Recklinghausen (; Westphalian: ''Riäkelhusen'') is the northernmost city in the Ruhr-Area and the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

of the Recklinghausen district. It borders the rural Münsterland and is characterized by large fields and farms in the north and industry in the south. Recklinghausen is the 60th-largest city in Germany and the 22nd-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia.

History

First mentioned in 1017 as ''Ricoldinchuson'', in 1150 the city was the center of the surrounding Vest Recklinghausen. In 1236, Recklinghausen received

town privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...

. There is record of

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

in the city as early as 1305. As part of the County of Vest, ownership of Recklinghausen changed several times in the 15th and 16th century, and in 1576, the entire county was pawned to the Elector of Cologne. In 1582–83, again in 1586, and again in 1587, the city was plundered by partisan armies during the Cologne War, a feud over religious parity in Electorate of Cologne and electoral influence in the Holy Roman Empire. Recklinghausen was also the site of more than 100 witchcraft trials (1514–1710). The trial activity reached a climax twice: In the time period of 1580/81 and again in 1588/89. The last person to be convicted of

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...

was Anna Spickermann; after spending 16 months in prison, she was sentenced to death by sword and burned afterward. Circa 1600, the administration of the Vest Recklinghausen was divided into two parts, with the eastern part administered by Recklinghausen. The town of Recklinghausen including the parish of Recklinghausen and the parishes Ahsen, Datteln, Flaesheim, Hamm-Bossendorf, Henrichenburg, Herten, Horneburg, Oer, Suderwich, Waltrop and

Westerholt Westerholt is a municipality in the district of Wittmund, in Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land ar ...

. In 1803-1811 became the capital of a sovereign Principality of the Dukes of Arenberg who retain the title. Circa 1815, the Vest was made a Bürgermeisterei, with the town becoming the seat. In 1819, Herten joined the Recklinghausen Bürgermeisterei, and Erkenschwick followed in 1821. As a target of the Oil Campaign of World War II, oil production at Recklinghausen/Forstezung was bombed by the RAF on 15 January 1945; and South Recklinghausen (''Recklinghausen Süd'') was captured by the US 137th Infantry on 1 April 1945.

Main sights

Recklinghausen is home to a museum of icons, which includes more than 1,000 Orthodox works from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

and the

Balkan The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

countries, as well as early Coptic Christian art from

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

. The icon museum – the largest outside the Orthodox world – was founded in 1956 and reopened after renovation in February 2006 for its 50th anniversary. The Ruhrfestspielhaus (Ruhr Festival Theatre), whose remodeling in 2001 won the German Architecture Award is home of "Die Liegende Nr 5", a famous sculpture by Henry Moore. At the Lohtor in front of a memorial for the victims of World War I, there is a large sculpture made of more than 30,000 bricks by

Per Kirkeby Per Kirkeby (1 September 1938 – 9 May 2018) was a Danish painter, poet, film maker and sculptor. Biography By the time Kirkeby completed a masters degree in arctic geology at the University of Copenhagen in 1964, he was already part of the ...

Annual events

Recklinghausen hosts the annual

Ruhrfestspiele Ruhrfestspiele (Ruhr Festival) in Recklinghausen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, is one of the oldest theatre festivals in Europe. Founded after World War II, the festival is a major annual cultural event for the Ruhr area. It always starts on 1 ...

(Ruhr Festival), a cultural festival with an international reputation. Every year there is a cultural programme with many national and international theatrical productions starting on 1 May. In 2008 the programme included the play ''Speed the Plow'' starring

Kevin Spacey Kevin Spacey Fowler (born July 26, 1959) is an American actor. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, obtaining supporting roles before gaining a leading man status in film and television. Spacey has received various accolade ...

and Jeff Goldblum as one of the major productions. The main theatrical stage is the Ruhrfestspielhaus but other theatres in and around Recklinghausen participate.

