Gummersbach

Gummersbach

Church in Gummersbach

Coat of arms
Gummersbach

Coordinates: 51°02′N 7°34′E / 51.033°N 7.567°E / 51.033; 7.567Coordinates: 51°02′N 7°34′E / 51.033°N 7.567°E / 51.033; 7.567
Country Germany
State North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region Cologne
District Oberbergischer Kreis
Government
 • Mayor Frank Helmenstein (CDU)
Area
 • Total 95.3 km2 (36.8 sq mi)
Population (2015-12-31)[1]
 • Total 50,412
 • Density 530/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 51643, 51645, 51647
Dialling codes 02261, 02266 (Berghausen), 02354 (Lieberhausen), 02263 (Elbach)
Vehicle registration GM
Website www.gummersbach.de

Gummersbach is a town in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, being the district seat of the Oberbergischer Kreis. It is located 50 km east of Cologne. The town is famous by its first league handball team VfL Gummersbach.

History

In 1109 Gummersbach was mentioned in official documents for the first time. The document in question concerned the lowering of the episcopal tax for the church in Gummersbach by Archbishop Frederick I. At that time the name of the town was spelled as Gumeresbracht. Gummersbach received town privileges in 1857. In 1855 Gummersbach's industrial history began with the foundation of the company Steinmüller. With the company's success the little village began to grow to a town. After going out of business most of the company's area was unused. Due to the fact that by the time this area made up half of the downtown area the town of Gummersbach bought this area to develop it. Today (2016) a multifunctional arena, a shopping mall, university buildings and offices have already been built.

The coat of arms

The arms were granted on July 27, 1892. Gummersbach developed rapidly from a small village to a large town during the early 19th century, due to the metal and textile industry. The right part of the arms thus show a spindle as a symbol for the textile industry. The left part shows the arms of the Counts of the Mark, as the area belonged to the Mark since 1287.

Communities, localities and villages

Map of Gummersbach

Apfelbaum - Becke - Berghausen - Bernberg - Birnbaum - Börnchen - Bracht - Bredenbruch - Brink - Bruch - Brunohl - Berghausen - Deitenbach - Derschlag - Dieringhausen - Drieberhausen - Dümmlinghausen - Elbach - Erbland - Erlenhagen - Flaberg - Frömmersbach - Grünenthal - Gummeroth - Hardt - Hardt-Hanfgarten - Helberg - Herreshagen - Hesselbach - Höfen -Hömel - Hülsenbusch - Hunstig - Kalkuhl - Karlskamp - Koverstein - Lantenbach - Lieberhausen - Liefenroth - Lobscheid - Lützinghausen - Luttersiefen - Mühle - Neuenhaus - Neuenschmiede - Niedergelpe - Niedernhagen - Niederseßmar - Nochen - Oberrengse - Ohmig -Peisel - Piene - Rebbelroth - Recklinghausen - Reininghausen - Remmelsohl - Rodt - Rospe - Schneppsiefen - Schönenberg - Schusterburg - Sonnenberg - Steinenbrück - Straße - Strombach - Unnenberg - Veste - Vollmerhausen - Waldesruh - Wasserfuhr - Windhagen - Wörde - Würden

Main sights

Education

Twin towns

Gummersbach is twinned with:[2]

Sport

The men's team VfL Gummersbach was one of the most successful handball teams of Europe in the 1970s and 1980s. It is still in the top league of the German handball competition: the Handball-Bundesliga.

Notable people

References

  1. ↑ "Amtliche Bevölkerungszahlen". Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW (in German). 18 July 2016.
  2. ↑ Town twinnings
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