Radevormwald
Encyclopedia
Radevormwald is a municipality in the Oberbergischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia
, Germany
. It is one of the oldest towns in the Bergischen Land, formerly the County and Duchy of Berg.
. At 421 metres above sea level, it was the highest-situated town in the administrative region of Düsseldorf
; it is now in the administrative region of Cologne
.
Places submerged by the Wuppertal dam
flows through part of the town lands. In the villages Dahlerau, Vogelsmühle and Dahlhausen - which are located in the Wupper valley and so are known as the "Wupper villages" - this led to the establishment of textile works
. These settlements used the water for the production of energy, at first by means of the water wheel
and later through hydroelectric
power plants. With the establishment of working-class dwellings by the textile companies the population of the Wupper villages increased. The middle classes also settled here, above all in Dahlerau where there were many single trading ventures. However, at the end of the 20th century the combination of the decline of the textile industry and increased mobility brought about the closure of most businesses in the Wupper villages; today, many former business premises are used as houses.
and at the time was called Rotha.
Radevormwald was situated in the County, later Duchy, of Berg. Between 1309 and 1316 Count Adolf VI von Berg conferred municipal rights on the town. The settlement "vor dem walde" ("before the wood") is described in 1363 in a lease of Count Wilhelm II von Jülich
-Berg (Duke Wilhelm I) as a walled town. Radevormwald served the Counts von Berg as a border stronghold against Sauerland
in the County of the Mark
.
The especial significance of Radevormwald in the Middle Ages
can be seen from the fact that it paid 166.5 guilder
s for the redemption of pledged lands of the Duchy of Berg, while for example Solingen
, Elberfeld
and Hückeswagen
raised only 88, 84.5 and 34.5 guilders respectively.
weavers and garment makers.
In 1540, the parish
and clergy of the town converted to the Reformed Church
.
Hessians
under Philip the Magnanimous. During the Thirty Years' War
(1618–1648) it was used as the occasional headquarters and supply depot of the Spaniards
and Austria
ns, under the command of Ottavio Piccolomini (one of Wallenstein
's generals). In 1635 and 1636 Dutch
troops, and in 1638 Westphalia
n troops, occupied the place, before it fell once again to Hesse in 1639. These military occupation
s were accompanied by murder, looting, arson and rape of the civil population, which was decimated.
After the Peace of Westphalia
in 1648, the Catholic Duke of Berg, Philipp Wilhelm von Pfalz-Neuburg
(reigned 1652–1690) persecuted Anabaptist
s and Mennonite
s in his territory, so that many of them fled. One such refugee was Adolf von der Leyen of Radevormwald, who in 1656 (or perhaps 1650) brought the new skill of silk weaving
to Krefeld
.
service to the surrounding towns was established for the first time, and a post office opened. Towards the end of the century, the railway followed. On 1 March 1886 Radevormwald celebrated the opening of the Remscheid
- Lennep - Krebsöge - Dahlerau - Wuppertal
- Oberbarmen railway line. Four years later, on 3 February 1890 a branch line from Krebsöge to Radevormwald was opened. All railway lines near the town were typical of the Prussia
n branch lines which were built throughout Germany as part of an ambitious development program from 1885 onwards.
Radevormwald was a station on the needle telegraph line (1833 to 1849) from Berlin
to Aachen
. The location of the telegraph was in the modern street Am Telegraf.
In 1884 the municipal gasworks opened for business with the production of town gas
.
the railway network around Radevormwald was completed, and on 1 July the second youth hostel in the world, and the first in the Rhineland
, celebrated its inauguration.
and cloth mills.
At 8:15 on the morning of 26 May 1928 a Deutsche Luft Hansa
Junkers F13 airplane crashed in Hahnenberg on the Schlegel meadow (Schlegelsche Wiese), killing three people. In November 1934, the connection of a gas pipeline caused the gasworks to moderate its production of town gas.
railbus
ran as a special service on the Wuppertal—Radevormwald line. The train was full of schoolchildren on a school outing and was about 30 minutes behind schedule. An oncoming freight train failed to stop for reasons unclear, and collided with the railbus. 46 passengers died in the accident, including 41 schoolchildren. 25 passengers were injured, most of them seriously. The exact cause of the accident could not be determined, because the station controller died in a car accident shortly after the event. The surviving driver of the goods train stated at the inquest that the train controller had signalled green with his flashlight, indicating a free passage. None of the railway stations on this local branch line had a proper station exit signal
.
