Hürth
Town
Saint Catherine parish church
Coat of arms
Location of Hürth within Rhein-Erft-Kreis district
Hürth Show map of Germany Hürth Show map of North Rhine-Westphalia
Coordinates: 50°52′39″N 6°52′34″E / 50.87750°N 6.87611°E / 50.87750; 6.87611
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Köln
District	Rhein-Erft-Kreis
Subdivisions	12
Government
• Mayor (2020–25)	Dirk Breuer[1] (CDU)
Area
• Total	51.173 km2 (19.758 sq mi)
Highest elevation	154 m (505 ft)
Lowest elevation	54 m (177 ft)
Population  (2021-12-31)[2]
• Total	60,034
• Density	1,200/km2 (3,000/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	50354
Dialling codes	02233
Vehicle registration	BM
Website	www.huerth.de

Hürth is a town in the Rhein-Erft-Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Hürth shares borders with the city of Cologne and is about 6 km to the southwest of Cologne city centre, at the northeastern slope of the natural preserve Kottenforst-Ville. The town consists of thirteen districts, once independent villages, and is distributed over a relatively large area. The municipal area is interspersed with lakes and stretches of forest.

In former times, the Eifel Aqueduct, a Roman aqueduct which supplied the city of Cologne with drinking water, went through Hürth. Remnants of various aqueducts can still be found underground. It is also famous as the birthplace of Michael and Ralf Schumacher.

Geography

Hürth is situated about 6 km to the southwest of Cologne city centre, at the northeastern slope of the Kottenforst-Ville nature reserve.

The town, consisting of thirteen formerly independent villages, is essentially made up of numerous subdivisions and commercial centres distributed over a relatively large area. The municipal area is interspersed with lakes and stretches of forest.

Coat of arms

Hürth's coat of arms shows an eagle from the family coat of arms belonging to the knight Hurth von Schönecken, the cross of Cologne and a cogwheel that refers to the heavy industry. It was awarded to the community on October 26, 1934, by a verdict of the Prussian Ministry of State.

Districts

• Alstädten/Burbach
• Alt-Hürth
• Berrenrath
• Efferen
• Fischenich
• Gleuel
• Hermülheim
• Hürth-Mitte
• Kalscheuren
• Kendenich
• Knapsack
• Sielsdorf
• Stotzheim

History

Burg Kendenich

On April 1, 1930, the rural communities of Hürth (with Alstädten and Knapsack), Berrenrath, Fischenich, Gleuel (with Sielsdorf and Burbach), Hermülheim and Kendenich (with Kalscheuren) were united into a new country community called Hürth. After the same year's failed attempt by the city of Cologne, with its then-mayor Konrad Adenauer, to incorporate Efferen, Efferen was associated to Hürth in 1933, in tandem with Stotzheim. This made Hürth the largest rural community of Germany until 1978, when Hürth ceased being a rural community and became a suburb of Cologne as new developments in Efferen closed the gap between the city of Cologne and Hürth.

The country administration of the rural district Cologne was seated in Hürth on November 22, 1963. From 1816, it had been seated in the city of Cologne itself. The administration moved to Bergheim on September 3, 1993.

Hürth is home to the Bundessprachenamt, which was founded on July 4, 1969.

Sights

In former times, the Eifel Aqueduct, a Roman aqueduct which supplied the city of Cologne with drinking water, went through Hürth. A couple of springs and streams in today's municipal area were used for that purpose before the Eifel aqueduct was built. Remnants of the aqueducts can still be found in the underground of the city.

Facility 4101, Tower 93

• 
  Facility 4101, Tower 93 with observation platform in 2005
• 
  The concrete plate between the feet of the pylon, on which once stood the scaffold with the staircase to the observation deck
• 
  Upper part of Facility 4101, Tower 93. At the place where one can see the lattice structure in the shape of an inverted "v" in the body of the pylon, there was once the observation deck

Tower 93 of Facility 4101, situated north of Bleibtreusee at 50°50′52.57″N 6°51′32.54″E / 50.8479361°N 6.8590389°E / 50.8479361; 6.8590389, is a 74.84 metres tall electricity pylon, capable of carrying four 380 kV-circuits, which was built in 1975 as strainer for the double-circuit 380 kV-line Oberzier-Sechtem. In 1977 a covered public observation deck, accessible by a staircase in the centre of the pylon, was installed at a height of 27 metres on this tower, which was in all probability the only observation deck ever installed on an electricity pylon. In 2002 two single-phase AC circuits of the 110 kV-line Cologne-Sindorf used by the German railway company, DB AG, were installed on its lowest crossbar.

In 2010 the observation platform, including the staircase, was removed, after repeated vandalism, which concerned also parts important for the integrity of the pylon. Today only a concrete plate between its legs and a pattern in the form of an inverted "v" in its lattice structure remember to the former observation deck.

Notable people

Public transport

Since September 29, 1997, Hürth has a bus network that covers most of the city's area. There are six bus lines, labelled 711 through 720, by the city's public transport corporation,^[3] and another five lines that are not associated with the SVH, having only a number of bus stops in Hürth.

Hürth-Kalscheuren station is located in Kalscheuren and operated by Deutsche Bahn. Two Regionalbahn services stop each hour, connecting to Cologne, Bonn and Euskirchen, while other Intercity and Regional-Express pass through without stopping.

Additionally, Hürth is connected to Cologne and Bonn via the Stadtbahn line 18 of the Cologne Stadtbahn.

All local public transport, including that of the Deutsche Bahn, is subject to the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg, which is a combine of public transport organizations, setting unified prices for the whole of the combine.

Twin towns – sister cities

Hürth is twinned with:^[4]

Literature

• Clemens Klug: "Hürth - wie es war, wie es wurde" (1961)
• Herbert Sinz: "Auf der grünen Wiese"
• Herbert Sinz, Heinrich Schnitzler: "Hürth in alten Bildern" (1980), ISBN 3-88265-052-4
• Heinrich Schnitzler: "50 Jahre Ortsgemeinschaft Hürth-Gleuel" (1985)
• Helmut Neßeler: "Hürth wie es früher war" (1999), ISBN 3-86134-585-4
• Manfred Faust: "Geschichte der Stadt Hürth" (2009), ISBN 978-3-7616-2282-7
• Raymund Gottschalk: "Römer und Franken in Hürth" (2014), ISBN 978-3-7749-3928-8

References

External links

Media related to Hürth at Wikimedia Commons