Sankt Wendel
Encyclopedia
St. Wendel is a municipality
Municipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...

 in northeastern Saarland
Saarland
Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...

. It is situated on the river Blies
Blies
The Blies is a right tributary of the Saar River in south-western Germany and north-eastern France . The Blies flows from three springs in the Hunsrück mountains near Selbach, Germany. It is approximately 100 km long, ending in the French city of Sarreguemines...

 36 km northeast of Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....

, the capital of Saarland
Saarland
Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...

, and is named after Saint Wendelin of Trier
Wendelin of Trier
Saint Wendelin or Wendelin of Trier was a hermit and abbot.-Life:There is very little definite information about this saint. His earliest biographies , did not appear until after 1417. The story as told there is that Wendelin was the son of a Scottish king...

.

Geography

St. Wendel is situated on the river Blies
Blies
The Blies is a right tributary of the Saar River in south-western Germany and north-eastern France . The Blies flows from three springs in the Hunsrück mountains near Selbach, Germany. It is approximately 100 km long, ending in the French city of Sarreguemines...

 west of the Bosenberg hill at an elevation of 938 feet (286 m). Its highest elevation is the Bosenberg hill at 1591 feet (485 m); the lowest is where the river Blies exits St. Wendel heading for Ottweiler
Ottweiler
Ottweiler is a municipality, former seat of the district of Neunkirchen, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated on the river Blies, approx. 7 km north of Neunkirchen, and 25 km northeast of Saarbrücken.The town is notable for the Ottweiler porcelain....

 at 853 feet (260 m).

Demographics

(each year at December 31)
  • 1979 - 28,431
  • 1983 - 28,211
  • 1998 - 27,324
  • 1999 - 27,174
  • 2000 - 27,303
  • 2001 - 27,296
  • 2002 - 27,246
  • 2003 - 27,068
  • 2004 - 27,106
  • 2005 - 27,085
  • 2006 - 26,967

History

The center of St. Wendel supposedly was the farm of a feudal lord from the Merovingian
Merovingian dynasty
The Merovingians were a Salian Frankish dynasty that came to rule the Franks in a region largely corresponding to ancient Gaul from the middle of the 5th century. Their politics involved frequent civil warfare among branches of the family...

 period (late 6th century) named Baso, so the city was originally named Basonevillare ("farm of Baso"). Baso's farm was situated on Bosenberg's western side between the river Todtbach and the river Bosenbach. This term would probably have developed into "Bosenweiler" were it not for the local admiration of Wendelin
Wendelin of Trier
Saint Wendelin or Wendelin of Trier was a hermit and abbot.-Life:There is very little definite information about this saint. His earliest biographies , did not appear until after 1417. The story as told there is that Wendelin was the son of a Scottish king...

. (Compare the names Bosenweiler, Bosenberg and Bosenbach, in which Baso's name has survived.)

In the mid-7th century the Bishop of Verdun, Paulus, bought Basonvillare. He also inherited the settlement Tholey
Tholey
Tholey is a municipality in the district of Sankt Wendel, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated approx. 10 km west of Sankt Wendel, and 30 km north of Saarbrücken....

 (without the monastery) from the French nobleman Adalgisil Grimo. As a result, the St. Wendel area belonged to Verdun for centuries.

Shortly before that the eremite Wendelin
Wendelin of Trier
Saint Wendelin or Wendelin of Trier was a hermit and abbot.-Life:There is very little definite information about this saint. His earliest biographies , did not appear until after 1417. The story as told there is that Wendelin was the son of a Scottish king...

 died near Basonvillare. He had been highly venerated by the people, and as a result, an intense pilgrimage developed during the next few centuries, which finally resulted in the renaming of the settlement Basonvillare to "St. Wendel" in the 12th century.

The Lord of Blieskastel
Blieskastel
Blieskastel is a municipality in the Saarpfalz district, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated on the river Blies, approximately 8 km west of Zweibrücken, and 20 km east of Saarbrücken.-International relations:...

