Witten, Germany
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Witten () is a city with almost 100,000 inhabitants in the
Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis The Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis is a district in the center of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is part of the southern Ruhr urban area and has ca. 324,000 inhabitants (2012). The district's seat (capital city) is Schwelm; the largest of its nine towns ...
(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 ...
, in 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 and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
.


Geography

Witten is situated in the
Ruhr 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 ...
valley, in the southern
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 ...
.


Bordering municipalities

*
Bochum Bochum (, ; ; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 372,348 (April 2023), it is the sixth-largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous German federa ...
*
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 ...
*
Herdecke Herdecke () is a town in the district of Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It is located south of Dortmund in the Ruhr Area. Its location between the two Ruhr (river), Ruhr reservoirs Hengsteysee and Harkortsee has earned it t ...
*
Wetter (Ruhr) Wetter (Ruhr) () is a town in western Germany, in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the district of Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis. The river Ruhr (river), Ruhr flows through the urban area, separating the district of Alt-Wetter from the district ...
*
Sprockhövel Sprockhövel is a town in the district of Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Sprockhövel is located in the southern suburban part of the Ruhr area. It is 6 km southeast of Hattingen, 8 km northwest of Gevelsb ...
*
Hattingen Hattingen is a town in the northern part of the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. History Hattingen is located on the south bank of the River Ruhr in the south of the Ruhr region. The town was first mentioned in 13 ...


Boroughs

Witten is divided into eight boroughs and each borough is further divided into two or more city-districts. Every district has its own district-number: * Witten-Mitte: 11 Innenstadt, 12 Oberdorf-Helenenberg, 13 Industriegebiet-West, 14 Krone, 15 Crengeldanz, 16 Hauptfriedhof, 17 Stadion, 18 Industriegebiet-Nord, 19 Hohenstein * Düren: 21 Düren-Nord, 22 Düren-Sued *
Stockum Stockum is an urban quarter of Düsseldorf, part of Borough 5. It is located north of Unterrath and Golzheim, east of Kaiserswerth, west of Lohausen and the Düsseldorf Airport, south of Kalkum. Stockum has an area of , and 5,596 inhabitant ...
: 31 Stockum-Mitte, 32 Dorney, 33 Stockumer Bruch, 34 Wilhelmshöhe *
Annen Annen is a village in the Dutch province of Drenthe. Located in the municipality of Aa en Hunze, it lies about 12 km (7.4 mi) northeast of Assen. History The village was first mentioned in 1309 as Anne. The etymology is unknown. Annen is an ...
: 41 Tiefendorf, 42 Wullen, 43 Annen-Mitte-Nord, 44 Annen-Mitte-Süd, 45 Kohlensiepen, 46 Wartenberg, 47
Gedern Gedern () is a town in the Wetteraukreis district in Hesse, Germany, and historically belongs to Upper Hesse, Oberhessen. It is located northeast of Hanau at the foot of the Vogelsberg Mountains, Vogelsberg, one of the largest inactive volcanoes ...
* Rüdinghausen: 51 Industriegebiet-Ost, 52 Rüdinghausen-Mitte, 53 Buchholz, 54 Schnee * Bommern: 61 Steinhausen, 62 Bommerbank, 63 Bommerfeld, 64 Wettberg, 65 Buschey, 66 Bommeregge * Heven: 71 Papenholz, 72 Hellweg, 73 Wannen, 74 Heven-Dorf, 75 Lake *
Herbede Since 1975 the former city of Herbede is a part of the city of Witten (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany). As one of the eight boroughs of Witten, it is now called Witten-Herbede. Before the incorporation with Witten in 1975, Herbede was a city in the ...
: 81 Herbede-Ort, 82 Vormholz, 83 Bommerholz-Muttental, 84 Durchholz, 85 Buchholz-Kaempen


Population 1739–2020


History

Witten was first mentioned in historic sources in 1214, however the
borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...
Herbede (which was incorporated into the city in 1975) dates back to 851. The city was a mining town from 1578. In the late 19th century Witten was known for the Roburit dynamite. This dynamite was once used by coal mines around the world. In 1906 an explosion occurred, resulting in the deaths of 41 people. During
World War II 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 ...
, forced laborers of the 3rd
SS construction brigade The SS-Baubrigaden were a type of subcamp of Nazi concentration camps that were first established in Autumn 1942. These units were usually made up of male non-Jewish prisoners—most were Poles or Soviets. Chances of survival were higher in these ...
were dispatched in the town by the Nazis in 1943. In 1946, it was included 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 ...
on its establishment. In 1975 Witten was included in the administrative district
Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis The Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis is a district in the center of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is part of the southern Ruhr urban area and has ca. 324,000 inhabitants (2012). The district's seat (capital city) is Schwelm; the largest of its nine towns ...
and it is now its biggest city. 1975 was also the year Witten was first counted to have more than 100,000 inhabitants, the threshold to be considered a large city ("Großstadt") in Germany.


