Siegen
Encyclopedia
Siegen is a city in Germany
, in the south Westphalia
n part of North Rhine-Westphalia
.
It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein
in the Arnsberg
region. The university
town (14,100 students in the 2010-2011 winter semester) is the district seat, and is ranked as a "higher centre" in the South Westphalian urban agglomeration.
In 1975, in the process of municipal reforms and amalgamations, Siegen's population exceeded the 100,000 mark.
. To the north lies the Sauerland
, to the northwest the Rothaargebirge
and to the southwest the Westerwald
.
The nearest cities to Siegen, taking into account average travelling distances, are Hagen
to the north (83 km), Frankfurt am Main to the southeast (125 km), Koblenz
to the southwest (105 km) and Cologne
to the west (93 km).
As the crow flies the distances to these places are, however, 65 km (Hagen), 95 km (Frankfurt), 65 km (Koblenz) and 75 km (Cologne).
The city lies on the German-Dutch
holiday road called the Orange Route
, joining towns, cities and regions associated with the House of Orange.
The city's total land area is roughly 115 km². Its greatest east-west span is about 11 km, and its greatest north-south span is about 12 km. City limits are 48 km long. Siegen lies at a median elevation of 290 m above sea level
. The city's greatest elevation is the peak of the Pfannenberg at 499 m above sea level at southern city limits. Siegen's lowest point is 215 m above sea level at Niederschelden at southwestern city limits, which there also forms the state boundary with Rhineland-Palatinate
. Roughly 60% of the city's land is wooded, making Siegen one of Germany's greenest cities.
The city area is divided into six zones, called Bezirke in German
and comparable to boroughs in some cities, which themselves are further divided into various communities (Ortsteile and Stadtteile). Each "borough" has a borough board consisting of 15 voting and 15 non-voting members who are appointed by city council with regard to each party's share of the vote in the municipal elections in the borough in question. The borough boards decide on matters particular to their respective boroughs. These matters are laid down in Siegen's city charter.
Along with the boroughs and communities into which the city is divided, as mandated by law, there are also further subdivisions within the communities, each with its own name, but none with distinctly clear borders. They are called Quartiere, which can be rendered as "quarters" or "neighbourhoods". Examples of these include the Unterstadt, the Oberstadt, Hammerhütte, Lindenberg, Charlottental, Haardter Berg (with the university) and the Alte Dreisbach. Some neighbourhoods even straddle community boundaries, like Sieghütte, parts of which can be found in both Siegen-Mitte and Weidenau. Moreover, some neighbourhoods even overlap each other. Unlike the boroughs (Bezirke) or communities (Ortsteile and Stadtteile), the Quartiere have no statistical or administrative importance. They do, however, serve some function as to their inhabitants' identity, but more practically than that, they are also useful for finding one's way with a city map and using in bus route names and on public notices and traffic signs. Many of the Hüttentalstraße city Autobahn's exits are also named after the Quartiere that they serve.
The communities of Weidenau, Geisweid, Birlenbach, Langenholdinghausen, Buchen, Sohlbach, Dillnhütten, Niedersetzen, Obersetzen and Meiswinkel formed from 1 July 1966 to 31 December 1974 the town of Hüttental. The communities of Eiserfeld, Eisern, Gosenbach, Niederschelden and Oberschelden formed the town of Eiserfeld between those same two dates.
and the community of Wenden
, in the east on the town of Netphen
, in the southeast on the community of Wilnsdorf
, in the south on the community of Neunkirchen
, in the west on the community of Mudersbach
(Altenkirchen
in Rhineland-Palatinate
) and in the northwest on the town of Freudenberg
.
river name Sieg. It is, however, unclear whether there is any relation between this name and the Celtic-Germanic
Sicambri (Ger. Sugambrer) people, who in pre-Christian times lived in parts of North Rhine-Westphalia. The first documentary mention of the place called Sigena dates from 1079. The city's history is markedly shaped by mining
, which locally began as far back as La Tène
times. Bearing witness to this longtime industry are the many mines that can be found within city limits.
In 1224, Siegen is mentioned as a newly built town whose ownership was shared by the Count of Nassau, Heinrich the Rich, and Engelbert II of Berg
, Archbishop of Cologne after the latter transferred one half of the ownership to the former. Moreover, there is proof that the Oberes Schloss ("upper stately home") was already standing at this time. On 19 October 1303, the town was granted Soester Stadtrecht, or Soest town rights. The town remained under the two overlords' joint ownership until 1 February 1381, only then passing fully into Nassau hands.
In the 16th century, the town of Siegen bore a formidable defensive look. It was surrounded by mighty walls with 16 towers and three town gates, and was home to a great castle
. The town was stricken several times by townwide fires. Documents record such fires in 1592, and from 10 to 20 April 1695.
In 1536, in the buildings that had once housed a Franciscan
Monastery
, Heinrich the Rich built a "paedagogium", out of which later grew today's Gymnasium
at Siegen's Löhrtor (gate). Johann VII of Nassau-Siegen ("Johann the Intermediary") built in 1616 a knightly war school in the still standing old armoury on Burgstraße. He also built on the site of an old Franciscan Monastery the Unteres Schloss ("lower stately home"). His son Johann VIII ("The Younger") returned in 1612 to the Roman Catholic Church
, and also wanted to use force to make the towsfolk, too, convert back to Roman Catholicism. John Maurice of Nassau, the Dutch
commander in Brazil
, unseated him, but John Maurice's leadership served in 1650-1651 to bring about a split in the Siegerland along denominational lines.
Under Wilhelm Hyacinth of Nassau-Siegen, violence broke out between the two denominational groups. When on 29 March 1707 townsman Friedrich Flender got killed, Wilhelm Hyacinth was himself unseated and furthermore driven out of the town. Wilhelm Hyacinth was the last in the line of Nassau-Siegen's Catholic rulers, dying in 1743. Already in 1734, though, the Reformed line had died out, too, with Friedrich Wilhelm's death, leading Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
to transfer power in the territory to the Prince of Orange and the Prince of Nassau-Diez. Under their leadership, mining, the main source of wealth, blossomed, along with agriculture
and silviculture
. When Prince William I of the Netherlands
refused to join the Confederation of the Rhine
, founded by Napoleon, he found himself unseated by the French
leader and the Siegerland passed to the Grand Duchy of Berg
. After Napoleon's downfall in 1813, however, William I regained his former German inheritances, but in 1815 he ceded them to the Kingdom of Prussia
for the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
. Siegen was assigned to the Siegen district, first in the Koblenz region
, and as of 1817 in the Arnsberg region
within the Prussian Province of Westphalia
.
Under Prussian rule, Siegen developed into the South Westphalian centre that it is today. On 1 March 1923, Siegen was set apart from the district bearing its name, and became a district-free town, while still keeping its function as seat of the district of which it was no longer part, and which was itself merged with Wittgenstein district under district reform in 1975. Siegen also lost its district-free status at this time, becoming part of the new Siegen-Wittgenstein district, the name that the district has borne since 1984.
During World War II
, Siegen was repeatedly bombed by the Allies
owing to a crucial railroad that crossed through the town. On 1 April 1945, the US 8th Infantry Division began the Allied ground assault against Siegen and the dominating military-significant high ground north of the river. The battle against determined German forces at Siegen continued through 2 April 1945, until organized resistance was finally overwhelmed by the division on 3 April 1945.
The town of Siegen belonged in the beginning to the Archbishopric of Mainz
, or more precisely to its deaconry of Arfeld. There was a White Nun convent
in town that folded in the 15th century. Furthermore, there was a Franciscan
Monastery that was dissolved in 1533 after the Nassau overlords had introduced the Reformation
in 1530. After that, the town was first Lutheran
, but in 1550, the Principality of Nassau converted to the Reformed Church. Subsequently, Siegen was a predominantly Protestant
town, but not so strongly that the Counterreformation could not gain ground in 1623, with one fifth of the townsfolk and those living in the surrounding area becoming Catholic once again. As of 1626, there was once more a monastery in town, this time a Jesuit
one. After passing to Prussia in 1815, the union between Lutheran and Reformed churches was introduced in Siegen, as it was throughout Prussia, but the town's parishes kept their Reformed imprint. As part of the Westphalian Provincial Church (now the Church of Westphalia), Siegen became the seat of a Superintendency. A similar entity still exists in Siegen, known as the Kirchenkreis, or church district, to which all the city's parishes nowadays belong, unless they are Free Church parishes. This church district encompasses the whole of South Westphalia all the way to Olpe
.
The town's Catholics, even after the Reformation, still belonged to the Archbishopric of Mainz
. With the restructuring of the Catholic Church early in the 19th century, Siegen was assigned to the Archbishopric of Paderborn and became the seat of a district synod
, today a deaconry, to which all the district's Catholic parishes belong. Paderborn was raised to Archbishopric in 1929.
Besides the Roman Catholic Church, Siegen also has a Greek Orthodox parish and a Romanian Orthodox parish.
Moreover, there are various Free Church
es established in Siegen, among them several Evangelical Free Church parishes (Baptists), an Evangelical-Methodist Church, an Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church
(SELK), a Seventh-day Adventist
parish, several Free Evangelical parishes (FeG), the Achenbach Christian Community, the Christian Assembly, Calvary Chapel
and the Siegen-Meiswinkel Mission Community.
Further religious communities in Siegen are The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the New Apostolic Church
, the Jehovah's Witnesses
, an Original Christianity community and Bahá'í
. Moreover, owing to a great number of Turkish and Arab migrants in Siegen, the Muslim community is also very apparent there and there are several mosques in Siegen regulated by Turkish, Arab and Albanian communities. There are said to be more than 15,000 Muslims out of Siegen's total population.
The following communities and rural areas have been amalgamated with Siegen:
In 1897, Siegen had 20,000 inhabitants. By 1939, this figure had doubled to 40,000. In the Second World War, the town lost roughly 30% of its inhabitants (12,000). The population had fallen to 28,000 by 1945 and only in 1952 did it once again reach prewar levels.
On 1 January 1975, Siegen's population surpassed 100,000 through the amalgamation of Hüttental (38,867 inhabitants in 1974) and Eiserfeld (22,354 inhabitants in 1974), making it a city. With 117,224 inhabitants it also at the same time reached its all-time highest population. At the end of June 2005, according to the North Rhine-Westphalia State Office for Data Processing and Statistics (Landesamt für Datenverarbeitung und Statistik Nordrhein-Westfalen), 105,328 people made Siegen their main abode. Since 1975, the population has fallen by roughly 10% (12,000).
