Bocholt, Germany
Encyclopedia
Bocholt is a city in the north-west of North Rhine-Westphalia
, Germany
, part of the district Borken
. It is situated 4 km south of the border with the Netherlands
.
. Bocholt borders the district of Wesel
, in the administrative region of Düsseldorf
, in the southwest.
Bocholt is bordered in the north by the Dutch municipalities of Aalten
and Winterswijk
, in the east by the city of Rhede
, in the south by the city of Hamminkeln
, and in the west by the city of Isselburg
.
The climate in the region of Bocholt and West Münsterland is temperate with distinct maritime influences, with very mild winters in comparison to other German regions because of the proximity to the ocean and the low elevation
. Summers are moderately warm. The average temperature in January is 2.7 °C and in July 18.4 °C.
In the average year there are 12 days of snow cover, about 31 sunny days (high temperature of 25 °C or higher) and 6 hot days (30 °C or higher) on average. In the average year there is about 750 mm of precipitation, with June (78 mm) and April (41 mm) being the driest months.
won a battle against the Saxon
s nearby. However the settlement was probably much older. Bishop Dietrich III von Isenburg from Münster
gave Bocholt city rights
in 1222.
In the 15th century the city flourished. The engraver Israhel van Meckenem
lived and worked in the city.
Between 1803 and 1810 Bocholt was the capital of the Principality of Salm
. The Principality of Salm was governed by the prince of Salm-Salm
and the prince of Salm-Kyrburg
.
(Communications) and Flender (Siemens) - a leading manufacturer of transmissions, especially for wind energy plants. Most of Bocholt's industries are smaller and manufacture highly specialized products. Some of them are international leaders in their particular fields. Local industries profit from cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences (Fachhochschule) also located in Bocholt as well as with similar institutions in the region.
Bocholt is also a regional centre for shopping in the West-Münsterland area and draws consumers from the neighbouring rural and small town areas of the Netherlands. The town features an attractive old town shopping area as well as a popular new shopping mall.
tree, which has been the symbol for the city since the 13th century. Bocholt translated into English
roughly means "beechwood". http://www.ngw.nl/int/dld/b/bocholt.htm
, Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof or northwest to Amsterdam
.
with:
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, part of the district Borken
Borken (district)
Borken is a Kreis in the northwestern part of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany in the Region Münsterland. Neighboring districts are Bentheim, Steinfurt, Coesfeld, Recklinghausen, Wesel, Cleves, and the Dutch provinces Gelderland and Overijssel....
. It is situated 4 km south of the border with the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
Geography
The northern border of the city of Bocholt is the German border with the NetherlandsNetherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. Bocholt borders the district of Wesel
Wesel (district)
Wesel is a Kreis in the northwestern part of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Borken, Recklinghausen, district-free cities Bottrop, Oberhausen, Duisburg and Krefeld, districts Viersen, Cleves.-History:...
, in the administrative region of Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf (region)
Düsseldorf is one of the five Regierungsbezirke of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the north-west of the country. It covers the western part of the Ruhr Area, as well as the Niederrheinische Tiefebene, the lower Rhine area. It is the most populated of all German administrative areas of...
, in the southwest.
Bocholt is bordered in the north by the Dutch municipalities of Aalten
Aalten
Aalten is a municipality and a village in the eastern Netherlands. The former municipalities of Bredevoort and Dinxperlo have been merged with Aalten....
and Winterswijk
Winterswijk
Winterswijk is a municipality and a town in the eastern Netherlands.Winterswijk is a town with a population of some 30,000 in the Achterhoek which lies in the most eastern part of the province of Gelderland in the Netherlands. It was also known as Winethereswick, Winriswic or Wenterswic...
, in the east by the city of Rhede
Rhede
Rhede is a municipality in the district of Borken in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located near the border with the Netherlands, approx. 5 km east of Bocholt.-External links:*...
, in the south by the city of Hamminkeln
Hamminkeln
Hamminkeln is a town in the district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the river Issel, approximately 10 kilometers north of Wesel. It is twinned with Sedgefield, United Kingdom...
, and in the west by the city of Isselburg
Isselburg
Isselburg is a town in the district of Borken, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the river Issel, near the border with the Netherlands, and approximately 10 km west of Bocholt.-Division:...
.
The climate in the region of Bocholt and West Münsterland is temperate with distinct maritime influences, with very mild winters in comparison to other German regions because of the proximity to the ocean and the low elevation
Elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....
. Summers are moderately warm. The average temperature in January is 2.7 °C and in July 18.4 °C.
