Werdohl is a town in the district
Märkischer KreisThe Märkischer Kreis is a district in central North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighbouring districts are Unna, Soest, Hochsauerland, Olpe, Oberbergischer Kreis, Ennepe-Ruhr, and the city of Hagen.- History :...
, 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,...
.
Geography
Werdohl is located in the hills of the
SauerlandThe 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...
, at a double meander of the river
LenneThe Lenne is a river in the Sauerland area in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany, a left tributary of the Ruhr.Having its source on top of the Kahler Asten near Winterberg in an intermittent spring at an elevation of 2,687 feet, the Lenne ends after a course of 128 km flowing into the Ruhr...
and its confluent, the Verse. The highest elevation is the
Hölzerne Klinke with 448.8m above sea level, the lowest is in valley of Lenne at the boundary to the city
Altena58762 Altena|Website = |Bürgermeister = Dr Andreas Hollstein|Partei = CDU}}Altena is a town in the district Märkischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany...
with 162m.
History
The first document which mentions Werdohl dates to the year 1101. Bishop Heinrich II. from
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:...
mentions the church of Werdohl, which was donated by count Erpo of Padberg to the monastery Boke/Flechtdorf. In 1220 the Priorat Berentrop took over the ownership, which in 1300 was bought by count Everhard II. of the Mark.
Werdohl was long administrated in the Amt Neuenrade, however at the end of the 19th century the population of Werdohl was higher than those of the other municipalities in the Amt together. On June 1 1891 Werdohl left the Amt and became self-administrated, after it failed to get the seat of the Amt administration to be moved to Werdohl. On April 19 1936 the municipality received city rights.
Coat of arms
The
coat of armsA coat of arms, more properly called an armorial achievement, armorial bearings or often just arms for short, in European tradition, is a design belonging to a particular person and used by them in a wide variety of ways. Historically, they were used by knights to identify them apart from enemy...
of Werdohl shows a rose, which was already present in the seal of the church. To the right are three chain segments, the symbol of the family Neuhoff, a noble family which resided in the municipality in the past. The bottom part shows the red-white chequered bordure as the symbols of the counts of the Mark.
The first attempt of Werdohl to receive a coat of arms was started in 1915, when they asked Dr. Hildebrandt of the editorial staff of the
Deutscher Herold in Berlin to create a concept for a coat of arms. The draft already resembled the later coat of arms, only the rose was in silver on black ground. However the war and then the end of monarchy in Germany delayed for several years. In 1929
Otto HuppOtto Hupp was a German graphical artist. His main working area was heraldry, yet he also worked as a typeface designer, creating commercial symbols and metal works....
created two drafts of the coat of arms, on of which was then accepted by the municipality council on August 29 1929. It later turned out that the coat of arms need to be officially granted, which happened on January 16 1935.
In 1936 the
Landrat of
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....
lobbyed to have the coat of arms changed. He requested a draft from the heraldic Waldemar Mallek, which showed a Zeppelin in the top part, the chain in bottom, separated by the chequered bordure. It was however not accepted by the mayor of Werdohl, and wasn't pursued further.
Twin towns
Since April 6 1975 Werdohl has a
city partnershipTwin town may refer to:*Sister cities*Cândido Godói, a town in Brazil known for its unusually high twin population*Twinsburg, Ohio, location of an annual twin convention*Twin Town, a 1997 film...
with the English district
DerwentsideDerwentside was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district in County Durham, England.The district took its name from the River Derwent, which made up part of the northern border of the district. Its main towns were Consett and Stanley, with the district council offices on Consett's Medomsley...
. Since August 10 1990 it has a partnership with the city
StavenhagenStavenhagen is a municipality in the district of Demmin, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated 28 km northwest of Neubrandenburg.- Subdivisions :Stavenhagen is divided into several parts- History :...
in
Mecklenburg-Western PomeraniaMecklenburg-Vorpommern is a federal state in northern Germany. The capital city is Schwerin. The state was formed through the merger of the historic regions of Mecklenburg and Vorpommern after World War II, dissolved in 1952 and recreated prior to the German reunification in 1990.Due to its lengthy...
.
External links