Unkel is a town in the district of Neuwied, in

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

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 ...

. It is situated on the right bank of the

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

, near Remagen, about 20 km southeast of

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

. Unkel is the seat of the '' Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") Unkel.

Religion

Unkel is mainly Roman Catholic. Approximately 55% of the inhabitants are Roman Catholic, and 15% Protestant. 18% of the residents do not belong to a religious denomination, 8% are Muslim.

Geography

Location

The town is located at the edge of the Rhine-Westerwald Nature Park in the middle of the Rhine Valley, its centre is about 4 km away from the border to

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 ...

Neighbouring settlements

Unkel is surrounded from north to south by the settlements of Rheinbreitbach, Bruchhausen, Windhagen, Linz, Erpel, and Remagen.

Subdivisions

Unkel has three subdistricts: Unkel, Scheuren and Heister.

Sights

The most important sight is the "Freiligrathaus", which is located at the Rhine promenade. It is a baroque palace, built in 1760. Ferdinand Freiligrath lived there from 1839 until 1841. The rich-featured Catholic parish church "St. Pantaleon" accommodates a feretory (a receptacle for the relics of saints). Additionally, most of the old town wall is well preserved.

Twin town

* Kamen,

* Ushuaia,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

Famous townsfolk

* Stefan Andres, author of the novella ''Wir sind Utopia''. * Konrad Adenauer (1876–1967), who became first

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...

, found refuge in Unkel during the time of national socialism. * Willy Brandt (1913–1992), former

Chancellor of Germany The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,; often shortened to ''Bundeskanzler''/''Bundeskanzlerin'', / is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the Ge ...

, spent the last years of his life, from 1979 until 1992, in Unkel. Many famous politicians visited him there, like Helmut Kohl and

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to the country's dissolution in 1991. He served as General Secretary of the Com ...

. The market place is named after him. His work room can be visited on request. *

Stephan Fahrig Stephan Fahrig (20 November 1968 – 23 January 2017) was a German lightweight rower and a sports scientist. Fahrig was born in 1968 in Unkel in West Germany. He took up rowing aged 14 and over his career, he won 15 national titles. Initially r ...

(1968–2017), lightweight rower and a sports scientist *

Ferdinand Freiligrath Ferdinand Freiligrath (17 June 1810 – 18 March 1876) was a German poet, translator and liberal agitator, who is considered part of the Young Germany movement. Life Freiligrath was born in Detmold, Principality of Lippe. His father was a teacher. ...

(1810–1876), a German writer, started his literary career in Unkel. The house he lived in is now called Freiligrathhaus. * Fritz Henkel (1875–1930), son of Friedrich Karl Henkel (1848–1930), the inventor of

Persil Persil is a German brand of laundry detergent manufactured and marketed by Henkel around the world except in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Latin America (except Mexico), China, Australia and New Zealand, where it is manufactured and ma ...

(laundry detergent) and founder of the

Henkel AG & Co. KGaA, commonly known as Henkel, is a German multinational chemical and consumer goods company headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. It is active in both the consumer and industrial sectors. Founded in 1876, the DAX company is organ ...

Company, had his summer home in Unkel. He donated a fire-brigade car and a park, which was named after him. * Leonhard Reinirkens, a writer, is honorary citizen of Unkel. * Anne Bierwirth, contralto, was born here.

References

__NOTOC__ {{Authority control Populated places on the Rhine Neuwied (district)