Location

Arnsberg is located in the north-east of the Sauerland in the Ruhr river valley. The river Ruhr meanders around the south of the old town of Arnsberg. The town is nearly completely encircled by forest, and the nature park Arnsberger Wald lies to the north".

Arnsberg is connected by Federal Motorway 46 (Autobahn 46) Brilon in the east and (using the Federal Motorway 445) Werl in the west. It is also connected by several railroad stations, which provide a connection to the major city Dortmund and the Ruhrgebiet. There is also a regional airport, located in the city district of Vosswinkel, which is exclusively used for small private aircraft.

The municipal territory spans a distance of up to 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) from the southern to the northern limits.^[3]

Neighbouring municipalities

• Ense
• Möhnesee
• Warstein
• Meschede
• Sundern
• Balve
• Menden

Subdivisions

After the local government reforms of 1975 Arnsberg consists of 15 boroughs (Ortsteile):

• Neheim (23,448 inhabitants)
• Arnsberg (19,355 inhabitants)
• Hüsten (11,304 inhabitants)
• Oeventrop (6,713 inhabitants)
• Herdringen (4,118 inhabitants)
• Bruchhausen (3,337 inhabitants)
• Müschede (2,870 inhabitants)
• Voßwinkel (2,523 inhabitants)
• Niedereimer (2,082 inhabitants)
• Holzen (2,022 inhabitants)
• Rumbeck (1,305 inhabitants)
• Wennigloh (1,004 inhabitants)
• Bachum (959 inhabitants)
• Breitenbruch (219 inhabitants)
• Uentrop (346 inhabitants)

Jewish cemetery

Beginnings

Arnsberg was first mentioned in 789 in the Carolingian records (Urbar) as belonging to the abbey of Werden.

Arnsberg was the seat of the Counts of Arnsberg from around 1070 and received city rights in 1238. In 1368 the last of the Counts of Arnsberg, Count Gottfried IV, handed over the city and county to Kurköln as he had no heir.^[4]

They built a castle there whose remains can still be visited and are occasionally used for public celebrations.

In the 12th century, old Arnsberg became the seat of Westphalian jurisdiction (whose coat of arms is still used today by the Hochsauerlandkreis). Later, the city lost its independence and was subject to the Archbishops of Cologne.

18th/19th Century

The castle of Arnsberg was destroyed in the Seven Years' War in 1769.

In 1794 the French attacked Cologne, so parts of the treasure of the Cologne Cathedral were brought to safety in Arnsberg, along with the relics of the Biblical Magi. In 1804, the treasure was returned to Cologne, as commemorated by a plaque in the Propsteikirche.

In 1816, Arnsberg came under Prussian rule and was made a local administrative centre.

World War Two

Neheim and Hüsten were merged in 1941.

During the Second World War, Arnsberg first suffered widespread destruction and catastrophic loss of lives when RAF Lancasters breached the dam of the Möhne Reservoir in the night of the 16 to 17 May 1943 (Operation Chastise). The nearby Abbey Himmelpforten was completely washed away.

Later, dozens of Arnsberg's citizens were killed in several British air raids aimed at destroying the railway viaduct. The targets were finally destroyed on 19 March 1945 using a 'Grand Slam' bomb.^[5]

Contemporary history

The current city of Arnsberg was created in 1975 by merging 12 surrounding municipalities (Bachum, Breitenbruch, Herdringen, Holzen, Müschede, Niedereimer, Oeventrop, Rumbeck, Uentrop, Voßwinkel and Wennigloh) into one city.^[6]

Old Arnsberg itself and Neheim-Hüsten are the two main urban areas, while the other parts are mainly rural areas.

Religion

Arnsberg's population is mostly Roman Catholic. Arnsberg belongs to the Archdiocese of Paderborn. Catholic churches include the "Propsteikirche" or the "Heilig-Kreuz Kirche" and the "Auferstehungskirche", which is a Protestant church. There is also a New Apostolic congregation.

In recent years Arnsberg's Muslim minority grew considerably. The town has a mosque.

The cemeteries are mostly Catholic but there is also a Jewish cemetery.

City arms

The arms of the city depict a white eagle on a blue field. Earlier it was a white eagle on a red field, introduced in 1278 and as used by the counts of Arnsberg . In the 17th century the red was changed to blue, reflecting the Bavarian blue of the House of Wittelsbach.

Mayors

Mayors of the new town Arnsberg

People related to Arnsberg

Buchenwald memorial

• Paul Moder (1896–1942), politician (NSDAP), Freikorps member and SS officer
• Walther Neye (1901–1989), jurist and rector of the Humboldt University in Berlin
• Fritz Cremer (1906–1993), sculptor (Buchenwald Memorial)
• Lothar Collatz (1910–1990), mathematician
• Günter Keute (born 1955), footballer
• Friedrich Merz (born 1955), attorney and politician, member of the CDU
• Meinolf Finke (born 1963), poet
• Stephan Kampwirth (born 1967), theatre actor, film actor and voice actor
• Rouven Schröder (born 1975), footballer
• Philipp Hofmann (born 1993), footballer