Kierspe

Coat of arms

Kierspe

Location of Kierspe within Märkischer Kreis district

Coordinates: 51°08′N 07°34′E / 51.133°N 7.567°ECoordinates: 51°08′N 07°34′E / 51.133°N 7.567°E

Country

Germany

State

North Rhine-Westphalia

Government

• Mayor

Frank Emde

Area

• Total

71.62 km² (27.65 sq mi)

Elevation

280 - 552 m (−1,531 ft)

Population (2015-12-31)

• Total

16,300

• Density

230/km² (590/sq mi)

Time zone

CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)

Postal codes

58566

Dialling codes

02359 (Kierspe)
02269 (Rönsahl)

Vehicle registration

Website

www.kierspe.de

Kierspe is a town in the district Märkischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located at the western edge of the Sauerland on Volme River.

The first mention of Kierspe was in 1003, when the castle 'Haus Rhade' was first mentioned in a manuscript. On this basis Kierspe celebrated its 1000th anniversary in 2003. Around 1490 Kierspe became the seat of the Heilige Feme, an independent jury of commoners with the right to mete out the death penalty. Such Feme juries were common in Westphalia at the time.

In 1968, as part of the reorganization of the former district Altena, the city of Kierspe was formed by merging the Amt of Kierspe with the municipality of Rönsahl. On 1 January 1969 Kierspe officially obtained city rights.

The city's coat of arms was derived from the former coat of arms of the Amt. It combines symbols for both of the member municipalities - Kierspe and Rönsahl - separated by the red-white checkered bar of the counts of the Mark. On the bottom of the coat of arms is a red lion with blue claws and tongue, the symbol of the counts of Berg and taken from the coat of arms of Rönsahl. On the top is a Rauk, a raven. It refers to the nickname given to young recruits, who imitated the sound of the raven when first wearing their blue uniform during mustering. The coat of arms was granted to the Amt on 20 August 1936, and to the city on 29 July 1969. It was designed by Otto Hupp.

The coat of arms of the municipality Kierspe was similar to the one of the Amt, except the bottom was a blank yellow field. It was granted on 17 October 1935. The coat of arms of the municipality Rönsahl had Saint Servatius in the top, the patron saint of the church in Rönsahl.

Kierspe has been twinned with the French town Montigny-le-Bretonneux since 1988. The partnership developed from a long-lasting student exchange of the Gesamtschule Kierspe with a high school in Montigny-le-Bretonneux.

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Wikipedia