Soest is a
townA town is a type of settlement ranging from a few hundred to several thousand inhabitants, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas; the precise meaning varies between countries and is not always a matter of legal definition...
in
North Rhine-WestphaliaNorth Rhine-Westphalia is the westernmost and—in terms of population and economic output—the largest Federal State of Germany. North Rhine-Westphalia has over 18 million inhabitants, contributes about 22% of Germany's gross domestic product and comprises a land area of 34,083 km²...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
. It is the capital of the
Soest districtSoest is a Kreis in the middle of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Warendorf, Gütersloh, Paderborn, Hochsauerland, Märkischer Kreis, Unna and the district-free city Hamm.- History :...
. After
LippstadtLippstadt is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest town within the district of Soest.-Geography:Lippstadt is situated in the Lippe valley, roughly 70 kilometers east of Dortmund and roughly 30 kilometers west of Paderborn...
, a neighbouring town, Soest is the second biggest town in its district.
Soest is located along the
Hellweg road, approximately 23
kilometreThe kilometre , symbol km is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one thousand metres and is therefore exactly equal to the distance travelled by light in free space in of a second....
s south-west of
LippstadtLippstadt is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest town within the district of Soest.-Geography:Lippstadt is situated in the Lippe valley, roughly 70 kilometers east of Dortmund and roughly 30 kilometers west of Paderborn...
, roughly 50 kilometres east of
DortmundDortmund is a city in Germany, located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 587,830 makes it the 7th-largest city in Germany, and 34th-largest in the European Union....
and roughly 50 kilometres west of
PaderbornPaderborn is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader, which originates in more than 200 springs near Paderborn Cathedral, where St. Liborius is buried.-History:...
.
- Bad Sassendorf
Bad Sassendorf is a municipality in the district of Soest, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-History:From February 15th, 1944 to April 4th or 5th 1945 inmates of the Neuengamme concentration camp used as the Eisenbahnbaubrigade 11 repaired rail tracks at the railway station Soest and between Bad...
- Ense
Ense is a municipality in the district of Soest, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:Ense is situated on the river Möhne, approx. 12 km north-west of Arnsberg and 12 km south-west of Soest...
- Lippetal
Lippetal is a municipality in the district of Soest, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.- Geography :Lippetal is located north and south of the river Lippe between the cities of Lippstadt and Hamm . Lippetal is situated at the northern boundary of the Soester Börde, south of the river Lippe and...
- Möhnesee
Möhnesee is a municipality in the district of Soest, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:The Möhnesee municipality is situated around the Möhne Reservoir , approx. 10 km south of Soest.- Neighboring municipalities:* Arnsberg...
- Werl
Werl is a town located in the district of Soest in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:Werl is easily accessible because it is located between the Sauerland, Münsterland, and the Ruhr Area...
- Welver
Welver is a municipality in the district of Soest, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:Welver is situated approx. 12 km south-east of Hamm and 12 km north-west of Soest.-Neighbouring cities, towns, and municipalities:...
Because of the fertile soil the area around Soest was occupied long before 836 when the village is first mentioned in the
Dagobertsche Schenkung, although the origin of this document is historically uncertain.
Soest is a
townA town is a type of settlement ranging from a few hundred to several thousand inhabitants, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas; the precise meaning varies between countries and is not always a matter of legal definition...
in
North Rhine-WestphaliaNorth Rhine-Westphalia is the westernmost and—in terms of population and economic output—the largest Federal State of Germany. North Rhine-Westphalia has over 18 million inhabitants, contributes about 22% of Germany's gross domestic product and comprises a land area of 34,083 km²...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
. It is the capital of the
Soest districtSoest is a Kreis in the middle of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Warendorf, Gütersloh, Paderborn, Hochsauerland, Märkischer Kreis, Unna and the district-free city Hamm.- History :...
. After
LippstadtLippstadt is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest town within the district of Soest.-Geography:Lippstadt is situated in the Lippe valley, roughly 70 kilometers east of Dortmund and roughly 30 kilometers west of Paderborn...
, a neighbouring town, Soest is the second biggest town in its district.
Geography
Soest is located along the
Hellweg road, approximately 23
kilometreThe kilometre , symbol km is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one thousand metres and is therefore exactly equal to the distance travelled by light in free space in of a second....
s south-west of
LippstadtLippstadt is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest town within the district of Soest.-Geography:Lippstadt is situated in the Lippe valley, roughly 70 kilometers east of Dortmund and roughly 30 kilometers west of Paderborn...
, roughly 50 kilometres east of
DortmundDortmund is a city in Germany, located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 587,830 makes it the 7th-largest city in Germany, and 34th-largest in the European Union....
and roughly 50 kilometres west of
PaderbornPaderborn is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader, which originates in more than 200 springs near Paderborn Cathedral, where St. Liborius is buried.-History:...
.
Neighbouring places
- Bad Sassendorf
Bad Sassendorf is a municipality in the district of Soest, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-History:From February 15th, 1944 to April 4th or 5th 1945 inmates of the Neuengamme concentration camp used as the Eisenbahnbaubrigade 11 repaired rail tracks at the railway station Soest and between Bad...
