Schwelm

Schwelm is a town in the district of Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis in the administrative region of Arnsberg within the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Schwelm
Coat of arms
Location of Schwelm within Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis district
BochumDortmundEssenGelsenkirchenHagenMärkischer KreisOberbergischer KreisRemscheidWuppertalBreckerfeldEnnepetalGevelsbergHattingenHerdeckeSchwelmSprockhövelWetter (Ruhr)Witten
Schwelm
Schwelm
Coordinates: 51°16′N 7°16′E
CountryGermany
StateNorth Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. regionArnsberg
DistrictEnnepe-Ruhr-Kreis
Government
 • MayorGabriele Grollmann
Area
 • Total20.5 km2 (7.9 sq mi)
Elevation
213 m (699 ft)
Population
 (2018-12-31)[1]
 • Total28,542
 • Density1,400/km2 (3,600/sq mi)
Time zoneCET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes
58332
Dialling codes02336
Vehicle registrationEN
Websitewww.schwelm.de
Town map by Johann Ricer, 1722.

Geography

Schwelm is situated in the southeast of the "Ruhrgebiet", the Ruhr district of Germany, between Westphalia and the "Bergisches Land". Schwelm is commonly known as the "Pforte Westfalens" ("Gate to Westphalia").

Neighbouring places

Surrounding towns include Ennepetal, Gevelsberg, Sprockhövel and Wuppertal.

Division of the town

Schwelm is called the "town of neighbourhoods". It is made up of the following 13 neighbourhoods:[2]

  • Aechte de Muer
  • Brunnen
  • Fronhof
  • Linderhausen
  • Loh
  • Möllenkotten
  • Oberstadt
  • Oehde
  • Ossenkamp
  • Parliament
  • Rote Wasser
  • Winterberg
  • Zur alten Post

History

The history of Schwelm can be traced back to the ninth century, where it is first mentioned as "Suelmiu". The city of Schwelm was officially established in 1496 and became seat of the Ennepe-Ruhr district in 1929. According to its area, Schwelm is the smallest town in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Additional information on the history of Schwelm is available on the City of Schwelm website.

Language/dialect

A Westphalian variety of high German is spoken in Schwelm (Westphalian: from old Saxon Westfal = "western land"). The Westphalian dialect belongs to the low Saxon dialects, which is a part of the family of low German dialects. Compared to other German regions (e.g., Bavaria or Swabia) the dialect does not have a strong influence on the everyday speech. Especially the elderly population is still able to speak Schwelm's original Westphalian tongue, called Schwelmer Platt, which is quite different from standard high German and bears a certain resemblance to Dutch.

Points of interest

Schwelm has got a historical town center with many old houses, some of which date back to the 18th century. The Altmarkt is a historical market place lying in front of the tall Christuskirche, the town's principal Protestant church. From the Altmarkt, the decorative street Kölner Strasse leads uphill and is part of the former road to Cologne.

Until 2011, Schwelm was home to the Brauerei Schwelm, the "Schwelm Brewery", one of few remaining private breweries in North Rhine-Westphalia. Established in 1830 by Haarmann & Kathagen, the brewery was one of the first worldwide to switch from wooden to metal storage containers. The original administration building, the Rietz'sche Haus built in 1701, is an appealing house in the town center. Most of the brewery's historic production site, however, was torn down in 2012.

The oldest piano manufacturer in the world is located in Schwelm. Since 1794, Rud. Ibach Sohn has been building pianos and, until 1904, organs in Schwelm.

Europe's biggest fair-trade organisation "GEPA" was founded in Schwelm in the 1970s, but is now located in Wuppertal.

A historical Jewish cemetery, dating from the late 18th century is located in the countryside about 1.3 km south of the town's center. It is maintained by the municipality and volunteers.[3]

Notable citizens
Gustav Heinemann in 1969

International relations

Schwelm is twinned with the small French borough of Fourqueux, situated in the Paris agglomeration adjacent to Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

  • View of the Lindeberg-high ridges of the inner city
  • Schwelmequelle
  • Grade II listed building No. 12
  • The boating lake excursion restaurant/mill c.1900
  • View from the Old Market of the Church
  • Formerly-moated house Martfeld
  • Old high-school in the Märkischer
  • Schwelm train station
  • Factory building of piano manufacturer Rud. Ibach
gollark: Probably. I am sure they are aware of very basic attacks.
gollark: I don't know anyone called Valery.
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gollark: Apparently there's "MicroPython" and "Circuit Python".
gollark: The internet tells me ESP32s can run many things.

See also
  • Cities in North Rhine-Westphalia

References
  1. "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden Nordrhein-Westfalens am 31. Dezember 2018" (in German). Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  2. "Schwelm - town of neighbourhoods". Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  3. Helbeck, Gerd: Juden in Schwelm. 1st ed. 1988, 2nd ed. 2007 (written by a renowned town archivist and printed by the local Historical Society, the book includes a chapter on the cemetery)
  4. "Dr. Herz's Stolperstein ("stumbling stone"), located on Kölner Strasse, Schwelm". Wikimedia Commons.
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