Transport

The two major motorways crossing the area of the city are the A2 and the A43. The city is connected to the larger waterways by the Rhein-Herne-Kanal. Recklinghausen has two railway stations. The ''Central Station'' ( Recklinghausen Hauptbahnhof), which is served by

Intercity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...

and EuroCity services, and the ''

South Station South Station, officially The Governor Michael S. Dukakis Transportation Center at South Station, is the largest railroad station and intercity bus terminal in Greater Boston and New England's second-largest transportation center after Logan ...

'' (Recklinghausen Südbahnhof). There are two Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn - S 2 to Dortmund via Herne - Castrop-Rauxel and S 9 to Hagen via Gladbeck - Bottrop - Essen - Velbert - Wuppertal.

Politics

Mayor

The current mayor of Recklinghausen is Christoph Tesche of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Candidate ! Party ! Votes ! % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christoph Tesche , align=left, Christian Democratic Union , 26,556 , 60.8 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Andreas Becker , 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 For ...

, 7,286 , 16.7 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Thorben Terwort , align=left, Alliance 90/The Greens , 4,031 , 9.2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Sascha Menkhaus , align=left, Alternative for Germany , 2,264 , 5.2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Erich Burmeister , align=left, The Left , 1,493 , 3.4 , - , , align=left, Claudia Ludwig , align=left, Independent Citizens Party , 1,213 , 2.8 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Irina Oberpichler , align=left, Die PARTEI , 864 , 2.0 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 43,707 ! 99.0 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 435 ! 1.0 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 44,142 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 92,107 ! 47.9 , - , colspan=7, Source
City of Recklinghausen

City council

The Recklinghausen 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, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , 16,078 , 37.0 , 0.6 , 21 , 2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(SPD) , 10,924 , 25.2 , 12.8 , 14 , 6 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) , 7,757 , 17.9 , 8.3 , 10 , 5 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alternative for Germany (AfD) , 2,861 , 6.6 , New , 4 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 1,867 , 4.3 , 1.7 , 2 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP) , 1,561 , 3.6 , 0.4 , 2 , ±0 , - , , align=left, Independent Citizens' Party (UBP) , 1,477 , 3.4 , 3.4 , 2 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Die PARTEI , 614 , 1.4 , New , 1 , New , - , colspan=7 bgcolor=lightgrey, , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP) , 199 , 0.5 , New , 0 , New , - , , align=left, Party of Holistic Democracy (PHD) , 103 , 0.2 , New , 0 , New , - ! colspan=2, Valid votes ! 43,441 ! 98.4 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Invalid votes ! 687 ! 1.6 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 44,128 ! 100.0 ! ! 56 ! 4 , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 92,107 ! 47.9 ! 0.4 ! ! , - , colspan=7, Source
City of Recklinghausen

Twin towns – sister cities

Recklinghausen is twinned with: *

Acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ...

, Israel * Bytom, Poland *

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after ...

, Netherlands * Douai, France *

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

, England, United Kingdom *

Schmalkalden Schmalkalden () is a town in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district, in the southwest of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is on the southern slope of the Thuringian Forest at the Schmalkalde river, a tributary to the Werra. , the town had a p ...

, Germany

Notable people

Louis Engelbert, 6th Duke of Arenberg Louis Engelbert of Arenberg (3 August 1750 in Brussels – 7 March 1820 in Brussels), nicknamed ''the blind duke'', was between 1778 and 1801 the sixth Duke of Arenberg and 12th Duke of Aarschot. Between 1803 and 1810 he ruled a Duchy in North ...

(1750–1820), prince of Recklinghausen *

Prosper Louis, 7th Duke of Arenberg Prosper Louis, 7th Duke of Arenberg (28 April 1785, Enghien – 27 February 1861) was the Duke of Arenberg, a principality of the Holy Roman Empire. He was also the 13th Duke of Aarschot, 2nd Duke of Meppen and 2nd prince of Recklinghausen.StaffT ...

