Castrop-Rauxel (), often simply referred to as Castrop by locals, is a former coal mining city in the eastern part 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/k ...

in Germany.

Geography

Castrop-Rauxel is located in Germany between

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is th ...

to the southeast, Bochum to the southwest, Herne to the west, Recklinghausen to the northwest,

Datteln Datteln is a town in the district of Recklinghausen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on a crossroads of four canals ( Datteln-Hamm Canal, Wesel-Datteln Canal, Dortmund-Ems Canal and Rhein-Herne Canal), which makes it the big ...

to the north and Waltrop to the northeast.

Urban area

Castrop-Rauxel, Baudenkmal 16 Haus Am Markt 8 2020-04-09 5047

Castrop-Rauxel, Park Burg Henrichenburg 2020-04-09 5022

The city covers an area of . The Halde Schwerin (slag heap in the Schwerin district) is marked as the point of highest elevation at above sea level. The lowest point is located on Pöppinghauser Straße (Poppinghausen Street), besides house number 264, with an elevation of above sea level. The city is divided into 15 districts, from north to south and within one line from west (southwest) to east (northeast): * Henrichenburg (Becklem) * Pöppinghausen, Habinghorst, Ickern * Bladenhorst, Rauxel, Deininghausen * Behringhausen, Castrop, Dingen * Obercastrop, Schwerin * Bövinghausen, Merklinde, Frohlinde The total area of the city divided into different uses (31 December 2010): Population figures for the individual districts (Stand: 2005):

History

Castrop-Rauxel was first mentioned in 834 as "Villa Castorpe",. The name could be derived from the germanic words ''trop'' meaning "village" and ''kast'' meaning "barn" or "depot". Rauxel is the name of the northern part of the city. Rauxel was a village which was integrated into the city in 1926. It was first mentioned as "Rouksele" in 1266. This name might be derived from the germanic words ''rouk'' meaning "crow" and ''sel'' meaning "meadow". In 1847 the railway line from

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the greatest town between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district (''Kreis'') of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of ...

was opened and a railway station was built in the north of the village Castrop. The railway proved to be very useful for the economical development of the village. The first coal mine (''Zeche Erin'') was inaugurated by

William Thomas Mulvany William Thomas Mulvany (11 March 1806 in Dublin, Ireland – 30 October 1885 in Düsseldorf, Germany) was an Irish entrepreneur in Germany. Life Mulvany was one of seven children of Catholic parents in Dublin: his father was the painter ...

, an Irish industrialist living in Germany, close to the village in 1869. Another six coal mines were founded around Castrop soon afterwards. Between 1874 and 1878 another railway line was built between

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in No ...

and

with two train stations in the south of Castrop which developed into a mining town at the end of the 19th century. Castrop merged with two other municipalities (Obercastrop and Behringhausen) and attained municipal status in 1902 with 13, 917 inhabitants. On April 1, 1926 Castrop-Rauxel was formed when Castrop merged with 10 other municipalities the biggest of which was Rauxel with 19,800 inhabitants. The number of inhabitants of Castrop-Rauxel amounted to 53,399 in 1926. During World War II, a plant at Castrop-Rauxel used the

Bergius process The Bergius process is a method of production of liquid hydrocarbons for use as synthetic fuel by hydrogenation of high-volatile bituminous coal at high temperature and pressure. It was first developed by Friedrich Bergius in 1913. In 1931 Bergius ...

to produce synthetic (german:

Ersatz An ersatz good () is a substitute good, especially one that is considered inferior to the good it replaces. It has particular connotations of wartime usage. Etymology ''Ersatz'' is a German word literally meaning ''substitute'' or ''replacement' ...

) oil products. During World War II Castrop-Rauxel suffered 35 air raids and 24% of the city was destroyed by bombs. In 1961 Castrop-Rauxel had 87,910 inhabitants, its maximum in history. In 1975, the village of Henrichenburg was annexed and Castrop-Rauxel became part of the

Recklinghausen (district) Recklinghausen () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the centre of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is surrounded by the neighbouring districts of Borken, Coesfeld, Unna, Gelsenkirchen, Bottrop, and Wesel. The district administration is located in ...

