Witten

Witten (German: [ˈvɪtn̩] (listen)) is a university city in the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis (district) in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the home of the Witten/Herdecke University, the first private university in Germany.

For other uses, see Witten (disambiguation).
Witten
Town hall in Witten
Coat of arms
Location of Witten within Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis district
Witten
Witten
Coordinates: 51°26′0″N 7°20′0″E
CountryGermany
StateNorth Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. regionArnsberg
DistrictEnnepe-Ruhr-Kreis
Subdivisions8 districts
Government
 • MayorLars König (CDU)
Area
 • Total72.40 km2 (27.95 sq mi)
Elevation
104 m (341 ft)
Population
 (2019-12-31)[1]
 • Total96,459
 • Density1,300/km2 (3,500/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes
58401 - 58456
Dialling codes02302
02324 (Buchholz)
Vehicle registrationEN, WIT
Websitewitten.de

Geography

Witten is situated in the Ruhr valley, in the southern Ruhr area.

Bordering municipalities

Boroughs

Witten is divided into eight boroughs and each borough is further divided into two or more city-districts. Every district has its own district-number:

  • Witten-Mitte: 11 Innenstadt, 12 Oberdorf-Helenenberg, 13 Industriegebiet-West, 14 Krone, 15 Crengeldanz, 16 Hauptfriedhof, 17 Stadion, 18 Industriegebiet-Nord, 19 Hohenstein
  • Düren: 21 Düren-Nord, 22 Düren-Sued
  • Stockum: 31 Stockum-Mitte, 32 Dorney, 33 Stockumer Bruch, 34 Wilhelmshöhe
  • Annen: 41 Tiefendorf, 42 Wullen, 43 Annen-Mitte-Nord, 44 Annen-Mitte-Süd, 45 Kohlensiepen, 46 Wartenberg, 47 Gedern
  • Rüdinghausen: 51 Industriegebiet-Ost, 52 Rüdinghausen-Mitte, 53 Buchholz, 54 Schnee
  • Bommern: 61 Steinhausen, 62 Bommerbank, 63 Bommerfeld, 64 Wettberg, 65 Buschey, 66 Bommeregge
  • Heven: 71 Papenholz, 72 Hellweg, 73 Wannen, 74 Heven-Dorf, 75 Lake
  • Herbede: 81 Herbede-Ort, 82 Vormholz, 83 Bommerholz-Muttental, 84 Durchholz, 85 Buchholz-Kaempen

Population 1739–2016
Year Inhabitants
1739566
1787690
18081,587
18302,210
1 December 18402,987
1 December 18555,112
3 December 18586,908
3 December 186410,500
3 December 186712,200
1 December 187115,161
1 December 187518,100
1 December 188021,600
1 December 188523,879
Year Inhabitants
1 December 189026,310
2 December 189528,769
1 December 190033,517
1 December 190535,841
1 December 191037,450
1 December 191634,864
5 December 191735,033
8 October 191937,441
16 June 192545,519
16 June 193372,580
17 May 193973,365
31 December 194570,276
29 October 194669,384
Year Inhabitants
13 September 195076,312
25 September 195691,706
6 June 196196,462
31 December 196598,506
27 May 197097,379
31 December 1975108,771
31 December 1980105,876
31 December 1985102,259
25 May 1987102,902
31 December 1990105,403
31 December 1995104,754
31 December 2000103,196
30 June 2005101,019
Year Inhabitants
31 December 201198,330
31 December 201596,700
31 December 201696,781

History
The Roburit Explosion in 1906

Witten was first mentioned in historic sources in 1214, however the borough Herbede (which was incorporated into the city in 1975) dates back to 851. The city was a mining town from 1578. In 1946, it was included in North Rhine-Westphalia on its establishment. In 1975 Witten was included in the administrative district Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis and it is now its biggest city. 1975 was also the year Witten was first counted to have more than 100,000 inhabitants, the threshold to be considered a large city ("Großstadt") in Germany.