The following chart shows population figures for Siegen's municipal area, however big it was at each given time. Up to 1833, most figures are estimates, and thereafter census figures (¹) or official estimates by the statistical office of the time or the town/city administration itself. The given figures indicate from 1843 the "population present in the town" (Ortsanwesende Bevölkerung), from 1925 the "dwelling population" (Wohnbevölkerung), and since 1987 the "Population in the place of main residence" (Bevölkerung am Ort der Hauptwohnung). Before 1843, population figures come from irregular surveying procedures.
e class="wikitable" >
Year
Inhabitants
1 December 1900 ¹
22,109
1 December 1905 ¹
25,201
1 December 1910 ¹
27,416
1 December 1916 ¹
25,594
5 December 1917 ¹
25,549
8 October 1919 ¹
29,020
16 June 1925 ¹
30,951
16 June 1933 ¹
32,736
17 May 1939 ¹
40,269
31 December 1945
28,000
29 October 1946 ¹
29,922
13 September 1950 ¹
38,787
e class="wikitable" >
Year
Inhabitants
25 September 1956 ¹
45,173
6 June 1961 ¹
49,404
31 December 1965
50,268
27 May 1970 ¹
57,302
31 December 1975
116,552
31 December 1980
112,320
31 December 1985
107,421
25 May 1987 ¹
106,384
31 December 1990
109,174
31 December 1995
111,398
31 December 2000
108,476
30 June 2005
105,328
¹ Census figure
Note: UWG is a citizens' coalition. STATT is a small party that claims to be "non-ideological". Its name is German for "instead".
None of the parties represented on city council holds a majority, and no coalition
has been struck. However, the CDU and the FDP have a fixed, contractual coöperation agreement and at least have at their disposal a joint majority voice on some committees. In the council chamber, on the other hand, their 30 seats are not an absolute majority and they do not always prevail.
s were achieving ever greater influence in the town. Thereafter the "ruling" or "office-holding" old shoemaking
master represented the "common townsfolk" on the council. The mediaeval
town charter was kept right up until 1809, and parts of it even held until 1815, but that year there was a self-endorsing council with 12 members, over which presided the mayor. As of 1824, the suburbs got their own chief administrator who was subordinate to the mayor of Siegen. In 1836, the Prussian municipal system was introduced. After the town was separated from Siegen district in 1923, the mayor was given the title Oberbürgermeister (roughly equivalent to Lord Mayor). The mayor who came to office in 1919 kept his position right through the time of the Third Reich, whereas some mayors in other German and Austria
n towns, whose political views were at odds with the Nazis', were removed forcibly.
After the Second World War, the military government of the British Zone of Occupation
installed a new mayor, and in 1946 it introduced a new town charter based on a British model, leading to a "Council of the town" elected by the people, whose members were called Stadtverordnete (town councillors). In the beginning, the council chose one from its midst as the mayor as the town's head and representative, which was an honorary function. Furthermore, as of 1946, the council also began choosing a fulltime Oberstadtdirektor, or Higher Town Director, to lead the town's administration.
After Siegen was reunited with the district of the same name in 1975, these two officials bore the titles Bürgermeister and Stadtdirektor respectively. In 1999, this two-headed arrangement was forsaken in favour of a single city leader, with the title Bürgermeister, who serves as chairman or chairwoman of city council, leader of city administration and city representative. He or she is directly elected nowadays.
Mayors (Bürgermeister and Oberbürgermeister) since 1919
Stadtdirektoren and Oberstadtdirektoren 1946 - 1999
might be described thus: Argent a town wall embattled gules with an open gateway argent, therein in an inescutcheon azure a lion rampant Or armed and langued gules, issuant from the wall a bishop in robe and mitre azure (trimmed in argent) holding in his hand dexter a crozier argent with crook Or sinister, in his hand sinister, upraised, an open book argent with pages edged gules.
The bishop
in the city's arms is the Bishop of Cologne
. The wall symbolizes the city itself, and the inescutcheon in the gateway shows the Lion of Nassau in blue and gold (or yellow), which are Nassau's colours. The arms are based on the oldest known town seal, from 1248. The inescutcheon once also had gold billets (upright rectangles) around the lion, but these do not appear in what became the town's (and later city's) coat of arms in 1875.http://www.ngw.nl/int/dld/s/siegen.htm
, since 1952 Rijnsburg
, Netherlands
, since 1963, continuation of partnership with amalgamated town of Katwijk
as of 2006 Morley
, United Kingdom
, since 1966 continuation of partnership with amalgamated City of Leeds
as of 1974 Leeds
, United Kingdom
, since 1974 Ypres
, Belgium
, since 1967 Zakopane
, Poland
, since 1989 Plauen
, Saxony
, since 1990
In the Apollo-Theater (a downtown former 1930s cinema
that underwent remodelling and opened in mid 2007), Siegen has one of the current decade's most important newly built theatre
s. A controlling interest in this venture is held by TheaterSiegen intendant Magnus Reitschuster.
Since 1992, the media and cultural house Lÿz has been a venue for cabaret
, music and theatre in Siegen. On the two stages, roughly 150 events appear every season.
Bigger events take place at the Bühne der Stadt ("City's Stage", with about 820 seats), the Siegerlandhalle (1 800 m², 2,300 seats) or the Bismarckhalle. As well, there are regular open-air concerts and productions in the inner yard at Unteres Schloss.
The Haus Oranienstraße , built at 1900 in the Italian country house style, is attached to the Siegerlandmuseum since 1993 as an exhibit forum. Here you will find a varied program of temporary exhibitions of all kinds, from archaeological excavations to contemporary avant-garde art. Poet and author readings are also part of the program, such as classic concerts.(Tuesday to Sunday 10:00-18:00, closed on Mondays)
musicians. The collection consists of more than 17,000 sound storage media, souvenirs, film posters, autograph
s and quite a few other things.
era give one an impression of life in the region in bygone days.
line of the House of Nassau-Siegen resided here. Also belonging to the Schloss is the "Dicker Turm", or "Fat Tower" with a carillon
. In 1959, the then town of Siegen built a memorial for victims of war and tyranny. Inside the Schloss is also found the crypt of the Evangelical branch of the Nassau princely house.
Today, the Schloss serves as a state authority building in which the North Rhine-Westphalia Building and Property Establishment, the State Environment Office, the Office for Occupational Health and Safety and the Attendorn Correctional Facility (Siegen Branch Facility) are all housed. By the city's plans, a university is supposed to move into the Unteres Schloss within the next few years, but at this time, the plan is failing to find any financial backing.
In the southwest of the city core, at the foot of the Ziegenberg, is a spherical gasholder, or gasometer
, which is protected by law as a monument. It is one of the oldest spherical gasholders still preserved. Another peculiarity is its riveted casing. Only three other such gasholders are known to exist worldwide (all in Germany, in Schwerte
, Offenburg
and Bielefeld
). The holder had to be moved a few metres owing to construction on the municipal Autobahn, the Hüttentalstraße, and in the residential area of Ziegenberg, and it now forms the symbolic sun
as part of a scale model of the planet
s above the gasholder.
or Freudenberg
. Furthermore, there are a few well known breweries
in the area that can be visited, for instance Krombacher
and Eichener Brauerei in Kreuztal, along with other smaller breweries.
. Ten of them are already closed and are available for burials only because of existing laws. The cemeteries have a total area of 730 000 m² with roughly 65,000 graves. Characteristic of regional cemeteries are hillside graves and a green, parklike layout that even affords wildlife a chance at reoccupying the land.
men's football
team at Leimbachstadion
when they rose from the Regionalliga Süd
up to the 2nd Bundesliga, although the next year they dropped back down again. As six-time German Champions, the TSV Siegen women's football team was very successful in the 1990s.
lies the Siegerland Airport
through which Siegen is connected to many other airports in Germany
.
running from the middle of Sweden
to Umbria
in Italy
. There is, however, no organized cycling
trail network in Siegen. Riding in bus lanes is sporadically allowed. Bicycle transport is generally poorly developed in Siegen. Owing to dual carriageway
s within the city and nearby, as well as transport planning that rather favours cars, bicycle transport has been somewhat thwarted. Together with the partly hilly topography, there is therefore little in the way of bicycle transport in Siegen.
Siegen station
lies at the junction of the following railway lines:
line using a petrol-powered omnibus, running a service from its base in Netphen
to Siegen and Deuz. Today, local road transport offers many regional, express and local buses, along with a night bus service connecting Siegen with its outlying communities and neighbouring towns. They are run by the South Westphalia Transport Services (Verkehrsbetriebe Westfalen-Süd; VWS) whose headquarters are in Siegen.
For the whole of local public transport, the tariff of the South Westphalia Transport Community (Verkehrsgemeinschaft Westfalen-Süd; VGWS) applies, regardless of the North Rhine-Westphalia tariff.
(Dortmund
– Aschaffenburg
) and A 4 (Cologne
– Olpe
), and to Federal Highways (Bundesstraße
n) 54, 54n, 62 and 62n.
Siegen is home to the tallest bridge of the A 45 and one of the highest in Germany, the Siegtalbrücke. Built from 1964 to 1969, it is approximately 96 m high and 1 050 m long.
The shape that the city takes has much to do with the Hüttentalstraße (HTS) (Federal Highways 54n and 62n) which serves as a municipal Autobahn – much of it elevated – that runs through the city area.
The A 4 between Wenden
and Kreuztal
has been newly built. In the heights over Kreuztal's outlying community of Krombach, it now joins with the HTS. On this 12-kilometre stretch of highway are eight valley bridges as well as ten under- and overpasses. This new part was opened on 1 December 2007.
Siegen is South Westphalia's service and administrative centre. Much of its industry is based on metalworking
.
Pedestrian precincts in Bahnhofsstraße ("Railway Station Street") and Kölner Tor ("Cologne Gate"), both downtown, have made shopping
in Siegen very convenient, as have the shopping centres City-Galerie (opened in 1998) and Sieg Carré (opened in 2006, both downtown) and Siegerlandzentrum (Siegen-Weidenau), and the Marburger Straße shopping street (downtown). In 2005, an IKEA
store and a Peek & Cloppenburg location opened.
), seat of the Siegen-Wittgenstein district administration and location of a Chamber of Industry and Trade (Industrie- und Handelskammer, or IHK, one of 81 such regional institutions in Germany) for the districts of Siegen-Wittgenstein and Olpe
.
Home to the Siegen State Court, a local court and a labour court, the city is also an important court centre.
(WDR) maintains a studio where regional radio and television news for South Westphalia is produced. The daily broadcast goes out in the "South Westphalia" regional window following the programme Aktuelle Stunde (a newsmagazine show) on WDR's third channel. Moreover, WDR also runs a transmission facility for VHF radio and television (once also medium wave) at the Giersberg.
Daily newspapers in Siegen include not only the Siegener Zeitung but also local editions of the Westfälische Rundschau and the Westfalenpost. All three appear in the morning, although the first was until 2000 an afternoon paper. Furthermore, at the "Obergraben" is found the regional, Radio-NRW
-connected Radio Siegen's studio building.
temporarily relocated to Siegen, in the buildings of the Unteres Schloss, which came to an end when the Plague
broke out.
Siegen's oldest school is the Gymnasium am Löhrtor, a grammar school.
Other Schools:
, founded on 1 August 1972 as the Gesamthochschule Siegen.
As well, the Fachhochschule für Oekonomie & Management has a study centre, which is shared with the Academy of Administration and Economics.
Siegen also has various general-education and professional schools, and the Siegerlandkolleg.
