North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a state (Land) in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the most populous state in Germany. Apart from the city-states, it is also the most densely populated state in Germany. Covering an area of 34,084 square kilometres (13,160 sq mi), it is the fourth-largest German state by size.
The Ruhr, also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km2 and a population of over 5 million (2017), it is the largest urban area in Germany. It consists of several large cities bordered by the rivers Ruhr to the south, Rhine to the west, and Lippe to the north. In the southwest it borders the Bergisches Land. It is considered part of the larger Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region of more than 10 million people, which is the third largest in Western Europe, behind only London and Paris.
Dortmund is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 612,065 inhabitants, it is the largest city of the Ruhr as well as the largest city of Westphalia. It lies on the Emscher and Ruhr rivers in the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region, the second biggest metropolitan region by GDP in the European Union, and is considered the administrative, commercial, and cultural centre of the eastern Ruhr. Dortmund is the second-largest city in the Low German dialect area, after Hamburg.
Bochum is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 372,348, it is the sixth largest city in one of the most populous German federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia, and the 16th largest city of Germany. On the Ruhr Heights (Ruhrhöhen) hill chain, between the rivers Ruhr to the south and Emscher to the north, it is the second largest city of Westphalia after Dortmund, and the fourth largest city of the Ruhr after Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg. It lies at the centre of the Ruhr, Germany's largest urban area, in the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region, and belongs to the region of Arnsberg. Bochum is the sixth largest and one of the southernmost cities in the Low German dialect area. There are nine institutions of higher education in the city, most notably the Ruhr University Bochum, one of the ten largest universities in Germany, and the Bochum University of Applied Sciences.
Hagen is a city in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the southeastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne and Volme meet the Ruhr. In 2010, the population was 188,529.
Lüdenscheid is a city in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Sauerland region.
Herdecke is a town in the district of Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It is located south of Dortmund in the Ruhr Area. Its location between the two Ruhr reservoirs Hengsteysee and Harkortsee has earned it the nickname Die Stadt zwischen den Ruhrseen.
Lennestadt lies in the Sauerland in southeast North Rhine-Westphalia and is a community in Olpe district. It is the district's most populous municipality. Lennestadt itself is not an actual town but a community which comprises several towns and villages.
Adolf von Donndorf was a German sculptor.
Bladenhorst Castle is a moated castle in the suburbs of the city of Castrop-Rauxel.
The Wittekindsberg is a hill, 281.48 m above sea level (NN), which forms the easternmost peak of the Wiehen Hills and is also the western guardian of the Weser gorge, the Porta Westfalica, in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany).
Cappenberg Castle is a former Premonstratensian monastery, Cappenberg Abbey in Cappenberg, a part of Selm, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It stands on an elevation, the Cappenberg, near Lünen and Werne, and is a vantage point offering views over the eastern Ruhrgebiet.
The Ardey Hills are a range of wooded hills, up to 273.8 m above sea level (NN), in the territory of the city of Dortmund and the districts of Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis and Unna in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The hills form part of the eastern Rhenish Massif and, to a lesser extent, to the Berg-Mark Hills.
A refuge castle or refuge fort is a castle-like defensive location, usually surrounded by ramparts, that is not permanently occupied but acts as a temporary retreat for the local population when threatened by war or attack. In former times such sites were also described as giant castles because their origin was ascribed to giants.
St. Peter is a Romanesque church in Syburg, now a suburb of Dortmund, Germany. It is the active Protestant parish church of Syburg, officially named "Ev. Kirche St. Peter zu Dortmund-Syburg". It serves as a concert venue for the bimonthly Syburger Sonntagsmusiken.
Husen Castle is a medieval tower house of a castle in the Dortmund borough of Syburg in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Dortmund, Germany.
The Sigiburg was a Saxon hillfort in Western Germany, overlooking the River Ruhr near its confluence with the River Lenne. The ruins of the later Hohensyburg castle now stand on the site, which is in Syburg, a neighbourhood in the Hörde district of Dortmund. Archaeological evidence suggests the site was occupied in the Neolithic era. The hillfort was raised ca. 700 by Westphalian Saxons. During the Saxon Wars, it was taken by the Franks under Charlemagne in 772, retaken by the Saxons in 774, and taken again and refortified by Charlemagne in 775.
Syburg is a borough (Stadtbezirk) of the city of Dortmund in the Ruhr district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Since 1929, it has been a borough of Dortmund, located in the city's south. It is part of the Hörde district.
