Gladbeck () is a town in the district of Recklinghausen 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. Gladbeck is quite a young town, first recognised 21 July 1919 when it was given town rights. The town established itself around five farming villages, Brauck, Butendorf, Ellinghorst, Rentfort and Zweckel.

Geography

Gladbeck is located in the northern 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 belongs to the so-called Emscherzone in which mining started late in relation to other towns of this area. Gladbeck is predominantly surrounded by

Bottrop Bottrop () is a city in west-central Germany, on the Rhine–Herne Canal, in North Rhine-Westphalia. Located in the Ruhr area, Ruhr industrial area, Bottrop adjoins Essen, Oberhausen, Gladbeck, and Dorsten. The city had been a coal-mining and ...

Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen (, , ; ) is the List of cities in Germany by population, 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, Emscher River (a tribu ...

, Dorsten and by

Essen Essen () 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 Dortmund, as well as ...

in the south.

History

Pre-industrial society

Early archeological finds prove that the region of Gladbeck was already populated as early as 2000 BC. It was first mentioned in 1020 as Gladbeki and was originally a small village of 300 inhabitants. The village with its five peasantries (Butendorf, Brauck, Rentfort, Ellinghorst and Zweckel, now quarters of Gladbeck) was arranged around St. Lamberti cathedral. From 1180 to 1802 Gladbeck belonged to the Vest Recklinghausen and was thus linked with the Electorate of Cologne. A certificate from 1236 mentions

Knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

Ludolfus de Wittering who is most likely to have erected Wittringen Castle around that time. Especially during the first years of 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 ...

(1618–48) many cornfields in and around Gladbeck were destroyed by marauding soldiers. Additionally, the

Black Death The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...

killed many inhabitants of Gladbeck during the Thirty Years' War. At the 1815

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...

the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

acquired the area and administered it within the

Province of Westphalia The Province of Westphalia () was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946. In turn, Prussia was the largest component state of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918, of the Weimar ...

. Before the

Revolutions of 1848 The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...

there were three bad food crises in Gladbeck in 1816/17, 1830/31 and 1846/47. However, the "March Revolution" had no consequences on Gladbeck.

Time of coal mining

Coal was found in the 1870s and the first coal was produced in 1878. Depending on additional workers, the coal mines attracted many people. Therefore, Gladbeck rapidly grew by immigration from surrounding Westphalia, the

Rhine Province The Rhine Province (), also known as Rhenish Prussia () or synonymous with the Rhineland (), was the westernmost Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822 to 1946. ...

, and from the eastern provinces of Prussia including citizens with Polish as their native language. The little village quickly turned into an establishment of industry and was given town privilege in July 1919. Also Gladbeck benefited from the general boom in the years 1925 to 1929 when important building projects were realised in spite of all troubles, such as the open-air bath as well as the stadium, in which

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

delivered a speech in 1932. As with all German towns, Gladbeck was brought into line after Adolf Hitler was named Reichskanzler. This took place under the earlier elected conservative mayor Bernhard Hackenberg, immediately joining the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Gladbeck was heavily damaged and around 43% of the buildings in the center were destroyed, making it as one of the most destroyed towns in the

. After the war the town became part of the new state of

. During the 1960s the coal industry went into a substantial crisis, resulting in widespread unemployment. Apart from this Gladbeck's population reached 85,927 inhabitants in 1969, which is unique in the history of this town. Since the last coal mine was closed in 1971 Gladbeck is fighting against a high rate of unemployment, activating the structural change.

Communal realignment and history since 1975

In the course of the communal realignment in North Rhine-Westphalia (1975) Gladbeck, original a county borough, and the village Kirchhellen were incorporated into the neighbouring town

. Opponents of the realignment criticized the low population density at the border between Gladbeck and

and emphasized that

was not much bigger than Gladbeck. "GlaBotKi is nich" (Glabotki is not) was their catchphrase. With the help of a court decision Gladbeck successfully left

, thereby cancelling the merger. Since July 1976 Gladbeck is part of the district of Recklinghausen. On 16 August 1988, the town received international attention when two thieves robbed a branch of the

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...

in Gladbeck. They kidnapped two bank employees and held them hostage, along with 32 people in a transport bus in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

and drove through

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. In what was called the Gladbeck hostage crisis, the crisis ended in just over 2 days, with one police officer and two victims dead, and the arrest of the three individuals (Hans-Jürgen Rösner & Dieter Degowski, along with Marion Löblich for her involvement in the crime as an accomplice).