For all those listed up to here, honorary citizenship, according to Enactment no. 21 to the amended German Municipal System of 1 April 1946, has been forfeited. *According to the city council of Siegen Adolf Hitler's honarary citizenship was lapsed by British military law. Caused by political discussion the city council denied Hitler's honorary citizenship posthumously on August 29, 2007.
Honorary citizens of the former town of Hüttental
or graphic artist whose life's work has been groundbreaking on the European stage. The title recalls the painter-diplomat Peter Paul Rubens, who expressed in his life's work the thought of European unity, long before it could become a political reality. Peter Paul Rubens – who was born in Siegen, grew up in Cologne and Antwerp, trained in art in Italy, was esteemed in France
and acted as a diplomat in Spain
and England
– as the main master of European Baroque painting set those artistic and European standards to which the awarding of the prize has been bound since 1957-1958.
Past prizewinners:
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...
, in the south 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 part of North Rhine-Westphalia
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...
.
It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein
Siegen-Wittgenstein
Siegen-Wittgenstein is a Kreis in the southeast of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Olpe, Hochsauerlandkreis, Waldeck-Frankenberg, Marburg-Biedenkopf, Lahn-Dill, Westerwaldkreis, Altenkirchen.-History:...
in the Arnsberg
Arnsberg (region)
Arnsberg is one of the five Regierungsbezirke of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the south-east of the country. It covers the Sauerland hills as well as the east part of the Ruhr area....
region. The university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
town (14,100 students in the 2010-2011 winter semester) is the district seat, and is ranked as a "higher centre" in the South Westphalian urban agglomeration.
In 1975, in the process of municipal reforms and amalgamations, Siegen's population exceeded the 100,000 mark.
Geography
Location
The city of Siegen lies in the basin of the upper reaches of the river Sieg. From there, lateral valleys branch off in many directions. The heights of the surrounding mountains, wherever they are not actually settled, are covered in coppiceCoppicing
Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which takes advantage of the fact that many trees make new growth from the stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, young tree stems are repeatedly cut down to near ground level...
. To the north lies the 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...
, to the northwest the Rothaargebirge
Rothaargebirge
The Rothaargebirge is a low mountain range reaching heights of up to 843.1 m in North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse, Germany....
and to the southwest the Westerwald
Westerwald
The Westerwald is a low mountain range on the right bank of the River Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhine Massif...
.
The nearest cities to Siegen, taking into account average travelling distances, are Hagen
Hagen
Hagen is the 39th-largest city in Germany, located in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the eastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne, Volme and Ennepe meet the river Ruhr...
to the north (83 km), Frankfurt am Main to the southeast (125 km), Koblenz
Koblenz
Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...
to the southwest (105 km) and Cologne
Cologne
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...
to the west (93 km).
As the crow flies the distances to these places are, however, 65 km (Hagen), 95 km (Frankfurt), 65 km (Koblenz) and 75 km (Cologne).
The city lies on the German-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...
holiday road called the Orange Route
Orange Route
The Orange Route is a holiday route, that runs from Amsterdam in the Netherlands through North and Central Germany and returns to Amsterdam. It is 2,400 kilometres long and crossess the Netherlands and nine German federal states...
, joining towns, cities and regions associated with the House of Orange.
City area
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
. The city's greatest elevation is the peak of the Pfannenberg at 499 m above sea level at southern city limits. Siegen's lowest point is 215 m above sea level at Niederschelden at southwestern city limits, which there also forms the state boundary with Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
. Roughly 60% of the city's land is wooded, making Siegen one of Germany's greenest cities.
The city area is divided into six zones, called Bezirke in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and comparable to boroughs in some cities, which themselves are further divided into various communities (Ortsteile and Stadtteile). Each "borough" has a borough board consisting of 15 voting and 15 non-voting members who are appointed by city council with regard to each party's share of the vote in the municipal elections in the borough in question. The borough boards decide on matters particular to their respective boroughs. These matters are laid down in Siegen's city charter.
Siegen's six boroughs and communities belonging to each
- District I (Geisweid): Birlenbach, Meiswinkel, Langenholdinghausen, Geisweid, Dillnhütten, Sohlbach, Buchen, Niedersetzen, Obersetzen
- District II (Weidenau):
- District III (Ost): Kaan-Marienborn, parts of Alt-Siegen (Giersberg), Bürbach, Volnsberg, Breitenbach, Feuersbach
- District IV (Mitte): Alt-Siegen (parts not belonging to borough III or V)
- District V (West): Seelbach, Trupbach and parts of Alt-Siegen (Wellersberg, Fischbacherberg, Achenbach, Rothenberg)
- District VI (Süd): Oberschelden, Gosenbach, Niederschelden, Eiserfeld, Eisern
Along with the boroughs and communities into which the city is divided, as mandated by law, there are also further subdivisions within the communities, each with its own name, but none with distinctly clear borders. They are called Quartiere, which can be rendered as "quarters" or "neighbourhoods". Examples of these include the Unterstadt, the Oberstadt, Hammerhütte, Lindenberg, Charlottental, Haardter Berg (with the university) and the Alte Dreisbach. Some neighbourhoods even straddle community boundaries, like Sieghütte, parts of which can be found in both Siegen-Mitte and Weidenau. Moreover, some neighbourhoods even overlap each other. Unlike the boroughs (Bezirke) or communities (Ortsteile and Stadtteile), the Quartiere have no statistical or administrative importance. They do, however, serve some function as to their inhabitants' identity, but more practically than that, they are also useful for finding one's way with a city map and using in bus route names and on public notices and traffic signs. Many of the Hüttentalstraße city Autobahn's exits are also named after the Quartiere that they serve.
The communities of Weidenau, Geisweid, Birlenbach, Langenholdinghausen, Buchen, Sohlbach, Dillnhütten, Niedersetzen, Obersetzen and Meiswinkel formed from 1 July 1966 to 31 December 1974 the town of Hüttental. The communities of Eiserfeld, Eisern, Gosenbach, Niederschelden and Oberschelden formed the town of Eiserfeld between those same two dates.
Neighbouring communities
The city of Siegen borders in the north on the town of KreuztalKreuztal
Kreuztal is a town in the Siegen-Wittgenstein district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Location:Kreuztal is a town in the low mountains of the northern Siegerland and lies at the western edge of the Rothaargebirge about 10 km north of Siegen....
and the community of Wenden
Wenden
Wenden is a community in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It belongs to the Olpe district in the Sauerland. It lies 10 km south of Olpe and approx. 20 km northwest of Siegen.- Location :...
, in the east on the town of Netphen
Netphen
Netphen is a town in the Siegen-Wittgenstein district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It lies on the river Sieg, roughly 7 km northeast of Siegen.-Location:...
, in the southeast on the community of Wilnsdorf
Wilnsdorf
Wilnsdorf is a municipality in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:The southern municipal limits, with the Kalteiche peak, part of the Rothaargebirge, form not only the community's highest point, at 579 m above sea level, but also the boundary...
, in the south on the community of Neunkirchen
Neunkirchen (Siegerland)
Neunkirchen is a municipality in the Siegen-Wittgenstein district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany,-Geography:Neunkirchen lies on the river Heller, about 10 km south of Siegen.-Neighbouring communities:...
, in the west on the community of Mudersbach
Mudersbach
Mudersbach is a municipality in the district of Altenkirchen, in Rhineland-Palatinate, in western Germany....
(Altenkirchen
Altenkirchen (district)
Altenkirchen is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the North Rhine-Westphalian districts Rhein-Sieg, Oberbergischer Kreis, Olpe and Siegen-Wittgenstein, and the districts of Westerwaldkreis and Neuwied....
in Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
) and in the northwest on the town of Freudenberg
Freudenberg, Westphalia
Freudenberg is a town in the Siegen-Wittgenstein district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.The town lies on the German-Dutch holiday road called the Orange Route, joining towns, cities and regions associated with the House of Orange.- Location :...
.
History
The name Siegen comes from the possibly CelticCeltic languages
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
river name Sieg. It is, however, unclear whether there is any relation between this name and the Celtic-Germanic
Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...
Sicambri (Ger. Sugambrer) people, who in pre-Christian times lived in parts of North Rhine-Westphalia. The first documentary mention of the place called Sigena dates from 1079. The city's history is markedly shaped by mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
, which locally began as far back as La Tène
La Tène culture
The La Tène culture was a European Iron Age culture named after the archaeological site of La Tène on the north side of Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland, where a rich cache of artifacts was discovered by Hansli Kopp in 1857....
times. Bearing witness to this longtime industry are the many mines that can be found within city limits.
In 1224, Siegen is mentioned as a newly built town whose ownership was shared by the Count of Nassau, Heinrich the Rich, and Engelbert II of Berg
Engelbert II of Berg
Count Engelbert II of Berg, also known as Saint Engelbert, Engelbert of Cologne, Engelbert I, Archbishop of Cologne or Engelbert I of Berg, Archbishop of Cologne was Archbishop of Cologne and a saint; he was the victim of a notorious murder by a member of his own family.-Early life:Engelbert was...
, Archbishop of Cologne after the latter transferred one half of the ownership to the former. Moreover, there is proof that the Oberes Schloss ("upper stately home") was already standing at this time. On 19 October 1303, the town was granted Soester Stadtrecht, or Soest town rights. The town remained under the two overlords' joint ownership until 1 February 1381, only then passing fully into Nassau hands.
In the 16th century, the town of Siegen bore a formidable defensive look. It was surrounded by mighty walls with 16 towers and three town gates, and was home to a great castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
. The town was stricken several times by townwide fires. Documents record such fires in 1592, and from 10 to 20 April 1695.
In 1536, in the buildings that had once housed a Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
Monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
, Heinrich the Rich built a "paedagogium", out of which later grew today's Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
at Siegen's Löhrtor (gate). Johann VII of Nassau-Siegen ("Johann the Intermediary") built in 1616 a knightly war school in the still standing old armoury on Burgstraße. He also built on the site of an old Franciscan Monastery the Unteres Schloss ("lower stately home"). His son Johann VIII ("The Younger") returned in 1612 to the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, and also wanted to use force to make the towsfolk, too, convert back to Roman Catholicism. John Maurice of Nassau, the 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...
commander in Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, unseated him, but John Maurice's leadership served in 1650-1651 to bring about a split in the Siegerland along denominational lines.
Under Wilhelm Hyacinth of Nassau-Siegen, violence broke out between the two denominational groups. When on 29 March 1707 townsman Friedrich Flender got killed, Wilhelm Hyacinth was himself unseated and furthermore driven out of the town. Wilhelm Hyacinth was the last in the line of Nassau-Siegen's Catholic rulers, dying in 1743. Already in 1734, though, the Reformed line had died out, too, with Friedrich Wilhelm's death, leading Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles VI was the penultimate Habsburg sovereign of the Habsburg Empire. He succeeded his elder brother, Joseph I, as Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia , Hungary and Croatia , Archduke of Austria, etc., in 1711...
to transfer power in the territory to the Prince of Orange and the Prince of Nassau-Diez. Under their leadership, mining, the main source of wealth, blossomed, along with agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and silviculture
Silviculture
Silviculture is the practice of controlling the establishment, growth, composition, health, and quality of forests to meet diverse needs and values. The name comes from the Latin silvi- + culture...
