Gescher is a municipality in the district of Borken, 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 betwe ...

. It is located near the border with the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. It is most often known for its bell work, and it includes a Museum of Bells.

Geography

Gescher is surrounded by farming communities and can be seen as more of a rural town.

Farming Communities and Suburbs

Farming Communities and suburbs belonging to Gescher include: * Harwick * Estern * Büren * Tungerloh-Capellen * Tungerloh-Pröbsting * Hochmoor

Location

Gescher is located in the western half of the ''

Regierungsbezirk A ' () means "governmental district" and is a type of administrative division in Germany. Four of sixteen ' ( states of Germany) are split into '. Beneath these are rural and urban districts. Saxony has ' (directorate districts) with more res ...

'', Münsterland. It finds itself within the District of Borken, just to the south of Stadtlohn. To the east lies the District of Coesfeld, and the Dutch border can be found to the west. The river,

Berkel The Berkel () is a river in the Netherlands and Germany. It is a right tributary of the IJssel. The river rises in Billerbeck, near the German city of Münster in North Rhine-Westphalia, and crosses the border with the Netherlands near Vr ...

runs through Gescher and used to be used extensively to deliver goods between Dutch towns and Münster.

History

The early history of Gescher starts as a connecting stop on a postal route running from Muenster to the Netherlands. In 1570, Gescher suffered an enormous village-wide fire that destroyed the entire town. During the time of reconstruction, many looters came over from the Netherlands to take advantage of the unfortunate situation. After 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 ...

, Gescher was under the control of Mr. Ball and the British sovereignty in Germany. Gescher was under the authority of Kreis Coesfeld up until 1975 when Gescher was pulled into Kreis Borken.

Population Changes over the Years

Local council (Rat)

Elections in 2014: Vote share and seats *CDU 41,7 %=14 seats *SPD 24,2 %= 8 seats *UWG 14,6 %= 5 seats *The Greens 13,1 %= 5 seats *FDP 6,3 %= 2 seats *Total 34 seats

Infrastructure

Transportation

Private

The Bundesautobahn 31 connects Gescher with the

Ruhr Region 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 the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

. The Bundesstrasse 525 connects Gescher with the Dutch border and

Nottuln Nottuln (; Low German: ''Notteln'') is a municipality in the district of Coesfeld in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Nottuln is situated in the Baumberge, approx. 20 km west of Münster. Neighbouring municipalities ...

Bundesautobahn 43 is an autobahn in western Germany, connecting Münster via Recklinghausen to Wuppertal. It is an important bypass for traffic coming from the A 1 wanting to go to the western Ruhr valley The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpot ...

Public

=Bus

= Westfalenbus operates a few scheduled bus services through Gescher:

=Rail

= Up until 1985, Gescher was on the railroad offering services between Empel and Muenster. The old train station building can still be seen on the southside of Gescher.

=Air

= The closest general aviation airport is Stadtlohn-Vreden Airport, located about 15 kilometers from Gescher. The closest airport with scheduled commercial traffic is

Münster Osnabrück International Airport Münster Osnabrück International Airport , ''Flughafen Münster/Osnabrück'' in German, is a minor international airport in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located near Greven, north of Münster and south of Osnabrück. The ...

, which is located about 50 kilometers away from Gescher. A way bigger alternative is the

Düsseldorf Airport Düsseldorf Airport (german: link=no, Flughafen Düsseldorf, ; until March 2013 ''Düsseldorf International Airport''; ) is the international airport of Düsseldorf, the capital of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is about north ...

, which is located about 85 kilometers from Gescher.

Sons and daughters of the city

* Heinrich Hörnemann (1906-1977), farmer and German politician (CDU), Member of Bundestag 1961-1969 * Peter Schmidt (born 1944), German writer, multiple recipient (first and second place) of the

Deutscher Krimi Preis The Deutscher Krimi Preis, or the ''German Crime Fiction Award'', is the oldest and most prestigious German literary prize for crime fiction. It has been awarded since 1985 by the Bochum Crime Archive. Unlike the Friedrich Glauser Prize, which is ...

* August Wessing (1880-1945), Catholic clergyman and NS victim, died in Dachau concentration camp * G. Mescher (2000), Naamgenoot van de stad

Photos

Image:Gescher, Brauchtum verbindet met die Katholische Pfarrkirche Sankt Pankratius Dm1 foto10 2016-04-02 10.54.jpg, Gescher - Connecting Cultures File:Before bell founding.jpg, Gescher, bell molds in the bell museum (Glockenmuseum Gescher) File:Glockenmuseum Gescher.jpg, Bell museum File:Tungerloh-Capellen, veldkapel foto8 2016-04-02 11.31.jpg, Tungerloh-Capellen, chapelle

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Borken (district)