Politics

The current mayor of Gladbeck is Bettina Weist of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) since 2020. 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, Bettina Weist , align=left, Social Democratic Party , 11,452 , 42.6 , 10,728 , 62.8 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Dietmar Drosdzol , align=left, Christian Democratic Union , 6,308 , 23.4 , 6,357 , 37.2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Simone Steffens , align=left, Alliance 90/The Greens , 2,423 , 9.0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Marco Gräber , align=left,

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present), far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative p ...

, 2,110 , 7.8 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Markus Kellermann , 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 Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, 1,460 , 5.4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Olaf Jung , align=left, The Left , 771 , 2.9 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Michael Tack , align=left, Free Democratic Party , 686 , 2.6 , - , , align=left, Habib Ay , align=left, Alternative Citizens' Initiative , 608 , 2.3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Ulas Polat , align=left,

, 379 , 1.4 , - , , align=left, Udo Flach , align=left, Citizens in Gladbeck , 365 , 1.4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Gerhard Dorka , align=left, German Communist Party , 355 , 1.3 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 26,917 ! 99.3 ! 17,085 ! 99.0 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 204 ! 0.7 ! 172 ! 1.0 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 27,121 ! 100.0 ! 17,257 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 56,978 ! 47.6 ! 56,947 ! 30.3 , - , colspan=7, Source: City of Gladbeck
1st round

List of mayors

Gladbeck possesses a mayor since it gained town privilege in July 1919. Yet, the official term was lord mayor as Gladbeck was a county borough by 1974. Since then it has a mayor and since 1994 the position as Gladbeck's mayor is a full-time function. The mayor is the chairman of the town council and employer of administration. Gladbeck has had the following mayors: *1919–1931: Michael Jovy, non party *1931–?: Bernhard Hackenberg, joined the

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers ...

in 1933 *1948–1952: Johann Harnischfeger, CDU *1946–1958: Friedrich Lange, SPD *1958–1963: Heinrich Kliem, SPD *1963–1965: Hans Wuwer, SPD *1965–1971: Günter Kalinowski, SPD *1971–1974: Norbert Aust, SPD *1976–1994: Wolfgang Röken, SPD *1994–2004: Eckhard Schwerhoff, CDU *2004–2020: Ulrich Roland, SPD *since 2020: Bettina Weist, SPD In 1994 Eckhard Schwerhoff was elected mayor by the town council after the SPD had governed Gladbeck for 48 years. The SPD failed the absolute majority only barely and because the mayor has one voice too it would have led to a stalemate. As a result, the Alliance '90/The Greens and a new founded local party (BIG) made the decision to support Eckhard Schwerhoff, a CDU party member but not involved in the politics of Gladbeck until then. In 1999 Eckhard Schwerhoff was re-elected after a reform according to which mayors should be elected directly. In the ballot on 10 October 2004 he no longer stood for the mayor and thereupon Ulrich Roland (SPD) was elected mayor.