- Ense
Ense is a municipality in the district of Soest, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:Ense is situated on the river Möhne, approx. 12 km north-west of Arnsberg and 12 km south-west of Soest...
- Lippetal
Lippetal is a municipality in the district of Soest, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.- Geography :Lippetal is located north and south of the river Lippe between the cities of Lippstadt and Hamm . Lippetal is situated at the northern boundary of the Soester Börde, south of the river Lippe and...
- Möhnesee
Möhnesee is a municipality in the district of Soest, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:The Möhnesee municipality is situated around the Möhne Reservoir , approx. 10 km south of Soest.- Neighboring municipalities:* Arnsberg...
- Werl
Werl is a town located in the district of Soest in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:Werl is easily accessible because it is located between the Sauerland, Münsterland, and the Ruhr Area...
- Welver
Welver is a municipality in the district of Soest, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.-Geography:Welver is situated approx. 12 km south-east of Hamm and 12 km north-west of Soest.-Neighbouring cities, towns, and municipalities:...
History
Because of the fertile soil the area around Soest was occupied long before 836 when the village is first mentioned in the
Dagobertsche Schenkung, although the origin of this document is historically uncertain. But there is no doubt that Soest has been inhabited for a long time; excavations in the last two decades have uncovered signs of habitation stretching back more than 4000 years. In the 11th and 12th century Soest grew considerably, making it one of the biggest towns in
WestphaliaWestphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Bochum, Detmold, Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen, Hagen, Minden and Münster and included in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia....
with some 10,000 citizens. It was also an important member of the
Hanseatic LeagueThe Hanseatic League was an alliance of trading cities and their guilds that established and maintained a trade monopoly along the coast of Northern Europe, from the Baltic to the North Sea and inland, during the Late Middle Ages and early modern period...
until 1609.
A self-confident Soest from 1444 to 1449 liberated itself from the Bishop of Cologne, who controlled
WestphaliaWestphalia is a region in Germany, centred on the cities of Arnsberg, Bielefeld, Bochum, Detmold, Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen, Hagen, Minden and Münster and included in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia....
(the so-called
Soester Fehde). Being no longer capital of Westphalia, the city aligned itself with the
Duke of ClevesThe Duchy of Cleves was a state of the Holy Roman Empire in present Germany and the Netherlands . Its territory was part of the Low Countries, situated on both sides of the river Rhine, around its capital Cleves and roughly covering today's districts of Cleves, Wesel and the city of Duisburg...
. This was a
Pyrrhic victoryA Pyrrhic victory is a victory with devastating cost to the victor.-Origin:The phrase is named after King Pyrrhus of Epirus, whose army suffered irreplaceable casualties in defeating the Romans at Heraclea in 280 BC and Asculum in 279 BC during the Pyrrhic War...
, however; the city had shown itself strong enough to defy the powerful Archbishop of Cologne, but lost much of its trade: the "liberated" town was two-thirds surrounded by territories with other allegiances. When the last Duke of Cleves died in 1609 that dukedom was inherited by Brandenburg and after a short siege Soest was incorporated into it.
The painter
Peter LelySir Peter Lely was a painter of Dutch origin, whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court.-Life:...
, later to win fame in England, was born in 1618 to Dutch parents in Soest, where his father was an officer serving in the armed forces of the Elector of Brandenburg.
During and after the
Thirty Years' WarThe Thirty Years' War was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history. The war was fought primarily in Germany and at various points involved most of the countries of Europe...
, Soest suffered a tremendous loss of both population and influence; at the lowest point in 1756 it had only 3,600 citizens.
With the creation of the
Soest districtSoest is a Kreis in the middle of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Warendorf, Gütersloh, Paderborn, Hochsauerland, Märkischer Kreis, Unna and the district-free city Hamm.- History :...
in 1817 its influence slowly rose. However, the industrialization of the
Ruhr areaThe Ruhr is an urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With 4435 km² and a population of some 5.3 million, it is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany...
did not reach Soest, which remained a small town.
The Nazi Party placed Soest in Gau Westphalia-South.
http://www.historisches-centrum.de/index.php?id=280
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
struck Soest with greatest fury in early April 1945, starting when Allied forces captured the town at the beginning of the month. They were soon evicted by a German counterattack. Destructive front-line combat raged in Soest and its environs through the first week of April until the Allies gained a permanent upper hand.
From approximately 1953 to 1971 there was a sizeable garrison of Canadian soldiers and their families stationed at Soest (with the Canadian camps located just east of the town in Bad Sassendorf) as well as Werl and Hemer-Iserlohn and Deilinghofen to the southwest. There were also several Belgian Kasernes located in Soest itself. There was also an American Nike Battery (66th Battalion) situated to the south, which was subsequently turned over to the German military, and still exists.
From 1971-1993 the former Canadian properties, including the Married Quarters along Hiddingser Weg, south of the B-1, were used and occupied by British military and families. Upon the closing out of Belgian and British army facilities many of these military facilities either became used for civilian purposes or were abandoned or demolished. The former Married Quarters area was converted to civilian housing. The former CLFEX (the Canadian Army's food and clothing store for NATO families) was converted to a NAAFI under the British and finally demolished in 2006.