. When Prince William I of the Netherlands
William I of the Netherlands
William I Frederick, born Willem Frederik Prins van Oranje-Nassau , was a Prince of Orange and the first King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg....
refused to join the Confederation of the Rhine
Confederation of the Rhine
The Confederation of the Rhine was a confederation of client states of the First French Empire. It was formed initially from 16 German states by Napoleon after he defeated Austria's Francis II and Russia's Alexander I in the Battle of Austerlitz. The Treaty of Pressburg, in effect, led to the...
, founded by Napoleon, he found himself unseated by the French
France
The 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...
leader and the Siegerland passed to the Grand Duchy of Berg
Berg (state)
Berg was a state – originally a county, later a duchy – in the Rhineland of Germany. Its capital was Düsseldorf. It existed from the early 12th to the 19th centuries.-Ascent:...
. After Napoleon's downfall in 1813, however, William I regained his former German inheritances, but in 1815 he ceded them to the Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
for the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
. Siegen was assigned to the Siegen district, first in the Koblenz region
Koblenz (region)
Koblenz was one of the three Regierungsbezirke of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, located in the north-east of the state.The region was created in 1815 as part of the Prussian Rhineland, becoming part of the new state of Rhineland-Palatinate in 1946....
, and as of 1817 in the Arnsberg region
Arnsberg (region)
Arnsberg is one of the five Regierungsbezirke of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the south-east of the country. It covers the Sauerland hills as well as the east part of the Ruhr area....
within the Prussian Province of Westphalia
Province of Westphalia
The Province of Westphalia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946.-History:Napoleon Bonaparte founded the Kingdom of Westphalia, which was a client state of the First French Empire from 1807 to 1813...
.
Under Prussian rule, Siegen developed into the South Westphalian centre that it is today. On 1 March 1923, Siegen was set apart from the district bearing its name, and became a district-free town, while still keeping its function as seat of the district of which it was no longer part, and which was itself merged with Wittgenstein district under district reform in 1975. Siegen also lost its district-free status at this time, becoming part of the new Siegen-Wittgenstein district, the name that the district has borne since 1984.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Siegen was repeatedly bombed by the Allies
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
owing to a crucial railroad that crossed through the town. On 1 April 1945, the US 8th Infantry Division began the Allied ground assault against Siegen and the dominating military-significant high ground north of the river. The battle against determined German forces at Siegen continued through 2 April 1945, until organized resistance was finally overwhelmed by the division on 3 April 1945.
Religion
Archbishopric of Mainz
The Archbishopric of Mainz or Electorate of Mainz was an influential ecclesiastic and secular prince-bishopric in the Holy Roman Empire between 780–82 and 1802. In the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, the Archbishop of Mainz was the primas Germaniae, the substitute of the Pope north of the Alps...
, or more precisely to its deaconry of Arfeld. There was a White Nun convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
in town that folded in the 15th century. Furthermore, there was a Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
Monastery that was dissolved in 1533 after the Nassau overlords had introduced the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
in 1530. After that, the town was first Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
, but in 1550, the Principality of Nassau converted to the Reformed Church. Subsequently, Siegen was a predominantly Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
town, but not so strongly that the Counterreformation could not gain ground in 1623, with one fifth of the townsfolk and those living in the surrounding area becoming Catholic once again. As of 1626, there was once more a monastery in town, this time a Jesuit
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
one. After passing to Prussia in 1815, the union between Lutheran and Reformed churches was introduced in Siegen, as it was throughout Prussia, but the town's parishes kept their Reformed imprint. As part of the Westphalian Provincial Church (now the Church of Westphalia), Siegen became the seat of a Superintendency. A similar entity still exists in Siegen, known as the Kirchenkreis, or church district, to which all the city's parishes nowadays belong, unless they are Free Church parishes. This church district encompasses the whole of South Westphalia all the way to Olpe
Olpe (district)
Olpe is a Kreis in the south-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Märkischer Kreis, Hochsauerland, Siegen-Wittgenstein, Altenkirchen, Oberbergischer Kreis.- History :...
.
The town's Catholics, even after the Reformation, still belonged to the Archbishopric of Mainz
Archbishopric of Mainz
The Archbishopric of Mainz or Electorate of Mainz was an influential ecclesiastic and secular prince-bishopric in the Holy Roman Empire between 780–82 and 1802. In the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, the Archbishop of Mainz was the primas Germaniae, the substitute of the Pope north of the Alps...
. With the restructuring of the Catholic Church early in the 19th century, Siegen was assigned to the Archbishopric of Paderborn and became the seat of a district synod
Synod
A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...
, today a deaconry, to which all the district's Catholic parishes belong. Paderborn was raised to Archbishopric in 1929.
Besides the Roman Catholic Church, Siegen also has a Greek Orthodox parish and a Romanian Orthodox parish.
Moreover, there are various Free Church
Free Church
The proper noun Free Church may refer to:Europe-wide:* Evangelical Lutheran Free Churchin Germany:* Evangelical Lutheran Free Church * Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Churchin Iceland:*Reykjavík Free Churchin Norway:...
es established in Siegen, among them several Evangelical Free Church parishes (Baptists), an Evangelical-Methodist Church, an Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church
Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church
The 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...
(SELK), a Seventh-day Adventist
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
parish, several Free Evangelical parishes (FeG), the Achenbach Christian Community, the Christian Assembly, Calvary Chapel
Calvary Chapel
Calvary Chapel is an evangelical association of Christian churches with over one thousand congregations worldwide. Calvary Chapel also maintains a number of radio stations around the world and operates many local Calvary Chapel Bible College programs. It presents itself as a "fellowship of...
and the Siegen-Meiswinkel Mission Community.
Further religious communities in Siegen are The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the New Apostolic Church
New Apostolic Church
The New Apostolic Church is a chiliastic church, converted to Protestantism as a free church from the Catholic Apostolic Church. The church has existed since 1879 in Germany and since 1897 in the Netherlands...
, the Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
, an Original Christianity community and Bahá'í
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
. Moreover, owing to a great number of Turkish and Arab migrants in Siegen, the Muslim community is also very apparent there and there are several mosques in Siegen regulated by Turkish, Arab and Albanian communities. There are said to be more than 15,000 Muslims out of Siegen's total population.
Municipal reform
The following communities and rural areas have been amalgamated with Siegen:
- 1902 and 1912: parts of Buschgotthardtshütten
- 1934: parts of Achenbach
- 1937: parts of Achenbach and Buschgotthardtshütten
- 1966: Trupbach, Seelbach, Breitenbach, Bürbach, Kaan-Marienborn and Volnsberg
- 1969: Feuersbach
- 1975: towns of Hüttental and Eiserfeld
Population development
On 1 January 1975, Siegen's population surpassed 100,000 through the amalgamation of Hüttental (38,867 inhabitants in 1974) and Eiserfeld (22,354 inhabitants in 1974), making it a city. With 117,224 inhabitants it also at the same time reached its all-time highest population. At the end of June 2005, according to the North Rhine-Westphalia State Office for Data Processing and Statistics (Landesamt für Datenverarbeitung und Statistik Nordrhein-Westfalen), 105,328 people made Siegen their main abode. Since 1975, the population has fallen by roughly 10% (12,000).
The following chart shows population figures for Siegen's municipal area, however big it was at each given time. Up to 1833, most figures are estimates, and thereafter census figures (¹) or official estimates by the statistical office of the time or the town/city administration itself. The given figures indicate from 1843 the "population present in the town" (Ortsanwesende Bevölkerung), from 1925 the "dwelling population" (Wohnbevölkerung), and since 1987 the "Population in the place of main residence" (Bevölkerung am Ort der Hauptwohnung). Before 1843, population figures come from irregular surveying procedures.
| class="wikitable"> | Year | Inhabitants |
|---|---|
| 1455 | 2,500 |
| 1807 | 3,743 |
| 1 December 1840 ¹ | 6,074 |
| 3 December 1843 ¹ | 6,233 |
| 3 December 1855 ¹ | 7,035 |
| 3 December 1867 ¹ | 10,100 |
| 1 December 1871 ¹ | 11,067 |
| 1 December 1875 ¹ | 12,901 |
| 1 December 1880 ¹ | 15,100 |
| 1 December 1885 ¹ | 16,676 |
| 1 December 1890 ¹ | 18,242 |
| 2 December 1895 ¹ | 19,303 |
¹ Census figure
City council
The city council's 62 seats are apportioned thus, in accordance with municipal elections held on 26 September 2004:| CDU Christian Democratic Union (Germany) The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum... |
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany... |
Greens Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir... |
FDP Free Democratic Party (Germany) The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government... |
UWG | STATT | total | |
| 2004 | 25 | 18 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 62 |
Note: UWG is a citizens' coalition. STATT is a small party that claims to be "non-ideological". Its name is German for "instead".
None of the parties represented on city council holds a majority, and no coalition
Coalition
A coalition is a pact or treaty among individuals or groups, during which they cooperate in joint action, each in their own self-interest, joining forces together for a common cause. This alliance may be temporary or a matter of convenience. A coalition thus differs from a more formal covenant...
has been struck. However, the CDU and the FDP have a fixed, contractual coöperation agreement and at least have at their disposal a joint majority voice on some committees. In the council chamber, on the other hand, their 30 seats are not an absolute majority and they do not always prevail.
Mayors
At the city's helm since the 13th century, there have been several mayors of whom evidence survives. In 1304 and 1305, a council ("consules") was mentioned for the first time. As early as 1224, however, documents mention Burgmänner ("Castle Men") as well as three Bürgermeister ("Mayors") who were changed yearly. As of 1500, only two mayors were chosen every year. In the 18th century, the guildGuild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
s were achieving ever greater influence in the town. Thereafter the "ruling" or "office-holding" old shoemaking
Shoemaking
Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand. Traditional handicraft shoemaking has now been largely superseded in volume of shoes produced by industrial mass production of footwear, but not necessarily in quality, attention to detail, or...
master represented the "common townsfolk" on the council. The mediaeval
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...
town charter was kept right up until 1809, and parts of it even held until 1815, but that year there was a self-endorsing council with 12 members, over which presided the mayor. As of 1824, the suburbs got their own chief administrator who was subordinate to the mayor of Siegen. In 1836, the Prussian municipal system was introduced. After the town was separated from Siegen district in 1923, the mayor was given the title Oberbürgermeister (roughly equivalent to Lord Mayor). The mayor who came to office in 1919 kept his position right through the time of the Third Reich, whereas some mayors in other German 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...
n towns, whose political views were at odds with the Nazis', were removed forcibly.
After the Second World War, the military government of the British Zone of Occupation
Allied Occupation Zones in Germany
The Allied powers who defeated Nazi Germany in World War II divided the country west of the Oder-Neisse line into four occupation zones for administrative purposes during 1945–49. In the closing weeks of fighting in Europe, US forces had pushed beyond the previously agreed boundaries for the...
installed a new mayor, and in 1946 it introduced a new town charter based on a British model, leading to a "Council of the town" elected by the people, whose members were called Stadtverordnete (town councillors). In the beginning, the council chose one from its midst as the mayor as the town's head and representative, which was an honorary function. Furthermore, as of 1946, the council also began choosing a fulltime Oberstadtdirektor, or Higher Town Director, to lead the town's administration.
