Bergheim (; Ripuarian: ''Berchem'') is a German town, 22 km west of

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

and the capital of the

Rhein-Erft-Kreis The Rhein-Erft-Kreis () is a district in the west of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Neuss (district), Neuss, district-free Cologne, Rhein-Sieg, Euskirchen (district), Euskirchen, Düren (district), Düren. History The ...

(district). The town's

Niederaußem Niederaußem (, , in contrast to ":de:Oberaußem, Upper Außem") is a section of the town of Bergheim, North Rhine-Westphalia, Bergheim, North Rhine-Westphalia, located 18 km west of Cologne. It has 6000 inhabitants and is well known for its N ...

district is one of the most important suppliers for energy from

lignite Lignite (derived from Latin ''lignum'' meaning 'wood'), often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35% and is considered the lowest ...

s in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Geography

Bergheim is about 22 km west of Cologne, approximately 72 metres above sea level. Its highest point is the Glessener Höhe (Glessen Height) at 204 metres. The

Erft The Erft () is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It flows through the foothills of the Eifel, and joins the Lower Rhine (left tributary). Its origin is near Nettersheim, and its mouth in Neuss-Grimlinghausen south of the Josef Cardina ...

River flows through Bergheim. The town lies in the Zülpicher Börde, which belongs to the Kölner Bucht. Economically and geographically Bergheim is in the Rhenish lignite coalfield.

History

There is a burial hill in Niederaußem, dating from about 4000 BC.

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

settled in Bergheim around 50 BC. They constructed the major Roman road, the Via Belgica, that crossed the area where Bergheim is today. 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 ...

took control over the region. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, Bergheim was granted city rights and later became part of the

County of Jülich A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) ''Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denotin ...

. In the 19th and 20th centuries Bergheim grew rapidly through the settlement of industry based on the local

coal. 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 ...

, the

Wesseling Wesseling () is an industrial German city on the Rhine bordering Cologne city on the south. With three chemical plants and a petroleum refinery within its city limits, it has an important place in the international petrochemical industry. Histo ...

synthetic oil plant was bombed during the Oil Campaign of World War II. Then in April 1944, a large underground plant for synthetic oil manufactured from lignite was set up outside Bergheim.

Districts

* Ahe * Auenheim * Bergheim-Mitte * Büsdorf * Fliesteden * Glesch * Glessen * Kenten *

* Oberaußem * Paffendorf * Quadrath-Ichendorf * Rheidt-Hüchelhoven * Thorr * Zieverich

Points of interest

Points of interest are the

Niederaussem Power Station Niederaussem Power Station is a lignite-fired power station in the Bergheim, North Rhine-Westphalia, Bergheim Niederaussem/Rhein-Erft-Kreis, Rhein Erft circle, owned by RWE. It consisted of nine units, which were built between 1963 and 2003. It ...

with the world's tallest

cooling tower A cooling tower is a device that rejects waste heat to the atmosphere through the cooling of a coolant stream, usually a water stream, to a lower temperature. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove heat and cool the ...

as well as the Kottenforst-Ville Nature Park.

Notable people

Gerhard Fieseler Gerhard Fieseler (15 April 1896 – 1 September 1987) was a German World War I flying ace, aerobatics champion, and aircraft designer and manufacturer. From birth to the 1918 armistice Born in Glesch (near Cologne), Fieseler joined the Imperial G ...

(1896–1987), fighter pilot in the First World War and aircraft constructor (Gerhard-Fieseler-Werke) *

Günter Grass Günter Wilhelm Grass (; 16 October 1927 – 13 April 2015) was a German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor, and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was born in the Free City of Danzig (now Gda ...

(1927–2015), writer, Nobel Prize 1999, lived in Bergheim-Oberaussem for several years after the end of the World War II * Sarah Kreuz (born 1989), singer, second place with DSDS * The footballer

Lukas Podolski Lukas Josef Podolski (; born Łukasz Józef Podolski, , 4 June 1985) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward or attacking midfielder for Ekstraklasa club Górnik Zabrze. He is kno ...

grew up in Bergheim, played in the youth team of FC Jugend 07 Bergheim from 1991 onwards. In 1995 he changed to the D-youth of the

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., better known as simply 1. FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English language, English, is a German professional association football, football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 ...

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to and from to . Schumacher won a record-setting seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, tied by Lewis Hamilton in ...

(born 1969), Formula 1 racing driver and seven-time world champion, attended the Geschwister-Scholl-Realschule in Bergheim *

Lukas Sinkiewicz Lukas Sinkiewicz (born 9 October 1985) is a Polish-German former footballer who played as a defender for SV Lövenich/Widdersdorf. He last played for SSV Jahn Regensburg. He has represented Germany on three occasions. Career He signed a one-y ...

(born 1985), footballer *

Victoria Ulbrich Queensberry was an all-female German pop group founded in late 2008. Formed during the seventh season of the television talent show ''Popstars'', ''Popstars – Just 4 Girls'', the original line-up consisted of singers (Leo), (Gabby), Antonell ...

(born 1992), singer and former band member of Queensberry

Twin towns – sister cities

Bergheim is twinned with: *

Andenne Andenne (; ) is a city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Namur Province, province of Namur, Belgium. On January 1, 2006, Andenne had a total population of 25,240. The total area is 86.17 km² which giv ...

, Belgium *

Chauny Chauny () is a Communes of France, commune in the Aisne Departments of France, department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. History There has been a settlement on the site, more or less continuously, since at least the Carolingian era. Kno ...

, France

References

http://www.wiktorp.cku.szkola.pl/Bergheim/Bergheim.htm {{Authority control Rhein-Erft-Kreis