Place:Herdecke, Westfalen, Preußen, Germany

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NameHerdecke
TypeTown
Coordinates51.4°N 7.433°E
Located inWestfalen, Preußen, Germany
Also located inEnnepe-Ruhr, Arnsberg, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany    
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

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 reservoirs Hengsteysee and Harkortsee has earned it the nickname Die Stadt zwischen den Ruhrseen (lit. The city between the Ruhr lakes).

The city is located in the area of the Regionalverband Ruhr (RVR). The two Ruhr lakes as well as the forests on the Ardey heights make the town attractive to tourists. The historic center with its many half timbered houses and the 30-metre-high railway viaduct across the Ruhr valley are two more landmarks.

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History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

The origin of Herdecke was the foundation of a women's monastery at the beginning of the 9th century. The former monastery church (Stiftskirche), which was rebuilt in the second half of the 13th century, still retains parts of the original Carolingian construction.

In 1324 Herdecke went from ownership of the Bishopric of Cologne to the County of Mark. The count took all jurisdiction from the abbess and erected a pillory in front of the church which existed until 1700. 1355 market rights were given by Count Engelbert III. In the following centuries the regionally important corn market developed thanks to the good connection to trading roads from Cologne to the Weser area, Münsterland and Siegerland.

1594 free jurisdiction was canceled. In 1615 Herdecke became a Freiheit. In the winter of 1624/1625, Herdecke was host to a garrison of Spanish military. It was given city rights by Friedrich Wilhelm I in 1739.

The Fourth Edition of Meyers Konversations-Lexikon noted in 1888: „Herdecke, town in Prussian government district Arnsberg, Hagen, 104 meters above sea levels. Lies at the navigable Ruhr and the lines Hagen-Witten, Hagen-Dahlhausen and Schwelm-Dortmund of the Prussian State Railroad Company. Has an evangelic and catholic church, great sandstone quarries as well as factories for fabrics, tobacco, leather paper and hardware, dye works and beer brewing. On the heights of the town is the Kaisberg with a tower commemorating the Baron of Stein; further away are the remnants of the Hohensyburg; the new tower was erected to honour president v. Vinke. Underneath the Hohensyburg lies the Sonnenstein, a 200 meter high plateau where every year in June the famous Rhein-Westfalic Sonnenstein fair is being held. Next to Herdecke lies Vorhalle with its iron and brass factories.“

1939 Ende was incorporated into Herdecke. In World War II the town was godfather to the U 751, a submarine that was sunk in the Atlantic by British planes on 17 July 1942.

Population history

In the course of two centuries between 1739 and 1939 Herdecke changed from a medieval market town to a flourishing small town. The population between 1939 and 1993 grew at 147% because of people's wishes to "have a green home". In the 1990s the population reached its maximum to this day (26,500). The population slowly declined afterwards.

Because of the population grow Herdecke is a town with the most sealed surfaces in the Government District of Arnsberg. More than a third of the town's surface has been built upon and almost 300 square metres of surface per person is sealed.

Year Population
1793 896
1939 10,713 (of which 3,766 for Ende)
1961 17,218
1970 20,157
1987 25,238
1993 26,488
2002 25,982
2006 25,374
2013 22,572

Emblem

The Herdecke emblem is a silvern oak on a hill bearing yellow fruit upon a red shield. The so-called "Herta-Oak" has been the city's trademark for a long time. A city seal of 1784 already shows a tree. Since the giving of the emblem by the Prussian Government in 1902, the official emblem bears a wall with three towers on the top side.

Population history

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia


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