Schwerte ( Westphalian: ''Schweierte'') is a town in the district of Unna, in

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Geography

Schwerte is situated in the Ruhr valley, at the south-east border of the

Ruhr Area The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , 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 2,800/km ...

. South of Schwerte begins the mountainous Sauerland region.

Division of the town

After the local government reforms of 1975 Schwerte consists of the following districts: * Schwerte * Holzen * Westhofen * Ergste * Geisecke * Villigst * Wandhofen

History

Schwerte received civic rights in the 12th century. The railway facility in the eastern district of Schwerte became a branch of the Buchenwald concentration camp in April 1944. The camp had 445 prisoners in August and 670 in November 1944. The number of escapees was comparatively high; in November 1944 48 prisoners escaped. The camp in Schwerte was disbanded in December 1944 and the remaining prisoners were brought back to Buchenwald.

Main sights

*The Romanesque church of St. Victor has a carved altar of 1523, and stained glass of the 14th and 15th centuries. *The Wuckenhof is a

timber-framed house Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

built in the 16th century. *The ''Ruhrtal

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

'' is situated in a former town hall, that was built in 1547. *The ''Rohrmeisterei'' was built in 1889 by a water purification company. It was a

pumping station Pumping stations, also called pumphouses in situations such as drilled wells and drinking water, are facilities containing pumps and equipment for pumping fluids from one place to another. They are used for a variety of infrastructure system ...

until 1924. Today it is part of the German route of

industrial heritage Industrial heritage refers to the physical remains of the history of technology and industry, such as manufacturing and mining sites, as well as power and transportation infrastructure. Another definition expands this scope so that the term a ...

('' Route der Industriekultur''). Schwerte-00030

Economy

Today, there are some industries left, which are confined to the manufacture of iron and steel goods.

Twin towns – sister cities

Schwerte is twinned with: *

Béthune Béthune ( ; archaic and ''Bethwyn'' historically in English) is a city in northern France, sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department. Geography Béthune is located in the former province of Artois. It is situated south-east of Calais, ...

, France (1960) * Bruay-la-Buissière, France (1965) * Violaines, France (1969) * Allouagne, France (1975) *

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

, UK (1982) *

Cava de' Tirreni Cava de' Tirreni (; Cilentan: ''A Càva'') is a city and '' comune'' in the region of Campania, Italy, in the province of Salerno, northwest of the town of Salerno. It lies in a richly cultivated valley surrounded by wooded hills, and is a p ...

, Italy (1984) *

Leppävirta Leppävirta () is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Northern Savonia region, south of Kuopio along the Finnish national road 5. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population densi ...

, Finland (1992) *

Pyatigorsk Pyatigorsk (russian: Пятиго́рск; Circassian: Псыхуабэ, ''Psıxwabæ'') is a city in Stavropol Krai, Russia located on the Podkumok River, about from the town of Mineralnye Vody where there is an international airport and about ...

, Russia (1992) * Pánd, Hungary (2005)

Notable people

* Johannes Goddaeus (1555–1632), jurist * Heinrich Rehkemper (1894–1949), baritone singer * Erwin Rösener (1902–1946), SS-

Obergruppenführer ' (, "senior group leader") was a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and adopted by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) one year later. Until April 1942, it was the highest commissio ...

Nazi officer executed for war crimes *

Werner van der Zyl Werner van der Zyl (11 September 1902 – 10 April 1984) was a rabbi in Berlin and in London, where he came in 1939 as a refugee rabbi from Germany. He was the prime mover and first director of studies of the Jewish Theological College of L ...

(1902–1984), rabbi * Detlef Lewe (1939–2008), sprint canoer, lived in Schwerte * Paul Kevenhörster (born 1941), political scientist * Wolfgang Kleff (born 1946), footballer *

Rosemarie Trockel Rosemarie Trockel (born 13 November 1952) is a German conceptual artist. She has made drawings, paintings, sculptures, videos and installations, and has worked in mixed media. From 1985, she made pictures using knitting-machines. She is a pr ...

(born 1952), artist * Carmen Rischer (born 1956), rhythmic gymnast * Thomas Kroth (born 1959), footballer, lives in Schwerte * Violetta Oblinger-Peters (born 1977), Austrian slalom canoeist * Jens Ewald (born 1983), slalom canoeist * Lasse Sobiech (born 1991), footballer

References

External links

Official website

Heimatverein Ergste
Internet site of the local history society of Ergste {{Authority control Members of the Hanseatic League Unna (district)