Kerpen (; Ripuarian: ''Kerpe'') is the most populated town in 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 ...

(

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 located about 20 kilometres southwest from

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 ...

. As of 2023, Kerpen has a total population of 67,627.

Division of the town

The town of Kerpen was created in 1975, when the previously independent municipalities Balkhausen, Blatzheim, Brüggen, Buir, Horrem, Kerpen, Manheim, Mödrath, Sindorf and Türnich were merged.

Monuments

* Burg Bergerhausen * Burg Loersfeld *

Schloss Türnich Schloss Türnich is a schloss located in , now part of Kerpen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The present main building was built from 1757 to 1766 in Baroque style, with an adjacent English landscape park. It has belonged to the Hoensbroech fa ...

Notable people

Adolph Kolping Adolph Kolping (8 December 1813 — 4 December 1865) was a German Catholic priest and the founder of the Kolping Association. He led the movement for providing and promoting social support for workers in industrialized cities while also working t ...

(1813–1865), Catholic priest and social reformer *

Wolfgang von Trips Wolfgang Alexander Albert Eduard Maximilian Reichsgraf Berghe von Trips (; 4 May 1928 – 10 September 1961), also known as Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips, was a German racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "Taffy", von ...

(1928–1961),

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

motor racing driver *

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...

(1928–2007), pioneer of electronic music composition *

Franz-Peter Hofmeister Franz-Peter Hofmeister (born 5 August 1951) is a West German athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres. He competed for West Germany in the 1976 Summer Olympics held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in the 4 × 400 metre relay where he won the br ...

, Olympic medalist in the 4 × 400 m relay *

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 ...

, 7-time Formula One world champion *

Ralf Schumacher Ralf Schumacher (born 30 June 1975) is a German former racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to . Schumacher won six Formula One Grands Prix across 11 seasons. Born and raised in North Rhine-Westp ...

, brother of Michael, both have emulated von Trips in achieving success in Formula One *

Patrice Bart-Williams Patrice Babatunde Bart-Williams (born 9 July 1979), better known as Patrice, is a German reggae singer, songwriter and record producer. Born in Germany to a Sierra Leonean father and a German mother, Patrice grew up listening to Fela Kuti, Bob Ma ...

is an acclaimed reggae artist

Education

In 2008,

Gymnasium der Stadt Kerpen The (German, ''European high school Kerpen'') is a Gymnasium in Kerpen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The school was founded in 1968. In 2001, it was certified as a Europaschule (de) by the Ministry of Schools of North Rhine-Westphalia. ...

was considered the largest school in Germany.

Twin towns – sister cities

Kerpen is twinned with: *

St. Vith St. Vith ( ; ; ; ) is a city and municipality of East Belgium located in the Walloon province of Liège. It was named after Saint Vitus. The majority language is German, as in the rest of the German-speaking Community of Belgium. On January ...

, Belgium (1975) *

Oświęcim Oświęcim (; ; ; ) is a town in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship in southern Poland, situated southeast of Katowice, near the confluence of the Vistula (''Wisła'') and Soła rivers. Oświęcim dates back to the 12th century, when it was an im ...

, Poland (1997)

References

External links

* Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia Rhein-Erft-Kreis {{RheinErftKreis-geo-stub