Ratingen

Ratingen is a town in the district of Mettmann in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It lies in the northwestern part of Berg about 12 km northeast of Düsseldorf.

Ratingen
Town
Church of Saints Peter and Paul
Flag
Coat of arms
Location of Ratingen within Mettmann district
Ratingen
Ratingen
Coordinates: 51°18′0″N 6°51′0″E
CountryGermany
StateNorth Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. regionDüsseldorf
DistrictMettmann
Subdivisions6 boroughs with 10 districts
Government
 • Mayor (2020–25) Klaus Konrad Pesch[1] (Ind.)
Area
 • Total88.72 km2 (34.25 sq mi)
Elevation
50 m (160 ft)
Population
 (2020-12-31)[2]
 • Total86,899
 • Density980/km2 (2,500/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes
40878–40885 (1962-1995: 4030)
Dialling codes02102
Vehicle registrationME, seit 1975 (1956-1974: D)
Websitewww.ratingen.de

Administration

With a communal reform of 1975 the independent municipalities of Breitscheid, Eggerscheidt, Hösel, Lintorf (seat Angerland) as well as the local part of Homberg and the municipality of Homberg-Meiersberg (seat Hubbelrath) were added into the city of Ratingen.

Water castle "Haus zum Haus"

History

Ratingen was settled before 849. Since the Middle Ages, the Ratingen area belonged to the count and later dukes of Berg. On December 11, 1276 the settlement received city rights. Ratingen was one of the four places of Berg which experienced an economic boom in the end of the Middle Ages, but slowed during the Thirty Years' War. At the beginning of the Industrial Age, the first manufacturing plants opened in 1783. In Cromford the first mechanical spinnery of Europe opened, which grew into the Textilfabrik Cromford, now part of the Rheinisches Industriemuseum (Rhine Industry Museum). In the Napoleonic times, it became part of the city of Berg and in 1815, into the Kingdom of Prussia.

In the communal re-organization of 1929, Ratingen maintained its independence. After relatively small war damage, Ratingen in the 1960s and the 1970s experienced years of growth and development (West Ratingen with 20,000 inhabitants, developed in the late 1960s-1980s). In 1970, before further incorporations the number of inhabitants surpassed 50,000.

Economy

Several important international enterprises (particularly from the IT industry) as Vodafone, ASUS, Hewlett-Packard, SAP, CEMEX and Esprit maintain branches and/or main centres in Ratingen. It is also the hometown of automotive dealer Gottfried Schultz.

Sport

Since 1997 the town has hosted the Mehrkampf-Meeting, an annual decathlon and pentathlon meeting.

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

Ratingen is twinned with:[3]

Between 1972 and 2016 Ratingen was also twinned to Cramlington/Blyth Valley, United Kingdom.[4]

Notable people

References
  1. Wahlergebnisse in NRW Kommunalwahlen 2020, Land Nordrhein-Westfalen, accessed 21 June 2021.
  2. "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden Nordrhein-Westfalens am 31. Dezember 2020" (in German). Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  3. "Partnerstädte". stadt-ratingen.de (in German). Ratingen. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  4. "Stadt Ratingen - Cramlington, Großbritannien". www.stadt-ratingen.de. Retrieved 2021-08-05.
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