Bergkamen (; Westphalian: ''Biärgkoamen'') is a town in the district of Unna, 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 ...

. It is situated south of the river

Lippe Lippe () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Herford, Minden-Lübbecke, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld, which forms the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe. ...

, approx. north-east of

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

and south-west of Hamm. Bergkamen, a fairly new town in the east part of the

Ruhr Area The Ruhr ( ; , 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 1,160/km2 and a populati ...

and south of the Münsterland, was founded in 1966 by the merging of at first five smaller communities. The town's history, however, reaches back to ancient Roman times - this can be experienced by visiting the Bergkamen Municipal Museum, which has a large Roman department, and the nearby archeological site, the “Roemerlager“.

Main sights

*''Westphalian Sports Boat Centre - Marina Ruenthe'' *The neighbouring national trust area, “Beversee“, and the wooded hill, “Grosses Holz“, a renaturalized former slag heap, provide an inviting atmosphere for relaxation.

Cultural events

*Harbour Festival ("Hafenfest") in June *Light Festival ("Lichtermarkt") in October. Bergkamen is home to theatre performances at the “studio theater bergkamen“ and numerous exhibitions in the town's own art gallery “sohle1“ or the “Stadtmuseum“

History

In February 1946, a coal mine in the city suffered a dust explosion that killed 418 miners. This was the worst mining accident in German history.

Twin towns – sister cities

Bergkamen is twinned with: * Hettstedt, Germany (1990) *

Silifke Silifke is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Mersin Province, Mersin Province, Turkey. Its area is 2,692 km2, and its population is 132,665 (2022). It is west of the city of Mersin, on the west end of the Çukurova plain. ...

, Turkey (1994) *

Gennevilliers Gennevilliers () is a Communes of France, commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department of Île-de-France. It is located from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris. History On 9 April 1929, ...

, France (1995) * Wieliczka, Poland (1995)

Notable people

* Ernst von Bodelschwingh-Velmede (1794–1854), Prussian Minister of Interior and Cabinet * Carl von Bodelschwingh (1800–1873), Prussian Finance Minister * Ernst von Bodelschwingh (1906–1993), politician (Member of Bundestag, CDU) * Hans Sennholz (1922–2007), economist * Dietrich Schwanitz (1940–2004), best-selling author, grew up in Rünthe * Eugen Drewermann (born 1940), theologian, church critic, best-seller author * Peer Steinbrück (born 1947), politician (SPD), Member of Landtag, for Bergkamen 2000–2005 * Konrad Ott (born 1959), philosopher and ethicist * Heiko Antoniewicz (born 1965), cook * Frauke Petry (born 1975), politician ( AfD), lived in Bergkamen and went to school there

References

External links

*
Website of Roland Schäfer, the former mayor of Bergkamen
{{Authority control Unna (district)