Voerde

Voerde
Town hall
Coat of arms
Voerde Location of Voerde within Wesel district
Coordinates: 51°36′00″N 06°41′0″E / 51.60000°N 6.68333°E / 51.60000; 6.68333Coordinates: 51°36′00″N 06°41′0″E / 51.60000°N 6.68333°E / 51.60000; 6.68333
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Düsseldorf
District	Wesel
Government
• Mayor	Dirk Haarmann (SPD)
Area
• Total	53.49 km2 (20.65 sq mi)
Elevation	26 m (85 ft)
Population (2016-12-31)[1]
• Total	36,273
• Density	680/km2 (1,800/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	46562
Dialling codes	02855, 0281 (Friedrichsfeld)
Vehicle registration	WES
Website	www.voerde.de

Voerde is a town in the district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Rhine, approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) south-east of Wesel, and 20 km north of Duisburg.

City structure

According to art. 1(3) of the Main Charter of the town, the municipal area is divided into the 11 quarters of Götterswickerhamm, Löhnen, Mehrum, Möllen, Voerde, Stockum, Holthausen, Friedrichsfeld, Emmelsum, Spellen and Ork. These quarters are, however, not localities in the sense of art. 39 of the North-Rhine Westphalian Municipal Code (GO NW).

History

Voerde owes its name to a ford crossing of a branch of the River Rhine, which existed there during Roman and Frankish times (the old spelling for Furt was Fuerdt). In 1244, the town was mentioned in records for the first time as a fiefdom and castle of the abbey of Werden. In 1804, during the time of the French occupation, Voerde was integrated in the Amt Götterswickerhamm, which was renamed to Voerde in 1911. During World War II, the 9th US-Army crossed the Rhine in the night of the 23rd to the 24th March 1945 in the area of Voerde and reached the right Rhine-bank for the first time (Operation Plunder). Since 1975, Voerde has been part of the district of Wesel.

Buildings and constructions

• Pylons of Voerde
• Haus Voerde: Moated castle
• Haus Wohnung: Moated castle

Politics

At the last communal-election in Voerde the SPD became the strongest party. The incumbent major is Dirk Haarmann (SPD).

Twinned cities

Voerde is twinned with:

• Alnwick, United Kingdom
• Handlová, Slovakia

Traffic and infrasructure

Voerde Main Station is located in the town centre at the railway track Oberhausen-Arnhem. A second station, Voerde-Friedrichsfeld, is located 4km northern. Importatnt waterways, the rhine and the Wesel-Datteln-channel, cross Voerde's area.

Sports

There are 11 shooting clubs, 2 Tennis clubs and a riding club in Voerde. The most important sport club is the TV Voerde.

Education

There are 7 elementary schools, one gymnasium, one comprehensive school, one secondary school and one school for mentally handicaped pupils.

Notable inhabitants

• Karl Topp (1895–1981), German navel officer in World Wars I and II
• Heike Schulte-Mattler (*1958), athlete, bronze-medal at the olympic games 1984 in Los Angeles

References