Werne | |
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.jpg) Market square | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
Location of Werne within Unna district  | |
  Werne  Werne | |
| Coordinates:51°40′N7°37′E / 51.667°N 7.617°E /51.667; 7.617 | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | North Rhine-Westphalia |
| Admin. region | Arnsberg |
| District | Unna |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2020–25) | Lothar Christ[1] (Ind.) |
| Area | |
• Total | 76.08 km2 (29.37 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 60 m (200 ft) |
| Population (2023-12-31)[2] | |
• Total | 29,868 |
| • Density | 390/km2 (1,000/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Postal codes | 59368 |
| Dialling codes | 0 23 89 |
| Vehicle registration | UN |
| Website | www.werne.de |
Werne an der Lippe (German pronunciation:[ˈvɛʁnə]ⓘ;Westphalian:Wäen) is a town in the Federal state ofNorth Rhine-Westphalia in theUnna district in Germany. It is located on the southern edge of theMünsterland region near theRuhrgebiet. The population of Werne is about 32,000.
The firstBishop of Münster,Liudger established Werne as aparish by erecting a chapel in the southern parts of theDreingau ("in pago dreginni"). He acted on orders ofCharlemagne who, having finally brought the region under the fold ofFrancia following the conclusion of theSaxon Wars, was eager to press on withChristianization. The Latin text of the oldest preserved document ("in villa quae dicitur werina"), which dates from 834 and is being kept at theLeiden University Library, indicates that by this time a village had already formed around the chapel.
Traders and peasants continued to accrete throughout the next three centuries. At some point between the years 1192 and 1195, the regional bishopric established acustoms agency at Werne and put the place under its direct jurisdiction. The year 1253 found Werne in an alliance (the "Werner Bund") with the cities ofMünster,Dortmund,Soest andLippstadt to defend transit and trading rights relating to a bridge over theLippe river. In 1470 Werne became a member of theHanseatic League. A town hall was built from 1512 to 1561.
The first moves towards afortification of Werne date to 1302 when a trench was dug around the church; this was improved and extended to protect the entire settlement in 1383, two years before it receivedtown privileges in 1385. AfterAdolph I, Duke of Cleves had burned Werne to the ground in 1400, the full fortification of the town commenced in 1415. However, this did not prevent occupation, looting and torching of the town on several occasions during theThirty Years' War and of course it was no help at all against theBlack Death, which killed 313 people (out of a population of about 1,000) in 1636 and 1637 while the war still raged. (Parts of the town wall and some of the towers were pulled down in 1779; the last town gate (the "Neutor") was demolished in 1843.)
ThePeace of Westphalia, signed in 1648 at the nearby cities ofMünster andOsnabrück, had essentially expelled Protestantism from the Werne region. From 1671 to 1673 theOrder of Friars Minor Capuchin erected a monastery and, from 1677 to 1681, the Catholic Church. (The Martin Luther Church at the Wichernstraße dates from 1904).
Werne, which had come under the administration ofPrussia in 1803 when thePrince-Bishopric of Münster had been dissolved, was attached to theGrand Duchy of Berg byNapoleon in 1806. TheCongress of Vienna restored the town to Prussia which incorporated it with other territories into itsProvince of Westphalia. In 1831 was granted a degree of administrative independence under the Prussian municipal code of 1831.
In 1873 and 1874 the search for coal produced abrine thermal spring, and the Werne Baths were established in 1878. The actual coal mine did not commence operations before 1899; it was operated until 1975. Today the buildings of the "Zeche Werne" have been converted to public meeting places, or are part of a business park.
The railway line Münster-Werne-Dortmund was opened in 1928. It had taken a significant amount of lobbying to get Werne a railway station, which was totally refurbished in 2005.
During the war, 471 citizens of Werne died and 500 more disappeared without trace. The town accommodated nearly 4,000 refugees.
The population of the town of Werne (and the ward of Stockum) increased from 1974 to 2003 by about 23%. The proportion of foreigners was about five percent in 2003. In the same year, the ward of Stockum with 4,760 inhabitants presented 14.6% of the population of Werne. The proportion of the Catholic population amounted to 57.4%, the proportion of the Protestant population to 25.0%. 17.6% had no religious affiliation or belonged to another faith.
In 2012 Werne had a population of 29,482.[3]
Bailleul, France (1967)
Lytham St Annes, England, United Kingdom (1984)
Kyritz, Germany (1990)
Wałcz, Poland (1992)
Poggibonsi, Italy (2000)
(in German)Towns and municipalities inUnna (district) | ||
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