Gummersbach

Gummersbach is a town in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, being the district seat of the Oberbergischer Kreis. It is located 50 kilometres (31 mi) east of Cologne. The town is famous for its first league handball team VfL Gummersbach.

Gummersbach
Church in Gummersbach
Coat of arms
Location of Gummersbach within Oberbergischer Kreis district
Rhein-Sieg-KreisOberbergischer KreisRheinisch-Bergischer KreisNorth Rhine-WestphaliaRemscheidWuppertalEnnepe-Ruhr-KreisMärkischer KreisOlpe (district)Siegen-WittgensteinRhineland-PalatinateWaldbrölMorsbachNümbrechtWiehlReichshofGummersbachMarienheideBergneustadtEngelskirchenLindlarHückeswagenWipperfürthRadevormwald
Gummersbach
Gummersbach
Coordinates: 51°02′N 7°34′E
CountryGermany
StateNorth Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. regionCologne
DistrictOberbergischer Kreis
Government
 • MayorFrank Helmenstein (CDU)
Area
 • Total95.3 km2 (36.8 sq mi)
Highest elevation
519 m (1,703 ft)
Lowest elevation
200 m (700 ft)
Population
 (2018-12-31)[1]
 • Total50,688
 • Density530/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
Time zoneCET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes
51643, 51645, 51647
Dialling codes02261, 02266 (Berghausen), 02354 (Lieberhausen), 02263 (Elbach)
Vehicle registrationGM
Websitewww.gummersbach.de

History

In 1109 Gummersbach was mentioned in official documents for the first time. The document in question concerned the lowering of the episcopal tax for the church in Gummersbach by Archbishop Frederick I. At that time the name of the town was spelled as Gumeresbracht. Gummersbach received town privileges in 1857. In 1855 Gummersbach's industrial history began with the foundation of the company Steinmüller. With the company's success the little village began to grow to a town. After going out of business most of the company's area was unused. Due to the fact that by the time this area made up half of the downtown area the town of Gummersbach bought this area to develop it. Today (2016) a multifunctional arena, a shopping mall, university buildings and offices have already been built.

The coat of arms

The arms were granted on July 27, 1892. Gummersbach developed rapidly from a small village to a large town during the early 19th century, due to the metal and textile industry. The right part of the arms thus show a spindle as a symbol for the textile industry. The left part shows the arms of the Counts of the Mark, as the area belonged to the Mark since 1287.

Communities, localities and villages
Map of Gummersbach

Apfelbaum - Becke - Berghausen - Bernberg - Birnbaum - Börnchen - Bracht - Bredenbruch - Brink - Bruch - Brunohl - Berghausen - Deitenbach - Derschlag - Dieringhausen - Drieberhausen - Dümmlinghausen - Elbach - Erbland - Erlenhagen - Flaberg - Frömmersbach - Grünenthal - Gummeroth - Hardt - Hardt-Hanfgarten - Helberg - Herreshagen - Hesselbach - Höfen -Hömel - Hülsenbusch - Hunstig - Kalkuhl - Karlskamp - Koverstein - Lantenbach - Lieberhausen - Liefenroth - Lobscheid - Lützinghausen - Luttersiefen - Mühle - Neuenhaus - Neuenschmiede - Niedergelpe - Niedernhagen - Niederseßmar - Nochen - Oberrengse - Ohmig -Peisel - Piene - Rebbelroth - Recklinghausen - Reininghausen - Remmelsohl - Rodt - Rospe - Schneppsiefen - Schönenberg - Schusterburg - Sonnenberg - Steinenbrück - Straße - Strombach - Unnenberg - Veste - Vollmerhausen - Waldesruh - Wasserfuhr - Windhagen - Wörde - Würden

Main sights
  • The Vogteihaus, former residence of the Vogt, built in 1700. It is also referred to as die Burg ("the castle"), and lies in the town center, on the Kaiserstraße.
  • The Bunte Kerke ("colourful church") in the village Lieberhausen, a Protestant church with medieval wall paintings.
  • The Protestant church of the village Hülsenbusch, rebuilt in the 18th century after a fire, in Baroque style.

Education

Twin towns
Main article: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Gummersbach is twinned with:[2]

Sport

The men's team VfL Gummersbach was one of the most successful handball teams of Europe in the 1970s and 1980s. It is still in the top league of the German handball competition: the Handball-Bundesliga.

Notable people

References
  1. "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden Nordrhein-Westfalens am 31. Dezember 2018" (in German). Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  2. Town twinnings Archived 2013-03-02 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Bio". Afu Thomas Official Website. Retrieved 2020-02-08. - German version
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