(1785–1861), 2nd prince of Recklinghausen * Fritz Emil Irrgang (1890–1951), Nazi politician and storm trooper * Walter Giller (1927–2011), actor *

Karl Ridderbusch Karl Ridderbusch (29 May 1932 – 21 June 1997) was a German operatic bass, associated in particular with the music of Wagner. He was recognised as a notable exponent of the role of Hans Sachs. Barry Millington "Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Die", ...

(1932–1997), opera singer * Ursula Dirichs (born 1935), actress * Rosemarie Koczy (1939–2007), artist and teacher, concentration camp survivor * Klaus Schulten (1947–2016), biophysicist * Renate Künast (born 1955), politician ( Alliance 90/The Greens) * Ralf Möller (born 1959), actor * Ludger Pistor (born 1959), actor *

Hape Kerkeling Hans Peter Wilhelm "Hape" Kerkeling (; born 9 December 1964) is a German comedian, TV presenter, author, and actor. Career At secondary school in Recklinghausen, Hape Kerkeling and some fellow students formed a band (''Gesundfutter'', meani ...

(born 1964), comedian and author *

Martin Max Martin Max (born 7 August 1968) is a German former professional association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. One of the oldest winners of the Bundesliga's top scorer crown, at the age of 32 and 34, ...

(born 1968), footballer * Mark Dragunski (born 1970), handball player * Moguai (born 1973), DJ and producer *

Frank Busemann Frank Busemann (; born 26 February 1975 in Recklinghausen) is a former German decathlete. He currently works as a pundit for athletics coverage by German TV channel Das Erste. Busemann started his career as a 110 m hurdler and was junior wor ...

(born 1975), decathlete *

Thomas Godoj Tomasz Jacek Godoj (born 6 March 1978) is a Polish-German rock-pop singer and songwriter. He was the winner of the fifth season of ''Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' (2008), the German version of ''Pop Idol''. Early life Godoj was born on 6 Ma ...

(born 1978), Polish-German singer, '' Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' winner

Mayors since 1809

;Bürgermeister * 1809–1833: Alois Joseph Wulff * 1833–1839: Peter Banniza * 1840–1842: Karl Boelmann * 1843–1850:

Franz Bracht Clemens Emil Franz Bracht (23 November 1877 – 26 November 1933) was a German jurist and politician. Born in Berlin, he studied law at the University of Würzburg and the University of Berlin. He joined the Centre Party and on 18 December 192 ...

* 1854–1890:

Friedrich Hagemann Friedrich may refer to: Names *Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich'' *Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich'' Other *Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' ...

* 1890–1899: Alexander Rensing ;Oberbürgermeister * 1899–1904: Albert von Bruchhausen * 1904–1919: Peter Heuser * 1919–1931: Sulpiz Hamm * 1932–1939: Fritz Niemeyer * 1939–1945: Fritz Emil Irrgang,

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

* 1945–1946: Josef Hellermann, CDU * 1946–1948: Wilhelm Bitter, CDU * 1948–1952: Joseph Dünnebacke, CDU * 1952–1972: Heinrich Auge, SPD * 1972–1984: Erich Wolfram, SPD ;Bürgermeister * 1984–1987: Erich Wolfram, SPD * 1987–1998: Jochen Welt, SPD ;Hauptamtliche Bürgermeister * 1998–1999: Peter Borggraefe, SPD * 1999–2014: Wolfgang Pantförder, CDU * 2014–: Christoph Tesche, CDU

Gallery

Markt Recklinghausen.jpg, Central market Lohtor RE NOR.jpg, Lohtor Square with Saint Peter's Church and sculpture of Per Kirkeby AOK Recklinghausen.jpg, Former hospital in ''Westviertel'' Kunibertistraße Nr. 16 (ältestes Haus der Stadt).JPG, Half-timber houses in the city Palais Vest.JPG, The "Palais Vest" shopping mall Stadtmauer RE NOR.jpg, City wall from the Middle Ages

References

External links

Museums of Recklinghausen

''Corpus juris'' of the county of Recklinghausen
{{Authority control Cities in North Rhine-Westphalia Oil campaign of World War II