, whose properties stretched from the northern part of Lorraine
Lorraine (province)
The Duchy of Upper Lorraine was an historical duchy roughly corresponding with the present-day northeastern Lorraine region of France, including parts of modern Luxembourg and Germany. The main cities were Metz, Verdun, and the historic capital Nancy....

 all the way through the Hunsrück
Hunsrück
The Hunsrück is a low mountain range in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the river valleys of the Moselle , the Nahe , and the Rhine . The Hunsrück is continued by the Taunus mountains on the eastern side of the Rhine. In the north behind the Moselle it is continued by the Eifel...

 mountain chain to Bernkastel on the Moselle River
Moselle River
The Moselle is a river flowing through France, Luxembourg, and Germany. It is a left tributary of the Rhine, joining the Rhine at Koblenz. A small part of Belgium is also drained by the Mosel through the Our....

 (today Bernkastel-Kues
Bernkastel-Kues
Bernkastel-Kues is a well-known winegrowing centre on the Middle Moselle in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany...

), erected a moat-surrounded castle in the valley of the Blies
Blies
The Blies is a right tributary of the Saar River in south-western Germany and north-eastern France . The Blies flows from three springs in the Hunsrück mountains near Selbach, Germany. It is approximately 100 km long, ending in the French city of Sarreguemines...

 River, which was supposed to grant protection to the blooming pilgrimage site. The castle consisted of an artificial hill of earth with a wooden tower on top, surrounded by a palisade and a moat. Such an installation was called "Mott", which is why this part of St. Wendel is named the Mott today.

A third area was a small church "above the grave of Wendelin
Wendelin of Trier
Saint Wendelin or Wendelin of Trier was a hermit and abbot.-Life:There is very little definite information about this saint. His earliest biographies , did not appear until after 1417. The story as told there is that Wendelin was the son of a Scottish king...

", which supposedly was positioned where the Magdalenenkapelle ("chapel of Magdalena") is today. Not until the late 9th or early 10th century was a church built on the site of today's basilica, where the relics of Wendelin were taken during the 11th century and to which people make a pilgrimage on St. Wendel's day in October.

At the same time, the Wendel's Market developed, a central market for the area for cattle, clothing, and everyday utensils. Noble families and the clergy settled around the church. Castle, farm, and church gradually grew together in the 14th century.

Until the latter half of the 10th century, St. Wendel was an important Verdun base. In 1326/28 the prince elector and Archbishop Balduin of Luxembourg from Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....

 bought the castle and the village of St. Wendel. He was trying to suppress the influence of Lorraine
Lorraine (province)
The Duchy of Upper Lorraine was an historical duchy roughly corresponding with the present-day northeastern Lorraine region of France, including parts of modern Luxembourg and Germany. The main cities were Metz, Verdun, and the historic capital Nancy....

 on the Rhine area. Through this purchase the village soon developed into a Middle Ages city. Jakomin von Monkler became the first magistrate. As a representative of the prince elector, he had a new castle erected. In addition, he counseled Archbishop Balduin to create a new pilgrimage church. In 1332, he bought the city certificate from emperor Ludwig IV
Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Louis IV , called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was the King of Germany from 1314, the King of Italy from 1327 and the Holy Roman Emperor from 1328....

, gaining permanent revenues. His successor Werner von Falkenstein had a wall erected around the city in 1388. At this time about 500 people lived in St. Wendel.

While the Fruchtmarkt ("fruit market" - the area around the basilica) was a part of the town for the noble and clerical people in the 14th century, it became the central market place in the 15th century. Middle class and laborers settled on the former farms of noblemen. The guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...

s developed, gaining rights in the city administration through their jurors. In 1455 the municipal foundation, Hospitalstiftung, was erected, and a bit later the town hall was built. By the middle of the 15th century the number of residents had climbed to 700.

In 1591 a huge part of the town was destroyed by fire. The residents had just started re-building the town when requisitions and contributions (payments to the occupation army) during the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....

 (1618–1648) almost drove the town into financial collapse.

During the Third Anglo-Dutch War
Third Anglo-Dutch War
The Third Anglo–Dutch War or Third Dutch War was a military conflict between England and the Dutch Republic lasting from 1672 to 1674. It was part of the larger Franco-Dutch War...