City council

The Gladbeck 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 (SPD) , 9,783 , 36.5 , 10.8 , 19 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , 7,044 , 26.3 , 1.1 , 14 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) , 3,285 , 12.3 , 6.5 , 7 , 4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(AfD) , 2,595 , 9.7 , New , 5 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 1,121 , 4.2 , 1.8 , 2 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP) , 899 , 3.4 , 0.7 , 2 , 1 , - , , align=left, Alternative Citizens' Initiative (ABI) , 663 , 2.5 , 0.9 , 1 , ±0 , - , , align=left, Citizens in Gladbeck , 617 , 2.3 , 0.3 , 1 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, German Communist Party (DKP) , 385 , 1.4 , 0.1 , 1 , ±0 , - , colspan=7 bgcolor=lightgrey, , - , , align=left, Gladbeck Citizens' List , 267 , 1.0 , 0.3 , 0 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Independent Markus Kellermann , 144 , 0.5 , New , 0 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Independent Nilüfer Akcay , 12 , 0.0 , New , 0 , New , - ! colspan=2, Valid votes ! 26,815 ! 98.9 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Invalid votes ! 301 ! 1.1 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 27,116 ! 100.0 ! ! 52 ! 6 , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 56,978 ! 47.6 ! 0.5 ! ! , - , colspan=7, Source
City of Gladbeck
The list below gives an overview about the results of the last eight council elections:

Coat of arms

Gladbeck's city arms is portrayed in black, red and yellow and has a red bettlement as a sign of the received municipal law from 1919. The black field and the yellow hammer as well as the yellow beater on the left side represent the coal that had a major position in Gladbeck's history. The black clasps on the right side are taken from the blazon of the Lords of Brabeck, having possessed the moated castle Wittringen at the end of the 14th century.

Demographics

Population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

: ** 1575: 1,500 ** 1800: 2,000 ** 1900: 11,704 ** 1916: 48,302 ** 1945: 59,439 ** 1965: 84,097 ** 2006: 77,436

Culture and sights

Museum

The moated castle Wittringen houses the town's museum. It contains collections and exhibitions on the history of Gladbeck. The museum shows the development of the region from the

geological Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth s ...

origins of its rich coal supplies to the first inhabitants and the present days. A major exhibit is a skeleton of a bison found in the district of Brauck. Other exhibits are: * A coin collection and an offertory of Roman coins. * A cemetery of the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

. * Several rooms inform about the time of the

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

. * Moreover, the museum collects modern art, such as works by

Joseph Beuys Joseph Heinrich Beuys ( ; ; 12 May 1921 – 23 January 1986) was a German artist, teacher, performance artist, and Aesthetics, art theorist whose work reflected concepts of humanism and sociology. With Heinrich Böll, , Caroline Tisdall, Rober ...

Religious communities

According to information of the town council 30,906 of 77,436 inhabitants were

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

and 22,121 inhabitants were

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

in December 2006. There are 11 churches, 5 are

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

and 6 are

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. In school pupils are allowed to choose between Catholic and Protestant lessons. Alternatively, pupils can be taught in Philosophy likewise if they want to. Visits to churches are included to the lessons in basic school. However, there is a Muslim minority in Gladbeck due to the immigration of the 1960s.

Theater and music

Several events, for example jazz festivals, take place regularly. There is also one library in Gladbeck and theater courses are normally offered in the three grammar schools. From time to time theater plays can be visited in the municipal hall, even well known plays like

Emilia Galotti ''Emilia Galotti'' () is a play in five acts by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729–1781), which premiered on 8 March 1772 in Braunschweig, Brunswick (''Braunschweig'' in German). The work is an example of German ''bürgerliches Trauerspiel'' (bourg ...

written by

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (; ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a German philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the dev ...

. There is one school of music where one can participate in different courses.

Transport

Roads

Gladbeck is connected to the network of trunk roads through the following

Autobahn The (; German , ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. Much of t ...

: * A 2: Oberhausen–Dortmund–Hannover–Berlin * A 31: Bottrop–Gronau–Emden * A 52: Marl-North–Gelsenkirchen–Gladbeck * B 224: Raesfeld–Erle–Dorsten–Gladbeck–Essen–Velbert–Wuppertal–Solingen

Rail

Gladbeck has three railway stations: *the centrally located Gladbeck West station on the Oberhausen-Osterfeld Süd–Hamm line, which includes a bike parking facility, *Gladbeck Ost station on the Winterswijk–Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck line, *Gladbeck-Zweckel station on the Winterswijk–Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck line. The Gladbeck stations are served by the following services: * the

Regional-Express In Germany, Luxembourg and Austria, the Regional-Express (; RE, or in Austria: REX) is a type of regional train. It is similar to a semi-fast train, with a top speed of and an average speed of about as it calls at fewer stations than ''R ...

