Witten


Witten is a city with almost 100,000 inhabitants in the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany.

Geography

Witten is situated in the Ruhr valley, in the southern Ruhr area.

Bordering municipalities

Witten is divided into eight boroughs and each borough is further divided into two or more city-districts. Every district has its own district-number:
  • Witten-Mitte: 11 Innenstadt, 12 Oberdorf-Helenenberg, 13 Industriegebiet-West, 14 Krone, 15 Crengeldanz, 16 Hauptfriedhof, 17 Stadion, 18 Industriegebiet-Nord, 19 Hohenstein
  • Düren: 21 Düren-Nord, 22 Düren-Sued
  • Stockum: 31 Stockum-Mitte, 32 Dorney, 33 Stockumer Bruch, 34 Wilhelmshöhe
  • Annen: 41 Tiefendorf, 42 Wullen, 43 Annen-Mitte-Nord, 44 Annen-Mitte-Süd, 45 Kohlensiepen, 46 Wartenberg, 47 Gedern
  • Rüdinghausen: 51 Industriegebiet-Ost, 52 Rüdinghausen-Mitte, 53 Buchholz, 54 Schnee
  • Bommern: 61 Steinhausen, 62 Bommerbank, 63 Bommerfeld, 64 Wettberg, 65 Buschey, 66 Bommeregge
  • Heven: 71 Papenholz, 72 Hellweg, 73 Wannen, 74 Heven-Dorf, 75 Lake
  • Herbede: 81 Herbede-Ort, 82 Vormholz, 83 Bommerholz-Muttental, 84 Durchholz, 85 Buchholz-Kaempen

    Population 1739–2020

History

Witten was first mentioned in historic sources in 1214, however the borough Herbede dates back to 851. The city was a mining town from 1578.
In the late 19th century Witten was known for the Roburit dynamite. This dynamite was once used by coal mines around the world. In 1906 an explosion occurred, resulting in the deaths of 41 people.
During World War II, forced laborers of the 3rd SS construction brigade were dispatched in the town by the Nazis in 1943.
In 1946, it was included in North Rhine-Westphalia on its establishment. In 1975 Witten was included in the administrative district Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis and it is now its biggest city. 1975 was also the year Witten was first counted to have more than 100,000 inhabitants, the threshold to be considered a large city in Germany.

Politics

In the local elections of 2004 the Social Democratic Party was the largest party on the council with 24 seats. It was followed by the Christian Democratic Union with 18 and the Alliance 90/The Greens with 7, the WBG and Free Democrats with four each, FLW with three, National Democratic Party two, and the PDS/WAL and AUF Witten with one each.
From 2004 to 2020, for the first time in its history, the council was led by a female mayor: Sonja Leidemann. In the election of 2020 she lost her mandate to Lars König.

Mayor

The current mayor of Witten is Dirk Leistner of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. The most recent mayoral election was held on 14 September 2025.
Previous municipal elections was held on 13 September 2020, with a runoff held on 27 September, and the results were as follows:
! rowspan=2 colspan=2| Candidate
! rowspan=2| Party
! colspan=2| First round
! colspan=2| Second round
! Votes
! %
! Votes
! %
! colspan=3| Valid votes
! 35,820
! 98.1
! 28,401
! 98.7
! colspan=3| Invalid votes
! 709
! 1.9
! 369
! 1.3
! colspan=3| Total
! 36,529
! 100.0
! 28,770
! 100.0
! colspan=3| Electorate/voter turnout
! 78,110
! 46.8
! 77,920
! 36.9

City council

The Witten city council governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows:
! colspan=2| Party
! Votes
! %
! +/-
! Seats
! +/-
! colspan=2| Valid votes
! 35,974
! 98.5
!
!
!
! colspan=2| Invalid votes
! 547
! 1.5
!
!
!
! colspan=2| Total
! 36,521
! 100.0
!
! 64
! 8
! colspan=2| Electorate/voter turnout
! 78,108
! 46.8
! 0.4
!
!

State Landtag

In the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia, Witten is part of the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis II constituency. Nadja Büteführ of the SPD was elected as representative in the 2017 state election. Verena Schäffer of the Greens also ran in the constituency and was elected to the Landtag on her party's state list.

Federal parliament

In the Bundestag, Witten is part of the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis II constituency. Axel Echeverria of the SPD was elected as representative in the 2021 German federal election.

Transport

Witten is connected to the Autobahn network by the A 43 and A 44 motorways. It has a central station, connecting the city to the regional-train-network of Deutsche Bahn with direct connections to Hagen, Bochum, Essen, Siegen, Wuppertal, Düsseldorf, Aachen or Dortmund.
Local service is carried out by the BOGESTRA, a joint venture between the cities of Bochum and Gelsenkirchen, to which most of the bus lines in Witten belong. There is a tram line connecting to Bochum. From mid-December on, there will be two tram lines, which will run in Witten. When the new track to Langendreer is completed, the tram lines will ride to the station of Bochum-Langendreer or to Wattenscheid-Höntrop via Bochum main station. Public transport in the city is carried out according to the fare system of the VRR transport association.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of Witten with its two lions once belong to the Everhards von Witten-Steinhausen and was first mentioned in 1283. The family of Witten-Steinhausen belongs to the founders of the town of Witten. Their slogan was: "Sigillum Hermanni de Wittene". Because of its long history this coat of arms was the only one in the Ruhr area, that was not forbidden by the Allies in May 1945, after the end of the Second World War.

Culture

Witten is twinned with:

Roman Catholic

When Witten was first mentioned in historical documents, it was part of the Archdiocese of Cologne. Since 1821 it has been a part of the Diocese of Paderborn; however, the borough of Herbede belongs to the Diocese of Essen. In the 19th century the Ruhr area drew up to 500,000 Poles from East Prussia and Silesia, most of whom were Catholic. Hundreds settled in Witten, leading to a growth in the Catholic community. Today, between 30 and 40 per cent of the population is Catholic.

Protestant

In the 16th century Witten was influenced by Martin Luther's Reformation, and until the late 19th century, Witten was a predominantly Protestant town with just a few Catholic inhabitants. Between 30 and 40 per cent of the population is Protestant today.

Muslims

There are four mosques in Witten, Annen and Herbede today, founded by immigrants from Turkey who arrived in the 1970s and 1980s. Between five and eight per cent of the population is Muslim.

Jews

In 1815 the first Jewish community was mentioned in Witten. In 1938 the synagogue was destroyed during the so-called "Reichspogromnacht" of 9–10 November 1938. Today, only about a dozen Jews live in Witten. They belong to the Jewish community in Dortmund.
Since 1994 the place of the former synagogue is marked with a memorial.

Notable people