 (1672–1697) all buildings except for a few were burned down in 1677. The city wall was partly destroyed, and the prince elector's castle was devastated.

During the War of the Spanish Succession
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...

 (1701–1714) the city was occupied and despoiled again.
Commerce did not recover from that for a long time. Only in 1714 could people begin rebuilding.

Also during the War of the Polish Succession
War of the Polish Succession
The War of the Polish Succession was a major European war for princes' possessions sparked by a Polish civil war over the succession to Augustus II, King of Poland that other European powers widened in pursuit of their own national interests...

 (1733–1738)), the War of the Austrian Succession
War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession  – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...

 (1740–1748) and the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...

 (1756–1763) the troops marched through St. Wendel so requisitions had to be paid.

Only in the middle of the 18th century could the residents start to relax again. The development in urban building had long been marked by a huge contrast between the high population density of the wall-encircled city center and the low population density outside the wall. Now the wall was gone and the city started to grow. Commerce, especially the wool and leather industries, grew again. There were huge companies with over 100 weaving machines. Merchants from Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....

 and Strassburg met their needs for good cloth while the tanneries took their products to the fair in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...

. A wealthy upper class developed, as well as many gorgeous residential and commercial buildings. The basilica was provided with a three-layered baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

 dome. Besides many urban building activities took place, for example roads, the area around the castle, moving the cemetery away from the basilica to outside the former city wall.

During the French revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

ary wars St. Wendel suffered plundering and requisitions from the troops of both sides. Wool weavers and tanners had to pay socage, a special kind of tax. The introduction of freedom of trade replaced the old rules of the guilds, putting many masters out of business, as prices were no longer fixed so blunderers could work below price.

From 1798, the canton St. Wendel belonged to the French Saardepartement. Eventually wealth was returning to the slowly but surely growing town. In the Kelsweilerstrasse, the upper city gate was broken down and a bridge over the river Blies was erected in today's Bahnhofstrasse.

In 1814, Duke Ernst I of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld received the cantons St. Wendel, Grumbach and Baumholder
Baumholder
Baumholder is a town in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, in the Westrich, an historic region that encompasses areas in both Germany and France...

 (together about 20,000 residents) for his performance during the French Revolutionary Wars. Beginning in 1816 he called this area the "principality Lichtenberg", which is still seen today in the borders of the evangelical church community of St. Wendel.

The government was economically successful, but it tried to control the jurisdiction, and the trust of the Lichtenbergers in their independent government disappeared. Creating a Landrat (senate for the district), the general public hoped to gain rights for self-rule, tax politics, etc., but Duke Ernst decided arbitrarily in too many cases. The general public became more and more dissatisfied, resulting in uprisings. During the liberal movements resulting from the Hambacher Fest
Hambacher Fest
The Hambacher Fest was a German national democratic festival—disguised as a non-political county fair—that was celebrated from 27 May to 30 May 1832 at Hambach Castle near Neustadt an der Weinstraße ....

 in 1832, the uprisings escalated. The revolts were put down with the help of Prussian
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...

 troops from Saarlouis
Saarlouis
Saarlouis is a city in the Saarland, Germany, capital of the district of Saarlouis. In 2006, the town had a population of 38,327. Saarlouis, as the name implies, is located at the river Saar....

. In 1834 the duke sold the land to the Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...

 and St. Wendel became a chief town of the administrative district of Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....

. The Prussian state stationed a garrison
Garrison
Garrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, but now often simply using it as a home base....

 in St. Wendel.

Economically the St. Wendel area was poor until the middle of the 19th century, which is why so many people emigrated to America
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

. Even today, there are towns in Brazil where the local German dialect of St. Wendel or even the surrounding villages is still spoken.

In the middle of the 19th century, the city of St. Wendel and the nearby villages Alsfassen and Breiten slowly grew together. Today's Bahnhofstrasse, which leads to Niederweiler (the area of today's train station), was built, as well as the Brühlstrasse and the Kelsweilerstrasse, which also lead to Breiten and Alsfassen. In 1859, St. Wendel, Breiten and Alsfassen were finally united into the new city of St. Wendel. Other urban building actions: street lights, a hospital, an evangelical church (1841).