Politics

In the local elections of 2004 the
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 ...
(SPD) was the largest party on the council with 24 seats. It was followed by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) with 18 and the
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 ...
with 7, the WBG (a conservative lis) and Free Democrats with four each, FLW (also a conservative list) with three, National Democratic Party two, and the PDS/WAL (socialists) and AUF Witten (a left wing list) with one each. From 2004 to 2020, for the first time in its history, the council was led by a female mayor: Sonja Leidemann (SPD). In the election of 2020 she lost her mandate to Lars König (CDU).


Mayor

The current mayor of Witten is Lars König of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). 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, Sonja Leidemann , 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 ...
, 12,365 , 34.5 , 11,365 , 40.0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Lars König , align=left, Christian Democratic Union , 10,595 , 29.6 , 17,036 , 60.0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Stefan Borggraefe , align=left,
Pirate Party Germany The Pirate Party Germany (), commonly known as Pirates (), is a political party in Germany founded in September 2006 at c-base. It states general agreement with the Swedish Piratpartiet as a party of the information society; it is part of the i ...
, 4,005 , 11.2 , - , , align=left, Martin Strautz , align=left, Citizens' Forum , 2,276 , 6.4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Ursula Weiß , align=left, The Left , 2,227 , 6.2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Richard Surrey , align=left, Witten Citizen's Association/
Free Voters Free Voters (, FW) is a political party in Germany. It originates as an umbrella organisation of several Free Voters Associations (), associations of people which participate in an election without having the status of a registered party. These a ...
, 1,793 , 5.0 , - , , align=left, Michael Hasenkamp , align=left, CityClimate Witten , 1,110 , 3.1 , - , , align=left, Hans-Peter Skotarzik , align=left, Witten.Direct , 1,052 , 2.9 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Norman Kerner , 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 ...
, 397 , 1.1 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 35,820 ! 98.1 ! 28,401 ! 98.7 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 709 ! 1.9 ! 369 ! 1.3 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 36,529 ! 100.0 ! 28,770 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 78,110 ! 46.8 ! 77,920 ! 36.9 , - , colspan=7, Source: City of Witten
1st round


City council

The Witten 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,
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 ...
(SPD) , 9,052 , 25.2 , 10.0 , 16 , 9 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , 8,349 , 23.2 , 0.3 , 15 , 2 , - , 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) , 7,404 , 20.6 , 7.6 , 13 , 4 , - , , align=left, Citizens' Forum (BF) , 2,182 , 6.1 , 4.4 , 4 , 3 , - , 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) , 1,681 , 4.7 , New , 3 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,
Pirate Party Germany The Pirate Party Germany (), commonly known as Pirates (), is a political party in Germany founded in September 2006 at c-base. It states general agreement with the Swedish Piratpartiet as a party of the information society; it is part of the i ...
(Piraten) , 1,536 , 4.3 , 2.2 , 3 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 1,441 , 4.0 , 2.0 , 3 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Witten Citizens' Association/
Free Voters Free Voters (, FW) is a political party in Germany. It originates as an umbrella organisation of several Free Voters Associations (), associations of people which participate in an election without having the status of a registered party. These a ...
(WGB-FW) , 1,120 , 3.1 , 0.9 , 2 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP) , 838 , 2.3 , 0.1 , 2 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,
Die PARTEI (''Party for Labour, Rule of Law, Animal Protection, Promotion of Elites and Grassroots Democratic Initiative''), or Die PARTEI (''The PARTY''), is a German political party. It was founded in 2004 by the editors of the German satirical magazine ...
, 739 , 2.1 , New , 1 , New , - , , align=left, CityClimate Witten (SKW) , 631 , 1.8 , New , 1 , New , - , , align=left, Witten.Direct (W.D) , 535 , 1.5 , New , 1 , New , - , colspan=7 bgcolor=lightgrey, , - , , align=left, Alternative Independent Progressive Witten (AUF) , 227 , 0.6 , 0.6 , 0 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,
Ecological Democratic Party The Ecological Democratic Party (, ÖDP) is a green conservative and ecologist minor party in Germany. The ÖDP was founded in 1982. The strongest level of voting support for the ÖDP is in Bavaria, where in federal state elections they have ...
(ÖDP) , 139 , 0.4 , New , 0 , New , - , , align=left, Grassroots Democratic List Witten (BLW) , 87 , 0.2 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Independent Norman Kerner , 13 , 0.0 , New , 0 , New , - ! colspan=2, Valid votes ! 35,974 ! 98.5 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Invalid votes ! 547 ! 1.5 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 36,521 ! 100.0 ! ! 64 ! 8 , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 78,108 ! 46.8 ! 0.4 ! ! , - , colspan=7, Source
City of Witten


