Neunkirchen, Saarland
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Neunkirchen (; ) is a town and a municipality in
Saarland Saarland (, ; ) is a state of Germany in the southwest of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and the smallest in ...
,
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 the largest town in, and the seat of the district of Neunkirchen. It is situated on the river
Blies The Blies (; ) is a right tributary of the Saar in southwestern Germany ( Saarland) and northeastern France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and ...
, approx. 20 km northeast of
Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...
. With about 50,000 inhabitants, Neunkirchen is Saarland's second largest city.


Overview

The name of the town derives from "An der neuen Kirche" meaning "by the new church" not from "nine churches" as one might be tempted to assume. In the past, Neunkirchen's economy has been shaped almost exclusively by coal and steel. With the decline of this industry sector, Neunkirchen's economy had to face drastic changes and underwent a significant shift towards the service and retail sector, although smaller industries still remain.


History


Early history

The earliest settlements in the area can be dated back to 700 BC. The oldest part of the town is the village of Wiebelskirchen north of the town centre; its name has been recorded as early as 765 AD and is thus the oldest Christian name in town ("Kirche" means church). The name "Neunkirchen" is recorded for the first time in 1281. Neunkirchen belonged to the principality of Nassau-Saarbrücken, who erected two castles: a renaissance castle and Schloss Jägersberg. Both castles do not exist anymore today, but the ruins of the Renaissance castle are now the base of a little park-like area. The famous German poet, geologist and author Johann Wolfgang von
Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...
visited Neunkirchen and described the Castle and the Ironworks.


Weimar Republic

Neunkirchen was awarded township as late as 1922 after having been the largest village in Prussia for some time.


Nazi era and World War II

On 10 February 1933, an explosion of a giant gas tank at the ironwork caused 68 casualties, 190 injured. The damage spread over a part of the factory and also hit a nearby residential area and a school building. The duration of repair work and temporary closing of the damaged parts of the iron works was about nine months. This event caused worldwide media attention. Having a big ironworks complex right in the town centre made the town a target for Allied bomb raids 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 ...
. In 1945, an air raid destroyed about three quarters of the town centre. As a result, there is a large number of
unexploded ordnance Unexploded ordnance (UXO, sometimes abbreviated as UO) and unexploded bombs (UXBs) are explosive weapons (bombs, shell (projectile), shells, grenades, land mines, naval mines, cluster munition, and other Ammunition, munitions) that did not e ...
from WW2 still present in the area today and around 1/3 of the city consists of buildings from before 1945.


Post World War II

On September 10, 1987, General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party
Erich Honecker Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. He held the post ...
visited his birthplace Neunkirchen.


Climate

Neunkirchen's climate is classified as
oceanic Oceanic may refer to: *Of or relating to the ocean *Of or relating to Oceania **Oceanic climate **Oceanic languages **Oceanic person or people, also called "Pacific Islander(s)" Places * Oceanic, British Columbia, a settlement on Smith Island, ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
: ''Cfb''; Trewartha: ''Dobk''). The average annual temperature in Neunkirchen is . The average annual rainfall is with December as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The Neunkirchen weather station has recorded the following extreme values: * Highest Temperature on 25 July 2019. * Warmest Minimum on 6 July 1991. * Coldest Maximum on 12 January 1987. * Lowest Temperature on 1–2 January 1971. * Highest Daily Precipitation on 9 July 2017. * Wettest Month in December 1993. * Wettest Year in 2000. * Driest Year in 1976. * Earliest Snowfall: 17 November 1972. * Latest Snowfall: 27 April 1981.


Economy

There are traces of surface coal mining that reach back as far as 700BC. Later on, coal was mined underground until 1968. In 1593, the first ironworks were constructed in the Blies valley. The iron ore used was from local origin. Much of the city's fate was influenced by the ''von Stumm-Halberg'' family, who owned the local ironworks from 1806 onwards, and thus had enormous influence on the local politics. Due to the decline of the coal and steel industry, the local economy faced aggravating hardships. With the last coal mine closing down in 1968 and the major part of the ironworks complex closing down in 1982 (only a steel-mill is still in service today), the unemployment rate rose drastically. Meanwhile, the city has transformed into a "shopping town", a process that had been started with the construction of a large shopping centre on the grounds of the former steelworks. Remnants of the former steelworks that had not been destroyed meanwhile have been preserved and renovated. They now serve as an industrial monument; parts of them feature small pubs, clubs, a cinema, the first of the German branch of Hooters of America, Inc restaurants and a radio studio of the
McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...
fast food chain.


Twin towns – sister cities

Neunkirchen is twinned with: * Lübben, Germany * Mantes-la-Ville, France * Wolsztyn, Poland


Notable people

* Julius Adler (1894–1945), politician, Member of Reichstag (KPD) *
Walter Rilla Walter Rilla (22 August 1894 – 21 November 1980) was a German film actor of Jewish descent. Siegbert Salomon Prawer, ''Between Two Worlds: The Jewish Presence in German and Austrian Film, 1910-1933'', Berghahn Books (2007), pg. 213 He app ...
(1894–1980), actor *
Erich Honecker Erich Ernst Paul Honecker (; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from 1971 until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989. He held the post ...
(1912–1994), Leader of
East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
1976–1989 * Karl Rawer (1913–2018), physicist * Karl Ferdinand Werner (1924–2008), historian * Wolfgang Kermer (born 1935), art historian, artist, author, professor, rector State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart (1971–1984) *
Stefan Kuntz Stefan Kuntz (born 30 October 1962) is a German professional football manager and former player who played as a striker. He was most recently the head coach of the Turkish national team. Kuntz represented the Germany national team between 199 ...
(born 1962), football player and coach * Thomas Hayo (born 1969), advertiser * Alexandra Kertz-Welzel (born 1970), Professor of Music Education at LMU Munich * Shanta Ghosh (born 1975), athlete * Tobias Hans (born 1978), politician (CDU), Minister President of Saarland * Roland Theis (born 1980), politician (CDU) * Nora-Eugenie Gomringer (born 1980), Swiss-German poet and writer * Johannes Wurtz (born 1992), footballer * Lena Lattwein (born 2000), footballer


References


External links

* {{Authority control Towns in Saarland Neunkirchen (German district) Rhine Province