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Bensberg

Bergisch Gladbach
Forecourt of Schloss Bensberg
Forecourt of Schloss Bensberg
Flag of Bergisch Gladbach
Flag
Coat of arms of Bergisch Gladbach
Coat of arms
Bergisch Gladbach  is located in Germany
Bergisch Gladbach
Bergisch Gladbach
Coordinates: 51°06′N 07°07′E / 51.100°N 7.117°E / 51.100; 7.117Coordinates: 51°06′N 07°07′E / 51.100°N 7.117°E / 51.100; 7.117
Country Germany
State North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region Köln
District Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis
Government
 • Mayor Lutz Urbach (CDU)
Area
 • Total 83.12 km2 (32.09 sq mi)
Elevation 51-267 m (−825 ft)
Population (2015-12-31)
 • Total 111,366
 • Density 1,300/km2 (3,500/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 51401-51469
Dialling codes 02202, 02204, 02207
Vehicle registration GL
Website www.bergischgladbach.de
Largest groups of foreign residents
Nationality Population (2014)
 Turkey 2,123
 Italy 882
 Poland 878
 Greece 679
 Romania 300
 Kosovo 288
 Croatia 260
 Austria 257
 Russia 241
 Bosnia & Herzegovina 208

Bergisch Gladbach (German pronun­cia­tion: [ˌbɛɐ̯gɪʃ ˈglatbax]), is a city in the Cologne/Bonn Region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and capital of the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis (district).

Bergisch Gladbach is located east of the river Rhine, approx. 10 kilometers east of Cologne.

Beginning in the north clockwise the neighbouring municipalities and neighbouring towns are: Odenthal, Kürten, Overath, Rösrath, Cologne and Leverkusen.

Early settlements existed in the 13th century, but the town was officially founded in 1856.

The word Bergisch in the name does not originate from its location in the county of Berg and was not added to distinguish it from Mönchengladbach as believed by many people, but from the counts who gave their name to the region. At the start of the 12th century the counts of Berg settled in the area and it later became the duchy (under Napoleon, the grand duchy) of Berg. This is where the first part of the name (Bergisch) comes from, the town being located in the former county of Berg. It is the administrative headquarters ('Kreisstadt') of the Rheinish-Bergisch district (or 'Kreis').

The second part of the name, Gladbach (cognate with English Ladbrooke) originates from Low German (Bergisches Platt) and means canalised stream, referring to the small river (the Strunde) that was artificially canalised (laid) in early medieval times. In Bergisch Platt, the regional dialect, laid is said gelaat, a word which eventually evolved to glad (in this case the 'd' is pronounced as a 't'). The second part of the word, bach is the standard German word for a small stream, referring in this case to the Strunde.


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