Schwelm

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Schwelm
Coat of arms	Location

Administration
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Arnsberg
District	Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis
Mayor	Jürgen Steinrücke (CDU)
Basic statistics
Area	20.5 km² (7.9 sq mi)
Elevation	213 m (699 ft)
Population	29,688 (31/12/2006)
- Density	1,448 /km² (3,751 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate	EN
Postal code	58332
Area code	02336
Website	www.schwelm.de Coordinates: 51°16′00″N 7°16′00″E / 51.266667, 7.266667

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

1 Geography
- 1.1 Neighbouring places
- 1.2 Division of the town
2 History
3 Language / dialect
4 Points of interest
5 Notable citizens
6 External links

[edit] Geography

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

[edit] Neighbouring places

Surrounding towns include Ennepetal, Gevelsberg, Sprockhövel and Wuppertal.

[edit] Division of the town

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

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Points of interest

Schwelm is home to the "Brauerei Schwelm", the Schwelm Brewery, one of the few remaining private breweries in Germany. 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 of the brewery, the "Rietz'sche Haus" built in 1701, is still in use today.

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.

[edit] Notable citizens

Friedrich Christoph Müller (1751 in Allendorf (Lumba) - 1808): theologian and cartographer (in Schwelm between 1785 and 1808)
Gustav Heinemann (July 23, 1899 - July 7, 1976): third president of the Federal Republic of Germany (from 1969 to 1974)
Johannes Joachim Degenhardt (January 31, 1926 - July 25, 2002): Cardinal and Archbishop of Paderborn
Franz Josef Degenhardt (March 12, 1931): political singer/songwriter
Friedrich Niewöhner (September 7, 1941 - November 1, 2005): philosophy historian
Martin Grötschel (October 9, 1948): mathematician and laureate of the Leibniz price
Rolf Rüssmann (October 13, 1950): footballer and football manager
Judith Kuckart (June 17, 1959): tripper, choreographer, stage director and author
Thorsten Schmidt (February 18, 1972): racing cyclist and participant of the Tour de France
Olivia Luczak (November 24, 1981): Polish-German amateur boxer