Wülfrath

Wülfrath is a North-Rhine-Westphalian (German) city in the central part of Berg - about 12 km northeast of Düsseldorf.

Geography

The city is near the Ausläufern in Berg, between the Rhine, Ruhr and Wupper. The old local center lies in a small valley through which the Anger River flows. This river bisects the valley and also flows through the city. The newer parts of the town are founded on the valley slopes. The town has nine schools and seven churches. It is also a mining town.

History

Wülfrath was one the first Rodungssiedlung (cleared and settled area) in the large, early Medieval Reichforst. The boundaries were drawn in the deed of a donation from the Kaiser Heinrichs IV on October 16 1105, with the rivers of the Rhine, Ruhr and Düssel (Tussella) listed as boundaries.

The eastern boundary was the old road named Kölnischen Straße (Cologne Road). This continued up to the Werdener Ruhr bridge over Velbert and Wülfrath along the Düssel towards Cologne. In the 11th century, the village Wülfrath became Wolverothe (Town of the settler named Wolf), appearing in writing for the first time in one pergament , the Stiftes Kaiserswerth . The town's origin is based on the legend around the settler named Wolf.

At that time there was plentiful existing forest in the place of the modern city center. At that time, the first church construction (a small, early medieval church with rectanglular choir) in the present day's church square must have taken place.

The church that has stood there since the 11th century, having Gothic architecture added in the 15th Century. These houses, which today still exist largely in the original state and stand under monumental protection, were again developed. Each of these houses had a name beside it that still exists today: Auf'm Keller (1678), Hamels (1678), Melanders (1678), Op der Ley (about 1600 - developed 1911), Auf'm Haus (1678), Großer Klaus (1686 - rebuilt 1964), Kleiner Klaus (1678), Scholle (1678), Hinter'm Turm (1678), Jostenhaus (about 1738 build), Hechtsteinhaus (1678), Op de Trapp (1678) and Leonhards (rebuilt 1955).

In 875 the Hohnschaft was mentioned for the first time in documentary, as well as the modern quarters of Flandersbach and Rützkausen . Flatmarasbeki means "the brook, at which Flattmar was established", and Hrotsteninghuson means "with the houses of the kinship of the Hrotsen." In 1050, the Catholic church was built in Düssel (Dussela), and Bauerngut Hammerstein appeared for the first time in a document. Around the year 1100 it changed its name to Wülfrath (Wolverothe ).

In the year 1265, the city had its first census, which was based tax and interest registers.

In 1578, the village had a major fire, which reduced the settlement to ashes. In order to help the inhabitants repair the heavy damage, in 1579 the prince, duke Johann Wilhelm IV. von Jülich-Kleve-Berg , issued one Marktbrief, which gave Dorff and Kirspel Wulfrod of four free fairs. But the lesson of this fire was soon forgotten, and exactly one hundred years later the village was once again burned and devastated. The entire local centre over 70 houses was transformed into a field of ash and rubble.

Wars also left their traces in Wülfrath. In 1805 Napoleon dissolved the Bavarian government of the duchy of Berg and took over the old duchy. Only one year later, he created a new state and transferred control of it to his brother-in-law Joachim Murat, who was allowed to call himself the Grand Duke von Berg.

From the six Hohnschaften hereditaries, Püttbach, Flandersbach, Rützkausen, upper and lower düssel, the kingdom (Mairie) was formed for Wülfrath. In the year 1808 Napoleon transferred the Grand Duchy. In 1813, Wül;frath was liberated and became part of the newly formed Rhine province of Prussia. Wülfrath 1827 was appointed by regulation as the agency in Städteordnung für die Rheinprovinz (lit. City order for the Rhine province).

In 1856, the city received full municipal rights through the Städteordnung für die Rheinprovinz. The local reorganisation of 1975 gave a large area, and the population of the city was reduced. The number of inhabitants dropped below 5,000. Parts of Oberen Flandersbach joined Velbert, parts of Düsseler Höhe, Hahnenfurth Dornap went to Wuppertal.

