Plettenberg

This article is about the town in Germany. For other uses, see Plettenberg (disambiguation).

Plettenberg
Town
District Amtsgericht in Plettenberg
Coat of arms
Location of Plettenberg within Märkischer Kreis district <imagemap>File: Plettenberg in MK.svg | 240x240px poly 70 86 72 110 106 120 106 86 Märkischer Kreis poly 0 177 55 177 167 97 167 0 0 0 North Rhine-Westphalia poly 278 468 278 481 0 481 0 299 57 299 52 311 92 323 70 348 132 425 141 447 209 447 229 481 278 462 Oberbergischer Kreis poly 91 323 56 311 59 299 0 299 0 177 33 179 72 204 56 234 72 245 82 216 123 216 123 234 106 245 132 257 141 265 141 271 Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis poly 141 271 141 257 123 257 111 245 123 232 123 212 80 216 72 245 56 232 72 204 33 178 55 178 141 120 180 120 180 232 Hagen poly 167 0 167 37 172 37 193 25 180 0 Dortmund poly 180 120 141 120 167 96 167 37 193 25 180 0 349 0 349 18 288 37 252 25 198 62 209 110 198 130 Unna (district) poly 351 15 351 0 468 0 468 15 441 25 394 0 368 37 Soest (district) poly 368 37 394 0 441 25 468 15 468 271 432 287 421 265 421 216 421 176 410 157 394 110 382 62 Hochsauerlandkreis poly 432 287 468 271 468 481 278 481 288 468 368 470 368 407 351 381 441 340 441 287 Olpe (district) poly 222 257 239 204 264 216 278 204 315 204 307 232 278 232 264 242 264 284 252 286 239 287 222 265 239 265 Altena poly 209 447 264 381 278 397 349 389 368 408 368 469 264 465 229 481 Meinerzhagen poly 278 232 323 204 421 224 421 265 315 247 307 257 290 247 Neuenrade poly 264 381 193 348 132 425 142 447 209 443 Kierspe poly 123 299 193 348 137 425 72 348 Halver poly 278 299 323 299 351 390 278 398 264 381 Herscheid poly 252 25 298 33 351 15 394 110 368 110 278 86 278 62 253 55 Menden poly 222 257 239 196 213 167 213 185 180 180 180 232 Nachrodt-Wiblingwerde poly 323 299 351 381 440 342 441 289 421 265 351 265 Plettenberg poly 180 232 222 257 146 311 123 299 Schalksmühle poly 278 201 315 204 368 110 278 86 Hemer poly 219 257 278 288 264 381 167 332 170 299 Lüdenscheid poly 200 61 249 25 252 59 272 67 278 203 256 216 217 167 211 186 186 181 180 122 196 129 210 110 Iserlohn poly 315 203 366 112 392 110 407 156 421 170 420 196 412 224 Balve poly 320 299 351 257 314 252 301 261 284 232 268 238 264 280 281 283 282 299 Werdohl desc bottom-right </imagemap>
Plettenberg Plettenberg
Coordinates: 51°13′N 07°53′E
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Arnsberg
District	Märkischer Kreis
Government
• Mayor (2020–25)	Ulrich Schulte (Ind.)
Area
• Total	96.29 km2 (37.18 sq mi)
Highest elevation	593 m (1,946 ft)
Lowest elevation	194 m (636 ft)
Population  (2023-12-31)
• Total	24,788
• Density	260/km2 (670/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	58840
Dialling codes	02391
Vehicle registration	MK
Website	www.plettenberg.de

Plettenberg, reformed church (Christuskirche)

Plettenberg (German: [ˈplɛtn̩ˌbɛʁk] ; Westphalian: Plettmert) is a town in the Märkischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Geography

Plettenberg is located to the west of the Sauerland hills. The highest elevation of the town area is in the Ebbe Mountains with 663 m above sea level, the lowest elevation with 194 m near Teindeln. The town is spread out between the four valleys of the rivers Lenne, Else, Oester and Grüne.

Division of the town

Plettenberg consists of 5 districts:

• Plettenberg (town centre) (14,012 inhabitants)
• Eiringhausen (4,905 inhabitants)
• Holthausen/upper Elsetal (3,985 inhabitants)
• Oestertal (3,055 inhabitants)
• Ohle (2,825 inhabitants)

History

Probably the first written proof of Plettenberg was made in a document from Grafschaft Abbey of Anno II, archbishop of Cologne, at that time named Heslipho. The name was later changed to Plettenberg, as the name of the noble family von Plettenberg, who owned virtually all of the town and surrounding lands.

