Übach-Palenberg ( Ripuarian: ''Übach-Pallebersch'') is a town in the Heinsberg district of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It was formed by the merger of two villages, Palenberg and Übach.

Geography

The town is located at the border with the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, at approx. 10 km east of

Heerlen Heerlen (; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeast of the Netherlands. It is the third largest settlement proper in the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Measured as municipality, it is the f ...

and 15 km north of

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

. The river

Wurm Wurm or Würm may refer to: Places * Wurm (Rur), a river in North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany * Würm (Amper), a river in Bavaria, southeastern Germany ** Würm glaciation, an Alpine ice age, named after the Bavarian river * Würm (Nagold ...

flows through the area. The town has an area of 26.106 km². More than half the area is agricultural.

History

*867 the village Palenberg was first mentioned in a written document, 1172 the village Übach. 1794 three ''Bürgermeistereien'' were created - Übach, Scherpenseel, Frelenberg - which were merged into one municipality in 1935. It received town rights in 1967. *1917

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

was started in the town, until in 1962 the Carolus Magnus coal-mine was closed.

Twin towns – sister cities

Übach-Palenberg is twinned with: * Rosny-sous-Bois, France (1990) *

Landgraaf Landgraaf (; ) is a municipality in southeastern Limburg, Netherlands, forming part of the Parkstad Limburg agglomeration. ''SnowWorld'' is the largest indoor ski piste in Europe. Population centres * Nieuwenhagen * Schaesberg * Ubach over W ...

, Netherlands (2000)

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of the town is subdivided into three fields. In the top blue field are two crossed golden scepters with lily heads, with a black letter T on top. Both symbols refer to the ''Grundherrschaft'' Thorn. In the left golden field is a black lion, the symbol of

Jülich Jülich (; in old spellings also known as ''Guelich'' or ''Gülich'', , , Ripuarian: ''Jöllesch'') is a town in the district of Düren, in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. As a border region between the competin ...

, as both Frelenberg and Palenberg belonged to the county Jülich. To the right is a silver lion on a red field, the symbol of

Heinsberg Heinsberg (; ) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the seat of the district Heinsberg. It is situated near the border with the Netherlands, on the river Wurm, approx. 20 km north-east of Sittard and 30 km south-west ...

, which Scherpenseel historically belonged to. The coat of arms was granted on December 2, 1937 by the ''Oberpräsident'' of the province

Rhineland The Rhineland ( ; ; ; ) is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly Middle Rhine, its middle section. It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy ...

Economy

In addition to international companies such as SLV, Neuman & Esser, Schlafhorst or Spanset the company Solent GmbH & Co. KG has been producing chocolate, nuts and dried fruit for various brands in Übach-Palenberg since 2010. Its sister company, Bonback GmbH & Co. KG, a wholesale bakery, produces at the same location.Bakery Bonback (in German)
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Gallery

Plattschong.jpg, "Der Platschhonk", a

legendary creature A legendary creature is a type of extraordinary or supernatural being that is described in folklore (including myths and legends), and may be featured in historical accounts before modernity, but has not been scientifically shown to exist. In t ...

References

External links

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