310px, Map of the city 250px, Town hall Wipperfürth () is a municipality in the Oberbergischer Kreis of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhab ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, about 40 km north-east of

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

, and the oldest town in the Bergischen Land.

History

The eldest documentary mention dates from 1131. In the

Siegburg Siegburg (i.e. ''fort on the Sieg river''; Ripuarian: ''Sieburch'') is a city in the district of Rhein-Sieg-Kreis in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the banks of the rivers Sieg and Agger, 10 kilometres from the former seat ...

er Mirakelbuch the place is already designated

Oppidum An ''oppidum'' (plural ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread across Europe, stretch ...

(=town). Manner of writing of the first naming: "Weperevorthe". Wipperfürth received town

rights Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical th ...

between 1217 and 1222. Since 1283 the

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, administ ...

of the town was governed by count Adolf V. von Berg. Already in 1275

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the ...

Rudolf von Habsburg allowed the count to move his mint from Wildberg to Wipperfürth. Here,

Pfennig The 'pfennig' (; . 'pfennigs' or ; symbol pf or ₰) or penny is a former German coin or note, which was the official currency from the 9th century until the introduction of the euro in 2002. While a valuable coin during the Middle Ages, ...

e were stamped according to Cologne model. In 1328, with the privilege of king Louis the Bavarian the first coinage of

Groschen Groschen (; from la, grossus "thick", via Old Czech ') a (sometimes colloquial) name for various coins, especially a silver coin used in various states of the Holy Roman Empire and other parts of Europe. The word is borrowed from the late Lat ...

in Germany began in Wipperfürth. Since the 14th century the town was a member of the Hanse. Businesspeople of the town traveled to Stockholm,

Dorpat Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal popula ...

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the o ...

Reval Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

and

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...

. The town coat of arms of 1267 shows a church in merlons-reinforced wall. Leftovers of this

town wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

can still be found on the Klosterberg. The oldest building are located at the market, together with the market well. The development of the town was hindered by numerous town fires: 1333, 1352, 1368, 1383, 1404, 1412 and 1465. From 1815–1932 Wipperfürth was capital town of the district with the same name.

Geography

Geographical position

Wipperfürth lies on the flow

Wupper The Wupper is a right tributary of the Rhine in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Rising near Marienheide in western Sauerland it runs through the mountainous region of the Bergisches Land in Berg County and enters the Rhine at Lev ...

which is designated in the upper reaches to the east of the town Wipper.

Neighbouring municipalities

The neighbouring municipalities and neighbouring towns are: Lindlar, Kürten,

Wermelskirchen Wermelskirchen (; Ripuarian: ''Wärmelßkirrshe'') is a town in the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, southeast of Remscheid. It is home to one of Europe's biggest live Christmas trees (measuring 26m). Coat of arms ...

, Hückeswagen, Radevormwald,

Halver Halver is a town in Germany. History Around 950 the ''Oberhof Halvara'' was first mentioned in the ''Werdener Probsteiregister''. For more than 500 years Halver was the seat of a Fehmic court, the earliest definite evidence of which is in 1243; i ...

, Kierspe and Marienheide.

Districts

The town Wipperfürth is made up of 8

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

s: * Wipperfürth * Egen * Kreuzberg (Wipperfürth) * Ohl * Agathaberg * Thier * Wipperfeld * Hämmern

Localities

The coat of arms of Wipperfürth

The arms were granted on 9 December 1975 but were in use a long time before. Wipperfürth received city rights between 1217 and 1222. The oldest seal dates from around 1250 and already shows a city wall, church and a small shield with the arms of the Counts of Berg, who ruled over the city. In the 14th century the small shield was removed. The present arms are based and nearly identical to the composition of the first seal. The city wall denotes the civic character of Wippenfürth, the church is the local St. Nicholas church.

