Witten (Germany)
| Witten | ||
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Town hall in Witten
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 Witten
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Location of Witten within Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis district
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| Coordinates: 51°26′0″N 7°20′0″E / 51.43333°N 7.33333°ECoordinates: 51°26′0″N 7°20′0″E / 51.43333°N 7.33333°E | ||
| Country | Germany | |
| State | North Rhine-Westphalia | |
| Admin. region | Arnsberg | |
| District | Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor | Sonja Leidemann (no party affiliation) | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 72.40 km2 (27.95 sq mi) | |
| Elevation | 104 m (341 ft) | |
| Population (2015-12-31) | ||
| • Total | 96,700 | |
| • Density | 1,300/km2 (3,500/sq mi) | |
| Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) | |
| Postal codes | 58401 - 58456 | |
| Dialling codes | 02302 02324 (Buchholz) |
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| Vehicle registration | EN, WIT | |
| Website | witten.de | |
Witten is a university city in the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis (district) in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the home of the Witten/Herdecke University, the first private university in Germany.
Witten is situated in the Ruhr valley, in the southern Ruhr area.
Witten is divided into 8 boroughs and every of these boroughs is divided into city-districts. Every district has its own district-number:
Witten was first mentioned in historic sources in 1214, however the borough Herbede (which was incorporated into the city in 1975) dates back to 851. The city was a mining town from 1578. In 1946, it was included in North Rhine-Westphalia on its establishment. In 1975 Witten was included in the administrative district Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis and it is now its biggest city. 1975 was also the year Witten was first counted to have more than 100,000 inhabitants, the threshold to be considered a large city ("Großstadt") in Germany.
In the late 19th century Witten was known for the Roburit dynamite. This dynamite was once used by coal mines around the world. In 1906 an explosion occurred, resulting in the deaths of 41 people.
The local council of Witten has 64 seats. In the local elections of 2004 the German Social Democratic Party, SPD, gained 24 seats and form the largest party represented on the council. It is followed by the Christian Democratic Party, CDU with 18 and the Greens with 7 seats. They are followed by the WBG (a conservative list) with 4, FDP 4, FLW (also a conservative list) 3, NPD 2, PDS/WAL (socialists) 1 and AUF Witten (a left wing list) also 1. Since 2004 for the first time in its history the council is led by a female mayor: Sonja Leidemann, SPD.
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Wikipedia