Meschede

Meschede
View over Meschede
Meschede
Location of the town of Meschede within Hochsauerlandkreis district
Coordinates	51°21′N 8°17′E / 51.35°N 8.28333°E / 51.35; 8.28333Coordinates: 51°21′N 8°17′E / 51.35°N 8.28333°E / 51.35; 8.28333
Administration
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Arnsberg
District	Hochsauerlandkreis
Town subdivisions	17
Mayor	Uli Hess (CDU)
Basic statistics
Area	218.5 km2 (84.4 sq mi)
Elevation	260 m  (853 ft)
Population	30,823 (31 December 2010)[1]
- Density	141 /km2 (365 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate	HSK
Postal codes	D 59872
Area code	0291
Website	www.meschede.de

Meschede is a town in the Hochsauerland district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the district Hochsauerlandkreis.

Geography

Meschede is situated in the Ruhr valley, near to the Hennesee, south of the nature-park Arnsberger Wald. Major towns in the vicinity of Meschede are Paderborn (51 km), Kassel (85 km), Siegen (57 km), Hagen, Dortmund (60 km) and Hamm (49 km).

Neighbouring municipalities

• Arnsberg
• Bestwig
• Eslohe
• Schmallenberg
• Sundern
• Warstein

Division of the town

After the local government reforms of 1975 Meschede consists of these districts and villages:

Baldeborn Berge Berghausen Beringhausen Blüggelscheidt Bockum Bonacker Calle Drasenbeck Einhaus Enkhausen Enste Ensthof Erflinghausen Eversberg Frenkhausen Freienohl

Frielinghausen Galiläa Giesmecke Grevenstein Heggen Heinrichsthal Höhringhausen Horbach Immenhausen Klause Köpperkopf Köttinghausen Kotthoff Laer Löllinghausen Löttmaringhausen Mielinghausen

Mosebolle Mülsborn Obermielinghausen Olpe Remblinghausen Schederberge Schedergrund Schüren Stesse Stockhausen Vellinghausen Visbeck Wallen Wehrstapel Wennemen Windhäuser Wulstern.

Panorama of Meschede

History

In 1921 the Sauerländer Heimatbund was founded.

Transportation

Meschede is connected with two national roads, the federal roads B 7 and B 55, and the motorway A 46. It has an airfield, the Meschede-Schüren Airfield, with a 900 m runway.

Climate

The city's climate is continental. The lowest temperature recorded was −20 °C (−4 °F), its highest was recorded at 39 °C (102 °F).

Mayors of Meschede

• 1952–1961: Engelbert Dick (CDU)
• 1961–1969: Josef Busch (CDU)
• 1969–1974: Bruno Peus (CDU)
• 1975–1998: Franz Stahlmecke (CDU)
• 1998–1999: Bruno Peus (CDU)
• 1999–present: Hans-Ulrich (Uli) Hess (CDU)

Media

Meschede has its local radio station Radio Sauerland. The Fachhochschule Südwestfalen runs its own radio station called radioFH!. The regional newspapers are Westfalenpost and Westfälische Rundschau. The local newspaper is the Sauerlandkurier.

Notable people

• Karl Lehr (1842–1919), mayor of Duisburg
• August Macke (1887–1914), painter
• Ansgar Nierhoff (b. 1941), artist
• Werner Pieper (b. 1948), author
• Klaus-Jürgen Wrede (b. 1963), author of the Carcassonne games
• Matthias Ungemach (b. 1968), Olympic rower
• Armin Petras (b. 1964), theatre director
• Daniela Bette (b. 1981), actress
• Dieter Wurm, chairman of Sauerländer Heimatbund ^[2]

Main sights

• Abbey Königsmünster, built by Order of Saint Benedict
• Hennesee

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Meschede is twinned with:

• Wińsko, Poland, since 1956
• Le Puy-en-Velay, France, since 1975
• Cousolre, France, since 1965 (twin town of Freienohl)

Also unofficial friendly relations exist with the following towns:

• Coventry, United Kingdom
• Coventry, United States
• Vannes, France
• Neufraunhofen, Germany

References

1. ^ "Amtliche Bevölkerungszahlen" (in German). Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW. 31 December 2010. http://www.it.nrw.de/statistik/a/daten/amtlichebevoelkerungszahlen/index.html. 
2. ^ Sauerländer Heimatbund

External links

• Official site (German)
  

  Meschede in winter 2004

Meschede in winter 2005