Erndtebrück is a municipality in the

Siegen-Wittgenstein Siegen-Wittgenstein is a Kreis (district) in the southeast of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Olpe (district), Olpe, Hochsauerlandkreis, Waldeck-Frankenberg, Marburg-Biedenkopf, Lahn-Dill, Westerwaldkreis, and Altenkirche ...

district, in

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 ...

Geography

Location

Erndtebrück situated on the river Eder in the Rothaargebirge, approx. 20 km northeast of

Siegen Siegen () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg (region), Arnsberg region. The university town (n ...

Neighbouring communities

Erndtebrück borders on

Netphen Netphen () is a town in the Siegen-Wittgenstein district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It lies on the river Sieg, roughly 7 km northeast of Siegen. Geography Location Netphen lies on the Rothaargebirge's southern slope and forms the ...

, the communities of

Hilchenbach Hilchenbach () is a town in the Siegen-Wittgenstein ''Districts of Germany, Kreis'' (district) of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Location Hilchenbach is about northeast of Siegen. The town borders in the south on Netphen, in the west ...

Bad Berleburg Bad Berleburg (, earlier also Berleburg) is a town, in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is one of Germany's largest towns by land area. It is located approximately northeast of Siegen and northwest of ...

, Bad Laasphe and

Kirchhundem Kirchhundem is a German community in North Rhine-Westphalia. It belongs to the Olpe (district), Olpe district. Geography Location The community of Kirchhundem lies in the Olpe district's southeast in the south Sauerland and belongs to the s ...

in the district of Olpe, and

Schmallenberg Schmallenberg (; ) is a town and a Luftkurort, climatic health resort in the Hochsauerlandkreis, High Sauerland District, Germany. By area, it is the :de:Liste der 100 flächengrößten Städte und Gemeinden Deutschlands, third biggest of all cit ...

in the

Hochsauerlandkreis Hochsauerlandkreis (, ) is a (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Soest (district), Soest, Paderborn (district), Paderborn, Höxter (district), Höxter, Waldeck-Frankenberg, Siegen-Wittgenstein, Olpe ...

Constituent communities

*Balde *Benfe *Birkefehl *Birkelbach *Röspe *Schameder *Womelsdorf *Zinse

History

Erndtebrück had its first documentary mention in 1256, celebrating 750 years of existence in 2006. The village was first known by the name Ermingardibruggern, and was the seat of a knightly family, and later a customs office with market rights.

Politics

Municipal council

The council's 22 seats are apportioned thus, in accordance with municipal elections held on 30 August 2009: * SPD 7 seats * CDU 7 seats * FDP 5 seats *UWG 3 seats Note: UWG is a citizens' coalition.

Mayor

*2004–2015: Karl-Ludwig Völkel (SPD) *2015–incumbent: Henning Gronau (SPD)

Coat of arms

Erndtebrück's civic

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

might heraldically be described thus: Party per fess, above in azure a bridge Or, below in argent two pallets sable. The community was granted these arms in 1958. The bridge in the chief is a canting symbol, referring to Erndtebrück's last syllable (''Brücke'' is "bridge" in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

), but also to an actual bridge built over the river Eder at Erndtebrück in 1830. Below in the shield are the arms of the Counts of Wittgenstei

Town partnerships

Bergues Bergues (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department in northern France. It is situated to the south of Dunkirk and from the Belgium, Belgian border. Locally it is referred to ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, since 1973

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

The community is connected to its neighbours by Federal Highways (''Bundesstraßen'') 62 and 480. Furthermore,

train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

s run on the Rothaar Railway to both

and

, and on the Upper Lahn Valley (''Obere Lahntalbahn'') to

Marburg Marburg (; ) is a college town, university town in the States of Germany, German federal state () of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf Districts of Germany, district (). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has ...

. Until 1944, there was also a rail connection to Altenhundem with the Erndtebrück-Altenhundem line, but this came to an end late in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as retreating German Army units blew its bridges up. Some of the tunnels along the line are still preserved.

Public institutions

Erndtebrück is home to the German Air Force's Reserve Range of Command 2 (Einsatzführungsbereich 2), formerly 5th Teaching Group of Technical School 1 (V. Lehrgruppe der Technischen Schule 1), the Air Force's programming centre for air defence and a health squad to take care of the airmen.

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the community

*Wilhelm Busch (1861–1929), instrument builder and father of musicians and actors

Fritz Fritz is a common German language, German male name. The name originated as a German diminutive of Friedrich (given name), Friedrich or Frederick (given name), Frederick (''Der Alte Fritz'', and ''Stary Fryc'' were common nicknames for King Fred ...

Adolf Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo, and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name with German origins. The name is a compound derived from the Old High German ''Athalwolf'' (or ''Hadulf''), a composition of ''athal'', or ''adal'', mean ...

Willi Willi is a given name, nickname (often a short form or hypocorism of Wilhelm) and surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Willi Apel (1893–1988), German-American musicologist * Willi Boskovsky (1909–1991), Austrian violin ...

, Hermann and Heinrich Busch.

References

External links

Erndtebrück

* ttp://www.schameder.de/ Schameder {{DEFAULTSORT:Erndtebruck Municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia Rothaar Mountains Siegen-Wittgenstein Installations of the German Air Force