Politics

Culture and places of interest

Dams

* Kierspe dam * Neye dam * Schevelinger dam * Bever dam

Buildings

* Altes Seminar ("Old seminar") in the Lüdenscheider Straße. * the former Franziskanerkloster (a cloister)

Churches

By far the oldest church in Wipperfürth is the Catholic parish church St.-Nikolaus placed in the downtown of Wipperfürth. Not far away, the Protestant church was built next to the marked-place in 1875. The so-called Antoniuskirche ("Antonius-church", a minister) was built on the Klosterberg ("cloister hill").

Spare time and sport

The town disposes of various

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

field,

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

with field, indoor

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

with 25 meters of roads incl.

sauna A sauna (, ), or sudatory, is a small room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these facilities. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire. A thermometer in a ...

and sunbathing area,

airfield An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

, tennis

courts A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accor ...

, squash, riding spaces and play

bowls Bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, is a sport in which the objective is to roll biased balls so that they stop close to a smaller ball called a "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a bowling green, which may be flat (for "flat-g ...

Sport clubs

* Airfield – Wipperfürth-Neye EDKN * DLRG Wipperfürth * 1.Wipperfürther Rock´n Roll Club * BKV Oberberg * Boxing club Wipperfürth * BSG Wipperfürth * Canoe friends Wipperfürth e. V. * Aerial sport association Wipperfürth * Motor sport club Wipperfürth in AAA road service e. V. * Cycling club Wipperfürth * Riding association Wipperfürth * Chess club Wipperfürth * Sports fisherman association Wipperfürth * Sports club Wipperfürth * Stadtsportverband Wipperfürth * Dance corps * Dance school Böhlefeld * Diving sport community Wipperfürth * TC Silber-Blau Wipperfürth * TV Wipperfürth * VfR Wipperfürth * VSG Wipperfürth e. V. * WTC Wipperfürth

Economy

During the

industrial revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

several companies originated in the area of the textile industry. The most important industry company is the electric light bulb factory founded in 1904 Radium. Radium also is even today together with the armature factory VOSS the biggest employer in Wipperfürth. Here particularly the electric-working industry, plastic-working industry, metal working industry and paper-working industry is resident.

Transport

Federal highways

Wipperfürth lies in the intersection of the federal highways B 237 (

Remscheid Remscheid () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is, after Wuppertal and Solingen, the third-largest municipality in Bergisches Land, being located on the northern edge of the region, on the south side of the Ruhr area. Remsche ...

- Meinerzhagen) and B 506 (

– Wipperfürth). The B 256 unidirectional

Gummersbach Gummersbach (; ksh, Jummersbach) is a town in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, being the district seat of the Oberbergischer Kreis. It is located east of Cologne. History In 1109 Gummersbach was mentioned in official documents for ...

in the place Ohl for the B 237.

Bus routes

(VRS: Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg, VRL: Verkehrsgemeinschaft Ruhr-Lippe), OVAG: Oberbergische Verkehrsgesellschaft AG, MVG: Märkische Verkehrsgesellschaft GmbH, KWS: Kraftverkehr Wupper-Sieg AG) * VRS (KWS) Linie 426 to

Bergisch Gladbach Bergisch Gladbach () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in the Cologne/Bonn Region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and capital of the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis (district). Geography Bergisch Gladbach is located east of the river ...

(S) via Kürten * VRS (KWS) Linie 427 to

(S) via Kürten- Weiden * VRS (KWS) Linie 429 to

(S) via Kürten- Olpe * VRS (OVAG) Linie 332 to

Engelskirchen Engelskirchen (literally "angel’s churches") is a municipality in Oberbergischer Kreis, Germany in North Rhine-Westphalia, about east of Cologne. The neighbouring municipalities are (clockwise from the west) Overath, Lindlar, Gummersbach, W ...

Bf. via Lindlar * VRS (OVAG) Linie 333 to

Bf. via Lindlar- Frielingsdorf * VRS (OVAG) Linie 336 to Marienheide via

or ro Hückeswagen and

- Lennep * VRS (OVAG) Linie 337 to Egen via Neye * VRS (OVAG) Linie 338 to

Kreuzberg Kreuzberg () is a district of Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte. During the Cold War era, it was one of the poorest areas of West Berlin, but since German reunification in 1990 it ha ...

