Siegburg (; i.e. ''

fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

on the Sieg river''; Ripuarian: ''Sieburch'') is a city in the district of

Rhein-Sieg-Kreis The Rhein-Sieg-Kreis () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the south of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis, Oberbergischer Kreis, Altenkirchen (district), Altenkirchen, Neuwied (district), Neuwied, Ah ...

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 on the banks of the rivers Sieg and Agger, from the former seat of West German government

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

and 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 ...

. The population of the city was 39,192 in the 2013 census.

Geography

Siegburg is located approximately east of the river

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

, at the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

where the Agger joins the Sieg, in the southeast corner of the Cologne Lowland. Neighbouring towns include

Troisdorf Troisdorf () is a city in the Rhein-Sieg-Kreis (district), in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Troisdorf is located approximately 22 kilometers south of Cologne and 13 kilometers north east of Bonn. Division of the city Troisdorf consi ...

, Lohmar,

Sankt Augustin Sankt Augustin (; Ripuarian: ''Sank Aujustin'') is a town in the Rhein-Sieg district in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is named after the patron saint of the Steyler missionaries, Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430). The missionaries estab ...

and

Hennef Hennef (Sieg) () is a town in the Rhein-Sieg district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the river Sieg (river), Sieg, approx. south-east of Siegburg and east of Bonn. Hennef is the fourth-biggest town in the Rhein-Sieg-Kreis ...

. The nearby cities of

and

are easily accessible through good transport links. The highest point of the urban area is above sea level ( NHN) in the Braschoß area and the lowest point is just under above sea level at the mouth of the Agger.

History

Archbishop-Elector Anno II of

founded a

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

in 1064, known as Michaelsberg Abbey, on top of the hill also called the Michaelsberg. A settlement that arose from that was first mentioned as a city in 1182. Siegburg reached the height of its prosperity in the 15th and 16th century. It is famous for its

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...

, especially for the Siegburg pitchers (''Siegburger Krüge''). Siegburg has been the county seat of the Rhein-Sieg-Kreis since 1816. Siegburg's

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

was destroyed on Kristallnacht, signaling the demise of its Jewish community.

Politics

Municipal elections are held every five years, in which the mayor and city council of Siegburg, as well as the district administrator () and district council () of the Rhein-Sieg-Kreis are chosen. The last election took place on 13 September 2020.

City council

The

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

() of Siegburg consists of 50 councillors, half of which are chosen directly in 25 constituencies. The remaining 25 seats are distributed via party lists, resulting in a proportional representation. On 30 October 2020 the Social Democrats, Greens, and Liberals agreed to form a coalition government.

Mayor

The mayor of Siegburg is Stefan Rosemann, who was elected with 57.54% of the vote. He stated that he would withdraw from party politics and completely focus on the mayoral office. He was sworn into office on 5 November 2020.

Transport

Siegburg/Bonn station is a railway station on the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed railway and the Sieg Railway. The name of the station derives from it having been rebuilt for the high-speed line in order to serve

. It is connected to Bonn by the Siegburg line of the Bonn Stadtbahn every 10 or 15 minutes. The station is located in the network area of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg (Rhine-Sieg Transport Association, VRS) public transit authority.

Twin towns – sister cities

Siegburg is twinned with: *

Bolesławiec Bolesławiec (pronounced , ) is a historic city situated on the Bóbr River in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the administrative seat of Bolesławiec County, and of Gmina Bolesławiec, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Gm ...

, Poland * Guarda, Portugal * Nogent-sur-Marne, France * Orestiada, Greece * Selçuk, Turkey

Notable people

* Engelbert Humperdinck (1854–1921), composer * Adelheid Wette, author, composer and librettist * Joseph Hermann Mohr (1834–1892), priest, hymn writer and hymnologist * Liselotte Hammes (born 1933), operatic soprano and academic voice teacher * Wolfgang Overath (born 1943), footballer * Anja-Nina Bahrmann (born 1980), soprano * Catharina Felser (born 1982), racing driver

References

External links

* (in German) {{Authority control Rhein-Sieg-Kreis Districts of the Rhine Province Holocaust locations in Germany