Voerde ([]) is a town in the Wesel (district), district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, approximately south-east of Wesel, and 20 km north of

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in No ...

City structure

According to art. 1(3) of the Main Charter of the town, the municipal area is divided into the 11 quarters of Götterswickerhamm, Löhnen, Mehrum, Möllen, Voerde, Stockum, Holthausen, Friedrichsfeld, Emmelsum, Spellen and Ork. These quarters are, however, not localities in the sense of article 39 of the North Rhine-Westphalian Municipal Code ( GO NW).

History

Voerde owes its name to a

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 ...

crossing of a branch of the River Rhine, which existed there during Roman and Frankish times (the old spelling for ''Furt'' was ''Fuerdt''). In 1244, the town was mentioned in records for the first time as a

fiefdom A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of f ...

and castle of the

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The con ...

of Werden. In 1804, during the time of the French occupation, Voerde was integrated into the ''Amt Götterswickerhamm'', which was renamed to ''Voerde'' in 1911. During

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 opposing ...

, the 9th US-Army crossed the Rhine in the night of 23 to 24 March 1945 in the area of Voerde and reached the right Rhine-bank for the first time (

Operation Plunder Operation Plunder was a military operation to cross the Rhine on the night of 23 March 1945, launched by the 21st Army Group under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. The crossing of the river was at Rees, Wesel, and south of the river Li ...

). Since 1975 Voerde is part of the district of Wesel.

Buildings and constructions

* Pylons of Voerde * Haus Voerde: Moated castle * Haus Wohnung: Moated castle

Politics

At the last communal-election in Voerde the

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been t ...

became the strongest party. The incumbent mayor is Dirk Haarmann (

Twin towns – sister cities

Voerde is twinned with: * Alnwick, England, United Kingdom * Handlová, Slovakia

Transport

Voerde Main Station is located in the town centre at the railway track Oberhausen-Arnhem. A second station, Voerde-Friedrichsfeld, is located 4 km northern. Important waterways, the Rhine and the Wesel-Datteln-channel, cross Voerde's area.

Sports

There are 11 shooting clubs, 2 Tennis clubs and a riding club in Voerde. The most important sport club is the TV Voerde.

Education

There are 7 elementary schools, one gymnasium, one comprehensive school, one secondary school and one school for mentally handicapped pupils.

Notable people

* Karl Topp (1895–1981), naval officer in World Wars I and II * Heike Schulte-Mattler (born 1958), athlete, Olympic medalist

References

Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia Wesel (district) {{Wesel-geo-stub