Schwerte (; Westphalian: ''Schweierte'') is a town in the district of Unna, 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 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 ...

Geography

Schwerte is situated in the Ruhr valley, at the south-east border of the Ruhr Area. South of Schwerte begins the mountainous Sauerland region.

Division of the town

After the local government reforms of 1975 Schwerte consists of the following districts: * Schwerte * Holzen * Westhofen * Ergste * Geisecke * Villigst * Wandhofen

History

Schwerte received civic rights in the 12th century. The railway facility in the eastern district of Schwerte became a branch of the Buchenwald concentration camp in April 1944. The camp had 445 prisoners in August and 670 in November 1944. The number of escapees was comparatively high; in November 1944 48 prisoners escaped. The camp in Schwerte was disbanded in December 1944 and the remaining prisoners were brought back to Buchenwald.

Main sights

*The Romanesque church of St. Victor has a carved altar of 1523, and stained glass of the 14th and 15th centuries. *The Wuckenhof is a timber-framed house built in the 16th century. *The ''Ruhrtal

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

'' is situated in a former town hall, that was built in 1547. *The ''Rohrmeisterei'' was built in 1889 by a water purification company. It was a

pumping station Pumping stations, also called pumphouses, are public utility buildings containing pumps and equipment for pumping fluids from one place to another. They are critical in a variety of infrastructure systems, such as water supply, Land reclamation, ...

until 1924. Today it is part of the German route of industrial heritage ('' Route der Industriekultur''). Schwerte-00030

Economy

Today, there are some industries left, which are confined to the manufacture of iron and steel goods.

Twin towns – sister cities

Schwerte is twinned with: * Béthune, France (1960) * Bruay-la-Buissière, France (1965) * Violaines, France (1969) * Allouagne, France (1975) *

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

, England, UK (1982) * Cava de' Tirreni, Italy (1984) * Leppävirta, Finland (1992) * Pyatigorsk, Russia (1992) *

Ioannina Ioannina ( ' ), often called Yannena ( ' ) within Greece, is the capital and largest city of the Ioannina (regional unit), Ioannina regional unit and of Epirus (region), Epirus, an Modern regions of Greece, administrative region in northwester ...

, Greece (2022)

Notable people

* Johannes Goddaeus (1555–1632), jurist * Heinrich Rehkemper (1894–1949), baritone singer *

Erwin Rösener Erwin Friedrich Karl Rösener (2 February 1902 – 4 September 1946) was a German '' Schutzstaffel'' (SS) commander during the Nazi era. During World War II, he was responsible for mass executions of civilians in Slovenia. Rösener was put on tri ...

(1902–1946), SS- Obergruppenführer Nazi officer executed for war crimes * Werner van der Zyl (1902–1984), rabbi * Detlef Lewe (1939–2008), sprint canoer, lived in Schwerte * Paul Kevenhörster (born 1941), political scientist * Wolfgang Kleff (born 1946), footballer * Rosemarie Trockel (born 1952), artist * Carmen Rischer (born 1956), rhythmic gymnast * Thomas Kroth (born 1959), footballer, lives in Schwerte * Violetta Oblinger-Peters (born 1977), Austrian slalom canoeist * Jens Ewald (born 1983), slalom canoeist * Lasse Sobiech (born 1991), footballer

References

External links

Official website

Heimatverein Ergste
Internet site of the local history society of Ergste {{Authority control Members of the Hanseatic League Unna (district)