Almost all of the dead schoolchildren were buried at the municipal cemetery in Radevormwald in a common enclosure with a stone monument inscribed: Come spirit of the four winds and breathe on these dead, that they may come alive (Komme Geist von den vier Winden herbei und hauche diese Toten an, damit sie lebendig werden). This accident was the worst rail disaster in West Germany
until the Eschede train disaster
in 1998.
were merged and Radevormwald became part of the resulting Oberbergischer district. A year later, on 28 May 1976 regular passenger traffic on the railway to Radevormwald ended.
Since the 1950s construction of the Wuppertal dam had been planned. In the mid-1980s the many years of preparation concluded, and construction began. Numerous places had to be demolished, so that in 1987 the Krebsöge dam could be inaugurated. In the same year the B 237 bypass was opened.
In 1990 Radevormwald tried to live up to its reputation as a sports town with the inauguration of the stadium in the Kollenberg and the indoor swimming pool Aquafun. However, these efforts suffered a setback in 2004 when the State sports school closed down.
The oldest seal of the city, dating from the 14th century, already shows the lion with a key. All later seals show the same image, the lion in the arms being that of the Counts von Berg. The origin of the key is not clear. It may have had a religious meaning, but it has also been speculated that it symbolises the iron industry (particularly locksmithing
) in the town.
(In the early 20th century the arms were shown in the Kaffee Hag albums [a standard reference for German civic arms] with the same composition, but in different colours).
times.
Older historical buildings, as in many other places in the Bergischen country, have not survived. An exception is the historical garden house in the town park which survived the last big town fire in the year 1802.
and reservoirs, among them: Wuppertal dam, Bevertal dam, Neyetal dam (Wipperfürth
), Ennepe dam (Breckerfeld), Heilenbecker dam and Schevelinger dam.
Other churches are to be found in Remlingrade (Protestant Church), in Wallenberg (Protestant Church) and in Dahlerau (both a Protestant and a Catholic church).
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...
. It is one of the oldest towns in the Bergischen Land, formerly the County and Duchy of Berg.
Geography
Radevormwald is located about 50 km east of CologneCologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
. At 421 metres above sea level, it was the highest-situated town 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...
; it is now in the administrative region of Cologne
Cologne (region)
Cologne is one of the five governmental districts of the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located in the south-west of that state and covers the hills of the Eifel as well as the Bergisches Land....
.
Neighbouring places
- EnnepetalEnnepetalEnnepetal is a town in the district of Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.The town was featured in the headlines when on April 12, 2005, a hostage taker snatched several school children from a school bus and took them as hostages, see Ennepetal hostage taking.- Division of the...
- BreckerfeldBreckerfeldBreckerfeld is a town in the district of Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, . It is located in the southeastern-most part of the Ruhr area in northern Sauerland. The town is a member of Regionalverband Ruhr .-Geography:...
- HalverHalverHalver is a town in the Märkischer Kreis district, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It has a population of 18,083 and covers an area of 77.37 km², of which 51% are used for agricultural purposes and 35% are forest...
- WipperfürthWipperfürththumb|310px|Map of the citythumb|250px|Town hallWipperfürth is a municipality in the Oberbergischer Kreis of North Rhine-Westfalia, Germany, about 40 km north-east of Cologne, and the oldest town in the Bergischen Land.-History:...
- HückeswagenHückeswagenHückeswagen is a town in the north of Oberbergischen Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is part of the governmental district of Cologne,-Geography:...
- RemscheidRemscheidRemscheid is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is, after Wuppertal and Solingen, the third largest municipality in Bergisches Land, being located on the northern edge of the region, on south side of the Ruhr area....
- WuppertalWuppertalWuppertal is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in and around the Wupper river valley, and is situated east of the city of Düsseldorf and south of the Ruhr area. With a population of approximately 350,000, it is the largest city in the Bergisches Land...