The economic situation of St. Wendel changed in 1860 with the opening of the railroad between Bingen
Bingen am Rhein
Bingen am Rhein is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.The settlement’s original name was Bingium, a Celtic word that may have meant “hole in the rock”, a description of the shoal behind the Mäuseturm, known as the Binger Loch. Bingen was the starting point for the...

 and Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....

, with St. Wendel profiting as a train station and the building of a train maintenance company. The train maintenance company was first situated opposite the station on the Tholeyerberg; between 1913 and 1915 it was moved to the Schwarzer Weg (today Werkstrasse). Today the area is used by the Bundeswehr
Bundeswehr
The Bundeswehr consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities...

 as an army maintenance logistic center.

In 1898 the Divine Word Missionaries
Divine Word Missionaries
The Society of the Divine Word , popularly called the Divine Word Missionaries, and sometimes the Steyler Missionaries, is a missionary religious congregation in the Latin Church, one of the 23 sui iuris churches which make up the Catholic Church. As of 2006 it consisted of 6,102 members composed...

 built a huge mission in St. Wendel. Also, as a reaction to the changes in economic and social structures, a major city expansion bagan, causing the inhabited area to double in size between 1910 and 1937.

During the time of the Third Reich
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 a huge military base was built near the western city border beside Highway
Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...

 B269 to Winterbach.

After the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 another big expansion of the city came during the Wirtschaftswunder
Wirtschaftswunder
The term describes the rapid reconstruction and development of the economies of West Germany and Austria after World War II . The expression was used by The Times in 1950...

. Saarland remained a French protectorate independent from Germany until its re-integration into the Bundesrepublik Deutschland in 1957, which began an economic downturn as the largest employer of St. Wendel, the Marschall Tobacco Company, had to close down in 1960.

Despite all the wars, there were still some historic buildings left in the city center of St. Wendel until 1960, but under mayors Franz Gräff (1956–1974) and Jakob Feller (1974–1982), a lack of historic interest and economically oriented sanitation destroyed a lot of them. Parts of the medieval town are still to be recognized near the Wendelsdom (the basilica).

St. Wendel nowadays has about 27,000 residents due to a district reform in 1974 in which several surrounding villages were united with the city area.

A French garrison stayed in St. Wendel from 1951 to July 1999. Their buildings are used by different companies today, and some have been removed. In their place, a golf course and a skating park have been built; a new public swimming pool is under construction.

Religion

While the Blies
Blies
The Blies is a right tributary of the Saar River in south-western Germany and north-eastern France . The Blies flows from three springs in the Hunsrück mountains near Selbach, Germany. It is approximately 100 km long, ending in the French city of Sarreguemines...

 Valley (which contains St. Wendel) is mostly Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...

, the rest of the Blies Valley has about as many Catholics as Protestants. The Ostertal
Oster (Blies)
Oster is a river of Saarland, Germany.-See also:*List of rivers of Saarland...

 ("Oster Valley") is mostly Protestant.
In the city center there a two Catholic churches (St. Wendelin and St. Anna) plus the Evangelical congregation.

City divisions / surrounding villages

  • 1859: Alsfassen and Breiten
  • 1974: Niederlinxweiler, Oberlinxweiler, Remmesweiler, Winterbach, Bliesen and Urweiler in the valley Bliestal plus Leitersweiler, Osterbrücken, Hoof, Marth, Niederkirchen, Saal, Bubach, Werschweiler and Dörrenbach in the Ostertal valley.

City council

The communal elections on June 13, 2004 produced these results:
  • CDU
    Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
    The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...

    : 65.5% (28 seats)
  • SPD
    Social Democratic Party of Germany
    The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...

    : 27.2% (11 seats)

Traditionally the CDU has been the strongest power in town, governing in each period with an absolute majority.