. In 1984 the last of 7 coal mines at Castrop-Rauxel ("Erin") closed. As a consequence, the number of inhabitants declined.

Sights

Bladenhorst Castle (''Wasserschloss Bladenhorst'') was built in the 16th century. Saint Lambert Church, the oldest church in Castrop-Rauxel, stems from the 12th century. Another Saint Lambert Church built around 1450 in a late gothic style can be visited in Henrichenburg which became a part of Castrop-Rauxel in 1975. Goldschmieding Castle (''Haus Goldschmieding'') which was built in the 16th century was transformed into a hotel with a restaurant. The Town Hall was built from 1971 to 1975. The area of the former coal mine ''Zeche Erin'' was transformed into a park. Around the Market Place ''Altstadtmarkt'' several houses built in the typical style of

Gründerzeit (; "founders' period") was the economic phase in 19th-century Germany and Austria before the great stock market crash of 1873. In Central Europe, the age of industrialisation had been taking place since the 1840s. That period is not precisely ...

can be seen. During this period Castrop-Rauxel was a flourishing mining town. Mulvany, the industrialist who founded the first coal mine, had a race course laid out in Castrop in 1874. In 1912, a memorial was erected with a memorial fountain (''Reiterbrunnen'') referring to the horse races which were held until 1970

Parks

''Stadtgarten'' Park was laid out in the south of the centre in 1931. In the north of Castrop-Rauxel, ''Landschaftsarchäologischer Park Henrichenburg'' is worth a visit. It was laid out around the foundations of a castle which had been first mentioned in 1263 and dismantled in 1787. The foundations were rediscovered by chance during construction works in 1994. Ceramics, tiles and weapons were unearthened before the foundations were covered with earth again. Hedges were planted on the foundations to give an impression of the dimensions of the castle.

Politics

The current mayor of Castrop-Rauxel is Rajko Kravanja of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD) since 2015. The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, with a runoff held on 27 September, and the results were as follows: ! rowspan=2 colspan=2, Candidate ! rowspan=2, Party ! colspan=2, First round ! colspan=2, Second round , - ! Votes ! % ! Votes ! % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Rajko Kravanja , align=left, Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party , 13,101 , 49.3 , 11,640 , 66.7 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Oliver Lind , align=left, Christian Democratic Union , 6,674 , 25.1 , 5,823 , 33.3 , - , , align=left, Manfred Fiedler , align=left, The Greens/FWI/ The Left , 4,422 , 16.6 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Mario Rommel , align=left,

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

, 1,213 , 4.6 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Nils Bettinger , align=left,

Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party ideologically based on liberalism. Current parties with that name include: *Free Democratic Party (Germany), a liberal political party in ...

, 1,160 , 4.4 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 26,570 ! 98.7 ! 17,463 ! 98.8 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 359 ! 1.3 ! 210 ! 1.2 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 26,929 ! 100.0 ! 17,673 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 60,039 ! 44.9 ! 60,007 ! 29.5 , - , colspan=7, Source: City of Castrop-Rauxel
1st round

List of mayors

Lord Mayors * 1926–1933: Mende,

Centre Party (Germany) The Centre Party (german: Zentrum), officially the German Centre Party (german: link=no, Deutsche Zentrumspartei) and also known in English as the Catholic Centre Party, is a Catholic political party in Germany, influential in the German Empire ...

(Mayor, from 1928 Lord Mayor) * 1933–1945: Richard Anton,

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

* 1945–1946: Arnold Boerboom * 1946–1948: Hubert Krehe, CDU * 1948–1971: Wilhelm Kauermann, SPD * 1971–1975: Hugo Paulikat, SPD Mayors * 1975–1989: Hugo Paulikat, SPD * 1989–1999: Hans Ettrich, SPD * 1999–2004: Nils Kruse, CDU * 2004–2015: Johannes Beisenherz, SPD * since 2015: Rajko Kravanja, SPD

City council

The Castrop-Rauxel 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, Social Democratic Party of Germany, Social Democratic Party (SPD) , 10,256 , 38.9 , 1.3 , 20 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , 7,059 , 26.8 , 3.9 , 14 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (for ...

