Kaarst (; ) is a town in

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 lies in the district of

Rhein-Kreis Neuss Neuss is a Kreis (district) in the west of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Nearby are the urban districts Mönchengladbach, Krefeld, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Cologne, the districts Rhein-Erft-Kreis, Düren, Heinsberg and the district Viersen. ...

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 ...

. It is 5 km west of

Neuss Neuss (; written ''Neuß'' until 1968; ; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Düsseldorf. Neuss is the largest city within the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district. It is primarily known for its ...

and 12 km east of

Mönchengladbach Mönchengladbach (, ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany, west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Netherlands, Dutch border. Geography Municipal subdivisions Since 2009, th ...

Division of the town

Kaarst consists of 5 subdivisions * Kaarst (23,495 inhabitants) * Büttgen (6,415 inhabitants) * Driesch (645 inhabitants) * Holzbüttgen (5,967 inhabitants) * Vorst (5,671 inhabitants)

History

Before 100 BC

Celts The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

lived in the area. Later the

Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

came into this area as graves from the 7th century prove. The first written document is the ''Life'' of the first

bishop of Münster A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

. It describes how bishop

Ludger Ludger (; also Lüdiger or Liudger) ( – 26 March 809) was a missionary among the Frisians and Saxons, founder of Werden Abbey and the first Bishop of Münster in Westphalia. He has been called the "Apostle of Saxony". Early life to ordina ...

walked from Budica, now Büttgen, through the forest of Hamrithi. The earliest known written mention of Kaarst refers to it as 'Karlesforst' and dates back to 1218. Karl was a very common name for frankish nobles including king

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

('Karl der Große'), but a link between Charlemagne and Kaarst has not been proven. Kaarst and Büttgen both have churches built in the 12th century. Both villages were destroyed by

Charles the Bold Charles Martin (10 November 1433 – 5 January 1477), called the Bold, was the last duke of Burgundy from the House of Valois-Burgundy, ruling from 1467 to 1477. He was the only surviving legitimate son of Philip the Good and his third wife, ...

duke of

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

(Karl der Kühne, 1474–1475), in the

Cologne War The Cologne War (, ''Kölnischer Krieg'', '' Truchsessischer Krieg''; 1583–1588) was a conflict between Protestant and Catholic factions that devastated the Electorate of Cologne, a historical ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Em ...

(1585 to 1586) and in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

(1618–1648).

Jan von Werth Johann von Werth (1591 – 16 January 1652), also ''Jan von Werth'' or in French ''Jean de Werth'', was a German general of cavalry in the Thirty Years' War. Biography Werth was born in 1591 most likely at Büttgen in the Duchy of Jülich a ...

, a celebrated general during the Thirty Years' War, was born near Büttgen in 1591. During the Thirty Years' War, Kaarst was attacked several times by hostile armies, e.g. the one of Northern-Hesse (Northern-Hesse collaborated with

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, whereas the southern part of

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

did not). Some time in 1642, a Hessian troop entered the city murdering the local preacher and destroying the vicarage. From 1794 till 1814 Kaarst was in the area occupied by France under

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. The French redrew district boundaries in 1798 and assigned Kaarst to Kanton Neuss. A relic of Napoleon I is the Nordkanal, a canal to connect the rivers Maas and

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

. In 1936 Büttgen had 4,400 inhabitants and Kaarst 2,000. In 1975 Büttgen and villages around Kaarst were formally amalgamated into Kaarst to form administrative area with 33,500 inhabitants.

Politics

In the 2015 communal elections, Dr. Ulrike Nienhaus (CDU) was elected mayor of Kaarst with 55.8 percent of the valid votes. She was the first female mayor of Kaarst. In the 2020 communal elections, Ursula Baum (FDP) was elected mayor of Kaarst. She won the runoff election in September 2020 with 59.35 percent of the valid votes against Lars Christoph (CDU).

Transport

Kaarster See station Kaarster See station is a train station in the town of Kaarst in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia on the remaining part of the Neuss–Viersen railway, opened by the Rhenish Railway Company on 15 November 1877. The station opened on 26 ...

is the western terminus of the

Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn The Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn () is a polycentric S-bahn network covering the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region in the German federated state of North Rhine-Westphalia. This includes most of the Ruhr (and cities such as Dortmund, Duisburg and Essen), the B ...

line S 28. The town is also served by Kaarster Bahnhof, Kaarst Mitte/Holzbüttgen and Kaarst IKEA stations. Kaarst-Büttgen is served by the S-Bahn line S 8. Both lines connect Kaarst with the capital city Düsseldorf. Kaarst is connected to the

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

system via the

Bundesautobahn 52 is an autobahn in western Germany. It starts at the Dutch-German border near the community of Niederkrüchten, district of Viersen. From Niederkrüchten, it runs northeast. Its westernmost part serves as an important commuter route into Düsse ...

and

Bundesautobahn 57 is a German Autobahn that begins at the Dutch-German border near Goch and ends in Köln. It runs parallel to the Rhine River. Neuss and Krefeld are the biggest cities on this motorway. The A 57 is a continuation of the Dutch A77. Because ...

, which intersect here.

Twin towns – sister cities

Kaarst is twinned with: * La Madeleine, France *

Perleberg Perleberg (; North Brandenburgisch dialect, Margravian: ''Perlberg'') is the capital of the district of Prignitz, located in the northwest of the Germany, German state of Brandenburg. The town received German town law, city rights in 1239 and as of ...

, Germany

Notable people

Johann von Werth Johann von Werth (1591 – 16 January 1652), also ''Jan von Werth'' or in French ''Jean de Werth'', was a German general of cavalry in the Thirty Years' War. Biography Werth was born in 1591 most likely at Büttgen in the Duchy of Jülich a ...

(1591–1652), General in the

Berti Vogts Hans-Hubert "Berti" Vogts (; born 30 December 1946) is a German former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga his whole professional club career and won the FIFA World Cup wi ...

(born 1946), football player and manager * Sebastian Vollmer (born 1984), NFL player

Gallery

File:Alte Mühle, Kaarst (8).JPG, ''Alte Mühle'', windmill in Kaarst File:Braunsmühle, Kaarst-Büttgen (1).JPG, ''Braunsmühle'' in Kaarst-Büttgen

References

External links

* {{Authority control Rhein-Kreis Neuss