Roburit Explosion

In the late 19th century Witten was known for the Roburit dynamite. This dynamite was once used by coal mines around the world. In 1906 an explosion occurred, resulting in the deaths of 41 people.

Politics
Townhall and Johannis-Church

The Council of Witten

The local council of Witten has 64 seats. In the local elections of 2004 the German Social Democratic Party, SPD, gained 24 seats and form the largest party represented on the council. It is followed by the Christian Democratic Party, CDU with 18 and the Greens with 7 seats. They are followed by the WBG (a conservative list) with 4, FDP 4, FLW (also a conservative list) 3, NPD 2, PDS/WAL (socialists) 1 and AUF Witten (a left wing list) also 1. Since 2004 for the first time in its history the council is led by a female mayor: Sonja Leidemann, SPD.

Landtag
  • 2005–today: Thomas Stotko, MdL (SPD)

German Bundestag
  • 1998–today: Dr. Ralf Brauksiepe, MdB (CDU)
  • 1998–today: Christel Humme, MdB (SPD)
  • 2005–today: Irmingard Schewe-Gerigk, (B´ 90/Die Grünen)
  • 2005–today: Konrad Schily, (FDP)

Transport
Tram in Witten-Heven

Witten is connected to the Autobahn network by the A 43 and A 44 motorways. It has a central station, connecting the city to the regional-train-network of Deutsche Bahn with direct connections to Hagen, Bochum, Essen, Siegen, Wuppertal, Düsseldorf, Aachen or Dortmund. Local service is carried out by the BOGESTRA, a joint venture between the cities of Bochum and Gelsenkirchen, to which most of the bus lines in Witten belong. There is a tram line connecting to Bochum. From mid-december on, there will be two tram lines, which will run in Witten (lines 309 and 310). When the new track to Langendreer is completed (September 2020), the tram lines will ride to the station of Bochum-Langendreer (309) or to Wattenscheid-Höntrop via Bochum main station (310). Public transport in the city is carried out according to the fare system of the VRR transport association.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of Witten with its two lions once belong to the Everhards von Witten-Steinhausen and was first mentioned in 1283. The family of Witten-Steinhausen belongs to the founders of the town of Witten. Their slogan was: "Sigillum Hermanni de Wittene". Because of its long history this Coat of arms was the only one in the Ruhr area, that was not forbidden by the Allies in May 1945, after the End of the Second World War.

Culture

Twin towns – sister cities
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Witten is twinned with:[2]

Religions
St. Maria Church

Roman Catholic

When Witten was first mentioned in historical documents, it was part of the Archdiocese of Cologne. Since 1821 it has been a part of the Diocese of Paderborn; however, the borough of Herbede belongs to the Diocese of Essen. In the 19th century the Ruhr area drew up to 500,000 Poles from East Prussia and Silesia, most of whom were Catholic. Hundreds settled in Witten, leading to a growth in the Catholic community. Today, between 30 and 40 per cent of the population is Catholic.

Protestant

In the 16th century Witten was influenced by Martin Luther's Reformation, and until the late 19th century, Witten was a predominantly Protestant town with just a few Catholic inhabitants. Between 30 and 40 per cent of the population is Protestant today.

Muslims

There are four mosques in Witten, Annen and Herbede today, founded by immigrants from Turkey who arrived in the 1970s and 1980s. Between five and eight per cent of the population is Muslim.

Jews
Memorial at the place of the former synagogue

In 1815 the first Jewish community was mentioned in Witten. In 1938 the synagogue was destroyed during the so-called "Reichspogromnacht" (also known as Kristallnacht) of 9–10 November 1938. Today, only about a dozen Jews live in Witten. They belong to the Jewish community in Dortmund.

Since 1994 the place of the former synagogue is marked with a memorial.

References
Notes
  1. "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden Nordrhein-Westfalens am 31. Dezember 2019" (in German). Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  2. "Städtepartnerschaften". win.witten.de (in German). Witten. Retrieved 2019-11-23.
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