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Lüdenscheid () is a city in the Märkischer Kreis 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. It is located in the Sauerland region.


Geography

Lüdenscheid is located on the saddle of the watershed between the
Lenne The Lenne () is a tributary of the river Ruhr in the Sauerland hills, western 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 a ...
and Volme rivers which both empty into the Ruhr river (which subsequently flows into the
Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
), with three smaller valleys leading to them. The saddle has a height of 420 meters, higher elevations on the watershed are an unnamed hilltop of 505 meters in the north, and the 663 meters high ''Nordhelle'' in the Ebbe Mountains range. In the surrounding mountainous area, six dams created reservoirs to regulate the water flow in the Ruhr river and supply drinking water. The mountainous nature of the city's territory gave rise to the nickname "Bergstadt" (mountain town). The original settlement circles around the church built on a ledge of the slope above the saddle.


Climate


History

While first settlement in the Lüdenscheid area is confirmed for the 9th century, the first mention of the place as a village was made in 1067 and as a city in 1268. In the 15th and 16th century Lüdenscheid was a member of the
Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...
. Since 1609 the town belonged to the
Electorate of Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the fifth-largest German state b ...
, the later
Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
. In 1815 it became part of the new Prussian
Province of Westphalia The Province of Westphalia () was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946. In turn, Prussia was the largest component state of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918, of the Weimar ...
, and 1975, with the creation of the Märkischer Kreis, became seat of its administration. In 1898 the aluminium framework of the first
Zeppelin A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp. 155� ...
airship was built in the factory of Carl Berg in Lüdenscheid.


Economy

Lüdenscheid is a predominantly industrial city with small and medium-sized firms in the metal and
plastics industry The plastics industry manufactures polymer materials—commonly called plastics—and offers services in plastics important to a range of industries, including packaging, building and construction, electronics, aerospace, manufacturing and transpo ...
. The largest company employs 2,000 people in Lüdenscheid, with other firms employing 800 people or less. The economic importance came to the fore in the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
, when the city became a centre for metal ore mining in the surrounding area, through the ( "osemund"/osmond iron). The ore was processed by the hammers and wire drawers of Lüdenscheid, serviced by water power in the surrounding valleys. A number of artisanal smitheries in Lüdenscheid made finished products out of those materials. In order to market these products to a wider area, Lüdenscheid joined the
Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...
. With the emergence of the industrial age, the production of buttons and buckles played a large role, reflected in the Button Museum. Later, new materials like aluminium, bakelite, and plastics were adopted. A supporting industry producing the forms for the stamping, blanking, pressing and casting emerged and still plays an important part in Lüdenscheid's industry. Production of parts of the auto industry and of fittings for electrical installations play an important role as well as continuous casting of aluminium profiles. Products notable to end consumers are lamps and lighting systems and toys.


Education

One of the five branches of South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences is in Lüdenscheid. See also the Fachhochschule Südwestfalen (FH SWF)), which offers various engineering programmes and is located in the city.


Places of interest

* ''Church of the Redeemer'' :in the center of the circular layout of the old city. The protestant church is the oldest in the city. Its tower dates from the 11th century, while the parish nave was rebuilt during the classicistic period in the early 19th century. * ''Water castle Neuenhof'' :in the Elspe valley behind the ''Nurre'' mountain. The present building with an early baroque style was erected in the end of the 17th century. * ''Homert tower'' :Observation tower on top of the Homert mountain (539 m above sea level), the highest location in Lüdenscheid * '' Verse River reservoir'' * ''City Museum'' :including among others the ''Button Museum'' and other exhibits showing the evolution of Lüdenscheid's industry


Coat of arms

The coat of arms shows Saint Medardus as the patron of the city. Below it has the red-and-white checked fess from the arms of the Counts of the Mark. The city wall at the bottom denotes the city rights that Lüdenscheid received in 1287.


Sports

"Lüdenscheid-Nord" is a demeaning and satirical name, most commonly used by the fans of
FC Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, ...
to mock the
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
club
Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...
. The real football club Rot-Weiß Lüdenscheid is playing in the Bezirksliga, the eight level below the
Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...
, but did play once in the second Bundesliga Nord (Northern section) for two seasons in 1977–78 and 1978–79. The Highlander Lüdenscheid are a skaterhockey-team playing in the highest German league, the Bundesliga.


Culture

The Lüdenscheider Altstadtbühne ist a part of the culture in Lüdenscheid. It is based in the Luisenstraße.


Twin towns – sister cities

Lüdenscheid is twinned with: * Den Helder, Netherlands (1980) * Brighouse, England (1983) *
Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...
, Belgium (1987) * Myślenice, Poland (1989) * Romilly-sur-Seine, France (1991) * Taganrog, Russia (1991)


Notable people

* Carl Berg (1851–1906), airship builder * Adolf Schulte (1894–1917), World War I flying ace * Wilhelm Ackermann (1896–1962), mathematician * Paul Wieghardt (1897–1969), American painter and professor * Else Hueck-Dehio (1897–1976), writer * Kurt Weill (1900–1950), composer, had his first engagement from 1919–1921 at the theatre in Lüdenscheid * Arnfried Edler (born 1938), musicologist *
Nuri Şahin Nuri Şahin (born 5 September 1988) is a German and Turkish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He was most recently head coach of Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund. He began his playing career at Dortmun ...
(born 1988), footballer * Werner Naumann (1909–1982), German politician and ''Reichsminister'' of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda (30 April – 1 May 1945) * Dörte Schiltz (born 1976), Olympic rhythmic gymnast


Media

One of Lüdenscheid's newspapers is the '' Lüdenscheider Nachrichten'' with its Süderländer Volksfreund.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ludenscheid Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia Märkischer Kreis