State Landtag

In the
Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia The Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia is the state parliament (''Landtag'') of the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which convenes in the state capital of Düsseldorf, in the eastern part of the district of Düsseldorf-Hafen, Hafen ...
, Witten is part of the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis II constituency. Nadja Büteführ of the SPD was elected as representative in the 2017 state election. Verena Schäffer of the Greens also ran in the constituency and was elected to the Landtag on her party's state list.


Federal parliament

In the
Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...
, Witten is part of the
Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis II Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis II is an electoral constituency (German: ''Wahlkreis'') represented in the Bundestag. It elects one member via first-past-the-post voting. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is designated as constituency 138. It ...
constituency.
Axel Echeverria Inaki Axel Echeverría Stefanski (born 19 March 1980) is a Spanish-German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house ...
of the SPD was elected as representative in the
2021 German federal election The 2021 German federal election was held in Germany on 26 September 2021 to elect the members of the 20th Bundestag. State elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern were also held. Incumbent chancellor Angela Merkel, first elected in 2005, ...
.


Transport

Witten is connected to the
Autobahn The (; German , ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. Much of t ...
network by the A 43 and A 44 motorways. It has a
central station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...
, connecting the city to the regional-train-network of
Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...
with direct connections to Hagen, Bochum, Essen, Siegen, Wuppertal, Düsseldorf, Aachen or Dortmund. Local service is carried out by the
BOGESTRA The Bochum-Gelsenkirchener Straßenbahnen AG ('), abbreviated BOGESTRA, is a public transport operator in the Ruhr area, most notably in the cities of Bochum, Gelsenkirchen and Herne. , the company operated, in whole or in part, 9 rail lines ( ...
, a joint venture between the cities of Bochum and Gelsenkirchen, to which most of the bus lines in Witten belong. There is a tram line connecting to
Bochum Bochum (, ; ; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 372,348 (April 2023), it is the sixth-largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous German federa ...
. From mid-December on, there will be two tram lines, which will run in Witten (lines 309 and 310). When the new track to Langendreer is completed (September 2020), the tram lines will ride to the station of Bochum-Langendreer (309) or to Wattenscheid-Höntrop via Bochum main station (310). Public transport in the city is carried out according to the fare system of the VRR transport association.


Coat of arms

The coat of arms of Witten with its two lions once belong to the Everhards von Witten-Steinhausen and was first mentioned in 1283. The family of Witten-Steinhausen belongs to the founders of the town of Witten. Their slogan was: ''"Sigillum Hermanni de Wittene"''. Because of its long history this coat of arms was the only one in the Ruhr area, that was not forbidden by the
Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...
in May 1945, after the end of 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 ...
.


Culture

* Hebezeug-Museum – a museum dedicated to cranes and hoist founded by J. D. Neuhaus and is located on the
Route der Industriekultur The Industrial Heritage Trail () links tourist attractions related to the industrial heritage in the Ruhr area in Germany. It is a part of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. The series of routes were developed between 1989 and 1999, howev ...
. *
Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik The Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik (Witten Days for New Chamber Music) is a music festival for contemporary chamber music, jointly organised by the town Witten in the Ruhr Area and the broadcasting station Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR). The con ...
, festival for contemporary chamber music, held annually at the end of April *