After Siegen was reunited with the district of the same name in 1975, these two officials bore the titles Bürgermeister and Stadtdirektor respectively. In 1999, this two-headed arrangement was forsaken in favour of a single city leader, with the title Bürgermeister, who serves as chairman or chairwoman of city council, leader of city administration and city representative. He or she is directly elected nowadays.
Mayors (Bürgermeister and Oberbürgermeister) since 1919
- 1919–1945: Alfred Fißmer, Oberbürgermeister
- 1945: Fritz Fries, Oberbürgermeister
- 1945–1946: Otto Schwarz, Oberbürgermeister
- 1946–1948: Ernst Weißelberg, Oberbürgermeister
- 1948–1956: Ernst Bach, Oberbürgermeister
- 1956–1961: Erich Pachnicke, Oberbürgermeister
- 1961–1966: Karl Eckmann, Oberbürgermeister
- 1966–1975: Karl Althaus, Oberbürgermeister
- 1975–1979: Friedemann Keßler, Bürgermeister
- 1979–1990: Hans Reinhardt, Bürgermeister
- 1990–1994: Hilde Fiedler, Bürgermeisterin
- 1994–1999: Karl Wilhelm Kirchhöfer, Bürgermeister
- 1999–2007: Ulf Stötzel (CDU), Bürgermeister
- 2007–today: Steffen Mues (CDU), Bürgermeister
Stadtdirektoren and Oberstadtdirektoren 1946 - 1999
- 1946–1954: Max Baumann, Oberstadtdirektor
- 1954–1975: Kurt Seibt, Oberstadtdirektor
- 1975–1985: Hans Mohn, Stadtdirektor
- 1985–1989: Dr. Volker Oerter, Stadtdirektor
- 1989–1995: Dr. Otto-Werner Rappold, Stadtdirektor (left office early with effect on 2 December 1995 by his own wish)
- 1995–1999: Ulrich Mock, Stadtdirektor (at first as Dr. Rappold's General AgentGeneral AgentA General Agent is an agent, i.e., representative of another, who has a mandate of general nature.-Colonial use:In the Niger Rivers District the only Senior Agent, who administered the region for the National African Company Limited , was promoted in 1882 to become the first...
until 31 January 1997, then appointed fulltime Stadtdirektor)
Coat of arms
Siegen's civic coat of armsCoat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
might be described thus: Argent a town wall embattled gules with an open gateway argent, therein in an inescutcheon azure a lion rampant Or armed and langued gules, issuant from the wall a bishop in robe and mitre azure (trimmed in argent) holding in his hand dexter a crozier argent with crook Or sinister, in his hand sinister, upraised, an open book argent with pages edged gules.
The bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
in the city's arms is the Bishop of Cologne
Cologne
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...
. The wall symbolizes the city itself, and the inescutcheon in the gateway shows the Lion of Nassau in blue and gold (or yellow), which are Nassau's colours. The arms are based on the oldest known town seal, from 1248. The inescutcheon once also had gold billets (upright rectangles) around the lion, but these do not appear in what became the town's (and later city's) coat of arms in 1875.http://www.ngw.nl/int/dld/s/siegen.htm
Partnerships
Siegen maintains partnership links with the following places: Berlin-SpandauSpandau
Spandau is the fifth of the twelve boroughs of Berlin. It is the fourth largest and westernmost borough, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and along the western bank of the Havel, but the least populated.-Overview:...
, since 1952 Rijnsburg
Rijnsburg
Rijnsburg is a community in the eastern part of the city Katwijk, in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The name means Rhines Burg in Dutch.-History:...
, 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...
, since 1963, continuation of partnership with amalgamated town of Katwijk
Katwijk
Katwijk is a coastal municipality and town in the province of South Holland in the western Netherlands. It has a population of 61,292.-Location:...
as of 2006 Morley
Morley, West Yorkshire
Morley is a market town and civil parish within the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, in West Yorkshire, England. It lies approximately south-west of Leeds city centre. Together with Drighlington, Gildersome, Churwell, Tingley and East/West Ardsley, the town had a population of 47,579 in...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The 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...
, since 1966 continuation of partnership with amalgamated City of Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
as of 1974 Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The 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...
, since 1974 Ypres
Ypres
Ypres is a Belgian municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres and the villages of Boezinge, Brielen, Dikkebus, Elverdinge, Hollebeke, Sint-Jan, Vlamertinge, Voormezele, Zillebeke, and Zuidschote...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , 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...
, since 1967 Zakopane
Zakopane
Zakopane , is a town in southern Poland. It lies in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998 it was in of Nowy Sącz Province, but since 1999 it has been in Lesser Poland Province. It had a population of about 28,000 as of 2004. Zakopane is a...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , 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...
, since 1989 Plauen
Plauen
Plauen is a town in the Free State of Saxony, east-central Germany.It is the capital of the Vogtlandkreis. The town is situated near the border of Bavaria and the Czech Republic.Plauen's slogan is Plauen - echt Spitze.-History:...
, Saxony
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....
, since 1990
Theatre
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
that underwent remodelling and opened in mid 2007), Siegen has one of the current decade's most important newly built theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
s. A controlling interest in this venture is held by TheaterSiegen intendant Magnus Reitschuster.
Since 1992, the media and cultural house Lÿz has been a venue for cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
, music and theatre in Siegen. On the two stages, roughly 150 events appear every season.
Bigger events take place at the Bühne der Stadt ("City's Stage", with about 820 seats), the Siegerlandhalle (1 800 m², 2,300 seats) or the Bismarckhalle. As well, there are regular open-air concerts and productions in the inner yard at Unteres Schloss.
Orchestras and choirs
- Philharmonie Südwestfalen
- Evangelische Kantorei Siegen
- Bach-Chor Siegen
- Sängerkreis Siegerland
Museum for Modern Art
Worth a visit are the Museum for Modern Art, or Museum für Gegenwartskunst (Tuesday to Sunday 11:00-18:00, Thursday 11:00-20:00, closed Mondays) and the Haus Seel - City Gallery (permanent changing exhibitions Tuesday to Friday 14:00-18:00, Saturday and Sunday 10:00-13:00 and 14:00-20:00, closed Mondays)The Haus Oranienstraße , built at 1900 in the Italian country house style, is attached to the Siegerlandmuseum since 1993 as an exhibit forum. Here you will find a varied program of temporary exhibitions of all kinds, from archaeological excavations to contemporary avant-garde art. Poet and author readings are also part of the program, such as classic concerts.(Tuesday to Sunday 10:00-18:00, closed on Mondays)
Beatles-Museum
In Geisweid is found the Beatles-Museum, run by Harold Krämer. According to the 2000 Guinness Book of Records, the 27 m² museum is the smallest public museum in the world devoted to the four LiverpudlianLiverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
musicians. The collection consists of more than 17,000 sound storage media, souvenirs, film posters, autograph
Autograph
An autograph is a document transcribed entirely in the handwriting of its author, as opposed to a typeset document or one written by an amanuensis or a copyist; the meaning overlaps with that of the word holograph.Autograph also refers to a person's artistic signature...
s and quite a few other things.
Buildings
Although the town was about 80% destroyed in the Second World War, Siegen has kept a number of buildings worth seeing, such as the two stately homes, the Oberes Schloss and the Unteres Schloss.Oberes Schloss
The castle on the Siegberg was first mentioned in a document in 1259 and was the family seat of the House of Nassau. Since 1905, the Siegerlandmuseum has been here. Alongside regional exhibits – among them an artificial demonstration mine – are many paintings. The centrepiece of this collection is made up of works by the man who is arguably the best known son of the city, Peter Paul Rubens. There is also quite a comprehensive collection of portraits of members of the Houses of Nassau and Orange. The top floor is devoted to 19th-century home décor. A kitchen from the Siegerland, a bedroom and many pieces of furniture from the BiedermeierBiedermeier
In Central Europe, the Biedermeier era refers to the middle-class sensibilities of the historical period between 1815, the year of the Congress of Vienna at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and 1848, the year of the European revolutions...
era give one an impression of life in the region in bygone days.
Unteres Schloss
Late in the 17th century, the Lower Stately Home came into being in its current form, somewhat like an open rectangle. The EvangelicalEvangelical Church in Germany
The Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...
line of the House of Nassau-Siegen resided here. Also belonging to the Schloss is the "Dicker Turm", or "Fat Tower" with a carillon
Carillon
A carillon is a musical instrument that is typically housed in a free-standing bell tower, or the belfry of a church or other municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze, cup-shaped bells, which are played serially to play a melody, or sounded together to play a chord...
. In 1959, the then town of Siegen built a memorial for victims of war and tyranny. Inside the Schloss is also found the crypt of the Evangelical branch of the Nassau princely house.
Today, the Schloss serves as a state authority building in which the North Rhine-Westphalia Building and Property Establishment, the State Environment Office, the Office for Occupational Health and Safety and the Attendorn Correctional Facility (Siegen Branch Facility) are all housed. By the city's plans, a university is supposed to move into the Unteres Schloss within the next few years, but at this time, the plan is failing to find any financial backing.
Churches
Two churches in downtown Siegen are to be brought to the visitor's attention: The Martinikirche dating from the 11th century and the Nikolaikirche at the marketplace with its unusual eight-sided shape and its golden Krönchen ("coronet") – the city's landmark – on the church tower, which is a prominent feature of Siegen's skyline (Siegen is sometimes called Krönchenstadt for this unusual feature). Another church is the Marienkirche, built by the Jesuits between 1702 and 1729. Also worth seeing are Siegen's Old Town and several museums in the city core.Gasometer
Gasometer
A gas holder is a large container where natural gas or town gas is stored near atmospheric pressure at ambient temperatures. The volume of the container follows the quantity of stored gas, with pressure coming from the weight of a movable cap...
, which is protected by law as a monument. It is one of the oldest spherical gasholders still preserved. Another peculiarity is its riveted casing. Only three other such gasholders are known to exist worldwide (all in Germany, in Schwerte
Schwerte
Schwerte is a town in the district of Unna, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:Schwerte is situated in the Ruhr valley, at the south-east border of the Ruhr Area...
, Offenburg
Offenburg
Offenburg is a city located in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With about 60,000 inhabitants, it is the largest city and the capital of the Ortenaukreis.Offenburg also houses University of Applied Sciences Offenburg...
and Bielefeld
Bielefeld
Bielefeld is an independent city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 323,000, it is also the most populous city in the Regierungsbezirk Detmold...
). The holder had to be moved a few metres owing to construction on the municipal Autobahn, the Hüttentalstraße, and in the residential area of Ziegenberg, and it now forms the symbolic sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
as part of a scale model of the planet
Planet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
s above the gasholder.
