Wermelskirchen

Town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Flag

Coat of arms

Location of Wermelskirchen within Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis district

(2020–25) Marion Lück^[1] (Ind.)Area

• Total74.66 km² (28.83 sq mi)Elevation

345 m (1,132 ft)Population

(2022-12-31)^[2]

• Total34,739 • Density470/km² (1,200/sq mi)Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET) • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)Postal codes

42929

Dialling codes02196
02193 (Dabringhausen)
02174 (Bechhausen)Vehicle registrationGLWebsitewww.wermelskirchen.de

Wermelskirchen (German pronunciation: [ˈvɛʁml̩sˌkɪʁçn̩] ^ⓘ; Ripuarian: Wärmelßkirrshe) is a town in the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, southeast of Remscheid. It is home to one of Europe's biggest live Christmas trees (measuring 26m).

Geography

The distance to Cologne is about 35 kilometers, to Düsseldorf about 45 kilometers. The neighboring municipalities are Remscheid, Hückeswagen, Wipperfürth, Kürten, Odenthal, Burscheid and Solingen. The townscape is characterized by Altberg slate and half-timbered houses.

Coat of arms

The coat-of-arms of the city of Wermelskirchen looks like a silver shield split into thirds. In the left field is an oak tree. In the right field there is a Swan and pictured in the middle field there is a church.

History

From 1822 to 1945, Wermelskirchen was part of the Prussian Rhine Province.

Education

Wermelskirchen has an Evangelical, a Roman Catholic church and a Latin school.

Economy

The city has the head office of OBI^[3] and the origin of the caster manufacturer TENTE.

Twin towns – sister cities

Wermelskirchen is twinned with:^[4]

Forst, Germany
Loches, France

Notable people

Carl Leverkus (1804–1889), founder of a German chemical and pharmaceutical company and the namesake of the city of Leverkusen
Uwe Boll (born 1965), film director and writer, restaurateur and founder of Bauhaus Restaurant chains in Canada
Thomas Kleine (born 1977), footballer
Christian Lindner (born 1979), politician and Federal Minister of Finance (2021–present)

Honorary citizens

1876: Ludwig von Bohlen
1884: Carl Leverkus
1895: Otto von Bismarck
1933: Paul von Hindenburg

References

^ Wahlergebnisse in NRW Kommunalwahlen 2020, Land Nordrhein-Westfalen, accessed 29 June 2021.
^ "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden Nordrhein-Westfalens am 31. Dezember 2022 – Fortschreibung des Bevölkerungsstandes auf Basis des Zensus vom 9. Mai 2011" (in German). Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
^ "Impressum." OBI. Retrieved on 2 February 2011. "Komplementär OBI Heimwerkermarkt Systemzentrale GmbH, Albert-Einstein-Straße 7-9, 42929 Wermelskirchen, Amtsgericht Köln HR B 36389."
^ "Städtepartnerschaften & Patenschaften". wermelskirchen.de (in German). Wermelskirchen. Retrieved 2021-02-17.