Mayors

  • Carl Wilhelm Rechlin, 1835–1869
  • Carl August Theodor Müller, 1869–1893
  • Karl Alfred Friedrich, 1894–1918
  • Heinrich Mettlich, 1919–1920
  • Dr. Emil Flory, 1921–1935
  • Kurt August Eichner, 1. December 1935 - 19. March 1945 (NSDAP)
  • Jakob Fuchs, Christian party of the people of the Saarland (CVP), 1946–1956
  • Franz Gräff, CDU, 1956–1974
  • Jakob Feller, CDU, 1974–1982
  • Klaus Bouillon, CDU, since 1983


The direct election of the mayor on April 14, 2002 did not take place as there was no rival candidate for mayor Klaus Bouillon. Therefore, the city council re-elected him mayor for another eight years with 26 positive votes and 12 abstentions on June 7, 2002.

International relations

Sankt Wendel is twinned
Town twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...

 with:
  • Rezé-les-Nantes (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...

    ), since 1973
  • São Vendelino (Brazil
    Brazil
    Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

    ), since 2003
  • Balbriggan
    Balbriggan
    Balbriggan is a town in the northern part of the administrative county of Fingal, within County Dublin, Ireland. The 2006 census population was 15,559 for Balbriggan and its environs.- Name :...

     (Ireland
    Ireland
    Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

    ), since 2007

Transportation

St. Wendel has good traffic connection in north-south direction. Parallel to the river Blies (resp. in northern direction to the river Nahe the Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...

 ("federal road") B41 and the train track 680 from Neunkirchen
Neunkirchen, Saarland
Neunkirchen is a town and a municipality in Saarland, Germany. It is the largest town in, and the seat of the district of Neunkirchen. It is situated on the river Blies, approx. 20 km northeast of Saarbrücken. With about 50,000 inhabitants, Neunkirchen is Saarland's 2nd largest city...

 in the south to Birkenfeld
Birkenfeld
Birkenfeld is a town and the district seat of the Birkenfeld district in southwest Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is also the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde.-Location:...

, Idar-Oberstein
Idar-Oberstein
Idar-Oberstein is a town in the Birkenfeld district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. As a Große kreisangehörige Stadt , it assumes some of the responsibilities that for smaller municipalities in the district are assumed by the district administration...

 in the north.
Federal road and train tracks continue to Bad Kreuznach
Bad Kreuznach
Bad Kreuznach is the capital of the district of Bad Kreuznach, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is located on the Nahe river, a tributary of the Rhine...

 in the north and Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....

 in the south. Federal highway B41 crosses town free of intersections. The area of St. Wendel has five exits (from north to south): St. Wendel - Niederlinxweiler, St. Wendel - Oberlinxweiler, St. Wendel - City, St. Wendel - Winterbach, St. Wendel - Alsfassen. Between exits Niederlinxweiler and City it has three lanes in both directions.
In St. Wendel it intersects with federal highway B269, which connects Lebach
Lebach
Lebach is a town in the district of Saarlouis, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated approx. 15 km northeast of Saarlouis, and 20 km north of Saarbrücken.-External links:*...

 and Birkenfeld
Birkenfeld
Birkenfeld is a town and the district seat of the Birkenfeld district in southwest Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is also the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde.-Location:...

. At the southern border of the city federal highway B420 connects Ottweiler
Ottweiler
Ottweiler is a municipality, former seat of the district of Neunkirchen, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated on the river Blies, approx. 7 km north of Neunkirchen, and 25 km northeast of Saarbrücken.The town is notable for the Ottweiler porcelain....

 with the bordering regions of Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....


The next Highway are about 20 minutes by car away in each direction:
  • Autobahn (Highway) 1 Fehmarn
    Fehmarn
    Fehmarn is an island and - since 2003 - a town on this island in the Baltic Sea, off the eastern coast of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, and ca. 18 kilometers south of the Danish island of Lolland...

      - Saarbrücken
    Saarbrücken
    Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....

  • Autobahn (Highway) 8 Luxembourg
    Luxembourg
    Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...

      - Salzburg
    Salzburg
    -Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...

