Breckerfeld is a town in the district of Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis, in 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...

, (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...

). It is located in the southeastern-most part of the Ruhr area

Ruhr Area

The Ruhr, by German-speaking geographers and historians more accurately called Ruhr district or Ruhr region , is an urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With 4435 km² and a population of some 5.2 million , it is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany...

 in northern 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...

. The town is a member of Regionalverband Ruhr (association).

Geography

Breckerfeld is a rural community in a hilly area. The weather around the city is generally cool with a substantial amount of rain. The Breckerfeld station is the last stop on the Kleinbahn Haspe-Voerde-Breckerfeld

Kleinbahn Haspe-Voerde-Breckerfeld

The Kleinbahn Haspe-Voerde-Breckerfeld was a narrow-gauge railway linking the cities of Breckerfeld and Voerde with Haspe to the Bergisch-Märkische railway. Construction lasted from 1901 to 1906...

.

History

Breckerfeld has had town rights since 1396 and is a Hanseatic

Hanseatic League

The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...

 city. In the recent decades, Breckerfeld has developed more populated areas as a result of increased activity in housing construction.

In 1970, the independent municipality of Dahl

Hagen-Dahl

Dahl, now officially Hagen-Dahl, is a locality within the independent city of Hagen in the southeastern Ruhr, in Germany. It was incorporated into Hagen in 1975 together with Rummenohl and Priorei.-Prehistory:...

 joined the city of Breckerfeld. In 1975, the federal parliament decided to reorganize this area into falling within the boundaries of the nearby district-free city, 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...

.

Nena

Nena

Gabriele Susanne Kerner , better known by her stage name Nena, is a German singer and actress. She rose to international fame in 1983 with the New German Wave song "99 Luftballons". In 1984, she re-recorded this song in English as "99 Red Balloons". Nena was also the name of the band with whom she...

, one of Germany's most successful pop-singers, spent the first several years of her life in Breckerfeld.

Twin cities

Gençay

Gençay

Gençay is a commune in the Vienne department in the Poitou-Charentes region in western France.-Geography:The village lies on the left bank of the Clouère, which forms the commune's northern border.-External links:*...

, Vienne

Vienne

Vienne is the northernmost département of the Poitou-Charentes region of France, named after the river Vienne.- Viennese history :Vienne is one of the original 83 departments, established on March 4, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Poitou,...

, 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...

	North: 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...
West: Ennepetal Ennepetal Ennepetal is a town in the district of Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.The town was featured in the headlines when on April 12, 2005, a hostage taker snatched several school children from a school bus and took them as hostages, see Ennepetal hostage taking.- Division of the...	Breckerfeld	East: Schalksmühle Schalksmühle Schalksmühle is a municipality in district Märkischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the town with the highest rate of millionaires relating to the population in North Rhine-Westphalia.-Geography:...
Southwest: Radevormwald Radevormwald Radevormwald is a municipality in the Oberbergischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is one of the oldest towns in the Bergischen Land, formerly the County and Duchy of Berg.-Geography:Radevormwald is located about 50 km east of Cologne...	South: Halver Halver Halver is a town in the Märkischer Kreis district, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It has a population of 18,083 and covers an area of 77.37 km², of which 51% are used for agricultural purposes and 35% are forest...	Southeast: Luedenscheid