In 2001, a part of the historical old town was again stolen by flames. On the night of 21 January, a fire broke out in the core of the old part of town, to which three old houses fell victim. Houses that were destroyed by the fire had to be torn down and new modern-style buildings replaced them.

Coat of arms

After 1840, the Wülfrather coat of arms, modeled on an old Kirchsiegel of the Evangelist-reformed church municipality, was designed by the Düsseldorfer heraldist and painter Wolfgang Pagenstecher . In 1938 it was again rearranged and was officially recognized by the upper president of the Rhine province. This symbolizes on one hand the victory of the good one over the bad, and refers on the other hand to the local centre. It is a reminder of the legend of the city's founding by the settler wolf.

Politics

Twinned cities

• Ware (since 1971)
• Bondues, France (since 2003)

Sponsorship

The following sponsorship are:

• Army Music Corps 7, since October 24, 2000, sponsorship (sponsorship document (in German))

Sites of Interest

Others

• historical church square
• Düsseler Tor

Museums

• Niederbergisches Museum , Bergstrasse 22-24
• Zeittunnel Wülfrath , Hammerstein 5

Events

• Each Saturday from 7:00 to 12:00 (CET), a weekly market
• An annual summer celebration of the allotment plant Erbacher berg
• annual city celebration, Kartoffelfest; in September (09/252004 to 09/26,2004)

Economics

By the mid-19th century, more than 100 companies and businesses had established themselves. The business were mainly larger house enterprises - mostly home weaving mills. After 1850, the first large-scale enterprises, aided by steam technology, were created. Despite the strong industrialization of that time, the agricultural character was not completely lost. Today only isolated agricultural enterprises exist. Mining for Wuelfrath the establishment of the Rheinisch-Westfälischen Kalkwerke Dornap in the year 1887, and the Rheinischen Kalksteinwerke Wülfrath in 1903. Until today, these works are the main emphasis of the Wülfrather industry (largest in Europe). Besides there were still numerous weaving mills, finishing of leather enterprises, a branch Ford-Werke Köln , that from 1889 the created Josef Hebmueller Soehne came out and also today it still exists as (Visteon) and many small firms.

Schools

External links on this part are in German

• Grundschule Ellenbeek, 16 Tiegenhöfer Straße
• Grundschule Lindenschule,26 Lindenstraße
• Grundschule Rohdenhaus, 13 Angerweg
• Grundschule Parkschule, 14 Parkstraße [1]
• Hauptschule Wolverothe, 5 Schulstraße [2]
• Theodor-Heuss-Realschule, 20 Bergstraße [3]
• Städtisches Gymnasium, 63 Kastanienallee [4]
• Schule für Lernbehinderte, 3 In den Eschen
• Volkshochschule Mettmann-Wülfrath, 189 Wilhelmstraße [5]

References

• Ulrich Bauckhage
• Jutta de Jong: Ein Streifzug um die Jahrhundertwende, lit. Wuelfrath: An excursion around the turn of the century. FROHN Verlag, ISBN 3-8926-4836-0
• Julius Imig: Wülfrath (book)|Wülfrath. Henn, (1962) ISBN B-0000-bptj-c
• Wolfgang Heinrichs and Hartmut Nolte: Wülfrath. Sutton publishing house, September 2000. ISBN 3-8970-2240-0
• Willi Münch: Wülfrath (1979 book)|Wülfrath. (1979) ISBN 3-7927-0491-9
• Horst G. Hütten: Wülfrath aus dem Nähkörbchen. Mit der Zeichenfeder und zeitgenössischen Zitaten aus der Geschichte einer alten Stadt erzählt, lit. Wülfrath from the Naehkoerbchen. With the indication feather and contemporary quotations from the history of an old city. (1976) ISBN 3-9219-8634-6

External links

• Wülfrath homepage
• The weather on Wülfrather