  • Autobahn (Highway) 62 Nonnweiler
    Nonnweiler
    Nonnweiler is a municipality in the district of Sankt Wendel, in Saarland, Germany.-Overview:It is situated approx. 20 km northwest of Sankt Wendel, and 30 km southeast of Trier....

     – Pirmasens
    Pirmasens
    Pirmasens is a district-free city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, near the border with France. It is famous for the manufacture of shoes. The surrounding rural district was called Pirmasens from 1818 until 1997, when it was renamed Südwestpfalz....



All regional express trains and regional trains stop in St. Wendel. Therefore an hourly connection to the Rhine Main Area and three hourly connections to the capital of the Saarland
Saarland
Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...

, Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....

 are available.

Since 1915, there has been a single track connection through the suburbs Bliesen and Oberthal to Tholey
Tholey
Tholey is a municipality in the district of Sankt Wendel, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated approx. 10 km west of Sankt Wendel, and 30 km north of Saarbrücken....

. In 1984 passenger traffic was shut down on this track.

The entire track from St. Wendel to Tholey has been rebuilt into an asphalt-covered cycle track, named Wendalinus-Radweg.

Business and industry

  • Industry: Metal, Medical (Fresenius Medical Care
    Fresenius Medical Care
    Fresenius Medical Care is a German company specializing in the production of medical supplies, primarily to facilitate or aid renal dialysis. It is 36%-owned by the health care company Fresenius. The company was formed in 1996 from the merger of Fresenius Worldwide Dialysis, then a division of...

    ), Electronics (since 1987 headquarters of Hughes & Kettner
    Hughes & Kettner
    Hughes & Kettner is a German brand of guitar and bass amplifiers, cabinets and effects processors. It was founded in Neunkirchen in 1984 and is based in St.Wendel since 1987....

    )
  • Trade: Company headquarters of supermarket chain Globus, whose founder Franz Bruch originated in St. Wendel

Clubs and organizations

  • Gymnastics club 1861 St. Wendel e. V.
  • Diving club St. Wendel e. V
  • Soccer club SV Blau - Weiß St. Wendel
  • Soccer club FC 1910 St. Wendel e. V
  • Motor bike club Nordsaar

Sports

St. Wendel has been an organizer of the 2005 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships
UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships
The UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships sponsored by the Union Cycliste Internationale consists of both a men's and women's cyclo-cross world championship:* Men - UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships – Men's elite race...

 and will again be an organizer of this event in 2011.

Museums

  • City museum St. Wendel in the Mia Münster House - exhibits the works of an artist from St. Wendel named Mia Münster, plus various local artists
  • Missions- und völkerkundliches Museum of the Divine Word Missionaries
    Divine Word Missionaries
    The Society of the Divine Word , popularly called the Divine Word Missionaries, and sometimes the Steyler Missionaries, is a missionary religious congregation in the Latin Church, one of the 23 sui iuris churches which make up the Catholic Church. As of 2006 it consisted of 6,102 members composed...

  • Heimatmuseum in the old town hall
  • Heimatmuseum in Dörrenbach. In this smallest village of St. Wendel Dörrenbach there is a museum documenting the everyday culture of the village and the way of living of former farming village residents.

Cultural projects

  • Street of Sculptures. In 1971 St. Wendel's sculptor Leo Kornbrust initiated the International Sculpture Symposium St. Wendel, now well-known throughout Europe, which brought forth numerous huge stone sculptures by different international artists. In 1979 the sculptures were arranged along 25 kilometers of the Saarland hiking trail from St. Wendel to Lake Bostal.
  • Wendelswoche (Wendels week). Since the beginning of the 11th century many believers have pilgrimaged to the grave of Wendelin
    Wendelin of Trier
    Saint Wendelin or Wendelin of Trier was a hermit and abbot.-Life:There is very little definite information about this saint. His earliest biographies , did not appear until after 1417. The story as told there is that Wendelin was the son of a Scottish king...

     in the Wendalinusbasilica at the beginning of October.
  • Oster- und Weihnachtsmarkt (Easter and Christmas markets).
  • WND JAZZ. Once a year an international jazz festival takes place whose specialty is a meeting of the local and the international jazz scenes.
  • Internationaler Wettbewerb der Straßenzauberer (International competition of street magicians).

