Witten

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Witten
Town hall in Witten
Flag Coat of arms
show Location of Witten within Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis district
Witten Witten Show map of GermanyShow map of North Rhine-WestphaliaShow all
Coordinates: 51°26′0″N 7°20′0″E / 51.43333°N 7.33333°E / 51.43333; 7.33333Coordinates: 51°26′0″N 7°20′0″E / 51.43333°N 7.33333°E / 51.43333; 7.33333
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Arnsberg
District	Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis
Subdivisions	8 districts
Government
• Mayor (2020–25)	Lars König[1] (CDU)
Area
• Total	72.40 km2 (27.95 sq mi)
Elevation	104 m (341 ft)
Population  (2020-12-31)[2]
• Total	95,876
• Density	1,300/km2 (3,400/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	58401 - 58456
Dialling codes	02302, 02324 (Buchholz)
Vehicle registration	EN, WIT
Website	witten.de

Witten (German: [ˈvɪtn̩] (listen)) is a university city in the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis (district) in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the home of the Witten/Herdecke University, the first private university in Germany.

Geography[]

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

Bordering municipalities[]

• Bochum
• Dortmund
• Herdecke
• Wetter (Ruhr)
• Sprockhövel
• Hattingen

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: 31 Stockum-Mitte, 32 Dorney, 33 Stockumer Bruch, 34 Wilhelmshöhe
• Annen: 41 Tiefendorf, 42 Wullen, 43 Annen-Mitte-Nord, 44 Annen-Mitte-Süd, 45 Kohlensiepen, 46 Wartenberg, 47
• : 51 Industriegebiet-Ost, 52 Rüdinghausen-Mitte, 53 Buchholz, 54 Schnee
• : 61 Steinhausen, 62 Bommerbank, 63 Bommerfeld, 64 Wettberg, 65 Buschey, 66 Bommeregge
• : 71 Papenholz, 72 Hellweg, 73 Wannen, 74 Heven-Dorf, 75 Lake
• Herbede: 81 Herbede-Ort, 82 Vormholz, 83 Bommerholz-Muttental, 84 Durchholz, 85 Buchholz-Kaempen

Population 1739–2016[]

Year Inhabitants 1739 566 1787 690 1808 1,587 1830 2,210 1 December 1840 2,987 1 December 1855 5,112 3 December 1858 6,908 3 December 1864 10,500 3 December 1867 12,200 1 December 1871 15,161 1 December 1875 18,100 1 December 1880 21,600 1 December 1885 23,879

Year Inhabitants 1 December 1890 26,310 2 December 1895 28,769 1 December 1900 33,517 1 December 1905 35,841 1 December 1910 37,450 1 December 1916 34,864 5 December 1917 35,033 8 October 1919 37,441 16 June 1925 45,519 16 June 1933 72,580 17 May 1939 73,365 31 December 1945 70,276 29 October 1946 69,384

Year Inhabitants 13 September 1950 76,312 25 September 1956 91,706 6 June 1961 96,462 31 December 1965 98,506 27 May 1970 97,379 31 December 1975 108,771 31 December 1980 105,876 31 December 1985 102,259 25 May 1987 102,902 31 December 1990 105,403 31 December 1995 104,754 31 December 2000 103,196 30 June 2005 101,019

Year Inhabitants 31 December 2011 98,330 31 December 2015 96,700 31 December 2016 96,781

History[]

Witten was first mentioned in historic sources in 1214, however the borough Herbede (which was incorporated into the city in 1975) dates back to 851. The city was a mining town from 1578. In 1946, it was included in North Rhine-Westphalia on its establishment. In 1975 Witten was included in the administrative district Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis 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.

Roburit Explosion[]

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.^{[citation needed]}

Politics[]

The Council of Witten[]

The local council of Witten has 64 seats. In the local elections of 2004 the German Social Democratic Party, SPD, gained 24 seats and form the largest party represented on the council. It is followed by the Christian Democratic Party, CDU with 18 and the Greens with 7 seats. They are followed by the WBG (a conservative list) with 4, FDP 4, FLW (also a conservative list) 3, NPD 2, PDS/WAL (socialists) 1 and AUF Witten (a left wing list) also 1. From 2004 to 2020 for the first time in its history the council is led by a female mayor: Sonja Leidemann, SPD. In the election of 2020 she lost her mandate to Lars König (CDU).

Members of Parliament[]

Landtag[]

• 2005–today: , MdL (SPD)

German Bundestag[]

• 1998–today: Dr. Ralf Brauksiepe, MdB (CDU)
• 1998–today: , MdB (SPD)
• 2005–today: , (B´ 90/Die Grünen)
• 2005–2009: Konrad Schily, (FDP)

Transport[]

Witten is connected to the Autobahn network by the A 43 and A 44 motorways. It has a central station, connecting the city to the regional-train-network of Deutsche Bahn with direct connections to Hagen, Bochum, Essen, Siegen, Wuppertal, Düsseldorf, Aachen or Dortmund. Local service is carried out by the BOGESTRA, 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. 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 in May 1945, after the End of the Second World War.

Culture[]

• – a museum dedicated to cranes and hoist founded by J. D. Neuhaus and is located on the Route der Industriekultur.
• Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik, festival for contemporary chamber music, held annually at the end of April
•  [de]

Twin towns – sister cities[]

Witten is twinned with:^[3]

Religions[]

Roman Catholic[]

When Witten was first mentioned in historical documents, it was part of the Archdiocese of Cologne. Since 1821 it has been a part of the Diocese of Paderborn; however, the borough of Herbede belongs to the Diocese of Essen. In the 19th century the Ruhr area drew up to 500,000 Poles from East Prussia and Silesia, 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's Reformation, 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" (also known as Kristallnacht) of 9–10 November 1938. Today, only about a dozen Jews live in Witten. They belong to the Jewish community in Dortmund.

Since 1994 the place of the former synagogue is marked with a memorial.

References[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Witten.