Division of the municipality
| A | Altendorf - Altenhof - Am Grimmelsberg - Auf'm Hagen |
| B | Beck - Berg - Bergerhof - Birken - Böhlefeldshaus - Borbeck - Born - Braake - Brebach - Brunsheide - Brunshöh - Buschsiepen |
| D | Dahlerau - Dahlhausen - Diepenbruch - Dieplingsberg |
| E | Eich - Eistringhausen - Erlenbach - Espert |
| F | Feckinghausen - Feldmannshaus - Felsenbeck - Filde - Filderheide - Finkensiepen - Freudenberg - Fuhr - Funkenhausen |
| G | Geilensiepen - Grafweg - Griesensiepen - Grüne - Grünenbaum |
| H | Hahnenberg - Harbeck - Hardt - Heide - Heidt - Heidersteg - Herbeck - Herkingrade - Hinüber - Honsberg - Hönde - Hönderbruch - Höltersiepen - Hürxtal - Hulverscheidt - Husmecke |
| I | Im Busch - Im Hagen - Im Holte - Im Kamp - Im Walde - Im Wiesental - Im Wildental - Ispingrade |
| J | Jakobsholt |
| K | Kaffekanne - Karlshöh - Karthausen - Kattenbusch - Keilbeck - Kettlershaus - Klaukenburg - Knefelskamp - Kötterhaus - Kottmannshausen - Kräwinkel - Krebsöge - Krebsögersteg - Kronenberg |
| L | Laake - Lambeck - Lambeckermühle - Langenkamp - Landwehr - Leimbecker Mühle - Leimhol - Leye - Linde - Lichteneichen - Lorenzhaus |
| M | Milspe - Möllersbaum |
| N | Nadelsiepen - Neuenhammer - Neuenhaus - Neuenhof - Niederdahl - Niedernfeld - Niederwönkhausen |
| O | Oberbuschsiepen - Oberdahl - Oberdahlhauen - Obergraben - Obernfeld - Obernhof - Oberkarthausen - Oberschmittensiepen - Oedeschlenke - Önkfeld |
| P | Pastoratshof - Plumbeck - Rechelsiepen |
| R | Remlingrade - Rochollsberg - Rädereichen |
| S | Scheideweg - Scheidt - Schlechtenbeck - Schmittensiepen - Schnellental - Siepen - Sieplenbusch - Sondern - Stoote - Studberg |
| T | Tanne |
| U | Uelfe - Ümminghausen - Umbeck - Untergraben - Unterm Busch - Unterste Mühle |
| V | Vogelshaus - Vogelsmühle - Vor der Heide - Vor der Mark - Vorm Baum - Vorm Holte |
| W | Waar - Walkmüllersiepen - Wellershausen - Wellringrade - Weyer - Wiebach - Wilhelmstal - Winklenburg - Wintershaus - Wönkhausen |
| Z | Zum Hofe |
Places submerged by the Wuppertal dam
- Dörpe
- Friedrichstal
- Nagelsberger Gemarke
- Oege
Wupper villages
The river WupperWupper
The Wupper is a right tributary to the Rhine river in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Rising near Marienheide in western Sauerland it runs through the mountainous area of the Bergisches Land Berg County and enters the Rhine at Leverkussen, south of Düsseldorf...
flows through part of the town lands. In the villages Dahlerau, Vogelsmühle and Dahlhausen - which are located in the Wupper valley and so are known as the "Wupper villages" - this led to the establishment of textile works
Textile manufacturing
Textile manufacturing is a major industry. It is based in the conversion of three types of fibre into yarn, then fabric, then textiles. These are then fabricated into clothes or other artifacts. Cotton remains the most important natural fibre, so is treated in depth...
. These settlements used the water for the production of energy, at first by means of the water wheel
Water wheel
A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of free-flowing or falling water into useful forms of power. A water wheel consists of a large wooden or metal wheel, with a number of blades or buckets arranged on the outside rim forming the driving surface...
and later through hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
power plants. With the establishment of working-class dwellings by the textile companies the population of the Wupper villages increased. The middle classes also settled here, above all in Dahlerau where there were many single trading ventures. However, at the end of the 20th century the combination of the decline of the textile industry and increased mobility brought about the closure of most businesses in the Wupper villages; today, many former business premises are used as houses.