(Grüne) , 3,988 , 15.1 , 7.1 , 8 , 4 , - , , align=left, Independent Citizens' Party (UBP) , 1,146 , 4.3 , 0.3 , 2 , ±0 , - , , align=left, Free Voter Initiative (FWI) , 1,132 , 4.3 , 3.2 , 2 , 2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 1,021 , 3.9 , 1.4 , 2 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(FDP) , 1,014 , 3.8 , 0.5 , 2 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Die PARTEI , 775 , 2.9 , New , 2 , New , - ! colspan=2, Valid votes ! 26,391 ! 98.2 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Invalid votes ! 486 ! 1.8 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 26,877 ! 100.0 ! ! 52 ! 2 , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 60,039 ! 44.8 ! 2.5 ! ! , - , colspan=7, Source
City of Castrop-Rauxel

Transport

Castrop-Rauxel has access to three major highways, the Emscherschnellweg A 42,the Sauerlandlinie A 45 and the A 2.
There are 3 railway stations within the city. The central station (Castrop-Rauxel Hauptbahnhof) on the Cologne-Minden Railway is located in the suburb of Rauxel. Connecting Castrop-Rauxel to the western Ruhr cities like

Oberhausen Oberhausen (, ) is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen ( ). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European ...

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and ...

Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen (, , ; wep, Gelsenkiärken) is the 25th most populous city of Germany and the 11th most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants. On the Emscher River (a tributary of the Rhine), it li ...

, Herne and in the east to

and

Hamm Hamm (, Latin: ''Hammona'') is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northeastern part of the Ruhr area. As of 2016 its population was 179,397. The city is situated between the A1 motorway and A2 motorway. Hamm railwa ...

. The unmanned stations of Castrop-Rauxel South (Castrop-Rauxel Süd) and Castrop-Rauxel Merklinde on the Duisburg-Ruhrort–Dortmund railway have hourly services with trains to

, Herne and

Dorsten Dorsten (; Westphalian: ''Dössen'') is a town in the district of Recklinghausen in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and has a population of about 75,000. Dorsten is situated on the western rim of Westphalia bordering the Rhineland. Its histori ...

. Located in the city centre is the central bus station Muensterplatz. From here passengers can travel to almost all suburbs and to neighboring cities like Herne,

and Bochum.
The Rhine-Herne Canal runs right through Castrop-Rauxel; Castrop-Rauxel also has a small Yacht club on this body of water.

Twin towns – sister cities

Castrop-Rauxel is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: *

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population ...

, England, United Kingdom (1949) *

Vincennes Vincennes (, ) is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is next to but does not include the Château de Vincennes and Bois de Vincennes, which are attach ...

, France (1961) *

Kuopio Kuopio (, ) is a Finnish city and municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia. It has a population of , which makes it the most populous municipality in Finland. Along with Joensuu, Kuopio is one of the major urban, economic, and cult ...

, Finland (1965) *

Zehdenick Zehdenick is a town in the Oberhavel district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated on the river Havel, southeast of Fürstenberg/Havel, and north of Berlin (centre). Since 31 July 2013, the city has the additional appellation "Havelstadt". ...

, Germany (1990) * Nowa Ruda, Poland (1991) *

Trikala Trikala ( el, Τρίκαλα; rup, Trikolj) is a city in northwestern Thessaly, Greece, and the capital of the Trikala regional unit. The city straddles the Lithaios river, which is a tributary of Pineios. According to the Greek National Stati ...

, Greece (2013) *

Zonguldak Zonguldak () is a city and the capital of Zonguldak Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It was established in 1849 as a port town for the nearby coal mines in Ereğli and the coal trade remains its main economic activity. According to the ...

