Selm () 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 ...
. It is situated approximately 20 kilometers north of
Dortmund
Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...
and 25 kilometers west of
Hamm.
Geography
The town belongs to the southern part of the
Münsterland. It is surrounded by (beginning in the west)
Olfen,
Lüdinghausen
Lüdinghausen (Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Lünkhusen'' or ''Lünksel'') is a town in Coesfeld (district), district of Coesfeld in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the Dortmund-Ems Canal, approx. 25 km s ...
,
Nordkirchen
Nordkirchen is a municipality in the district of Coesfeld, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Nordkirchen's most famous site is Schloss Nordkirchen, built in the 18th century for a local bishop and known as the Versailles of Westphalia, as it i ...
(all in the district of Coesfeld),
Werne
Werne an der Lippe (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Wäen'') is a town in the Federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia in the Unna (district), Unna district in Germany. It is located on the southern edge of the Münster (region), Münsterla ...
,
Lünen
Lünen () is a town with around 86,000 inhabitants in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located north of Dortmund, on both banks of the Lippe (river), River Lippe. It is the largest town of the Unna (district), Unna district and part of the R ...
(both in the district of Unna),
Waltrop
Waltrop ( is a town in the Recklinghausen (district), district of Recklinghausen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the Datteln-Hamm Canal, approximately 15 km east of Recklinghausen and 15 km north-west of Dortmund.
...
, and
Datteln
Datteln is a town in the district of Recklinghausen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the biggest canal junction in the world, where the Datteln-Hamm Canal, Wesel-Datteln Canal, Dortmund-Ems Canal, and Rhein-Herne Canal i ...
(both belonging to the district of Recklinghausen).
History
The first traces of living people in the area date from the younger half of the
Stone Age
The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...
.
In 858 it was mentioned as ''Seliheim'' in the
Dreingau Dreingau is the medieval name of one of five Saxon pagi (i.e., boroughs) in what today is the Münsterland in Westphalia. During the Middle Ages documents referred to it as ''Dreine'', ''Dreni'', ''Drieni'', ''Dragini'', ''Dragieni'', ''Drachina'' ...
.
In the early Middle Ages Selm was ruled by the count of
Cappenberg, then by the
bishop of Münster. In the beginning of the 19th century it was transferred to
Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
, to which it remained, as part of the province of Westphalia, until 1946.
In 1906 the coal mine ''Zeche Hermann'' was established, transferring coal from 1,200 m under underground. The coal miners and their families lived in the ''Beifang'' quarter, which had in the origin a very rural landscape. The number of inhabitants increased from 2,000 to 10,000 in only one year, with c. 3,500 coal miners working at the plant. In 1926 the coal mine was closed.
After World War II numerous inhabitants from Beifang found work in Lünen, in a coal mine called ''Zeche Minister Achenbach''. They were brought to that coal mine by buses. After 1965 when the houses in Beifang were sold a lot of people from the south came to Selm to live there.
In 1975 , a village in the southern neighbourhood, was annexed to a part of Selm, which obtained city status in 1977. The Baroque church in Bork,
St. Stephanus, was built in the 1720s.
Selm is twinned with
Workington
Workington is a coastal town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...
in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
.
Historical population
The number of inhabitants shown here are from 31 December in the given year.
References
External links
*
Städtisches Gymnasium Selm– the local grammar/high school
{{Authority control
Unna (district)