The first documentary reference and municipal rights
The first known reference in writing to the town was in the year 1050. Klaus Pampus writes in his book Urkundliche Erstnennungen oberbergischen Orte (Earliest Documentary References to Places in Oberberg) that Radevormwald came into the possession of the imperial abbey of WerdenWerden Abbey
Werden Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Essen-Werden , situated on the Ruhr.- The foundation of the abbey :Near Essen Saint Ludger founded a monastery in 799 and became its first abbot. The little church which Saint Ludger built here in honor of Saint Stephen was completed in 804 and dedicated...
and at the time was called Rotha.
Radevormwald was situated in the County, later Duchy, of Berg. Between 1309 and 1316 Count Adolf VI von Berg conferred municipal rights on the town. The settlement "vor dem walde" ("before the wood") is described in 1363 in a lease of Count Wilhelm II von Jülich
Jülich
Jülich is a town in the district of Düren, in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Jülich is well known as location of a world-famous research centre, the Forschungszentrum Jülich and as shortwave transmission site of Deutsche Welle...
-Berg (Duke Wilhelm I) as a walled town. Radevormwald served the Counts von Berg as a border stronghold against Sauerland
Sauerland
The Sauerland is a rural, hilly area spreading across most of the south-eastern part of North Rhine-Westphalia, in parts heavily forested and, apart from the major valleys, sparsely inhabited...
in the County of the Mark
Mark (county)
The County of Mark was a county and state of the Holy Roman Empire in the Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle. It lay on both sides of the Ruhr River along the Volme and Lenne Rivers....
.
The especial significance of Radevormwald in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
can be seen from the fact that it paid 166.5 guilder
Guilder
Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch gulden — from Old Dutch for 'golden'. The guilder originated as a gold coin but has been a common name for a silver or base metal coin for some centuries...
s for the redemption of pledged lands of the Duchy of Berg, while for example Solingen
Solingen
Solingen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the northern edge of the region called Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr area, and with a 2009 population of 161,366 is the second largest city in the Bergisches Land...
, Elberfeld
Elberfeld
Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929.-History:The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "elverfelde" was in a document of 1161...
and Hückeswagen
Hückeswagen
Hückeswagen is a town in the north of Oberbergischen Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is part of the governmental district of Cologne,-Geography:...
raised only 88, 84.5 and 34.5 guilders respectively.
15th century
The town prospered. Walls, towers and gates protected the settled trades of the smiths, woolWool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
weavers and garment makers.
16th century
In the 16th century there were two big town fires. The first took place on 17 July 1525. The second devastated the town in 1571.In 1540, the parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
and clergy of the town converted to the Reformed Church
Reformed churches
The Reformed churches are a group of Protestant denominations characterized by Calvinist doctrines. They are descended from the Swiss Reformation inaugurated by Huldrych Zwingli but developed more coherently by Martin Bucer, Heinrich Bullinger and especially John Calvin...
.
17th century
In 1620 Radevormwald was conquered by the ProtestantReformed churches
The Reformed churches are a group of Protestant denominations characterized by Calvinist doctrines. They are descended from the Swiss Reformation inaugurated by Huldrych Zwingli but developed more coherently by Martin Bucer, Heinrich Bullinger and especially John Calvin...
Hessians
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
under Philip the Magnanimous. During the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
(1618–1648) it was used as the occasional headquarters and supply depot of the Spaniards
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
ns, under the command of Ottavio Piccolomini (one of Wallenstein
Albrecht von Wallenstein
Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein , actually von Waldstein, was a Bohemian soldier and politician, who offered his services, and an army of 30,000 to 100,000 men during the Danish period of the Thirty Years' War , to the Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II...
's generals). In 1635 and 1636 Dutch
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...
troops, and in 1638 Westphalia
Westphalia
Westphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Minden and Münster.Westphalia is roughly the region between the rivers Rhine and Weser, located north and south of the Ruhr River. No exact definition of borders can be given, because the name "Westphalia"...
n troops, occupied the place, before it fell once again to Hesse in 1639. These military occupation
Military occupation
Military occupation occurs when the control and authority over a territory passes to a hostile army. The territory then becomes occupied territory.-Military occupation and the laws of war:...
s were accompanied by murder, looting, arson and rape of the civil population, which was decimated.
