Soest, Germany
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Soest (pronounced [zo:st]) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Soest district.
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[edit] Geography
Soest is located along the Hellweg road, approx. 50 kilometres east of Dortmund and approx. 50 kilometres west of Paderborn.
[edit] Neighbouring places
[edit] History
Due to the fertile soil the area around Soest was occupied long before 836 when the village is first mentioned in the Dagobertsche Schenkung, although the origin of this document is historically uncertain. But there is no doubt that Soest has been inhabited for a long time; excavations in the last two decades have uncovered signs of habitation stretching back more than 4000 years. In the 11th and 12th century Soest grew considerably, making it one of the biggest cities in Westphalia with some 10,000 citizens. It was also an important member of the Hanseatic League until 1609.
A self-confident Soest from 1444 to 1449 liberated itself from the Bishop of Cologne, who controlled Westphalia (the so-called Soester Fehde). Being no longer capital of Westphalia, the city aligned itself with the Duke of Cleves. This was a Pyrrhic victory, however; the city had shown itself strong enough to defy the powerful Archbishop of Cologne, but lost much of its trade: the "liberated" town was two-thirds surrounded by territories with other allegiances. When the last Duke of Cleves died in 1609 that dukedom was inherited by Brandenburg and after a short siege Soest was incorporated into it. During and after the Thirty Years' War, Soest suffered a tremendous loss of both population and influence; at the lowest point in 1756 it had only 3,600 citizens.
With the creation of the Soest district in 1817 its influence slowly rose. However, the industrialization of the Ruhr area did not reach Soest, which remained a small city.
From approximately 1953 to 1971 there was a sizeable garrison of Canadian soldiers and their families stationed at Soest (with the Canadian camps located just east of the city in Bad Sassendorf) as well as Werl and Hemer-Iserlohn and Deilinghofen to the south west. There were also several Belgian Kasernes located in Soest itself.
From 1971-1993 the former Canadian properties, including the Married Quarters along Hiddingser Weg, south of the B-1, were used and occupied by British military and families. Upon the closing out of Belgian and British army facilities many of these military facilities either became used for civilian purposes or were abandoned/demolished. The former Married Quarters area was converted to civilian housing. The former CLFEX (the Canadian Army's food and clothing store for dependent families) was converted to a NAAFI under the British and finally demolished in 2006.
[edit] St Patroclus's Cathedral
In 960, Bruno I, Archbishop of Cologne transferred St Patroclus's relics from Troyes and buried them in 964 at St Patroclus's Cathedral in Soest, where he is still today venerated.
The Cathedral is a beautiful example of early medieval "Romanesque" architecture fashioned from the local greenish sandstone. Its massive squared bell tower or steeple can be seen for many kilometers, rising up out of the city centre of the old city and a landmark of the Soester Boerde.
[edit] Coat of arms
The coat of arms shows a key, which is the symbol for Saint Peter, the patron of Cologne. The coat was not modified even after Soest no longer fell within the jurisdiction of Cologne.
[edit] Twin towns
Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales
Guérard, Seine-et-Marne, France
Herzberg, Brandenburg, Germany
Kampen, Overijssel, Netherlands
Sárospatak, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Hungary- Soest, Utrecht, Netherlands
Strzelce Opolskie, Opole Voivodeship, Poland
Visby, Gotland, Sweden
[edit] External links
- Official site (German)
- Articles about "Aldegrever and the Protestant Reformation in Soest" / virtual exhibition "Iconoclastic Controversy and sensual pleasure - Heinrich Aldegrever" with introductory texts and about 170 commented copperplate engravings (German)
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