In the average year there are 12 days of snow cover, about 31 sunny days (high temperature of 25 °C or higher) and 6 hot days (30 °C or higher) on average. In the average year there is about 750 mm of precipitation, with June (78 mm) and April (41 mm) being the driest months.
History
Bocholt was first written about in 779, when CharlemagneCharlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
won a battle against the Saxon
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
s nearby. However the settlement was probably much older. Bishop Dietrich III von Isenburg from Münster
Münster
Münster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also capital of the local government region Münsterland...
gave Bocholt city rights
Town privileges
Town privileges or city rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium.Judicially, a town was distinguished from the surrounding land by means of a charter from the ruling monarch that defined its privileges and laws. Common privileges were related to trading...
in 1222.
In the 15th century the city flourished. The engraver Israhel van Meckenem
Israhel van Meckenem
Israhel van Meckenem , also known as Israhel van Meckenem the Younger, was a German printmaker and goldsmith.He was the most prolific engraver of the fifteenth century and an important figure in the early history of old master prints. He was active from 1465 until his death.-Life:His birth date is...
lived and worked in the city.
Between 1803 and 1810 Bocholt was the capital of the Principality of Salm
Principality of Salm
The Principality of Salm was a short-lived client state of Napoleonic France located in Westphalia.-History:Salm was created in 1802 as a state of the Holy Roman Empire in order to compensate the princes of Salm-Kyrburg and Salm-Salm, who had lost their states to France in 1793-1795...
. The Principality of Salm was governed by the prince of Salm-Salm
Salm-Salm
The Principality of Salm-Salm was a state of the Holy Roman Empire. It was located in the present-day French départements of the Bas-Rhin and the Vosges and was one of a number of partitions of Salm.-History:...
and the prince of Salm-Kyrburg
Salm-Kyrburg
Salm-Kyrburg was a state of the Holy Roman Empire located in present-day Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, one of the various partitions of Salm. It was twice created: the first time as a Wild- and Rhinegraviate , and secondly as a Principality...
.
Economy
Bocholt is a manufacturing town. It was centered around the textile industry for most of the 19th and 20th centuries. Today there are still several successful textile manufacturers in town, but the importance of the texile industry has greatly declined. The major employers today in Bocholt are GigasetGigaset Communications
Gigaset AG, formerly known as Siemens Home and Office Communication Devices is a multinational corporation based in Munich, Germany. Its main business is in home electronics, including corded and cordless phones, voice over ip phones.-History:...
(Communications) and Flender (Siemens) - a leading manufacturer of transmissions, especially for wind energy plants. Most of Bocholt's industries are smaller and manufacture highly specialized products. Some of them are international leaders in their particular fields. Local industries profit from cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences (Fachhochschule) also located in Bocholt as well as with similar institutions in the region.
Bocholt is also a regional centre for shopping in the West-Münsterland area and draws consumers from the neighbouring rural and small town areas of the Netherlands. The town features an attractive old town shopping area as well as a popular new shopping mall.
Coat of arms
The coat of arms shows a beechBeech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
tree, which has been the symbol for the city since the 13th century. Bocholt translated into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
roughly means "beechwood". http://www.ngw.nl/int/dld/b/bocholt.htm
Cyclists Bocholt
Bocholt is a designated bicycle city, and almost every citizen has one or more bikes, the bicycle network is vast and convenient. In the summer, foreign motorists need to take care because of the popularity of cycling in the city, and even in winter, many people travel only by bike. Group cycling tours, called "Pättkestouren", are particularly popular in the spring. Between 2005 and 2006 the city of Bocholt won the ADFC and BUND title of "most bicycle-friendly city in Germany" in the category of cities under 100,000 inhabitants. Bocholt is the first city in Germany to have a guarded bike station at a Bustreff and not at a railway station. A second bike station in Bocholt went into operation in 2008.Transportation
Bocholt is the last stop on a 25 minute 2-way-1-track train route starting in Wesel traveling north to Bocholt. From Wesel one can transfer to trains that travel south to Düsseldorf International AirportDüsseldorf International Airport
Düsseldorf International Airport is the largest airport in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and the third largest airport in Germany, handling 18.99 million passengers in 2010....
, Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof or northwest to Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
.
International relations
Bocholt, Germany is twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with:
-
RossendaleRossendaleRossendale is a local government district with borough status. It is made up of a number of small former mill towns in Lancashire, England centered around the valley of the River Irwell in the industrial North West...
(United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
) -
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) -
Bocholt, BelgiumBocholt, BelgiumBocholt is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. On January 1, 2006 Bocholt had a total population of 12,355. The total area is 59.34 km² which gives a population density of 208 inhabitants per km². The Priory of Our Lady of Klaarland of the Trappistins is located in...
(BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
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