After the Peace of Westphalia
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the...
in 1648, the Catholic Duke of Berg, Philipp Wilhelm von Pfalz-Neuburg
Philipp Wilhelm, Elector Palatine
Philip William of Neuburg, Elector Palatine was Count Palatine of Neuburg from 1653 to 1690, Duke of Jülich and Berg from 1653 to 1679 and Elector of the Palatinate from 1685 to 1690...
(reigned 1652–1690) persecuted Anabaptist
Anabaptist
Anabaptists are Protestant Christians of the Radical Reformation of 16th-century Europe, and their direct descendants, particularly the Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites....
s and Mennonite
Mennonite
The Mennonites are a group of Christian Anabaptist denominations named after the Frisian Menno Simons , who, through his writings, articulated and thereby formalized the teachings of earlier Swiss founders...
s in his territory, so that many of them fled. One such refugee was Adolf von der Leyen of Radevormwald, who in 1656 (or perhaps 1650) brought the new skill of silk weaving
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
to Krefeld
Krefeld
Krefeld , also known as Crefeld until 1929, is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its centre lying just a few kilometres to the west of the River Rhine; the borough of Uerdingen is situated directly on the Rhine...
.
19th century
On 24 August 1802 the last great town fire in Radevormwald occurred. In 1833, a local mail coachStagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
service to the surrounding towns was established for the first time, and a post office opened. Towards the end of the century, the railway followed. On 1 March 1886 Radevormwald celebrated the opening of the Remscheid
Remscheid
Remscheid is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is, after Wuppertal and Solingen, the third largest municipality in Bergisches Land, being located on the northern edge of the region, on south side of the Ruhr area....
- Lennep - Krebsöge - Dahlerau - Wuppertal
Wuppertal
Wuppertal is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in and around the Wupper river valley, and is situated east of the city of Düsseldorf and south of the Ruhr area. With a population of approximately 350,000, it is the largest city in the Bergisches Land...
- Oberbarmen railway line. Four years later, on 3 February 1890 a branch line from Krebsöge to Radevormwald was opened. All railway lines near the town were typical of the Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n branch lines which were built throughout Germany as part of an ambitious development program from 1885 onwards.
Radevormwald was a station on the needle telegraph line (1833 to 1849) from Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
to Aachen
Aachen
Aachen has historically been a spa town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Aachen was a favoured residence of Charlemagne, and the place of coronation of the Kings of Germany. Geographically, Aachen is the westernmost town of Germany, located along its borders with Belgium and the Netherlands, ...
. The location of the telegraph was in the modern street Am Telegraf.
In 1884 the municipal gasworks opened for business with the production of town gas
Gas lighting
Gas lighting is production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, including hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, or natural gas. Before electricity became sufficiently widespread and economical to allow for general public use, gas was the most...
.
The 20th century up to the First World War
In 1910 there were two important events. With the opening of a railway line to HalverHalver
Halver is a town in the Märkischer Kreis district, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It has a population of 18,083 and covers an area of 77.37 km², of which 51% are used for agricultural purposes and 35% are forest...
the railway network around Radevormwald was completed, and on 1 July the second youth hostel in the world, and the first in the Rhineland
Rhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
, celebrated its inauguration.
The 20th century from the First World War to 1945
Radevormwald developed into an industrial location. Local businesses included lock-, file-, bicycle-, paper-, ice-skate- and building component factories, motor and textile industries, yarn-spinningSpinning (textiles)
Spinning is a major industry. It is part of the textile manufacturing process where three types of fibre are converted into yarn, then fabric, then textiles. The textiles are then fabricated into clothes or other artifacts. There are three industrial processes available to spin yarn, and a...
and cloth mills.
At 8:15 on the morning of 26 May 1928 a Deutsche Luft Hansa
Deutsche Luft Hansa
Deutsche Luft Hansa A.G. was a German airline, serving as flag carrier of the country during the later years of the Weimar Republic and throughout the Third Reich.-1920s:Deutsche Luft Hansa was founded on 6 January 1926 in Berlin...
Junkers F13 airplane crashed in Hahnenberg on the Schlegel meadow (Schlegelsche Wiese), killing three people. In November 1934, the connection of a gas pipeline caused the gasworks to moderate its production of town gas.
