Euskirchen (German pronunciation: [ˈɔʏskɪʁçn̩] ; Ripuarian: Öskerche) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the district Euskirchen. While Euskirchen resembles a modern shopping town, it also has a history dating back over 700 years, having been granted town status in 1302. As of December 2007, it had a population of 55,446. Its local football club is called TSC Euskirchen.
Parts of the ancient town wall, and three of its defensive towers, are still standing. Tourists are also attracted to Euskirchen due to the proximity of two large cities, Cologne and Bonn, to the northeast, and the hills of the Eifel region to the south. It is also the birthplace of Emil Fischer, born 1852, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1902. The local theatre in The Emil-Fischer-Gymnasium offers a wide variety of cultural events. The City Forum and the Parkhotel Euskirchen [3] also contribute to the town's cultural offerings.
The word Euskirchen means Kirche auf der Aue ("church on riverside lowland"). The Martinskirche is the oldest church in Euskirchen.
Biggest local sports clubs in Euskirchen are the TSC Euskirchen, LGO Euskirchen/Erftstadt and Lauf Club Euskirchen. [4] Sports facilities are the Erftstadion , gym Ohm-Mirgel, Jahnhalle, Willi-Maurer-Halle, gym Emil-Fischer-Gymnasium , SportanlageIm Auel (since 2021 Heinz-Flohe-Sportpark) [5] and gym Marienschule . [6]
Euskirchen is twinned with: [7]
Euskirchen has a diversified and balanced economic structure and can therefore provide jobs for a large catchment area. Euskirchen is a rural town with large, open fields serving agricultural purposes. Sugar beets are widely cultivated, and Euskirchen has been home to a sugar factory (Pfeifer & Langen) since 1879. Until a few decades ago, a further important branch of industry was cloth manufacturing, but this was unable to survive due to competition from large international corporations.
Well-known industrial enterprises (e.g. Procter & Gamble, Miele) are located within the town's industrial and commercial sites. These can also offer attractive possibilities to new enterprises. The town's central location and good road and rail links to the international transport network are important factors in this context.
The two largest industrial and commercial sites in Euskirchen, accounting for a total of 21,000 jobs between them, are:
At IPAS, in the districts Wüschheim/Großbüllesheim, the consumer goods corporation Procter & Gamble has a production plant as well as a warehouse from which it conducts its logistics operations all over the world. At EURO-Park the German company Nestlé Purina PetCare (pet food) and the "T-Versand" division of Deutsche Telekom have their headquarters, the sugar factory Pfeifer & Langen is based at EURO-Park and the building materials chain Mobau ("Moderner Baubedarf") – which has now merged into Eurobaustoff – was established.
Immediately adjacent to "Industriepark IPAS" is the "PrimeSite Rhine Region", an area reserved exclusively for major investors. [10] With a total area of 205 hectares, which is equivalent to about 300 football fields, the "PrimeSite Rhine Region" is the first unbuilt and available industrial and commercial site of this size in North Rhine-Westphalia to date. [11] Around 85 percent (177 hectares) of the site lies within the boundary of the town of Euskirchen, [12] while about 15 percent (28 hectares) belong to the municipality of Weilerswist. The already well developed large area will be reserved up to 2019 for space-intensive large-scale projects in excess of 80 hectares. It is being marketed internationally by the state economic development agency NRW.INVEST. [13]
Tecklenburg is a town in the district of Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Its name comes from the ruined castle around which it was built. The town is situated on the Hermannsweg hiking trail.
Euskirchen is a Kreis (district) in the south-west of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Aachen, Düren, Rhein-Erft-Kreis, Rhein-Sieg, Ahrweiler, Daun, Bitburg-Prüm, and the Liège province (Belgium).
Bergisch Gladbach is a city in the Cologne/Bonn Region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and capital of the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis (district).
The Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region is the largest metropolitan region in Germany, with over ten million inhabitants. A polycentric conurbation with several major urban concentrations, the region covers an area of 7,110 square kilometres (2,750 sq mi), entirely within the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region spreads from the Ruhr area (Dortmund-Bochum-Essen-Duisburg) in the north to the urban areas of the cities of Mönchengladbach, Düsseldorf, Wuppertal, Leverkusen, Cologne, and Bonn in the south. The location of the Rhine-Ruhr at the heart of the European Blue Banana makes it well connected to other major European cities and metropolitan areas such as the Randstad, the Flemish Diamond and the Frankfurt Rhine Main Region.
Siegburg is a city in the district of Rhein-Sieg-Kreis in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the banks of the rivers Sieg and Agger, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the former seat of West German government Bonn and 26 kilometres (16 mi) from Cologne. The population of the city was 39,192 in the 2013 census.
Plettenberg is a town in the Märkischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Werl is a town located in the district of Soest in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Zülpich is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany between Aachen and Bonn. It belongs to the district of Euskirchen.
Bad Münstereifel is a historical spa town in the district of Euskirchen, Germany, with about 17,000 inhabitants, situated in the far southwest of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The little town is one of only a few historical towns in the southwest of North Rhine-Westphalia, and because of this is often overcrowded by tourists throughout spring and summer.
Warstein ( ) is a municipality with town status in the district of Soest, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located at the north end of Sauerland.
Brühl is a town in the Rhineland, Germany. It is located in the district of Rhine-Erft, 20 km south of the Cologne city center and at the edge of the Rhineland Nature Park, a famous nature reserve.
Lünen is a town with around 86,000 inhabitants in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located north of Dortmund, on both banks of the River Lippe. It is the largest town of the Unna district and part of the Ruhr Area.
Mechernich is a town in the district of Euskirchen in the south of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the "Naturpark Nordeifel" in the Eifel hills, approx. 15 km south-west of Euskirchen and 55 km from Cologne. Mechernich is a former mining town and had, in 2009, its 700-years celebration of foundation. Its local football club is called TUS Mechernich.
Dahlem is a municipality in the district of Euskirchen. It has the lowest population density and population of all municipalities of in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Eifel hills, approx. 35 km south-west of Euskirchen. The small medieval town Kronenburg is part of the municipality.
Nettersheim is a municipality in the district of Euskirchen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Eifel hills, approx. 20 km south-west of Euskirchen. The rivers Erft and Urft have their source in the municipality.
Elsdorf is a town in the Rhein-Erft-Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately 5 km south-west of Bergheim and 27 km west of Cologne.
Hennef (Sieg) (German pronunciation:[ˈhɛnɛf] ) is a town in the Rhein-Sieg district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the river Sieg, approx. 7 kilometres (4 miles) south-east of Siegburg and 15 km (9 mi) east of Bonn. Hennef is the fourth-biggest town in the Rhein-Sieg-Kreis (i.e. district). It is the site of the 15th-century castle, Schloss Allner, next to the Allner See. Within Hennef is the town of Stadt Blankenberg, with the castle of Blankenberg.
Lohmar is a town in the Rhein-Sieg district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
The Swist is a stream, 43.6 kilometres (27.1 mi) long, in the German Rhineland. It rises on the northern edge of the Eifel at 330 metres above sea level and empties from the right and southeast into the Rhine tributary, the Erft, between Weilerswist and Bliesheim. Occasionally the Swist is also called the Swistbach, and locals often just call it der Bach.
The Nordrhein-Westfalen-Liga was the highest football league in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) from 2008 to 2012. It was one of the eleven Oberliga groups in German football, the fifth tier of the German football league system.
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