Twin towns – sister cities

Witten is twinned with: *
Beauvais Beauvais ( , ; ) is a town and Communes of France, commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise Departments of France, département, in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, north of Paris. The Communes of France, commune o ...
, France (1975) *
Barking and Dagenham The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham () is a London borough in East London. The borough was created in 1965 as the London Borough of Barking; the name was changed in 1980. It is an Outer London borough and the south is within the London R ...
, England, United Kingdom (1979) *
Mallnitz Mallnitz is a municipality in the Spittal an der Drau District in Carinthia, Austria. Geography It is situated in a high valley of the Hohe Tauern mountain range stretching southwards down to Obervellach on the Möll river and separating the A ...
, Austria (1979) *
Lev HaSharon Lev HaSharon Regional Council () is a regional council in the Sharon region of the Central District of Israel. History The council was established in 1984, unifying Hadar HaSharon and Northern Sharon regional councils, and covers 18 villages wi ...
, Israel (1979) *
Bitterfeld-Wolfen Bitterfeld-Wolfen () is a town in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated in south-eastern Saxony-Anhalt, west of the river Mulde, in an area dominated by heavy industry and lignite mining. The town was formed by ...
, Germany (1990) *
Kursk Kursk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur (Kursk Oblast), Kur, Tuskar, and Seym (river), Seym rivers. It has a population of Kursk ...
, Russia (1990) *
Tczew Tczew (, formerly ) is a city on the Vistula River in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland, with 59,111 inhabitants (December 2021). It is the capital of Tczew County and the largest city of the ethnocultural region of Kociewie within th ...
, Poland (1990) * San Carlos, Nicaragua (1990) *
Mekelle Mekelle (), or Mek'ele, is a List of zones of Ethiopia, special zone and capital city, capital of the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Mekelle was formerly the capital of Enderta province, Enderta Awrajja, awraja in Tigray Province, Tigray. It is locate ...
, Ethiopia (2016)


Religions


Roman Catholic

When Witten was first mentioned in historical documents, it was part of the
Archdiocese of Cologne The Archdiocese of Cologne (; ) is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and northern Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. History At an early date Christianity came to Cologne with the Roman soldiers ...
. Since 1821 it has been a part of the
Diocese of Paderborn The Prince-Bishopric of Paderborn () was an ecclesiastical principality (Hochstift) of the Holy Roman Empire from 1281 to 1802. History The Diocese of Paderborn was founded in 799 by Pope Leo III. In the early years it was subordinated to t ...
; however, the borough of Herbede belongs to the Diocese of Essen. In the 19th century the Ruhr area drew up to 500,000
Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...
from
East Prussia East Prussia was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1772 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 1871); following World War I it formed part of the Weimar Republic's ...
and
Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...
, most of whom were Catholic. Hundreds settled in Witten, leading to a growth in the Catholic community. Today, between 30 and 40 per cent of the population is Catholic.


Protestant

In the 16th century Witten was influenced by
Martin Luther Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...
's
Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...
, and until the late 19th century, Witten was a predominantly Protestant town with just a few Catholic inhabitants. Between 30 and 40 per cent of the population is Protestant today.


Muslims

There are four mosques in Witten, Annen and Herbede today, founded by immigrants from Turkey who arrived in the 1970s and 1980s. Between five and eight per cent of the population is Muslim.


Jews

In 1815 the first Jewish community was mentioned in Witten. In 1938 the synagogue was destroyed during the so-called "
Reichspogromnacht ( ) or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from the Hitler Youth and German civilia ...
" (also known as ''
Kristallnacht ( ) or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from the Hitler Youth and German civilia ...
'') of 9–10 November 1938. Today, only about a dozen Jews live in Witten. They belong to the Jewish community in
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 ...
. Since 1994 the place of the former synagogue is marked with a memorial.