Things to see nearby
Worthy of recommendation for tourists are hiking tours and outings in Siegen's scenically charming environs. Also worth a visit are a few small towns around Siegen, such as HilchenbachHilchenbach
Hilchenbach is a town in the Siegen-Wittgenstein Kreis of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Location: The map shows Hilchenbach's location in Siegen-Wittgenstein district. It is about 15 km northeast of Siegen...
or Freudenberg
Freudenberg, Westphalia
Freudenberg is a town in the Siegen-Wittgenstein district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.The town lies on the German-Dutch holiday road called the Orange Route, joining towns, cities and regions associated with the House of Orange.- Location :...
. Furthermore, there are a few well known breweries
Brewery
A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....
in the area that can be visited, for instance Krombacher
Krombacher
Krombacher Brauerei is one of the largest privately owned breweries in Germany and ranks number 2 among Germany's best selling breweries.- History :...
and Eichener Brauerei in Kreuztal, along with other smaller breweries.
Cemeteries
Within Siegen's city limits are 36 municipally run cemeteriesCemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
. Ten of them are already closed and are available for burials only because of existing laws. The cemeteries have a total area of 730 000 m² with roughly 65,000 graves. Characteristic of regional cemeteries are hillside graves and a green, parklike layout that even affords wildlife a chance at reoccupying the land.
Cemeteries (Friedhöfe) within city limits
- Lindenbergfriedhof
- Hermelsbacher Friedhof
- Stockfriedhof
- Geisweider Friedhof
- Haardter Friedhof
- Gilbergfriedhof
- Friedhof Kaan-Marienborn
- Neuer Friedhof Niederschelden
Sport
The city sport league includes 160 sport clubs in which roughly 37,000 members are active. National importance was achieved in 2005 by the Sportfreunde SiegenSportfreunde Siegen
Sportfreunde Siegen is a German association football club based in Siegen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club was founded in 1899 as the football department of the gymnastics club Turn Verein Jahn von 1879 Siegen...
men's football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
team at Leimbachstadion
Leimbachstadion
Leimbachstadion is a multi-use stadium in Siegen, Germany. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Sportfreunde Siegen. The stadium is able to hold about 18,500 people....
when they rose from the Regionalliga Süd
Regionalliga (football)
The Fußball-Regionalliga is the fourth tier of football in the German football league system. Until 1974, it was the second tier of the league system before being disbanded. The Regionalliga was then re-introduced as the third tier of the system in 1994...
up to the 2nd Bundesliga, although the next year they dropped back down again. As six-time German Champions, the TSV Siegen women's football team was very successful in the 1990s.
Regular events
- Early in the year: SILA (Siegerlandausstellung – Siegerland Exhibition), even-numbered years only
- March to November, first Saturday in each month: Flea marketFlea marketA flea market or swap meet is a type of bazaar where inexpensive or secondhand goods are sold or bartered. It may be indoors, such as in a warehouse or school gymnasium; or it may be outdoors, such as in a field or under a tent...
in Siegen-Geisweid (since 1970), no new goods - June to August: "Mittwochs in" different bands every Wednesday in Siegen-Weidenau
- June: Johannimarkt, a fairFairA fair or fayre is a gathering of people to display or trade produce or other goods, to parade or display animals and often to enjoy associated carnival or funfair entertainment. It is normally of the essence of a fair that it is temporary; some last only an afternoon while others may ten weeks. ...
held for some 400 years - June/July: Siegener Sommerfestival, plays, cabaret, theatre, music and cinema since about 1990. (In 2006, instead of the traditional summer festival, a World Cup festival was held)
- July: Stadtfest (City Festival), even-numbered years only
- July: Rubensfest, odd-numbered years only
- August: Siegen Open-Air Cinema
- August: Christopher Street DayChristopher Street DayChristopher Street Day is an annual European LGBT celebration and demonstration held in various cities across Europe for the rights of LGBT people, and against discrimination and exclusion. Only Germany and Switzerland use the term CSD, in other countries, the same kind of event is called Gay...
(CSD), since 2000 - August: Siegtal-Pur All streets only opened for bikes (the HTS (local Motorway) too)
- Summer: Street Festival at the Corn Market
- October: 2nd Sunday: Bürgerfest Geisweid
- November: Geisweider Adventsmarkt, since about 1985
- December: ChristmasChristmasChristmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
market, since about 1980
Culinary specialities
- Riewekooche (Reibekuchen – a bread made with grated potatoes Potato pancake)
- Siegerländer Krüstchen (Breaded boneless pork chop on toast and egg sunny side up on top)
- Schanzenbrot (sourdoughSourdoughSourdough is a dough containing a Lactobacillus culture, usually in symbiotic combination with yeasts. It is one of two principal means of biological leavening in bread baking, along with the use of cultivated forms of yeast . It is of particular importance in baking rye-based breads, where yeast...
rye breadRye breadRye bread is a type of bread made with various percentages of flour from rye grain. It can be light or dark in color, depending on the type of flour used and the addition of coloring agents, and is typically denser than bread made from wheat flour...
) - Krebelcher or Krebbelchen
- Groffbroat
- Siegerländer Debbekooche
- Siegerländer Bäckel
- Duffelnsobbe (potato soupSoupSoup is a generally warm food that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables with stock, juice, water, or another liquid. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling solid ingredients in liquids in a pot until the flavors are extracted, forming a broth.Traditionally,...
) - Grenge (cracknel)
- Grinnchesbroare (rabbitRabbitRabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
roast) - Kiernmelchsoabbe (buttermilkButtermilkButtermilk refers to a number of dairy drinks. Originally, buttermilk was the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cream. It also refers to a range of fermented milk drinks, common in warm climates where unrefrigerated fresh milk otherwise sours quickly...
soup) - Suerambe (sorrelSorrelCommon sorrel or garden sorrel , often simply called sorrel, is a perennial herb that is cultivated as a garden herb or leaf vegetable...
) - Siegerländer Hirtentopf
- Aejjerkaes (egg cheese)
- Schampe (beef paunch in sauce)
Tales and legends in Siegen
The Dilldappe is an old mythical creature from the Siegerland. It lives mainly in the Siegerland Hauberg (coöperatively managed woodlots). Early in the 1980s, the writer and cartoonist Matthias Kringe first published a calendar about the creature, written in Siegerländer Platt, the local dialect of German.Air transport
In the south of the district in the community of BurbachBurbach
Burbach is a name meaning "farmer's brook" . It can refer to:Localities in Germany* Burbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, municipality in Siegen-Wittgenstein district...
lies the Siegerland Airport
Siegerland Airport
Siegerland Airport is an airport in Burbach near Siegen, Germany, in the Siegerland region. The airport is largely used for general aviation and parachuting, though there is also a small number of chartered passenger flights.-External links:*...
through which Siegen is connected to many other airports in 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...
.
Bicycle transport
The city of Siegen lies on European long-distance path E1European long-distance paths
The European long-distance paths are a network of long-distance footpaths that traverse Europe. While most long-distance footpaths in Europe are located in just one country or region, each of these numbered European long-distance paths passes through many different countries.The European...
running from the middle of Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
to Umbria
Umbria
Umbria is a region of modern central Italy. It is one of the smallest Italian regions and the only peninsular region that is landlocked.Its capital is Perugia.Assisi and Norcia are historical towns associated with St. Francis of Assisi, and St...
in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. There is, however, no organized cycling
Cycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
trail network in Siegen. Riding in bus lanes is sporadically allowed. Bicycle transport is generally poorly developed in Siegen. Owing to dual carriageway
Dual carriageway
A dual carriageway is a class of highway with two carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation...
s within the city and nearby, as well as transport planning that rather favours cars, bicycle transport has been somewhat thwarted. Together with the partly hilly topography, there is therefore little in the way of bicycle transport in Siegen.
Rail transport
Siegen station
Siegen station is the main station of the town of Siegen, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is in close to the modern centre of Siegen, which includes the bus station and the Sieg Carré and City Galerie shopping centres.-History :...
lies at the junction of the following railway lines:
- The two-track electrifiedRailway electrification systemA railway electrification system supplies electrical energy to railway locomotives and multiple units as well as trams so that they can operate without having an on-board prime mover. There are several different electrification systems in use throughout the world...
Ruhr–Sieg line (Ruhr-Sieg-Strecke) is used for regional services, usually hourly, of the Ruhr-Sieg-Express (RE 16) and the Ruhr-Sieg-Bahn (RB 91). - The Rothaar RailwayRothaar RailwayThe Rothaar Railway is a 48 km long German branch line running from Kreuztal on the Ruhr–Sieg line to Bad Berleburg via Erndtebrück with a through connexion to Siegen...
(Rothaarbahn) is served, usually hourly by Rothaar-Bahn (RB 93) services, connecting in ErndtebrückErndtebrückErndtebrück is a municipality in the Siegen-Wittgenstein district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Location:Erndtebrück situated on the river Eder in the Rothaargebirge, approx...
to Obere Lahntal-Bahn (RB 94/RMV Line 43) services, usually two-hourly, on the Upper Lahn Valley Railway (Obere Lahntal-Bahn). - The two-track electrified Dill Railway (Dill-Strecke) is served, usually two-hourly, by the Rhein-Sieg-Express (RE 9) and the Main-Sieg-Express (RE 99) and hourly by the Sieg-Dill-Bahn (RB 95) (only to and from DillenburgDillenburgDillenburg is a town in Hesse's Gießen region in Germany. The town was formerly the seat of the old Dillkreis district, which is now part of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis....
). - The mostly two-track electrified Sieg line (Siegstrecke) is served, usually hourly, by the Rhein-Sieg-Express (RE 9) and Sieg-Dill-Bahn (RB 95) services (only to and from Au).
Bus transport
On 18 March 1895, the Netphener Omnibusgesellschaft opened the world's first busBus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
line using a petrol-powered omnibus, running a service from its base in Netphen
Netphen
Netphen is a town in the Siegen-Wittgenstein district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It lies on the river Sieg, roughly 7 km northeast of Siegen.-Location:...
to Siegen and Deuz. Today, local road transport offers many regional, express and local buses, along with a night bus service connecting Siegen with its outlying communities and neighbouring towns. They are run by the South Westphalia Transport Services (Verkehrsbetriebe Westfalen-Süd; VWS) whose headquarters are in Siegen.
For the whole of local public transport, the tariff of the South Westphalia Transport Community (Verkehrsgemeinschaft Westfalen-Süd; VGWS) applies, regardless of the North Rhine-Westphalia tariff.
Roads
With regard to long-distance roads, the city of Siegen is connected to Autobahnen A 45Bundesautobahn 45
is an autobahn in Germany, connecting Dortmund in the west with Aschaffenburg in the southwest. It is colloquially known by its byname Sauerlandlinie, which derives from the Sauerland, the landscape which said autobahn is running through between the cities of Hagen and Siegen. Many people think of...
(Dortmund
Dortmund
Dortmund is a city in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 585,045 makes it the 7th largest city in Germany and the 34th largest in the European Union....
– Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg is a city in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not considered part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is the administrative seat.Aschaffenburg is known as the Tor zum Spessart or "gate to the Spessart"...
) and A 4 (Cologne
Cologne
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...
– Olpe
Olpe, Germany
Olpe is situated in the foothills of the Ebbegebirge in North Rhine-Westphalia, roughly 60 km east of Cologne and 20 km northwest of Siegen. It is part of the Regierungsbezirk of Arnsberg and is the seat of the district of Olpe.- Location :...
