Warstein () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

with

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

status in the district of Soest, 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 betwee ...

. It is located at the north end of

Sauerland The Sauerland () is a rural, hilly area spreading across most of the south-eastern part of North Rhine-Westphalia, in parts heavily forested and, apart from the major valleys, sparsely inhabited. The Sauerland is the largest tourist region in ...

Geography

Warstein is located north of the Arnsberger Wald (forest) at a brook called Wäster. The area south of the city is mostly forested; the lightly forested Haarstrang mountain is to the north. The river Möhne flows between these two areas. The highest elevation is in the south of the city near a hill called Stimm Stamm; the lowest elevation is in the village Waldhausen in the north.

Neighbouring municipalities

The following

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

, some with

status, border Warstein (clockwise, beginning in the north):

Anröchte Anröchte () is a municipality in the district of Soest, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography It is situated approximately 13 km south of Lippstadt and 15 km east of Soest. Neighbouring municipalities * Bad Sassendorf * Er ...

, Rüthen (town), Bestwig, Meschede (town),

Arnsberg Arnsberg (; wep, Arensperg) is a town in the Hochsauerland county, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the location of the Regierungsbezirk Arnsberg administration and one of the three local administration offices of the Hochs ...

(town),

Möhnesee Möhnesee is a municipality in the district of Soest, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography The Möhnesee municipality is situated around the Möhne Reservoir (hence the name), approx. 10 km south of Soest. History On the night of ...

, Bad Sassendorf. Of these, Bestwig and Meschede are in the district of Hochsauerlandkreis, on Warstein's (and, thus, Soest district's) southern border.

Subdivisions

While named for the main settled portion within its total area, the town can be roughly divided into the following subdivisions (german: Ortsteil):

History

Evidence of human life was found in the between Warstein and Hirschberg. Warstein was first mentioned officially in 1072. Historians once thought Warstein was organized as an official town in 1276, 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 ...

Warstein was part of the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label= Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...

, a trade association for guilds, a very important international trading association at that time. A fire in 1802 destroyed a significant portion of the town. After that the town centre was moved to the Wester brook. In 1844 the Amt Warstein was founded. It was part of the

Archbishopric of Cologne The Archdiocese of Cologne ( la, Archidioecesis Coloniensis; german: Erzbistum Köln) is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and northern Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. History The Electorate of Colo ...

until 1902. In 1975 Warstein and the other eight independent villages merged to form the new borough of Warstein. The decrease of population in Warstein since 1998: *1998: 29,102 *1999: 29,084 *2000: 29,028 *2001: 29,007 *2002: 29,012 *2003: 28,762 *2004: 28,629

List of mayors

*1999–2004: Georg Juraschka (SPD) *2004–2015: Manfred Gödde (BG) *2015–incumbent: Thomas Schöne (CDU)

International relations

Warstein is twinned with: *

Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise (, literally ''Saint-Pol on Ternoise''; vls, Sint-Pols-aan-de-Ternas) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. It is the seat of the canton of Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise. The population of the town is ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

- twinned in 1964 * Wurzen,

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a ...

- twinned 3 October 1990 * Hebden Royd,

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

- twinned November 1995 * Pietrapaola,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

- an official friendship since 2001

Economy

Warsteiner Brauerei mit Besucherzentrum FFSN-7601

The largest employer in Warstein is the Warsteiner brewery, founded in 1753. It is one of the largest breweries in Germany. Second largest employer is

steel mill A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-fini ...

operator Siepmann-Werke, founded in 1891. In addition to its mills, the overall Siepmann Group head office is located in Warstein.

Notable people

Friedhelm Hillebrand Friedhelm Hillebrand is a German engineer who has been influential in setting mobile telecommunications standards. Hillebrand is one of the inventors of the SMS, as he and Frenchman Bernard Ghillebaert created the concept for the service in 1984 ...

(born 1940), engineer * Karl-Werner Schulte (born 1946), professor

Literature

*Heppekausen, Wolfgang; Clewing, Christian: Warstein: Bilder einer sauerländischen Stadt. Selbstverlag, Warstein 2001. *Gerte, Franz im Auftrag der Volkshochschule Möhne-Lippe: Wie war das?: Belecke 1923–1948. Selbstverlag, Belecke 2001. *Bamberg, Fritz: Die neue Stadt Warstein in alten Ansichten. Europäische Bibliothek, Zaltbommel 1986. *Bender, Josef: Geschichte der Stadt Warstein. Stein, Werl 1973. *Sandgathe, Günther: Die Stadt Warstein im Dreissigjährigen Krieg. Selbstverlag, Warstein 1971.

References

External links

Official site

Warsteiner brewery homepage
{{Authority control Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia Soest (district) Members of the Hanseatic League