Stolberg (, Ripuarian: ) is a town 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. It has a long history as an industrial town and belongs to the district

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

and the lower district court of

Eschweiler Eschweiler (, Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ) is a municipality in the district of Aachen (district), Aachen in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany on the river Inde, near the German-Dutch-Belgian border, and about east of Aachen and w ...

Geography

Stolberg is located approximately 5 km east of

in a valley at the fringes of the

Eifel The Eifel (; , ) is a low mountain range in western Germany, eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Com ...

which begins in the East with the

Hürtgenwald Hürtgenwald ( Ripuarian: ''Hüêtschewald'') is a municipality in the district of Düren in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Eifel hills, approx. 15 km south-west of Düren. Much of the area is cov ...

and in the South in the municipality of

Monschau Monschau (; , ; ) is a small resort town in the Eifel region of western Germany, located in the Aachen district of North Rhine-Westphalia. Geography The town is located in the hills of the North Eifel, within the Hohes Venn – Eifel Nature ...

. It borders

in the north and the Aachen city district of Eilendorf in the west. The core of Stolberg is commonly divided into Unterstolberg (''Lower Stolberg'') and Oberstolberg (''Upper Stolberg'') which includes most of the old parts of Stolberg. Other parts of Stolberg are Atsch,

Büsbach Büsbach is the largest of 17 districts and villages belonging to the German town of Stolberg (Rhineland). Geography Büsbach, located on a knoll of limestone, is surrounded by several villages. In the north Münsterbusch is directly neighboure ...

, Donnerberg, Münsterbusch. In addition the villages of Breinig, Dorff, Gressenich, Mausbach, Schevenhütte, Venwegen, Vicht, Werth, and Zweifall.

History

Stolberg is first mentioned in documents from the 12th century. It became an important centre of

brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

production when Protestant brass producers resettled to Stolberg from

around 1600 to escape religious persecution and economic restrictions. The

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

of Stolberg, ''Die Kupferstadt'' (the

Copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

City), thus derives not from copper but from brass, "yellow copper". The ''Kupferhöfe'' (copper yards) where brass was originally produced and the brass manufacturers built their mansions remain as reminders of the brass manufacturers that dominated Stolberg and its economy. Stolberg lost its importance as a brass producer when pure

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

became available in the middle of the 19th century. Many brass producers moved into other industries, especially the glass and

textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

industries, or specialized in the

mass production Mass production, also known as mass production, series production, series manufacture, or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines ...

haberdashery __NOTOC__ In British English, a haberdasher is a business or person who sells small articles for sewing, dressmaking and knitting, such as buttons, ribbons, and zippers; in the United States, the term refers instead to a men's clothing store ...

. Stolberg belonged to the

Duchy of Jülich The Duchy of Jülich (; ; ) comprised a state within the Holy Roman Empire from the 11th to the 18th centuries. The duchy lay west of the Rhine river and was bordered by the Electorate of Cologne to the east and the Duchy of Limburg to the wes ...

until 1794, when it became occupied by France and part of the Canton of Eschweiler in the Département de la Roer. After the

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 ...

in 1815, Stolberg became part of 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 ...

. Stolberg acquired notoriety in the 1960s as the residence of Contergan producer

Grünenthal Grünenthal GmbH is a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Aachen in Germany. It was founded in 1946 as Chemie Grünenthal and has been continuously family-owned. The company was the first to introduce penicillin into the German market in t ...

. Because of its heavy industry, Stolberg has become associated with diseases of metal poisoning, literally "Gressenich cadmium cattle-dying" disease and "Stolberg lead children" disease. Stolberg has a significant ultra-right history, e.g., as the headquarters of the

Wiking-Jugend The "Wiking-Jugend" (WJ, "Viking youth") was a German Neo-Nazi organization modeled on the Hitlerjugend. Wiking Youth emerged in 1952 from a merger of several German right-wing extremist youth groups. In 1994 it was banned by the Federal Minist ...

from 1967 to 1991 and as a place of NPD activities.

Main sights

The town's landmark is a castle which was rebuilt at the beginning of the 20th century at the location of the former medieval castle of Stolberg. Other remarkable old buildings are the Kupferhöfe (Copper yards) and the old town in general. At the eastern border of the territory of Stolberg is the Wehebachtalsperre (Beck Wehe reservoir) which includes a lookout point.

Transport

Although Stolberg lacks direct

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 ...

access, the next autobahns are easily accessible via the neighbouring towns of

and

. Stolberg Hauptbahnhof (central station) is on the Cologne–Aachen railway and served by a

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 ...

train every half-hour. Several smaller stations in the centre of Stolberg are connected to

Aachen (district) The district of Aachen () is a district in the west of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Heinsberg, Düren, Euskirchen, and also the Netherlands province of Limburg and the Belgian province of Liège. Its administrative ...

and

Düren (district) Düren () is a Kreis (district) in the west of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Heinsberg, Neuss, Rhein-Erft-Kreis, Euskirchen and Aachen. History The district was created in 1972 by merging the former districts of Jü ...

by the

euregiobahn Euregiobahn is a system of regional trains (RB 20) in the combined area of the ''AVV (Aachener Verkehrverbund)'' at the Aachen (district), Düren (district) operated by DB Regio NRW. History The historical predecessors of ''Euregiobahn'' wer ...

, a slower regional train.

Sports

Stolberg has several

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

gymnastics Gymnastics is a group of sport that includes physical exercises requiring Balance (ability), balance, Strength training, strength, Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, agility, Motor coordination, coordination, artistry and endurance. The movem ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

clubs and a few traditional shooting clubs. Other sports clubs include the

gliding Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sports, air sport in which pilots fly glider aircraft, unpowered aircraft known as Glider (sailplane), gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmospher ...

club ''Luftsportverein Stolberg'', situated at the Diepenlinchen Airfield and the regionally successful

artistic cycling Artistic cycling is a form of competitive indoor cycling in which athletes perform tricks (called exercises) for points on specialized, Fixed-gear bicycle, fixed-gear bikes in a format similar to ballet or gymnastics. The exercises are perform ...

club ''RSC Münsterbusch''.

Twin towns – sister cities

Stolberg (Rhineland) is twinned with: * Faches-Thumesnil, France (1989) * Stolberg (Südharz), Germany (1990) *

Valognes Valognes () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. Geography Valognes is situated in the Cotentin Peninsula, southeast of Cherbourg. Valognes station has rail connections to Caen, Paris and Cherbourg. His ...

, France (1990/1991)

Notable people

Heinz Bennent Heinz Bennent (18 July 1921 – 12 October 2011) was a German actor. Biography Bennent was born in Stolberg. He was conscripted into the Luftwaffe during World War II, where he was captured by Allied forces and spent much of the war in POW c ...

(1921–2011), actor. *

Viktor Holtz Viktor Holtz (3 May 1846 – 3 September 1919) was a German educator and a pioneer of German-Japanese academic and cultural relations. Early life Holtz was born in Stolberg, Kingdom of Prussia, and studied, from 1865 to 1867, at the Royal Cath ...

(1846–1919), educator. * LaFee (born 1990), singer. * Margitta Mazzocchi, politician in

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

. * Anton Resch (1921–1975), fighter pilot. * Walter Hilgers, conductor.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Aachen (district)