Lünen () is a town with around 86,000 inhabitants 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 ...

. It is located north of

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

, on both banks of the River Lippe. It is the largest town of the Unna district and part of the

Ruhr Area The Ruhr ( ; , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr Area, sometimes Ruhr District, Ruhr Region, or Ruhr Valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 1,160/km2 and a populati ...

. In 2009 a biogas plant was built to provide electric power to the city. Lünen is the first city in the world to receive electricity via public utility companies that is generated on the base of animal waste. The plant produces up to 6.6 MW, supplying 26,000 homes with heat and electricity.

Culture and main sights

Structure *Saint George's Church *Saint Mary's Church *Chateau of Schwansbell *Colani-UFO *Freiherr-vom-Stein School *Town hall of Lünen *Geschwister-Scholl School *Industrial Monument "Moor Crane" Museum *Museum of the town Lünen *Mining Museum in Lünen South *Mining residential Museum in Lünen Brambauer Theatre *Heinz-Hilpert theater

Politics

The current mayor of Lünen is

independent politician An independent politician or non-affiliated politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or Bureaucracy, bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicia ...

Jürgen Kleine-Frauns since 2015; he was originally elected as a member of Together for Lünen (German: Gemeinsam für Lünen = GFL), but later left the party. The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, with a runoff held on 27 September, and the results were as follows: ! rowspan=2 colspan=2, Candidate ! rowspan=2, Party ! colspan=2, First round ! colspan=2, Second round , - ! Votes ! % ! Votes ! % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Rainer Schmeltzer , align=left,

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

, 10,864 , 40.9 , 9,824 , 48.9 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Jürgen Kleine-Frauns , align=left,

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, 9,767 , 36.7 , 10,282 , 51.1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christoph Tölle , align=left, Christian Democratic Union , 4,341 , 16.3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Sascha Gottwald , align=left, Free Voters Lünen , 1,624 , 6.1 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 26,596 ! 97.7 ! 20,106 ! 98.9 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 641 ! 2.3 ! 215 ! 1.1 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 27,237 ! 100.0 ! 20,321 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 66,291 ! 41.1 ! 66,247 ! 30.7 , - , colspan=7, Source: City of Lünen
1st round

City council

The Lünen city council governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(SPD) , 9,066 , 33.9 , 7.0 , 19 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , 5,895 , 22.1 , 2.5 , 12 , 1 , - , , align=left, Together for Lünen (GFL) , 3,835 , 14.4 , 1.1 , 8 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (, ), often simply referred to as Greens (, ), is a Green (politics), green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of the Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (formed in East Ger ...

(Grüne) , 3,690 , 13.8 , 6.4 , 8 , 4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present), far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative p ...

(AfD) , 1,816 , 6.8 , New , 4 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP) , 922 , 3.5 , 0.7 , 2 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 846 , 3.2 , 0.9 , 2 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Voters Lünen (FW Lünen) , 501 , 1.9 , New , 1 , New , - , colspan=7 bgcolor=lightgrey, , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Independent Fohrmeister , 85 , 0.3 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Independent Rosenkranz , 85 , 0.2 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Independent God , 19 , 0.1 , New , 0 , New , - ! colspan=2, Valid votes ! 26,730 ! 98.2 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Invalid votes ! 480 ! 1.8 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 27,210 ! 100.0 ! ! 56 ! 2 , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 66,291 ! 41.1 ! 3.4 ! ! , - , colspan=7, Source
City of Lünen

Twin towns – sister cities

Lünen is twinned with: * Bartın, Turkey *

Demmin Demmin () is a town in the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte district, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, in north-eastern Germany. It was the capital of the former district of Demmin. Geography Demmin lies on the West Pomeranian plain at the confluen ...

, Germany *

Kamień Pomorski Kamień Pomorski (; ; or ''Kammin'') is a spa town in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship of north-western Poland, on the Baltic coast. It is the seat of an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Kamień County which lies approximately 63&n ...

, Poland *

Panevėžys Panevėžys () is the fifth-largest List of cities in Lithuania, city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, eighth-most-populous city in the Baltic States. it occupies with 89,100 inhabitants. As defined by Eu ...

, Lithuania *

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

, England, United Kingdom *

Zwolle Zwolle () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the Capital city, capital of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel ...

, Netherlands

Notable people

* Jens Beutel (1946–2019), SPD politician, mayor of Mainz 1997–2011 *

Markus Brzenska Markus Brzenska (born 25 May 1984) is a German football coach and former player. Early life Markus Brzenska's parents, Joachim and Halina, and his older brothers, Sebastian and Marcin, were originally from the Upper Silesian town of Bytom (Germ ...

(born 1984), footballer * Karl-Heinz Granitza (born 1951), footballer *

Björn Höcke Björn Uwe Höcke (born 1 April 1972) is a German politician of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. He is chair of the state branch of the AfD in Thuringia, that is classified as a right-wing extremist organization. Höcke led th ...

(born 1972), AfD politician, Member of Landtag in Thuringia * Hubert Hüppe (born 1956), CDU politician * Theodor Kleine (1924–2014), sprint canoer, Olympic medalist * Friedhelm Konietzka (1938–2012), football player and coach * Wilhelm Kuhne (born 1926), priest (Monsignore) and former rector of the Hardehausen Abbey *

Michael Mendl Michael Mendl (born Michael Sandrock; 20 April 1944) is a German actor. He has appeared in more than 100 films since 1975. He is best known internationally for his role in ''Downfall (2004 film), Downfall'', the 2004 movie about Adolf Hitler's f ...

(born 1944), actor *

Max Raabe Max Raabe (born Matthias Otto, 12 December 1962) is a German jazz singer. He is best known as the founder and leader of the Palast Orchester. Career Raabe developed an interest in the sound of German dance and film music of the 1920s and 193 ...

(born 1962), singer and conductor of the

Palast Orchester The Palast Orchester (literal translation, Palace Orchestra) is a German orchestra, based in Berlin, constituted in the manner of dance bands of the 1920s and 1930s. Its repertoire specialises in cabaret and popular songs of the Weimar period in ...

in Berlin * Berndt Röder (born 1948), CDU politician, former president of the Hamburgische Bürgerschaft * Rollergirl (born 1975), singer * Rüdiger Sagel (born 1955), politician

, later The Left, Member of Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia 1998–2012 *

Max Simon Max Simon (6 January 1899 – 1 February 1961) was a German SS commander and war criminal during World War II. Simon was one of the first members of the SS in the early 1930s. He rose through the ranks of the SS, and became a corps commander dur ...

(1899–1961), SS officer and war criminal * Andreas Thiel (born 1960), handball player *

Eckhart Tolle Eckhart Tolle ( ; ; born Ulrich Leonard Tölle, 16 February 1948) is a German-born spiritual teacher and self-help author. His books include ''The Power of Now, The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment'' (1997), ''A New Earth, A New ...

(born 1948), spiritual teacher and author * Clara Vogedes (1892–1983), artist * Ernst Waldschmidt (1897–1985), orientalist and indologist * Wolfgang Wendland (born 1962), singer, politician of the Pogo party * Dieter Zorc (1939–2007), footballer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lunen Unna (district) Members of the Hanseatic League