), and to Federal Highways (Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
n) 54, 54n, 62 and 62n.
Siegen is home to the tallest bridge of the A 45 and one of the highest in Germany, the Siegtalbrücke. Built from 1964 to 1969, it is approximately 96 m high and 1 050 m long.
The A 4 between Wenden
Wenden
Wenden is a community in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It belongs to the Olpe district in the Sauerland. It lies 10 km south of Olpe and approx. 20 km northwest of Siegen.- Location :...
and Kreuztal
Kreuztal
Kreuztal is a town in the Siegen-Wittgenstein district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Location:Kreuztal is a town in the low mountains of the northern Siegerland and lies at the western edge of the Rothaargebirge about 10 km north of Siegen....
has been newly built. In the heights over Kreuztal's outlying community of Krombach, it now joins with the HTS. On this 12-kilometre stretch of highway are eight valley bridges as well as ten under- and overpasses. This new part was opened on 1 December 2007.
Economy
Metalworking
Metalworking is the process of working with metals to create individual parts, assemblies, or large scale structures. The term covers a wide range of work from large ships and bridges to precise engine parts and delicate jewelry. It therefore includes a correspondingly wide range of skills,...
.
Pedestrian precincts in Bahnhofsstraße ("Railway Station Street") and Kölner Tor ("Cologne Gate"), both downtown, have made shopping
Shopping
Shopping is the examining of goods or services from retailers with the intent to purchase at that time. Shopping is an activity of selection and/or purchase. In some contexts it is considered a leisure activity as well as an economic one....
in Siegen very convenient, as have the shopping centres City-Galerie (opened in 1998) and Sieg Carré (opened in 2006, both downtown) and Siegerlandzentrum (Siegen-Weidenau), and the Marburger Straße shopping street (downtown). In 2005, an IKEA
IKEA
IKEA is a privately held, international home products company that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture such as beds and desks, appliances and home accessories. The company is the world's largest furniture retailer...
store and a Peek & Cloppenburg location opened.
Public institutions
Siegen is home to a Kreiswehrersatzamt ("District Reserve Office", whose main job is to recruit personnel for the BundeswehrBundeswehr
The Bundeswehr consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities...
), seat of the Siegen-Wittgenstein district administration and location of a Chamber of Industry and Trade (Industrie- und Handelskammer, or IHK, one of 81 such regional institutions in Germany) for the districts of Siegen-Wittgenstein and Olpe
Olpe (district)
Olpe is a Kreis in the south-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Märkischer Kreis, Hochsauerland, Siegen-Wittgenstein, Altenkirchen, Oberbergischer Kreis.- History :...
.
Home to the Siegen State Court, a local court and a labour court, the city is also an important court centre.
Media
In Siegen, the Westdeutscher RundfunkWestdeutscher Rundfunk
Westdeutscher Rundfunk is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the consortium of German public-broadcasting institutions, ARD...
(WDR) maintains a studio where regional radio and television news for South Westphalia is produced. The daily broadcast goes out in the "South Westphalia" regional window following the programme Aktuelle Stunde (a newsmagazine show) on WDR's third channel. Moreover, WDR also runs a transmission facility for VHF radio and television (once also medium wave) at the Giersberg.
Daily newspapers in Siegen include not only the Siegener Zeitung but also local editions of the Westfälische Rundschau and the Westfalenpost. All three appear in the morning, although the first was until 2000 an afternoon paper. Furthermore, at the "Obergraben" is found the regional, Radio-NRW
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...
-connected Radio Siegen's studio building.
Educational institutions
In the early decades of the 17th century, the Herborn AcademyHerborn Academy
The Herborn Academy was a German institution of higher learning very similar to a university in Herborn, which existed from 1584 to 1817...
temporarily relocated to Siegen, in the buildings of the Unteres Schloss, which came to an end when the Plague
Bubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
broke out.
Siegen's oldest school is the Gymnasium am Löhrtor, a grammar school.
Other Schools:
Grammar Schools
- Gymnasium am Löhrtor (GAL)
- Fürst-Johann-Moritz-Gymnasium (FJM)
- Peter-Paul-Rubens-Gymnasium, formerly known as Ganztagsgymnasium am Giersberg (GAG)
- Evangelisches Gymnasium (EV)
- Gymnasium auf der Morgenröthe
Higher education
Siegen is headquarter to the University of SiegenUniversity of Siegen
The University of Siegen in Siegen, North Rhine-Westphalia, was founded in 1972. 14,100 students were enrolled at the university as of October 2010.-Faculties:University of Siegen offers in total 126 degree programmes across four faculties:...
, founded on 1 August 1972 as the Gesamthochschule Siegen.
As well, the Fachhochschule für Oekonomie & Management has a study centre, which is shared with the Academy of Administration and Economics.
Siegen also has various general-education and professional schools, and the Siegerlandkolleg.
Siegen foundations (Stiftungen)
- Adolf-Saenger-Stiftung
- August von Platen Stiftung Siegen
- Diakonie-Stiftung Siegerland
- Stiftung der Sparkasse Siegen für Kunst und Kultur
- Wilhelm Münker-Stiftung
Honorary citizens
Siegen has conferred honorary citizenship upon the following persons:- 1887: Heinrich von Achenbach, High President of the Province of BrandenburgBrandenburgBrandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
- 1891: Otto von BismarckOtto von BismarckOtto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of...
, Reich chancellor - 1933: Adolf HitlerAdolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
, Reich chancellor* - 1933: Paul von HindenburgPaul von HindenburgPaul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg , known universally as Paul von Hindenburg was a Prussian-German field marshal, statesman, and politician, and served as the second President of Germany from 1925 to 1934....
, General Field Marshal and Reich President
For all those listed up to here, honorary citizenship, according to Enactment no. 21 to the amended German Municipal System of 1 April 1946, has been forfeited. *According to the city council of Siegen Adolf Hitler's honarary citizenship was lapsed by British military law. Caused by political discussion the city council denied Hitler's honorary citizenship posthumously on August 29, 2007.
- 1953: Alfred Fißmer, retired Oberbürgermeister
Honorary citizens of the former town of Hüttental
- Prof. Dr. Josef Höfer, Prelate
- Dr. h.c. Karl Barich, Chairman of the Board of Stahlwerke Südwestfalen (South Westphalia Steelworks)
Sons and daughters of the city
(The following persons were born in Siegen. The listing is arranged chronologically by birth year. Whether they had anything further to do with Siegen is irrelevant.)- 1483, Heinrich III of NassauHenry III of Nassau-BredaCount Henry III of Nassau-Dillenburg-Dietz , Lord of Breda, Lord of the Lek, of Diest, etc. was a count of the House of Nassau....
(1483–1538), Count of Nassau and Lord of Breda - 1525, Tilemann Stella (1525–1589), RenaissanceRenaissanceThe Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
scholar and librarian, mathematicianMathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
, geometerGeometryGeometry arose as the field of knowledge dealing with spatial relationships. Geometry was one of the two fields of pre-modern mathematics, the other being the study of numbers ....
, cartographerCartographyCartography is the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.The fundamental problems of traditional cartography are to:*Set the map's...
and astronomerAstronomyAstronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
. - 1577, Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640), BaroqueBaroqueThe Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
painter - 1650, Joh. Heinrich Lorsbach (1650–1697), Bürgermeister of Siegen
- 1704, Johann Hermann Grimm (1704–1782), clergyman in Siegen (engaged in church and school system in Siegen)
- 1712, Johann Heinrich Lorsbach (1712–1794), princely Orange-Nassau secret Justizrat (high, honorary legal title) and director of the Justice Chancellery in DillenburgDillenburgDillenburg is a town in Hesse's Gießen region in Germany. The town was formerly the seat of the old Dillkreis district, which is now part of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis....
and highest Orange-Nassau judge - 1754, Heinrich Adolph Grimm (1754–1813), OrientalistOriental studiesOriental studies is the academic field of study that embraces Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology; in recent years the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Asian studies and Middle Eastern studies...
- 1782, Wilhelm Adolf Diesterweg (1782–1835), German mathematician
- 1790, Adolf Diesterweg (1790–1866), important educator and mastermind of educational progressivismEducational progressivismProgressive education is a pedagogical movement that began in the late nineteenth century and has persisted in various forms to the present. More recently, it has been viewed as an alternative to the test-oriented instruction legislated by the No Child Left Behind educational funding act...
- 1854, Heinrich Carl Friedrich KreutzHeinrich KreutzHeinrich Carl Friedrich Kreutz was a German astronomer, most notable for his studies of the orbits of several sungrazing comets, which revealed that they were all related objects, produced when a very large sun-grazing comet fragmented several hundred years previously...
(1854–1907), astronomer and publisher of "Astronomische Nachrichten" ("Astronomical News") - 1887, Fritz Fries (1887–1967), Social Democratic politician, Member of the Prussian Landtag, district president in Arnsberg.
- 1890, Fritz BuschFritz BuschFritz Busch was a German conductor.Busch was born in Siegen, Province of Westphalia. He held posts conducting opera at Aachen, Stuttgart and Dresden. In 1933 he was dismissed from his post at Dresden because of his opposition to the new Nazi government of Germany...
(1890–1951), conductorConductingConducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
(many premières; director of the WürttembergWürttembergWürttemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg or Wurtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....
State Theatre 1919-22, General music director of the German State OperaBerlin State OperaThe Staatsoper Unter den Linden is a German opera company. Its permanent home is the opera house on the Unter den Linden boulevard in the Mitte district of Berlin, which also hosts the Staatskapelle Berlin orchestra.-Early years:...
) - 1891, Adolf BuschAdolf BuschAdolf Georg Wilhelm Busch was a German-born violinist and composer.Busch was born in Siegen in Westphalia. He studied at the Cologne Conservatory with Willy Hess and Bram Eldering...
(1891–1952), composerComposerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
(symphonySymphonyA symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
concertoConcertoA concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...
, chamber musicChamber musicChamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
), violinist - 1892, Walter Krämer (1892-1941 in Goslar concentration camp), KPDCommunist Party of GermanyThe Communist Party of Germany was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period until it was banned in 1956...
Member of the Prussian Landtag, inmate and doctor in Buchenwald concentration campBuchenwald concentration campBuchenwald concentration camp was a German Nazi concentration camp established on the Ettersberg near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937, one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps on German soil.Camp prisoners from all over Europe and Russia—Jews, non-Jewish Poles and Slovenes,...
, Righteous Among the NationsRighteous Among the NationsRighteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis.... - 1893, Willi Busch (1893–1951), actorActorAn actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
- 1895, Paul GieslerPaul GieslerPaul Giesler was a member of the NSDAP, from 1941 NSDAP Gauleiter of Westphalia-South and as of 1942 also acting Gauleiter of the Gau Munich-Upper Bavaria...
(1895-1945 suicideSuicideSuicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
in Berchtsgaden), Ministerpräsident of BavariaBavariaBavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
1942-45 - 1896, Michael Keller (1896–1961), Bishop of Münster 1947-61
- 1896, Heinrich GontermannHeinrich GontermannHeinrich Gontermann was a German First World War fighter ace credited with 39 victories during the war.- Early life :...
