Gummersbach (German pronunciation: [ˈɡʊmɐsˌbax] (listen); Kölsch: Jummersbach) is a town in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, being the district seat of the Oberbergischer Kreis. It is located 50 kilometres (31 mi) east of Cologne.

Gummersbach
Town
Church in Gummersbach
Coat of arms
Location of Gummersbach within Oberbergischer Kreis district
Gummersbach Show map of Germany Gummersbach Show map of North Rhine-Westphalia
Coordinates: 51°02′N 7°34′E
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Cologne
District	Oberbergischer Kreis
Government
• Mayor (2020–25)	Frank Helmenstein[1] (CDU)
Area
• Total	95.3 km2 (36.8 sq mi)
Highest elevation	519 m (1,703 ft)
Lowest elevation	200 m (700 ft)
Population  (2020-12-31)[2]
• Total	50,978
• Density	530/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	51643, 51645, 51647
Dialling codes	02261, 02266 (Berghausen), 02354 (Lieberhausen), 02263 (Elbach)
Vehicle registration	GM
Website	www.gummersbach.de

History

In 1109 Gummersbach was mentioned in official documents for the first time. The document in question concerned the lowering of the episcopal tax for the church in Gummersbach by Archbishop Frederick I. At that time the name of the town was spelled as Gumeresbracht. Gummersbach received town privileges in 1857. In 1855 Gummersbach's industrial history began with the foundation of the company Steinmüller. With the company's success the little village began to grow to a town. After the company was bought in 1998 the production in Gummersbach was closed and most of the company's area was unused. Due to the fact that by the time this area made up half of the downtown area the town of Gummersbach bought this area to develop it. In the following years a multifunctional arena, shopping mall, university, movie theater, court, police station, hotel, offices and a park were built.

The coat of arms

The arms were granted on July 27, 1892. Gummersbach developed rapidly from a small village to a large town during the early 19th century, due to the metal and textile industry. The right part of the arms thus show a spindle as a symbol for the textile industry. The left part shows the arms of the Counts of the Mark, as the area belonged to the Mark since 1287.

Communities, localities and villages

Apfelbaum – Becke – Berghausen – Bernberg – Birnbaum – Börnchen – Bracht – Bredenbruch – Brink – Bruch – Brunohl – Berghausen – Deitenbach – Derschlag – Dieringhausen – Drieberhausen – Dümmlinghausen – Elbach – Erbland – Erlenhagen – Flaberg – Frömmersbach – Grünenthal – Gummeroth – Hardt – Hardt-Hanfgarten – Helberg – Herreshagen – Hesselbach – Höfen -Hömel – Hülsenbusch – Hunstig – Kalkuhl – Karlskamp – Koverstein – Lantenbach – Lieberhausen – Liefenroth – Lobscheid – Lützinghausen – Luttersiefen – Mühle – Neuenhaus – Neuenschmiede – Niedergelpe – Niedernhagen – Niederseßmar – Nochen – Oberrengse – Ohmig -Peisel – Piene – Rebbelroth – Recklinghausen – Reininghausen – Remmelsohl – Rodt – Rospe – Schneppsiefen – Schönenberg – Schusterburg – Sonnenberg – Steinenbrück – Straße – Strombach – Unnenberg – Veste – Vollmerhausen – Waldesruh – Wasserfuhr – Windhagen – Wörde – Würden

Main sights

• The Vogteihaus, former residence of the Vogt, built in 1700. It is also referred to as die Burg ("the castle"), and lies in the town center, on the Kaiserstraße.
• The Bunte Kerke ("colourful church") in the village Lieberhausen, a Protestant church with medieval wall paintings.
• The Protestant church of the village Hülsenbusch, rebuilt in the 18th century after a fire, in Baroque style.

Education

• Communal elementary schools in the towncentre and the districts Becke, Bernberg, Derschlag, Dieringhausen, Hülsenbusch, Niederseßmar, Steinenbrück and Windhagen
• Jakob Moreno school, school for learning-disabled children
• Town secondary school Gummersbach-Hepel, http://www.rs-hepel.de/
• Town secondary school Gummersbach-Steinberg
• Town high school – Lindengymnasium, http://www.lindengymnasium.de/
• Occupational lecture Gummersbach
• Business school Gummersbach
• Cologne University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering Science, https://www.th-koeln.de/informatik-und-ingenieurwissenschaften/
• Educational center for technology and economy
• Music school Gummersbach e.V.
• Town comprehensive school, http://gesamtschulegm.de
• Waldorf School Oberberg, http://fws-oberberg.de

Twin towns – sister cities

Gummersbach is twinned with:[3]

• Afantou, Greece (2001)
• Burg, Germany (1990)
• La Roche-sur-Yon, France (1968)

Sport

The men's team VfL Gummersbach was one of the most successful handball teams of Europe in the 1970s and 1980s.

Notable people

• Heiner Brand (born 1952), former handball player and former coach of the handball national team
• Afu Thomas (Thomas Derksen), German internet celebrity in China[4]
• Jürgen Domian [de], tv and radio show host
• Harald Fischer, doctor killed in Palestine on November 15, 2000
• Wolfgang Karius, conductor, organist, and harpsichordist
• Hella von Sinnen, TV personality
• Jan Sosniok, movie actor
• Adele Bloesch-Stöcker, Swiss-German violinist and composer
• Fritz Eschmann [de], former district administrator and member of the German parliament of SPD
• Jürgen Habermas (born 1929), well known philosopher

References

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Gummersbach.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gummersbach.

• Official website (in German and English)
• Marksteine Gummersbacher Geschichte A survey about the most important historical events
• City of Gummersbach: Coat of Arms and Notes of the History of Gummersbach (in German)
• Steinmüllergelände – official website of the city development project Steinmüller terrain

На других языках

[es] Gummersbach

[ru] Гуммерсбах