The Dahlerau train disaster
On the evening of 27 May 1971, a Deutsche BundesbahnDeutsche Bundesbahn
The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany on September 7, 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft '...
railbus
Railcar
A railcar, in British English and Australian English, is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach , with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railways, e.g., the Great Western...
ran as a special service on the Wuppertal—Radevormwald line. The train was full of schoolchildren on a school outing and was about 30 minutes behind schedule. An oncoming freight train failed to stop for reasons unclear, and collided with the railbus. 46 passengers died in the accident, including 41 schoolchildren. 25 passengers were injured, most of them seriously. The exact cause of the accident could not be determined, because the station controller died in a car accident shortly after the event. The surviving driver of the goods train stated at the inquest that the train controller had signalled green with his flashlight, indicating a free passage. None of the railway stations on this local branch line had a proper station exit signal
Railway signal
A signal is a mechanical or electrical device erected beside a railway line to pass information relating to the state of the line ahead to train/engine drivers. The driver interprets the signal's indication and acts accordingly...
.
Almost all of the dead schoolchildren were buried at the municipal cemetery in Radevormwald in a common enclosure with a stone monument inscribed: Come spirit of the four winds and breathe on these dead, that they may come alive (Komme Geist von den vier Winden herbei und hauche diese Toten an, damit sie lebendig werden). This accident was the worst rail disaster in West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
until the Eschede train disaster
Eschede train disaster
The Eschede train disaster was the world's deadliest high-speed train accident. It occurred on 3 June 1998, near the village of Eschede in the Celle district of Lower Saxony, Germany. The toll of 101 people dead and 88 injured surpassed the 1971 Dahlerau train disaster as the deadliest accident in...
in 1998.
From 1975 - Radevormwald in the Oberbergischer district
On 1 January 1975 the Rhein-Wupper and Rheinisch-Bergisch districtsRheinisch-Bergischer Kreis
The Rheinisch-Bergische Kreis is a Kreis in the Cologne Bonn Region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring are the districts Oberbergischer Kreis and Rhein-Sieg, and the district-free citiesCologne, Leverkusen, Solingen and Remscheid....
were merged and Radevormwald became part of the resulting Oberbergischer district. A year later, on 28 May 1976 regular passenger traffic on the railway to Radevormwald ended.
Since the 1950s construction of the Wuppertal dam had been planned. In the mid-1980s the many years of preparation concluded, and construction began. Numerous places had to be demolished, so that in 1987 the Krebsöge dam could be inaugurated. In the same year the B 237 bypass was opened.
In 1990 Radevormwald tried to live up to its reputation as a sports town with the inauguration of the stadium in the Kollenberg and the indoor swimming pool Aquafun. However, these efforts suffered a setback in 2004 when the State sports school closed down.
Coat of arms
The coat of arms was granted on 7 November 1934. It consists of a lion grasping a key.The oldest seal of the city, dating from the 14th century, already shows the lion with a key. All later seals show the same image, the lion in the arms being that of the Counts von Berg. The origin of the key is not clear. It may have had a religious meaning, but it has also been speculated that it symbolises the iron industry (particularly locksmithing
Locksmithing
Locksmithing began as the science and art of making and defeating locks. A lock is a mechanism that secures buildings, rooms, cabinets, objects, or other storage facilities. A key is often used to open a lock...
) in the town.
(In the early 20th century the arms were shown in the Kaffee Hag albums [a standard reference for German civic arms] with the same composition, but in different colours).
Origin of the name
Radevormwald means "clearing in front of the wood". The town's older name, Rotha, also means "clearing". The clearing, at an altitude of more than 400 metres, is thought to have been made to help defend against raiding Saxons in prehistoricPrehistory
Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...
times.
Character
Radevormwald is characterised by its small and medium-sized businesses, predominantly in the service industries. With regard to the rail connections to Cologne and Düsseldorf to the west and to transport connections generally the town is in a marginal position. This leaves scope for the exploitation of resources for leisure and the enjoyment of nature, and gives the town a relatively high quality of life.Older historical buildings, as in many other places in the Bergischen country, have not survived. An exception is the historical garden house in the town park which survived the last big town fire in the year 1802.
