Haltern am See

Haltern am See (Haltern at the lake, before December 2001 only Haltern) is a town and a municipality in the district of Recklinghausen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the Lippe and the Wesel–Datteln Canal, approx. 15 kilometres (9 miles) north of Recklinghausen.

Haltern am See
New town hall
Coat of arms
Location of Haltern am See within Recklinghausen district
Recklinghausen (district)North Rhine-WestphaliaDortmundBochumGelsenkirchenEssenWesel (district)BottropUnna (district)Coesfeld (district)Borken (district)GladbeckRecklinghausenDattelnOer-ErkenschwickCastrop-RauxelMarlHertenWaltropHaltern am SeeDorsten
Haltern am See
Haltern am See
Coordinates: 51°45′N 7°11′E
CountryGermany
StateNorth Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. regionMünster
DistrictRecklinghausen
Government
 • MayorBodo Klimpel (CDU)
Area
 • Total158.34 km2 (61.14 sq mi)
Elevation
40 m (130 ft)
Population
 (2018-12-31)[1]
 • Total38,013
 • Density240/km2 (620/sq mi)
Time zoneCET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes
45721
Dialling codes02364 (Haltern am See), 02360 (Lippramsdorf)
Vehicle registrationRE
Websitewww.haltern-am-see.de

The town is about 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Düsseldorf.[2]

History

Former Halteren was founded on February 3rd in 1289. They received the town charter by the prince-bishop of Münster, Everhard von Dienstag.

During Kristallnacht (1938), the town's synagogue, Jewish cemetery and the houses and shops belonging to the town's Jews were vandalised. Jews were deported to concentration camps, the last five of whom were deported in January 1942.[3] Only one of the town's Jews survived the Holocaust: Alexander Lebenstein, after whom a school is named.

In March 2015, the town received international attention when 16 students and two teachers from the Joseph-König-Gymnasium in Haltern, were killed in the Germanwings Flight 9525 crash in the French Alps. They were on their way home from a student exchange with the Giola Institute in Llinars del Vallès, Catalonia, Spain.[4] Haltern's mayor, Bodo Klimpel, described it as "the darkest day in the history of our city."[5]

  • Church
  • Former town hall
  • Tower: der Siebenteufelsturm

Notable people

International relations
See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Haltern is twinned with:[6]

References
  1. "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden Nordrhein-Westfalens am 31. Dezember 2018" (in German). Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  2. Botelho, Greg and Catherine Shoichet. "Germanwings crash: Students, singers among the victims" (Archive). CNN. March 24, 2015. Retrieved on March 26, 2015.
  3. Spector, Shmuel & Vigoder, Geoffrey (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust: A-J. p. 485.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  4. "Germanwings A320 Crash Victims Include 15 German Schoolchildren, Local Media Reports". International Business Times. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  5. "16 schoolchildren believed to be aboard Germanwings plane that crashed in Alps". Yahoo News. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  6. "Partnerstädte". haltern-am-see.de (in German). Haltern am See. Retrieved 2019-12-03.
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