Buildings

  • Wendalinusbasilica
  • Wendels chappel (1755)
  • Mia-Münster-House
  • Fruchtmarkt ("fruit market")
  • Mission building of Divine Word Missionaries
    Divine Word Missionaries
    The Society of the Divine Word , popularly called the Divine Word Missionaries, and sometimes the Steyler Missionaries, is a missionary religious congregation in the Latin Church, one of the 23 sui iuris churches which make up the Catholic Church. As of 2006 it consisted of 6,102 members composed...


Honorary Citizens

  • Herwarth von Bittenfeld, *September 4, 1796, † September 2, 1884 in Bonn
    Bonn
    Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....

    , Commanding general of the 8. army corps
  • Clemens Freiherr von Schorlemer-Lieser, *September 29, 1856, † July 2, 1922 in Berlin
    Berlin
    Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

    , royal state minister and minister for agriculture, domains and forest
  • Max Müller, *October 15, 1862 in St. Wendel, † August 21, 1937 in Wadern, retd. mayor of Wadern
  • Pater Alois Selzer, SVD, *February 13, 1893 in Heiligenwald, † June 24, 1968 in Mölding, Prof. for pegagogics und soziology at the theological college of the order in Mölding near Vienna
  • Hans-Klaus Schmitt, *December 2, 1900 in St. Wendel, † March 11, 1982 in St. Wendel, chief of police retd.

Notable people

  • August Balthasar, *1914, † 1973, merchant and organisor of international bike races in St. Wendel
  • Carl Philipp Cetto, *1806 in St. Wendel, † 1890 politician and businessman
  • Helene Demuth
    Helene Demuth
    Helene "Lenchen" Demuth was the housekeeper of Jenny and Karl Marx. She assisted Marx in his political work and may also have been the mother of a child by Marx....

     (1820–1890), housekeeper and (with Friedrich Engels
    Friedrich Engels
    Friedrich Engels was a German industrialist, social scientist, author, political theorist, philosopher, and father of Marxist theory, alongside Karl Marx. In 1845 he published The Condition of the Working Class in England, based on personal observations and research...

    ) testamentary executor of Karl Marx
    Karl Marx
    Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...

  • Hans Adolf Halbey (1922–2003), author
  • Leo Kornbrust (*1929), sculptor
  • Hans Ley (*1954), politician
  • Siegmund Nimsgern (*1940), opera singer
  • Sebastian Reinert (*1987), soccer player
  • Philipp Jakob Riotte, *1776 in St. Wendel, † 1856 in Wien
    Wien
    Wien is the German language name for Vienna, the city and federal state in Austria.* Wien , in Vienna, Austria* Theater an der Wien, a theater in Vienna located at the former river WienWien may also refer to:...

    , composer and kapellmeister
    Kapellmeister
    Kapellmeister is a German word designating a person in charge of music-making. The word is a compound, consisting of the roots Kapelle and Meister . The words Kapelle and Meister derive from the Latin: capella and magister...

  • Anton Adolph Schmoll called Eisenwerth (1834–1918), architect
  • Hanns Schönecker (1928–2005), architect
  • Paul Tholey
    Paul Tholey
    Paul Tholey was a German Gestalt psychologist, and a professor of psychology and sports science.Paul Tholey started the study of oneirology in an attempt to prove that dreams occur in color...

    , (1937–1998), psychologist
    Psychologist
    Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...

  • Wendelin
    Wendelin of Trier
    Saint Wendelin or Wendelin of Trier was a hermit and abbot.-Life:There is very little definite information about this saint. His earliest biographies , did not appear until after 1417. The story as told there is that Wendelin was the son of a Scottish king...

    , around 600 in St. Wendel, abbot of Tholey and hermit in St. Wendel
  • Henner Wittling (*1946), politician
  • John Wendle (1980 - living), Moscow-based journalist and photographer, born - Youngstown, Ohio, US

External links

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