Population density of Radevormwald
| Year | population | Year | population |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1792 | 4.320 | 1961 | 20.957 |
| 1807 | 3.429 | 1975 | 24.526 |
| 1826 | 5.383 | 1983 | 23.850 |
| 1865 | 8.879 | 1995 | 25.720 |
| 1900 | 10.446 | 2000 | 25.852 |
| 1939 | 13.861 | 2003 | 25.517 |
| 1946 | 17.159 | 2004 | 25.390 |
Places To Go
In the area are many different damsDAMS
Driot-Arnoux Motorsport is a racing team from France, involved in many areas of motorsports. DAMS was founded in 1988 by Jean-Paul Driot and former Formula One driver René Arnoux. It is headquartered near Le Mans, only 2 km from the Bugatti Circuit.- History :The year after its foundation,...
and reservoirs, among them: Wuppertal dam, Bevertal dam, Neyetal dam (Wipperfürth
Wipperfürth
thumb|310px|Map of the citythumb|250px|Town hallWipperfürth is a municipality in the Oberbergischer Kreis of North Rhine-Westfalia, Germany, about 40 km north-east of Cologne, and the oldest town in the Bergischen Land.-History:...
), Ennepe dam (Breckerfeld), Heilenbecker dam and Schevelinger dam.
- Uelfebad, former outdoor swimming pool (an ice rink in winter, with suitable weather) and restaurant
- Leisure resort Kräwinklerbrücke, which is also a starting point for footpaths around the Wuppertal dam.
Churches
Radevormwald has a distinctive skyline with four churches close together:- Protestant Reformed church (state church)
- Protestant Lutheran church (state church)
- Lutheran Church St. Martin (Independent Evangelical-Lutheran ChurchIndependent Evangelical-Lutheran ChurchThe Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church is a confessional Lutheran church body of Germany. It is a member of the European Lutheran Conference and a member of the International Lutheran Council . The SELK synod has about 36,000 members in 200 congregations...
) - Roman Catholic church
Other churches are to be found in Remlingrade (Protestant Church), in Wallenberg (Protestant Church) and in Dahlerau (both a Protestant and a Catholic church).
Monuments
- Historical rococoRococoRococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
garden house in the town park. Built in 1772, at the time of the town fire in 1802 it stood in front of the town wall approximately 200 m to the west of the future railway station and is the oldest building in the town. Its location today is not the original one: it was transferred to the town park in an improvement scheme. - War Memorialhttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Radevormwald_Kollenberg_-_Kollenbergpark_05.jpg at the Kollenberg
- War Memorialhttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Radevormwald_Bergerhof_-_Froweinpark_09.jpg in the Froweinpark (moved to its current location in 1998 from its earlier position in the former sports field Herbeck)
- Commemorative crosshttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Radevormwald_Bergerhof_-_Kommunalfriedhof_01.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Kreuz-graeber-2004-1280x960.jpg for the victims of the 1971 train accidentDahlerau train disasterThe Dahlerau train disaster was a severe railway accident that took place on May 27, 1971 in Dahlerau, a small town belonging to Radevormwald in then-West Germany, in which a freight train and a passenger train crashed into each other. 46 people perished in the accident, of whom 41 were senior year...
in the municipal cemetery Am Kreuz - Moonstonehttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Radevormwald_Bergerhof_-_Froweinpark_10.jpg in the Froweinpark as a memorial to the places submerged by the Wuppertal dam
- Commemorative tablethttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Buergerhaus-gedenktafel-390x600.jpg in the town hall for the victims of National SocialismNazismNazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
- Monument on the north side of Schlossmacherplatz for the twin town ChâteaubriantChâteaubriant-Coat of arms:Two coats of arms are attributed :*First Pale: Blue, three gold fleurs de lys, Pales split in two by a shortened staff with a red hache....
in FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... - Stone tablethttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Radevormwald_Bergerhof_-_Froweinpark_08.jpg to the entrepreneur and file manufacturer Frowein in the Froweinpark
- Ground monument Bergisch-Märkische Landwehr. Approximately indicating the border with Ennepetal and Breckerfeld, it is also thought once to have been the border between SaxonySaxonyThe 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....
and FranconiaFranconiaFranconia is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria, a small part of southern Thuringia, and a region in northeastern Baden-Württemberg called Tauberfranken...
