Erftstadt (German pronunciation: [ˈɛʁftˌʃtat] ) is a town located about 20 km south-west of Cologne in the Rhein-Erft-Kreis, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The name of the town derives from the river that flows through it, the Erft. The neighbouring towns are Brühl, Kerpen, Zülpich and Weilerswist.

Erftstadt
The old courthouse in Erftstadt-Lechenich
The old courthouse in Erftstadt-Lechenich
Coat of arms of Erftstadt
Location of Erftstadt within Rhein-Erft-Kreis district
Mettmann (district)Rhein-Erft-KreisNorth Rhine-WestphaliaHeinsberg (district)Rhein-Kreis NeussCologneWesselingRhein-Sieg-KreisDüren (district)Euskirchen (district)PulheimBergheimErftstadtHürthKerpenBedburgBrühlFrechenElsdorf
Erftstadt is located in Germany
Erftstadt
Erftstadt
Erftstadt is located in North Rhine-Westphalia
Erftstadt
Erftstadt
Coordinates: 50°49′N 6°46′E / 50.817°N 6.767°E / 50.817; 6.767
CountryGermany
StateNorth Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. regionCologne
DistrictRhein-Erft-Kreis
Subdivisions18
Government
 • Mayor (2020–25) Carolin Weitzel[1] (CDU)
Area
 • Total119.88 km2 (46.29 sq mi)
Elevation
100 m (300 ft)
Population
 (2023-12-31)[2]
 • Total50,018
 • Density420/km2 (1,100/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes
50374
Dialling codes02235
Vehicle registrationBM
Websitewww.erftstadt.de

A landslide during the 2021 European floods led to the collapse of several houses.[3]

Coat of arms

edit
 

In green are one silver/white left flank bar and on the right border of the shield two golden/yellow squares. The green ground expresses the nature and the health. The silver flank bar represents the river Erft. The right side looks like an "E" for Erftstadt. The yellow squares represent the biggest villages Lechenich and Liblar. The coat of arms was designed by Josef Günterberg from Berlin. The town got it as an official coat of arms on 15 March 1974.

Geography

edit

Erftstadt is located 25 km north-west of Bonn. Its height ranges from 81 to 151 metres above sea level. The following towns and municipalities border on Erftstadt:

Education

edit

In Erftstadt are five further schools: two gymnasiums, two Realschulen and one Hauptschule. In Lechenich are the Theodor-Heuss-Schule, the only Hauptschule in Erftstadt. There also are the Realschule Lechenich and the Gymnasium Lechenich. The Realschule "Gottfried-Kinkel-Realschule" and the Gymnasium Ville-Gymnasium are located in Liblar. The only private school in Erftstadt, the Freie Waldorfschule Erftstadt, can be found in Liblar too. It is a primary and a secondary school. There are seven primary schools in Erftstadt:

  • Donatus-Schule Liblar
  • Erich-Kästner-Schule Bliesheim
  • Nordschule Lechenich
  • Südschule Lechenich
  • Grundschule Gymnich
  • St. Barbara-Concordia-Schule Kierdorf
  • Janusz-Korczak-Schule Erp

The TH Köln plans to have a new faculty for Spatial development and infrastructure systems in Erftstadt. There is one music school called Bernd-Alois-Zimmermann-Musikschule in Liblar.

Twin towns – sister cities

edit

Erftstadt is twinned with:[4]

Wards of Erftstadt

edit

The town of Erftstadt consists of the following 14 Stadtbezirke (in brackets: population, 2023/03/01)

  • Ahrem (1,176)
  • Blessem and Frauenthal (1,641)
  • Bliesheim (3,721)
  • Borr and Scheuren(366)
  • Dirmerzheim (2,223)
  • Erp (2,665)
  • Friesheim (3,070)
  • Gymnich and Mellerhöfe (5,003)
  • Herrig (552)
  • Kierdorf (3,163)
  • Köttingen (3,584)
  • Lechenich and Konradsheim (11, 503)
  • Liblar (13,365)
  • Niederberg (542)

Most of the town administration is in Liblar, the most populous Stadtbezirk. The second-most populous Stadtbezirk is Lechenich.

Notable people

edit
 
Coat of arms of the family Wolff von Metternich
 
St. Alban
 
Carl Schurz
  • Carl Schurz (1829–1906), politician and first German-born cabinet secretary (Secretary of the Interior 1877–1881) in the US
  • Carl Brendgen (1841–1916), owner of three briquette factories in the area of Erftstadt and pioneer of the industrial use of brown coal in the Rhineland
  • Jean Bungartz (1854–1934), animal artist, specialist author, photographer, breeder, lived from 1886 to 1913 in Lechenich
 
Joseph Kentenich
 
Hennes Weisweiler
 
Peter Mittelstaedt (right) with Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker (left)
 
Heinz Küpper, Landtag election 1990
  • Heinz Küpper (born 1935), First Deputy (CDU) and Head of Culture of Erftstadt from 1982 to 1999
 
Herbert Feuerstein
 
Cornelius Bormann
 
Michael Breuer
 
Lukas Klünter (2019)

References

edit
  1. ^ Wahlergebnisse in NRW Kommunalwahlen 2020, Land Nordrhein-Westfalen, accessed 29 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden Nordrhein-Westfalens am 31. Dezember 2023 – Fortschreibung des Bevölkerungsstandes auf Basis des Zensus vom 9. Mai 2011" (in German). Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  3. ^ "Death toll rises above 100 in German floods — as it happened | DW | 17.07.2021". Deutsche Welle.
  4. ^ "Städtepartnerschaften". erftstadt.de (in German). Erftstadt. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
edit