Halver () is a town in the Märkischer Kreis 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 ...

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 ...

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; it ceased to exist in 1753. This court was most famous because of the trial of duke Henry XVI the Rich of

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

-Landshut and the knight of Toerring on May 2, 1430. With effect from October 1, 1912, the municipality Halver was split, Schalksmühle becoming an independent municipality. Both were administered together in the Amt Halver. As part of the communal reforms of the district of

Altena Altena (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Altenoa'') is a town in the district of Märkischer Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The town's castle is the origin for the later Dukes of Berg. Altena is situated on the Lenne river valley, i ...

the ''Amt'' was dissolved on January 1, 1969, and Halver was granted city rights. Nicolai kirche halver alms

Coat of arms

The red and white checked base refers to the

fess In heraldry, a fess or fesse (from Middle English ', Old French ', and -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... ', and charge on a coat of arms">Latin ' ...

from the arms of the Counts of the Mark. The stone judgement table under a linden tree represents the ''Feme'' court. It was designed by Otto Hupp, and was granted on March 29, 1935. The ''Amt Halver'' had a separate coat of arms, which was also designed by Otto Hupp. It combined elements from the two member municipalities Halver and Schalksmühle: in the upper part is a linden branch symbolizing Halver, in the bottom the upper half of a black mill wheel as the symbol of Schalksmühle. Separating the two is the red and white checked fess, as above. The coat of arms was granted on June 8, 1936, and expired with the dissolving of the Amt in 1969.

Number of inhabitants

Municipality Halver * 1915: 6.476 * 1925: 7.729 * 1935: 8.122 * 1939: 8.772 * 1946: 12.045 * 1961: 13.684 * 1968: 15.713 Town Halver * 1969: 16.254 * 1978: 16.176 * 1988: 15.399 * 1995: 16.983 * 1999: 17.876 * 2003: 18.111 * 2006: 17.776 * 2008: 17.465 * 2010: 17.159 * 2012: 16.300 * 2014: 16.677

Mayor

At the election in 2015, Michael Brosch (SPD) became the new mayor in Halver, he won against his predecessor Dr. Bernd Eicker.

International relations

The

town twinning A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inte ...

with the Swedish city

Katrineholm Katrineholm (pronunciation: or ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Katrineholm Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden with 24,271 inhabitants in 2018. It is located in the inland of Södermanland and is the third largest ur ...

originated from the connection between a music group from Halver and a traditional dancing group from Katrineholm. It was officially signed on September 30, 1963. On April 25, 1975, the twinning agreement with the French city

Hautmont Hautmont () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is southwest of the centre of Maubeuge, and has 14,500 residents. On 3 August 2008 a narrow but strong F4 tornado swept through the town, as well as Maubeuge, Neuf-Mesn ...

was signed. There has also been a city friendship with Pardess-Hanna in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

since 1989.

Sons and daughters of the town

Eugen Schmalenbach Eugen Schmalenbach (20 August 1873 – 20 February 1955) was a German academic and economist. He was born in Halver, and attended the Leipzig College of Commerce starting in 1898. That college later became part of Leipzig University, only to emer ...

(1873-1955), economist, the local commercial vocational school was named after him

References

External links

*http://www.halver.de {{Authority control Märkischer Kreis