, Turkey (2013)

Economy

Castrop-Rauxel has been attempting to change from a former mining city to a city with a modern lifestyle, high recreational value, new economy companies, a 27-hole golf course, and various cultural events. Despite those efforts, the town has one of the lowest median incomes per capita in North Rhine-Westphalia. Metalworking and electronics are the key manufacturing sectors.Castrop-Rauxel
Entry on the website ''britannica.com''. Retrieved March 11, 2021.

Culture

The WLT (Westphalian State Theater) is the oldest and most relevant source of theatrical entertainment in Castrop-Rauxel. There is one cinema with two screens in Castrop. Castrop’s history is closely connected to horse racing, the Reiterbrunnen in the very center of Castrop’s market square is a reminder of the race days on the Naturhindernisbahn, now part of the Goldschmieding Park.

Notable people

* Hedwig Kiesekamp (1844–1919), singer and writer * Heinrich Haslinde (1878–1938), local poet * Josef Hermann Dufhues (1908–1971), politician CDU) Member of Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia, NRW Interior Minister and President of the Parliament * Wilhelm Specht (1910–1986) entrepreneur, businessman and association official * Heinz Ballensiefen (1912–?), historian and Nazi functionary who used to investigate the "

Jewish question The Jewish question, also referred to as the Jewish problem, was a wide-ranging debate in 19th- and 20th-century European society that pertained to the appropriate status and treatment of Jews. The debate, which was similar to other "national ...

" * Hermann Paschasius Rettler (1915–2004), bishop of Bacabal (

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

) * Alfred Niepieklo (1927–2014), German Football Champion in 1956 and 1957 * Josef Reding (born 1929), writer * Erwin Weiss (1934–2008), singer * Friedhelm Wentzke (born 1935), canoeist * Dietrich Berke (1938–2010), musicologist and publishing editor * Paul Reding (born 1939), painter, sculptor and writer * Werner Trzmiel (born 1942), athlete * Friedhelm Ost (born 1942), journalist and politician * Klaus Fichtel (born 1944), footballer * Gabriele Sikora (born 1950), politician (SPD), 1995–2010 Member of the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia * Lawrence Schlieker (born 1951), abbot of Benedictine Gerleve * Udo Helmbrecht (born 1955), former President of the BSI ( Federal Office for Information Security) and Managing Director ENISA ( European Network and Information Security Agency) * Mathias Schipper (born 1957), footballer * Hans-Peter Villis (born 1958), manager * Inge Blask (born 1959), politician (SPD), since 2012 Member of Parliament *

Wolfram Wuttke Wolfram Wuttke (17 November 1961 – 1 March 2015) was a German professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Wuttke made his Bundesliga debut in October 1979 for Schalke 04 in a 3–0 win against Werder Bremen. From 19 ...

(1961–2015), football player * Dieter Hecking (born 1964), football coach * Bernd "Bernie" Blume (born 1964), tech entrepreneur *

Michael Ostrzyga Michael Ostrzyga is a German composer and conductor based in Cologne. He is known for his choral music in particular, being commissioned by festivals like the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival and performers like The Chamber Choir of Asia, the F ...

(born 1975), composer and conductor * Marcel Sieberg (born 1982), cyclist * Barış Özbek (born 1986), footballer * Marc-André Kruska (born 1987), footballer *

Semih Güler Semih Güler (born 30 November 1994) is a German professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Süper Lig side Adana Demirspor. Career Güler began his senior career with the German club Westfalia Herne in 2013. In the summer of 201 ...

(born 1994), footballer *

Rana Tokmak Rana Tokmak (born 16 Juli 1996) is a former German rhythmic gymnast. From 2013 to 2016 she trained with the national team group at the federal base in Fellbach. Personal life From the end of 2012 to 2015, Tokmak was an ambassador for the "s ...

(born 1996) rhythmic gymnast * Electric Callboy, electronicore band formed in 2010. 5 out of 6 members reside in Castrop

References

;Notes {{Authority control Oil campaign of World War II Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia Recklinghausen (district)