.
Mills (including historic mills)
- Hees Mill (aka Lowest Mill). Today the earlier mill is used by a food company. Remains of the milling equipment still exist.
- Luhner Mill. No longer standing, it was in the immediate neighbourhood of the Leimholer Mill.
- Leimholer Mill. On the Uelfe brook; it takes its name from the place Leimhol.
- Lambecker Mill. About the mill itself nothing is known. The name Becke means a brook in Low GermanLow GermanLow German or Low Saxon is an Ingvaeonic West Germanic language spoken mainly in northern Germany and the eastern part of the Netherlands...
and is used in a large number of placenames in the region. The place Lambeck was mentioned in the year 1789 as Langenbeck (= long brook). - Neuenhammer. This mill was a hammer works on the Uelfe brook. Only the placename and some buildings now used for trout breeding remain.
- Uppermost Mill. On the Uelfe brook. Today this affectionately-restored former mill is a food business.
- Stooter Mill. This was a flour millMill (grinding)A grinding mill is a unit operation designed to break a solid material into smaller pieces. There are many different types of grinding mills and many types of materials processed in them. Historically mills were powered by hand , working animal , wind or water...
on the Bever. It was registered 1828 in the ancient land register and was also called Stötermühle. In 1902 the mill was demolished for construction of the old Bevertal dam. - Bird's Mill. No longer standing. In the year 1804 Vogelsmühle, a fullingFullingFulling or tucking or walking is a step in woolen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of cloth to eliminate oils, dirt, and other impurities, and making it thicker. The worker who does the job is a fuller, tucker, or walker...
mill, stood here, the precursor of the cloth industry later to develop. - Wiebach Mill. The mill at the exit of the Wiebach valley was demolished 1956. Today the Wiebach dam, part of the Wuppertal dam system, floods the area.
Calendar of events
- Since 1948 the Radevormwald Cultural Circle http://www.kulturkreis-radevormwald.de has arranged a yearly program of cultural events, including stage plays, musicals, cabaret and concerts. These events take place in the Radevormwald Town Hall.
- The Radevormwalder Town Festival normally takes place on the first weekend in May.
- The Radevormwalder Fair, featuring a shooting match and a home festival is a regular feature of the Radevormwalder calendar.
- For some years a cycle race with well-known riders has taken place in summer in the downtown area.
- In September the traditional plum fair takes place.
- On the first weekend in October the cultural municipality organizes a traditional harvest festivalHarvest festivalA Harvest Festival is an annual celebration which occurs around the time of the main harvest of a given region. Given the differences in climate and crops around the world, harvest festivals can be found at various times throughout the world...
in Önkfeld.
Health services
The Johanniter (Knights Hospitallers) Hospital provides health services for the resident population.Personalities
- Franz Rudolf Bornewasser, archbishop of TrierArchbishopric of TrierThe Archbishopric of Trier was a Roman Catholic diocese in Germany, that existed from Carolingian times until the end of the Holy Roman Empire. Its suffragans were the dioceses of Metz, Toul and Verdun. Since the 9th century the Archbishops of Trier were simultaneously princes and since the 11th...
, 1922–1951 - Heidemarie Ecker-Rosendahl, German sportswoman
- Jürgen Fliege, television presenter and journalistJournalistA journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
- Fritz Hardt, entrepreneurEntrepreneurAn entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
and honorary citizen of the town (see also Wülfing Museum http://www.wuelfingmuseum.de) - Adolf von der Leyen, entrepreneur, fl. 1650s
International relations
Radevormwald 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:
- ChâteaubriantChâteaubriant-Coat of arms:Two coats of arms are attributed :*First Pale: Blue, three gold fleurs de lys, Pales split in two by a shortened staff with a red hache....
- FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, since 1981 - Nowy TargNowy TargNowy Targ is a town in southern Poland with 34,000 inhabitants , and the historical capital of the mountain region . The town is situated in the confluence of the rivers Biały and Czarny Dunajec, in a valley beneath the Gorce Mountains. It's in Nowy Targ County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship...
- PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...