(1896–1917), military pilot in the First World War - 1896, Friedrich MiddelhauveFriedrich MiddelhauveFriedrich Middelhauve was a German publisher and politician of the Free Democratic Party...
(1896–1966); politician (FDPFree Democratic Party (Germany)The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government...
, Member of the Bundestag, Member of the Landtag (North Rhine-WestphaliaNorth Rhine-WestphaliaNorth 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...
), North Rhine-Westphalia State Minister for Economy and Transport, FDP State Chairman - 1897, Hermann Busch (1897–1975), cellist
- 1898, Hermann GieslerHermann GieslerHermann Giesler was a German architect during the Nazi era, one of the two architects most favored and rewarded by Adolf Hitler ....
(1898–1987), architectArchitectAn architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the... - 1900, Heinrich Busch (1900–1929), pianist and composer
- 1900, Erich SchneiderErich SchneiderDipl.-Ing. Erich SchneiderIn German an engineer's degree is called Diplom-Ingenieur was a highly decorated Generalleutnant in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves...
(1900–1970), professor and economic theorist - 1909, Ernst AchenbachErnst AchenbachErnst Achenbach was a German lawyer and politician of the Nazi Party, and after World War II, the Free Democratic Party.-Life and work:...
(1909–1991), German politician (FDPFree Democratic Party (Germany)The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government...
, Member of the Bundestag, Member of the Landtag (North Rhine-WestphaliaNorth Rhine-WestphaliaNorth 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...
) - 1905, Lothar Irle (1905–1974), Siegerland "homeland explorer" (HeimatforscherHeimatforscherHeimatforscher, also called Heimatkundler, is a German language description for somebody researching his homeland, home town or region.Most of them are amateurs and autodidacts, covering history-related fields like genealogy, archaeology, geography, meteorology, zoology or botany.See...
) and writer - 1918, Hermann Flender (1918–2004), diplomatDiplomatA diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
and ambassadorAmbassadorAn ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
in Addis AbabaAddis AbabaAddis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...
, RwandaRwandaRwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
and LaosLaosLaos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west... - 1915, Werner Böhmer, judgeJudgeA judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
at the Federal Constitutional Court of GermanyFederal Constitutional Court of GermanyThe Federal Constitutional Court is a special court established by the Grundgesetz, the German basic law...
, 1965–1983 - 1927, Herbert Schäfer (1927–1991), football player and trainer
- 1931, Bernd BecherBernd and Hilla BecherBernard "Bernd" Becher , and Hilla Becher, née Wobeser , were German artists working as a collaborative duo. They are best known for their extensive series of photographic images, or typologies, of industrial buildings and structures.- Biography :Bernd Becher was born in Siegen...
, world-famous photographer (together with his wife Hilla Becher he has received many awards; main work: industrial buildings, watertowers) - 1937, Otfried Hofius, Professor of Evangelical Theology in TübingenTübingenTübingen is a traditional university town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, on a ridge between the Neckar and Ammer rivers.-Geography:...
- 1937, Hannjost Lixfeld, folklorist and mythologist
- 1940, Heinfried BirlenbachHeinfried BirlenbachHeinfried Birlenbach is a retired West German shot putter.He finished fifth at the 1966 European Championships, eighth at the 1968 Summer Olympics and seventh at the 1972 Summer Olympics, the latter in a career best throw of 20.37 metres...
, athleteAthletics (track and field)Athletics is an exclusive collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross country running, and race walking...
and OlympianOlympic GamesThe Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate... - 1941, Karin Tietze-Ludwig, 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...
and television announcer, until 2001 ARDARD (broadcaster)ARD is a joint organization of Germany's regional public-service broadcasters...
's "Lotto fairy". - 1943, Rolf StommelenRolf StommelenRolf Johann Stommelen was a racing driver from Siegen, Germany. He participated in 63 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, achieving one podium, and scored a total of 14 championship points...
(1943-1983 died in an accident at Riverside International RacewayRiverside International RacewayRiverside International Raceway was a race track or road course in Riverside, California. The track was in operation from September 22, 1957, to July 2, 1989...
), Formula OneFormula OneFormula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
racer - 1947, Josef ClemensJosef ClemensJosef Clemens is a German bishop and Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity.-Biography:Josef Clemens was born on 20 June 1947 in Siegen in the Archdiocese of Paderborn)...
, German Curia bishop and secretary of the Papal Lay Council - 1950, Ulrich Langenbach, artist
- 1951, Wolfgang Neuser, since 2005 General Secretary of the YMCAYMCAThe Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
in Germany - 1952, Reinhard GoebelReinhard GoebelReinhard Goebel is a German conductor and violinist specialising in early music on authentic instruments. Goebel received his first violin lessons at the age of twelve...
, BaroqueBaroqueThe Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
violinist - 1957, Dirk Metz, State Secretary and Speaker of the Hessian State Government (since 1999)
- 1958, Burkhard JungBurkhard JungBurkhard Jung is a German politician, representative of the Social Democratic Party. Since March 29, 2006, he is the major of Leipzig . He is married and has 4 children.-References:...
, Oberbürgermeister of LeipzigLeipzigLeipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing... - 1960, Marlies Obier, wordsmith
- 1961, Matthias Kringe, author and cartoonist, "Dilldappen"
- 1963, Kerstin MüllerKerstin MüllerKerstin Müller is a German rower.- References :* at sports-reference.com...
, factional speaker of the Greens in the Bundestag (1994–2002) - 1967, Navid KermaniNavid KermaniNavid Kermani , a German writer and an expert in Islamic studies, was born in Siegen, Germany as fourth son of Iranian parents. He is a member of the German Academy for Language and Poetry and the Academy of Sciences in Hamburg...
, Orientalist and Islamic studies scholar - 1967, Hansjörg Weißbrich, film editor (Deutscher Fernsehpreis 2000)
- 1971, Crauss, writer
- 1979, Sascha Bäcker, German football player with Sportfreunde SiegenSportfreunde SiegenSportfreunde Siegen is a German association football club based in Siegen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club was founded in 1899 as the football department of the gymnastics club Turn Verein Jahn von 1879 Siegen...
- 1980, Sabrina MockenhauptSabrina MockenhauptSabrina Mockenhaupt is a German long-distance runner who specialises in long-distance track events and the marathon. She is a two-time winner of the Cologne Marathon and has also won the Frankfurt Marathon and the Berlin Half Marathon...
, athlete and 2004 summer Olympian in AthensAthensAthens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state... - 1982, Florian KringeFlorian KringeFlorian Kringe is a German footballer who plays for Fußball-Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund as a midfielder.-Career:...
, football player with Borussia DortmundBorussia DortmundBallspielverein Borussia Dortmund, commonly BVB, are a German sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. Dortmund are one of the most successful clubs in German football history. Borussia Dortmund play in the Bundesliga, the top league of German football... - 1983, Moritz VolzMoritz VolzMoritz Volz is a German footballer currently playing for German Bundesliga club FC St. Pauli.Volz generally prefers to play at right-back, although he is comfortable at any defensive position and has played in midfield as well.-Early career:Volz started his career in his native Germany at FC...
, football player with Fulham F.C.Fulham F.C.Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...
The Rubens Prize of the City of Siegen
The Rubens Prize of the City of Siegen, founded in 1955, is awarded every five years to a painterPainting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
or graphic artist whose life's work has been groundbreaking on the European stage. The title recalls the painter-diplomat Peter Paul Rubens, who expressed in his life's work the thought of European unity, long before it could become a political reality. Peter Paul Rubens – who was born in Siegen, grew up in Cologne and Antwerp, trained in art in Italy, was esteemed in France
France
The 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...
and acted as a diplomat in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
– as the main master of European Baroque painting set those artistic and European standards to which the awarding of the prize has been bound since 1957-1958.
Past prizewinners:
- Hans HartungHans HartungHans Hartung was a German-French painter, known for his gestural abstract style. He was also a decorated World War II veteran of the French Foreign Legion.-Life:...
(1957/1958) - Giorgio MorandiGiorgio MorandiGiorgio Morandi was an Italian painter and printmaker who specialized in still life. His paintings are noted for their tonal subtlety in depicting apparently simple subjects, which were limited mainly to vases, bottles, bowls, flowers, and landscapes.-Biography:Giorgio Morandi was born in Bologna...
(1962) - Francis BaconFrancis Bacon (painter)Francis Bacon , was an Irish-born British figurative painter known for his bold, austere, graphic and emotionally raw imagery. Bacon's painterly but abstract figures typically appear isolated in glass or steel geometrical cages set against flat, nondescript backgrounds...
(1967) - Antoni TàpiesAntoni TàpiesAntoni Tàpies i Puig, 1st Marquess of Tàpies is a Catalan painter. He is one of the most famous European artists of his generation. After studying law for 3 years, he devoted himself from 1943 onwards only to his painting...
(1972) - Fritz Winter (1977)
- Emil SchumacherEmil SchumacherEmil Schumacher German painter, important representative of abstract expressionism in post-war Germany....
(1982) - Cy TwomblyCy TwomblyEdwin Parker "Cy" Twombly, Jr. was an American artist well known for his large-scale, freely scribbled, calligraphic-style graffiti paintings, on solid fields of mostly gray, tan, or off-white colors...
(1987) - Rupprecht GeigerRupprecht GeigerRupprecht Geiger was an abstract painter and sculptor from Munich, Germany. He is perhaps best known for his color field paintings and for his passion for the color red.- Life and work :...
(1992) - Lucian FreudLucian FreudLucian Michael Freud, OM, CH was a British painter. Known chiefly for his thickly impasted portrait and figure paintings, he was widely considered the pre-eminent British artist of his time...
(1997) - Maria LassnigMaria LassnigMaria Lassnig is an Austrian artist. Her paintings are an exploration of the body, a central theme which she calls "body awareness"....
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Further reading
- Heinrich Silbergleit: Preußens Städte: Denkschrift zum 100jährigen Jubiläum der Städteordnung vom 19. November 1808. Heymann, Berlin 1908
- Heinrich von Achenbach: Die Haubergs-Genossenschaften des Siegerlandes. After the Bonn printing in 1863 newly published by the (then) Town of Siegen, Forschungsstelle Siegerland, Siegen 1963
- Heinrich von Achenbach: Geschichte der Stadt Siegen. Erg. Nachdr. der Ausg. Vorländer, Siegen 1894. Verlag Die Wielandschmiede, Kreuztal 1983
- Heinrich von Achenbach: Aus des Siegerlandes Vergangenheit. 2. erg. Nachdr. der Ausg. Siegen 1898. Verlag Die Wielandschmiede, Kreuztal 1982
- Erich Keyser (publisher): Westfälisches Städtebuch. In: Deutsches Städtebuch. Band III 2. Teilband. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1954
- Walther Hubatsch (publisher): Westfalen. In: Grundriss zur deutschen Verwaltungsgeschichte 1815–1945. Band 8 Reihe A: Preußen. Marburg an der Lahn 1980, ISBN 3-87969-123-1