Notable people

*
Ingeborg Danz Ingeborg Danz (born 1961 in Witten) is a German mezzo-soprano and alto concert singer. Career Danz studied school music at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold and voice with Heiner Eckels. She took advanced classes with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, am ...
(born 1961), concert singer *
Theodor Detmers Theodor Detmers (22 August 19024 November 1976) was a German naval officer and captain of the German auxiliary cruiser ''Kormoran'' during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Detmers command ...
(1902–1976), officer *
Felix Dornebusch Felix Dornebusch (born 12 July 1994) is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Stuttgarter Kickers. Career In January 2023, free agent Dornebusch joined 3. Liga club VfB Oldenburg. On 7 June 2023, Dornebusch moved to Stu ...
(born 1994), football player *
Mirko Englich Mirko Englich (born 28 August 1978) is a German Greco-Roman wrestler. He won two silver medals at the European Wrestling Championships in 2003 and 2008. Englich won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), ...
(born 1978), wrestler *
Dennis Eilhoff Dennis Eilhoff (born 31 July 1982) is a German former professional footballer who played as a football goalkeeper. Career Youth Born in Witten, West Germany, Eilhoff began his career with SC Delbrück in 1990. Four years later he played for TuS ...
(born 1982), football player * Robert Graf (1923–1966), actor *
Martin Geck Martin Geck (19 March 1936 – 22 November 2019) was a German musicologist. He taught at the Technical University of Dortmund. His publications concerned a number of major composers. Among the composers in whom he specialised was Johann Sebastian ...
(1936–2019), musicologist *
Ralf Kapschack Ralf Kapschack (born 24 December 1954) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) served as a member of the Bundestag from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia from 2013 to October 2021. Political career Kapschack became a memb ...
(born 1954), politician (SPD) * Carsten Keuler (born 1971), football player * Jochen Nickel (born 1959), actor *
Sorina Nwachukwu Sorina Nwachukwu (born August 21, 1987 in Witten, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German sprinter of Nigerian descent, who specialized in the 400 metres. She set her personal best time of 51.53 seconds, by winning the same distance at the 2009 Germa ...
(born 1987), sprinter *
Paul Pleiger Paul Pleiger (28 September 1899 – 22 July 1985) was a German entrepreneur and corporate executive who was involved in managing the war economy of Nazi Germany. He was the managing director of the ''Reichswerke Hermann Göring'' from 1937 and be ...
(1899–1985), industrialist and corporate executive (NSDAP) *
Alexandra Popp Alexandra Popp-Höppe (; ; born 6 April 1991) is a German professional footballer who plays as a striker for Frauen-Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg. Popp was named German Footballer of the Year three times, in 2014, 2016 and 2023, captained the ...
(born 1991), football player *
Andreas Reckwitz Andreas Reckwitz (18 March 1970 in Witten) is a German sociologist and cultural theorist. He is professor at the institute of social sciences at Humboldt University Berlin. Life Reckwitz studied sociology, Political science and philosophy ...
(born 1970), sociologist *
Stephan Remmler Stephan Remmler (born 25 October 1946) is a German singer, composer and producer. He became famous as the lead singer of the German band Trio, alongside Gert Krawinkel, who played the guitar, and Peter Behrens, who played the drums. After the ...
(born 1949), singer *
Moritz Römling Moritz Römling (born 30 April 2001) is a German professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Austrian club Kapfenberger SV. Career Römling made his professional debut for VfL Bochum in the 2. Bundesliga on 23 February 2019, starting i ...
(born 2001), football player *
Otto Schlüter Otto Schlüter (12 November 1872 in Witten – 12 October 1959 in Halle) was a German geographer. Schlüter was a professor of geography at the University of Halle from 1911 until his death. He is credited with creation of the term ''cultural la ...
(1872–1959), geographer *
Joseph Schmidt-Görg Joseph Schmidt-Görg (born Schmidt 19 March 1897 – 3 April 1981) was a German musicologist, composer and music editor. As a researcher at the University of Bonn and director of the Beethoven Archive, he is regarded as one of the leading Beethov ...
(1897–1981), musicologist and composer *
Otto Schott Friedrich Otto Schott (1851–1935) was a German people, German chemist, glass technologist, and the inventor of borosilicate glass. Schott systematically investigated the relationship between the chemical composition of the glass and its properti ...
(1851–1935), chemist *
Erich Schöppner Erich Schöppner (25 June 1932 – 12 September 2005) was a German boxer. He competed in the men's light middleweight event at the 1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ...
(1932–2005), boxer * Michael Schulz (born 1961), football player *
Josef Sieber Josef Sieber (28 April 1900 – 3 December 1962) was a German film actor. Selected filmography * '' Pappi'' (1934) * ''Punks Arrives from America'' (1935) * ''Joan of Arc'' (1935) * ''The Gypsy Baron'' (1935) * '' The Last Four on Santa Cruz'' (1 ...
(1900–1962), film actor * Wilhelm Utermann (1912–1991), writer and journalist *
Willi Veller Wilhelm "Willi" Veller (9 October 1896, Witten, Province of Westphalia – 22 June 1941) was a German politician and member of the Nazi Party and the Sturmabteilung, SA. As chief of police (''Polizeipräsident'') in Wuppertal, he oversaw Kemna con ...
(1896–1941), politician (NSDAP) *
Tanja Wedhorn Tanja Wedhorn (born 14 December 1971 in Witten) is a German actress. She studied acting at the Berlin University of the Arts and lives in Berlin. She has two sons. Tanja Wedhorn became famous for her performance in the leading role of Germany' ...
(born 1971), actress *
Charles Paul Wilp Charles Paul Wilp (15 September 1932, in Witten – 2 January 2005, in Düsseldorf) was a German advertising-designer, artist, photographer and short-movie-editor. Study and career After school at the humanistic Ruhr-high school and after studyin ...
(1932–2005), artist and photographer *
Rosi Wolfstein Alma Rosalie (Rosi) Wolfstein (after 1948, Rosi Frölich: 27 May 1888 – 11 December 1987) was a German socialist politician. After the murder of her friend and mentor, the communist pioneer Rosa Luxemburg, she inherited Luxemburg's copious colle ...
(1888–1987), politician (KPD)


References

{{Authority control Holocaust locations in Germany