The Dukes of the Mark bought the town from Cologne, who in 1301 built the castle Schwarzenberg (which was destroyed by fire in 1864). In 1387, Count Engelbert III granted the town some privileges, it received full town rights in 1397 from Count Dietrich von der Mark. At the same time, the town was fortified. The town blossomed in the following centuries thanks to mining and iron casting, as well as trading with the Hanseatic League.

In 1941, the town was enlarged to its current size, when the former town and the surrounding Amt were merged.

Population development

Year Inhabitants 1719 0.749 1758 1,051 1765 0.933 1818 1,307 1839 1,539 1849 1,652 1871 1,976

Year Inhabitants 1910 05,981 1933 07,169 1998 29,263 1999 29,133 2000 29,031 2001 28,959 2002 28,698

Year Inhabitants 2003 28,442 2004 28,255 2005 29,130 2006 28,782 2007 27,397 2008 27,026 2009 26,665

Year Inhabitants 2010 26,494 2011 26,132 2012 25,968 2013 25,684

The number of inhabitants till 1933 is the core town, since 1998 with the incorporated districts.

Mayors

• 1902–1924: Rudolf Emil Gottlob Köhler
• 1925–1930: Ludwig Schneider
• 1934–1938: Engelbert Wahle
• 1945–1948: Wilhelm Ding (SPD)
• 1948–1951: Karl Halfmann (CDU)
• 1951–1954: Emil Arndt (SPD)
• 1954–1956: Paul Thomee (FDP)
• 1956–1960: Heinz Chmill (SPD)
• 1960–1964: Wilhelm Wicker (CDU)
• 1964–1983: Heinz Baberg (SPD)
• 1984–1986: Udo Scheepers (SPD)
• 1986–1999: Otto Klehm (SPD)
• 1999–2004: Walter Stahlschmidt
• 2004–2015: Klaus Müller (SPD)
• since 2015: Ulrich Schulte

Twin towns – sister cities

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

Plettenberg is twinned with:

• Bludenz, Austria (1988)
• Schleusingen, Germany (1990)

Coat of arms

The coat of arms shows the coat of arms of the counts of Mark in the center. It is displayed between two towers. The coat of arms was granted together with the town rights. In 1794, the crown atop the shield was added in seals of the town. In 1840, the colored version on a shield was adopted.

In 1912, the town council agreed on the historical coat of arms, but the Königliche Heroldsamt in Berlin, which was responsible for the official approval, denied it - at that time the coat of arms of cities were supposed to be crowned by a town wall. However the town council did not want to repeat the symbols (town wall and crown) which was already present in the coat of arms, thus the coat of arms was not officially granted.

After Plettenberg merged with the municipalities of Plettenberg-Land and Ohle in 1940, the council had to decide on the coat of arms again. This time it was officially granted on September 28, 1942, however provisionally due to the war. Yet after the lost war, the coat of arms was never revoked.

The coat of arms of the municipality of Plettenberg-Land showed a silver-blue shield split vertically, the symbol of the master of Plettenberg. It is overlaid with the red-and-white chequered bar of the Mark. The coat of arms was designed by Otto Hupp, and was granted on January 16, 1935. The coat of arms of the Amt Plettenberg was very similar, it only had an additional red shell in the top-left-hand corner as the symbol of the masters of Ohle. Also designed by Otto Hupp it was granted on July 13, 1936.

The coat of arms of the municipality of Ohle shows the Saint Martin of Tours splitting his cloak to share with the beggar. Saint Martin is the patron saint of the church of Ohle. A small escutcheon is placed next to the Saint, showing a red shell on a yellow background, the symbol of the masters of Ohle. The coat of arms was also designed by Otto Hupp, and was granted on October 17, 1935.

Notable people

• William C. Edenborn (1848–1926), businessman, inventor and philanthropist
• Carl Schmitt (1888–1985), philosopher, jurist, political theorist and professor of law
• Ruth Eweler (1913–1947), actress
• Eike Wilm Schulte (born 1939), opera singer
• Rolf Steininger (born 1942), historian and university professor for contemporary history
• Max Otte (born 1964), German-American economist, author and political activist
• Michael Bartels (born 1968), racing driver
• Marc Hoffmann (born 1973), sex offender and murderer
• Markus Dworrak (born 1978), footballer

External links

• Official website (in German)