14 " Emscher-Münsterland-Express":
Essen – Bottrop – Gladbeck West – Gladbeck-Zweckel – Dorsten – (Coesfeld (Westf)* / Borken (Westf)* ) *Flügelzug * the

Regionalbahn The ''Regionalbahn'' (; lit. Regional train; abbreviated ''RB'') is a train categories in Europe, type of Regional rail, local passenger train (stopping train) in Germany. It is similar to the Regionalzug (R) and Regio (Swiss railway train), R ...

43 " Emschertal-Bahn":
Dortmund – Herne - Wanne-Eickel – Gladbeck Ost – Gladbeck-Zweckel – Dorsten * and Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn line S 9:
Recklinghausen / Haltern am See – Gladbeck West – Bottrop – Essen – Velbert - Wuppertal - Hagen

Notable people

* Jean-Henri Riesener (, 1734–1806 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

), cabinetmaker having worked at the French household in the 18th century. A grammar school, a fountain in front of the townhall as well as a street are dedicated to him. * Hermann Nattkämper (1911–2005), footballer, won the German cup 1934 and 1935 as a player of the

FC Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, ...

* Willy Kaiser (1912–1986), boxer, Olympic champion 1936 * Joseph Jadrzejczak (1918–1990), French football national player * Harald Deilmann (1920–2008), architect * Heinz Wewers (1927–2008), footballer * Helmut Janz (1934–2000), athlete and Olympic athlete 1960 * Gerhard Prokop (1939–2002), football goalkeeper * Werner Müller (born 1946), historian * Claudia Lux (born 1950), librarian, General Director of the Zentral- und Landesbibliothek Berlin 1997-2012 * Berthold Possemeyer (born 1951), concert singer (baritone) and university lecturer * Armin Rohde (born 1955), actor * Michael Kraus (born 1955), swimmer * Sebastian Fricke (born 1987), Bronze Medal winner at the paralympics in Rio de Janeiro 2016 * Caroline Masson (born 1989), professional golfer * Pierre-Michel Lasogga (born 1991), German footballer * Julian Draxler (born 1993), footballer for Paris Saint Germain and Germany national team *

Annika Drazek Annika Drazek (born 11 April 1995) is a German Bobsleigh, bobsledder and former track and field athlete. She was a sprinter, competed at two IAAF World Youth Championships in Athletics, IAAF World Youth Championships. In bobsleigh, she competes w ...

(born 1995), bobsledder and former track & field athlete

Twin towns – sister cities

Gladbeck is twinned with: *

Alanya Alanya (; ), formerly Alaiye, is a beach resort town, resort city, a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Antalya Province, Turkey. It is on the southern coast of Turkey, in the country's Mediterranean Region, Turkey, Mediterranean R ...

, Turkey * Enfield, England, United Kingdom *

Fushun Fushun ( zh, s=, t=, p=Fǔshùn, historically Fuxi ()) is a prefecture level city in Liaoning province, China, about east of Shenyang, with a total area of , of which is the city proper. Situated on the Hun River ("muddy river"), it is one o ...

, China * Marcq-en-Barœul, France *

Schwechat Schwechat () is a city southeast of Vienna known for the Vienna International Airport and Schwechater beer. The city is home to the Oil refinery, refineries of the Austrian national oil company OMV. Geography Schwechat is named after the river S ...

, Austria *

Wodzisław Śląski Wodzisław Śląski (; , , , , ) is a city in Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland with 47,992 inhabitants (2019). It is the seat of Wodzisław County. It was previously in Katowice Voivodeship (1975–1998); close to the border with the Czech ...

, Poland

Notes

References

* Weichelt, Rainer (2004), Geschichte der Stadt Gladbeck, Gudensberg-Gleichen :Wartberg Verlag

External links

*
Information about and pictures of Gladbeck
{{Authority control Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia Recklinghausen (district)