* VRL (MVG) Linie 55 to

Lüdenscheid Lüdenscheid () is a city in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Sauerland region. Geography Lüdenscheid is located on the saddle of the watershed between the Lenne and Volme rivers which b ...

via Haken-Kreuzberg und

Public facilities

* Employment centre *

District A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

court A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and carry out the administration of justice in Civil law (common law), civil, C ...

* Tax office * Youth welfare office *

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

office * Test place of the safety standards authority * Branch of the circle health office

Health

Hospitals: St. Josef hospital Wipperfürth (258 beds)

Education

The municipality has two high schools, Engelbert von Berg – Gymnasium (high school), and Archbishop of St. Angela Gymnasium (high school), a

secondary modern school A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Schools of this type continue in Northern Ireland, where they are usuall ...

, a

Konrad Adenauer Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (; 5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a Germany, German statesman who served as the first Chancellor of Germany, chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the fir ...

– secondary school, a work pedagogic school (occupational lecture), eight

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

s and two special schools.

Notable people

* Johann Christian Josef Abs (1781–1823), teacher * Johann Joseph Bauerband (1800–1878), lawyer, university professor, politician * Franz Rudolf Bornewasser (1866–1951), bishop from

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

since 1922 * Franz Crass (1928–2012) Operatic bass singer *

Manuela Goller Manuela Goller (born 5 January 1971 in Wipperfürth, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German former footballer. Early life Manuela Goller was born in Wipperfürth to Franz-Josef Goller, a dairy farmer, and joined the local sports club, TuS Egen, whic ...

(born 1971), Football goalkeeper * Thorsten Hens, professor, Department of Banking and Finance, University of Zurich * Hans Leo Kausemann, former mayor and former

Administrator and honorary citizen * Barbara Kisseler, civilized nation secretary in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

Udo Lattek Udo Lattek (16 January 1935 – 31 January 2015) was a German professional football player and coach. Lattek is one of the most successful coaches in the history of the game, having won 15 major titles, most famously with Bayern Munich. He als ...

(1935–2015), Retired football coach * Stephan Ley (1867–1964),

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

scholar * Ernst Lotz (1887–1948), the first minister of education and culture from

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

Konrad Martin Konrad Martin (18 May 1812, at Geismar, Province of Saxony – 16 July 1879, at Mont St Guibert, near Brussels, Belgium) was a Catholic Bishop of Paderborn. Life Konrad Martin studied first under an elder brother who was a priest, and later at t ...

(1812–1879),

bishop of Paderborn The Archdiocese of Paderborn is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in Germany; its seat is Paderborn.anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The s ...

bazillus (1855) * Fritz Vollbach, composer and musician * Hermann Voss, Former

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

and honorary citizen * Sebastian Wurth (born 1994),

Deutschland sucht den Superstar ''Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' (''DSDS''; "Germany is looking for the Superstar") is a German reality talent show. Part of the ''Idol'' franchise, it was created by British media mogul Simon Fuller as a spin-off from the British show '' ...

season 8 participant

Twin town

* Surgères,

Charente-Maritime Charente-Maritime () is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region on the southwestern coast of France. Named after the river Charente, its prefecture is La Rochelle. As of 2019, it had a population of 651,358 with an area of 6,864 square ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

Further sources of information

Literature (German)

*Joseph John, ''Geschichte der Stadt Wipperfürth'',

1842; *Conrad Schmitz, ''Geschichte der Stadt Wipperfürth'', Wipperfürth 1910; *Paul Engel, ''Wipperfürth im Wandel der Zeiten'', Wipperfürth 1949; *Peter Opladen, ''Das Dekanat Wipperfürth'',

1955; *Anneliese Triller/Jörg Füchtner, ''Das Abschriftenbuch der Stadt Wipperfürth'',

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and ...

1969; *Frank Berger/Fred Antweiler, ''Wipperfürth gestern und heute'',

1984 *Fred Antweiler/Frank Berger, ''Wipperfürth und seine Kirchdörfer'',

1986.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wipperfurth Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia Members of the Hanseatic League Districts of the Rhine Province Oberbergischer Kreis