Radevormwald

Radevormwald
Coat of arms
Radevormwald
Location of Radevormwald within Oberbergischer Kreis district
Coordinates: 51°12′N 7°21′E / 51.200°N 7.350°E / 51.200; 7.350Coordinates: 51°12′N 7°21′E / 51.200°N 7.350°E / 51.200; 7.350
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Köln
District	Oberbergischer Kreis
Government
• Mayor	Johannes Mans
Area
• Total	53.77 km2 (20.76 sq mi)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	22,386
• Density	420/km2 (1,100/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	42477
Dialling codes	02195 (Radevormwald) 02191 (Villages in the Wupper valley)
Vehicle registration	GM
Website	www.radevormwald.de

Radevormwald is a municipality in the Oberbergischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is one of the oldest towns in the Bergischen Land, formerly the County and Duchy of Berg.

Radevormwald is located about 50 km east of Cologne. At 421 metres above sea level, it was the highest-situated town in the administrative region of Düsseldorf; it is now in the administrative region of Cologne.

Places submerged by the Wuppertal dam

The river Wupper flows through part of the town lands. In the villages Dahlerau, Vogelsmühle and Dahlhausen - which are located in the Wupper valley and so are known as the "Wupper villages" - this led to the establishment of textile works. These settlements used the water for the production of energy, at first by means of the water wheel and later through hydroelectric power plants. With the establishment of working-class dwellings by the textile companies the population of the Wupper villages increased. The middle classes also settled here, above all in Dahlerau where there were many single trading ventures. However, at the end of the 20th century the combination of the decline of the textile industry and increased mobility brought about the closure of most businesses in the Wupper villages; today, many former business premises are used as houses.

The first known reference in writing to the town was in the year 1050. Klaus Pampus writes in his book Urkundliche Erstnennungen oberbergischen Orte (Earliest Documentary References to Places in Oberberg) that Radevormwald came into the possession of the imperial abbey of Werden and at the time was called Rotha.

Radevormwald was situated in the County, later Duchy, of Berg. Between 1309 and 1316 Count Adolf VI von Berg conferred municipal rights on the town. The settlement "vor dem walde" ("before the wood") is described in 1363 in a lease of Count Wilhelm II von Jülich-Berg (Duke Wilhelm I) as a walled town. Radevormwald served the Counts von Berg as a border stronghold against Sauerland in the County of Mark.