Kempen (Germany)
| Kempen | ||
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Old School Street
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 Kempen
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Location of Kempen within Viersen district
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| Coordinates: 51°21′57″N 6°25′10″E / 51.36583°N 6.41944°ECoordinates: 51°21′57″N 6°25′10″E / 51.36583°N 6.41944°E | ||
| Country | Germany | |
| State | North Rhine-Westphalia | |
| Admin. region | Düsseldorf | |
| District | Viersen | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor | Volker Rübo (CDU) | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 68.79 km2 (26.56 sq mi) | |
| Elevation | 30 - 68 m (−193 ft) | |
| Population (2015-12-31) | ||
| • Total | 34,837 | |
| • Density | 510/km2 (1,300/sq mi) | |
| Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) | |
| Postal codes | 47906 | |
| Dialling codes | 0 21 52 | |
| Vehicle registration | VIE | |
| Website | www.kempen.de | |
Kempen is a town in the district of Viersen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately 30 km northwest of Düsseldorf, and 20 km east of Venlo.
Kempen is the birthplace of Thomas à Kempis.
Thomas was born in either 1379 or 1380 in Kempen. His birthplace was on the Kirchplatz (church square) about where the house "St. Marien 11" stands today. Thomas was the second son of the craftsman Johann Hemerken and his wife Gertrud Kuyt, who was most probably a teacher.
In Kempen, Thomas visited the Latin School until the age of 12. Afterwards, he left Kempen in order to visit the town school in Deventer, which had a very good reputation and was most likely therefore known on the Lower Rhine. The school served as a preparatory institution for university study and taught mainly grammar, logic, ethics and philosophy.
In 1836, the Thomas Society was founded in Kempen in order to foster the memory of the greatest son of the city. In the twentieth century, there have been two other foundations: in 1979, the married couple Heinrich and Christine Kiefer founded the Thomas Foundation and in 1987, the Provost’s parish, the town of Kempen and the Thomas Society jointly founded the Thomas Archive, which can be found in the Cultural Forum of the Franciscan Monastery.
Kempen, view in a street
Kempen, church
Kempen, towngate: das Kuhtor
Kempen, Lutheran church (Thomas Church)
Kempen, Hessenmühle
Kempen, Burg
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Wood, James, ed. (1907). "article name needed". The Nuttall Encyclopædia. London and New York: Frederick Warne.
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