinian Christian town in the Bethlehem Governorate of the West Bank. Beit Jala is located 10 km south of Jerusalem, on the western side of the Hebron road, opposite Bethlehem, at altitude. In 2017, Beit Jala had ...

, Palestine (2010) *

Bourgoin-Jallieu Bourgoin-Jallieu (; frp, Brégon) is a commune in the Isère department in the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in France. The city had 28,834 inhabitants in 2019 and lies 35 kilometres east-southeast of Lyon. It was formed by the merger of the ...

, France (1956) * Ganei Tikva, Israel (2012) * Joinville-le-Pont, France (1960) *

Limassol Limassol (; el, Λεμεσός, Lemesós ; tr, Limasol or ) is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the district with the same name. Limassol is the second largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban populatio ...

, Cyprus (1991) *

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...

, England (1956) * Marijampolė, Lithuania (1989) * Pszczyna, Poland (1993) *

Runnymede Runnymede is a water-meadow alongside the River Thames in the English county of Surrey, and just over west of central London. It is notable for its association with the sealing of Magna Carta, and as a consequence is, with its adjoining ...

, England (1995) * Velsen, Netherlands (1956)

Notable people

Markus von Ahlen Markus von Ahlen (born 1 January 1971) is a German football manager and a former player. He manages the Under-19 squad of Fortuna Köln. Coaching career von Ahlen started his coaching career in the youth section at Bayer Leverkusen in 2007 befor ...

(born 1971), footballer and coach * Rüdiger Baldauf (born 1961), jazz musician * Astrid Benöhr (born 1957), endurance athlete * Sebastian Blomberg (born 1972), actor * Wolfgang Bosbach (born 1952), politician (CDU) * Karl Budde (1850–1935), Protestant theologian *

Armin Falk Armin Falk (born 18 January 1968) is a German economist. He has held a chair at the University of Bonn since 2003. Biography Education and career Falk studied economics as well as philosophy and history at the University of Cologne. In 1998 ...

(born 1968), economist *

Markus Feldenkirchen Markus Feldenkirchen (born 1 September 1975 in Bergisch Gladbach) is a German journalist and writer. Early life and education Markus Feldenkirchen was educated at Albertus Magnus Grammar School in Bergisch Gladbach, where he took his ''Abitur' ...

(born 1975), journalist * Vanessa Fuchs (born 1996), Germany's Next Topmodel winner of the season 2015 * Kerstin Gier (born 1966), author * Volker Goetze (born 1972), German born, New York based musician composer and filmmaker * Fabian Hambüchen (born 1987), artistic gymnast * Götz Heidelberg (1923–2017), physicist, constructor and entrepreneur *

Waldemar Henrici Waldemar Henrici (February 3, 1878 – February 15, 1950) was a Lieutenant General of the German Wehrmacht who commanded a division of the VII Army Corps in the 4th Army during Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of Russia during the Sec ...

(1878–1950), general and Reichsarbeitsdienstführer * Mats Hummels (born 1988), footballer * Hubert Käppel (born 1951), guitarist and music pedagogue *

Brigitte Kraus Brigitte Kraus (born 12 August 1956 in Bensberg) is a retired West German middle-distance runner who specialized in the 1500 metres, 1500 and 3000 metres. She competed for the sports clubs LG Rhein-Berg and ASV Köln during her active career. Int ...

(born 1956), middle distance runner *

Georg Koch Georg Koch (born 3 February 1972) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Career Born in Bergisch Gladbach, Koch started his career playing at amateur club SpVgg Erkenschwick before becoming a professional in J ...

(born 1972), football goalkeeper * Heidi Klum (born 1973), model and presenter *

Carolin Kebekus Carolin Kebekus (born 9 May 1980) is a German comedian and television personality. Biography Born in Bergisch Gladbach, Kebekus grew up as daughter of a social education worker and a banker in Köln-Ostheim. Her younger Brother David Kebe is ...

(born 1980), comedian, singer and actress * Theo Koll (born 1958), journalist * German Mäurer (1811–1885), Prussian writer * Veronika Moos-Brochhagen (born 1961), textile artist *

Benyamin Nuss Benyamin Nuss (born 20 June 1989) is a German pianist and composer.Benyamin Nuss website (accessed 2010-03-13) Life Nuss was born in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany.Benyamin Nuss website(accessed 2014-11-07) He began playing the piano at age 6 in 19 ...

(born 1989), pianist * Bastian Oczipka (born 1989), footballer *

Uwe Ommer Uwe Ommer (born 1943 in Bergisch Gladbach) is a German photographer. Published works * ''Photedition 2''. Verlag Photographie, Schaffhausen 1980, . * ''Exotic''. Bahia Verlag, München 1983, . * Pirelli Calendar. 1984. * ''Black ladies''. Tac ...

(born 1943), act, fashion and advertising photos * Monika Piel (born 1951), journalist and presenter * Tibor Pleiß (born 1989), basketball player * Karin Sander (born 1957), artist * David Schnell (born 1971), painter *

Tim Wiese Tim Wiese (; born 17 December 1981) is a German former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Having progressed through the youth teams at DJK Dürscheid and Bayer Leverkusen, Wiese started his professional career at Fortuna Köln, ...

(born 1981), German football goalkeeper and wrestler

Secondary schools in Bergisch Gladbach

* Albertus-Magnus-Gymnasium Bensberg/Bergisch Gladbach * Gymnasium Herkenrath/Bergisch Gladbach * Nicolaus-Cusanus-Gymnasium Bergisch Gladbach * Otto-Hahn-Gymnasium Bensberg/Bergisch Gladbach * Dietrich-Bonhoeffer-Gymnasium Bergisch Gladbach * Integrierte-Gesamtschule-Paffrath Bergisch Gladbach

References

External links

*
Fire Department Bergisch Gladbach
{{Authority control Cities in North Rhine-Westphalia Districts of the Rhine Province