Hemer, Germany

Hemer is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located at the north end of the Sauerland near the Ruhr river, at 51° 23' North, 7° 46' East. Population: 38,206 (2002). Area: 67.55 km². It belongs to the district Märkischer Kreis.

Partner cities are Beuvry[?] and Steenwerck[?] (France); and it has city friendships with Shelkovo[?] (Russia), Obervellach[?] (Austria), and the german cities Bretten[?] and Doberlug-Kirchhain[?].

History

Hemer was first mentioned in 1072 with its old name Hademare in a paper from the bishop of Cologne. At that time it had one church and two farms. In the following centuries more and more small villages grew up in the area. In 1700 the church St. Peter and Paul was built. In 1936 the municipality Hemer got the right to call itself town. During the World War II Hemer did have one of the prisoner of war camps, the Stalag VIa, in which mostly Russian prisoners had to work during the war.

During the reorganization of the districts and municipalities the previously independent municipalities Becke, Deilinghofen, Frönsberg and Ihmert were added to the city in 1974.

Points of interest

The Heinrichshöhle is a Devonian limestone cave in Hemer, officially found in 1812, but probably known by locals long before. 470m of the cave system are accessible to visitors, with some stalactites and one skeleton of a cave bear being on display.

Nearby the Felsenmeer is a small Karst area, partially created by medieval mining, now located in a beech forest.

Shared with Menden and Balve is the Hönnetal, a narrow valley with some beautiful cliffs carved into the same limestone bedrock by the river Hönne.

Coat of arms The three golden wolf-hooks are derived from the arms of the Brabeck family, who lived in Hemer for long time - Jobst Edmund von Brabeck founded the St.Peter and Paul church. The red-white bordure in the left side derived from the sign of the Counts of the Mark.

External links official Homepage (http://www.hemer.de)