- Bocholt, Germany
Infobox German Location
Art = Stadt
Name = Bocholt
Wappen = Bocholt Wappen.png
lat_deg = 51 |lat_min = 50 | lat_sec=0
lon_deg = 6 |lon_min = 37 | lon_sec=0
Lageplan =
Bundesland = North Rhine-Westphalia
Regierungsbezirk = Münster
Kreis = Borken
Höhe = 25
Fläche = 119.37
Einwohner = 73640
Stand = 2006-12-31
PLZ = 46361–46399
Vorwahl = 02871
02874 (Suderwick)
Kfz = BOR (until 1975: BOH)
Gemeindeschlüssel = 05 5 54 008
Gliederung = 12
Adresse = Berliner Platz 1
46395 Bocholt
Website = [http://www.bocholt.de/ www.bocholt.de]
Bürgermeister = Peter Nebelo
Partei = SPDBocholt is a municipality in the north-west of
North Rhine-Westphalia ,Germany , part of the district Borken. It is situated 4 km south of the border with theNetherlands .History
Bocholt was first written about in
779 , whenCharlemagne won a battle against the Saxons nearby. However the settlement was probably much older. Bishop Dietrich III von Isenburg fromMünster gave Bocholt city rights in1222 .In the 15th century the city flourished. The engraver
Israhel van Meckenem lived and worked in the city.Between 1803 and 1810 Bocholt was the capital of the
Principality of Salm . The Principality of Salm was governed by the prince ofSalm-Salm and the prince ofSalm-Kyrburg .Economy
Bocholt is a manufacturing town. It was a town of textile industry for most of the 19th and 20th century. Today there are still several successful textile manufacturers in town. The importance of texile industry, however, has greatly declined. Major employers in Bocholt are Siemens (Communications) and Flender(Siemens) - a leading manufacturer of transmissions, especially for wind energy plants. Most typical of Bocholt industries are smaller and highly specialized manufacturers. Some of them are internationally leading in their particular field of specialization. Bocholt industries profit from cooperation with the local technical college (Fachhochschule) as well as similar institutions in the region.
Bocholt is also a regional centre for shoppers from the West-Münsterland area as well as from the neighbouring rural and small town areas of the Netherlands. It has got a nice old town shopping area as well as popular new shopping malls.
Coat of arms
The coat of arms shows a
beech tree, which has been the symbol for the city since the 13th century. Bocholt translated into English roughly means "beechwood". [http://www.ngw.nl/int/dld/b/bocholt.htm]Transportation
Bocholt is the last stop on a 25 minute 2-way-1-track train route starting in Wesel traveling north to Bocholt. From Wesel one can transfer to trains that travel south to
Düsseldorf International Airport , Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof or northwest toAmsterdam .Twin towns
* )
* )
* )External links
* [http://www.bocholt.de Official site] de icon
* [http://www.stadtplan-bocholt.de Map of Bocholt] de icon
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