Specialties of Soest
Among the old specialties of Soest are the Möppkenbread and the
PumpernickelPumpernickel is a type of very heavy, slightly sweet rye bread traditionally made with coarsely ground rye. It is now often made with a combination of rye flour and whole rye berries. It has been long associated with the Westphalia region of Germany. The first written mention of the black bread of...
. The Bakery Haverland at the town center, former royal Bavarian court supplier of the dark bread, has existed since 1570. A newer specialty is the “Bullenauge” (Bull's eye), a mocha liquor, sold mostly at the Allerheiligenkirmes. Another specialty of Soest is the Soester Beer, also called Onion beer, brewed since 1993 in the Zwiebel (Onion) inn.
St Patroclus's Cathedral
In 960,
Bruno I, Archbishop of CologneBruno the Great or Bruno I was Archbishop of Cologne, Germany, from 953 until his death, and Duke of Lotharingia from 954. He was the brother of Otto I, king of Germany and later Holy Roman Emperor....
transferred
St Patroclus'sSaint Patroclus of Troyes was a Christian martyr who died around 259 AD. A wealthy native of Troyes, he was noted for his charity....
relics from
TroyesTroyes is a commune, the préfecture of the north-eastern Aube département in France and is located on the Seine river. It is around south-east of Paris...
and buried them in 964 at St Patroclus's Cathedral in Soest, where he is still today venerated.
The Cathedral is a beautiful example of early medieval Romanesque architecture fashioned from the local greenish sandstone. Its massive squared bell tower or steeple can be seen for many kilometers, rising up out of the town centre of the old town and a landmark of the Soester Boerde.
Coat of arms
The coat of arms shows a key, which is the symbol for
Saint PeterSimon Peter , Pétros “Rock”, Kephas in Hellenized Aramaic) was a leader of the early Christian Church, who features prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. Peter was the son of John, and was from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee...
, the patron of Cologne. The coat was not modified even after Soest no longer fell within the jurisdiction of Cologne.
Twin towns
Bangor, GwyneddBangor is a city in Gwynedd, Wales, and one of the smallest cities in Britain. It is a university city with a population of 13,725 at the 2001 census, not including around 10,000 students at Bangor University. Including nearby Menai Bridge on Anglesey, which does not however form part of the City...
,
WalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It is also an elective region of the European Union...
GuérardGuérard is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.-External links:* *...
,
Seine-et-MarneSeine-et-Marne is a French department, named after the Seine and Marne rivers, and located in the Île-de-France region.- History:Seine-et-Marne is one of the original 83 departments, created on March 4, 1790 during the French Revolution in application of the law of December 22, 1789...
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
HerzbergHerzberg is a town in the Elbe-Elster district of the German federal state of Brandenburg.As of 2004, its population is 10,968 and the mayor is Michael Oecknigk of the Christian Democratic Union....
,
BrandenburgBrandenburg is one of the sixteen states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
KampenKampen is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands. It is the home of football team DOS Kampen and it's rivals Go - Ahead Kampen, KHC Kampen, VV Kampen and IJVV-Population centres:...
,
OverijsselOverijssel is a province of the Netherlands in the central eastern part of the country. The region has a NUTS classification of NL21. The province's name means "Lands across river IJssel". The capital city of Overijssel is Zwolle and the largest city is Enschede...
,
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
Sárospatak----Sárospatak is a town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, northern Hungary. It lies northeast from Miskolc, in the Bodrog river valley. The town, often called simply Patak, is an important cultural centre.- History :The area has been inhabited since ancient times...
,
Borsod-Abaúj-ZemplénBorsod-Abaúj-Zemplén is the name of an administrative county in north-eastern Hungary , on the border with Slovakia. It shares borders with the Hungarian counties Nógrád, Heves, Hajdú-Bihar and Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg. The capital of Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county is Miskolc...
,
HungaryHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
Soest,
UtrechtUtrecht is the smallest province of the Netherlands, and is located in the center of the country. It is bordered by the Eemmeer in the north, Gelderland in the east, the river Rhine in the south, South Holland in the west, and North Holland in the northwest...
,
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
Strzelce OpolskieStrzelce Opolskie is a town in south-western Poland with 19,628 inhabitants , situated in the Opole Voivodeship. It is the capital of Strzelce County. Strzelce Opolskie is one of the biggest centers of German minority in Poland....
,
Opole VoivodeshipOpole Voivodeship is a Polish voivodeship, or province, created on January 1, 1999, out of the former Opole Voivodeship and parts of Częstochowa Voivodeship, pursuant to the Polish local government reforms adopted in 1998...
,
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
VisbyVisby is a locality and the seat of Gotland Municipality in Gotland County, Sweden with 22,236 inhabitants in 2005. It is the only one with city status on the island of Gotland; it is arguably the best-preserved medieval city in Scandinavia and has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site...
,
Gotland' is a county, province, municipality and diocese of Sweden and the largest island in the Baltic Sea. At 3,140 square kilometers in area, it makes up less than one percent of Sweden's total land area. The region also includes the small islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the north, and the tiny...
,
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
External links