Langenfeld (; Ripuarian: ''Langefääl'') is a town 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 ...

) in the district of Mettmann. The suburban city is located between

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

and

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. Langenfeld was formed from the two localities of Richrath and Reusrath and received city rights in 1948.

Economics

Langenfeld has no public debt as of 3 October 2008. The debt clock installed at the town hall in 1997, showing the current debts of Langenfeld, the

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 ...

, and the national debt, got demounted end of 2008 and handed over to Grevenbroich. In Langenfeld it had served its purpose, so the comment by former mayor Magnus Staehler. The town was honored for that with the prize ''Kommune des Jahres 2007'' (''

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

of the Year 2007'') in the national contest ''Großer Preis des Mittelstandes'' (''Grand Prize by Small Firms and Traders'') of the Oskar-Patzelt-Siftung. To achieve that goal, on the one hand taxes got raised and in addition cuts of subsidies to clubs applied, so that debts halved from 1997 up to 2002. Being free of debt, and with that regaining free hand, was celebrated with a big party for the citizens at the first weekend in October under the slogan "Golden Times". Up to 2013 the savings from that surpluses had strongly diminished again by the budget deficits of the following years.

Transport

Langenfeld is accessed by nearby highways A 3, A 59 and A 542, as well as the ''Bundesstrasse'' (federal route) B8. The mainline railway from

runs through the town's area as well. Public transport is provided by the

S-Bahn The S-Bahn ( , ), , is a hybrid urban rail, urban–suburban rail system serving a metropolitan region predominantly in German language, German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit syst ...

line S6 and various bus lines operating under the umbrella of the VRR. The nearest airports are Düsseldorf Airport (approx. 28 km) and Cologne Bonn Airport (approx. 35 km).

Twin towns – sister cities

Langenfeld is twinned with: * Ennis, Ireland * Gostynin, Poland * Montale, Italy * Senlis, France

Notable people

* Hans Anhalt, (1908 – 1975), Auschwitz guard and convicted war criminal * Herbert Reul (born 1952), politician (CDU) * Christian Menzel (born 1971), racing driver * Cora Schumacher (born 1976), actress, model, racing driver and television presenter

Gallery

Marktarkaden Langenfeld.JPG, Marktarkaden Stadthalle Langenfeld Schauplatz.JPG, Stadthalle with Schauplatz

References

External links

Official website
* Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia Mettmann (district) {{Mettmann-geo-stub