Waltrop is a town in the district of Recklinghausen
Recklinghausen (district)
Recklinghausen is a Kreis in the middle of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Borken, Coesfeld, Unna,district-free cities Dortmund, Bochum, Herne, Essen, Gelsenkirchen and Bottrop, and the district Wesel.-History:...

, in North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...

, Germany

. It is situated on the Datteln-Hamm Canal
Datteln-Hamm Canal
The Datteln-Hamm Canal, or Datteln-Hamm-Kanal in German, is a canal in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It links the Dortmund-Ems Canal at Datteln to the city of Hamm....

, approx. 15 km east of Recklinghausen

 and 15 km north-west of Dortmund
Dortmund is a city in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 585,045 makes it the 7th largest city in Germany and the 34th largest in the European Union....


Division of the town

The town Waltrop is surrounded by the Bauerschaften (rural boroughs) Lippe (Unterlippe/Oberlippe), Elmenhorst, Brockenscheidt, Leveringhausen, Oberwiese and Holthausen.


People already settled in this area about 2,000 years ago.

The village developed around the parish church St. Peter which was built in the 9th/ 10th century.
It is known that in 1432 Waltrop was a part of the county Dortmund. After the Soester Fehde, the archbishops of cologne could intersperse themselves against the counts of Mark, so that Waltrop became a part of the Vest Recklinghausen.

The production of coal in the coal mine started in 1905. As a consequence, Waltrop grew larger and became an industrial city. The coal mine was closed down in 1974.

In 1939, Waltrop got its municipal rights.


The city council of Waltrop consists of 40 seats, which are divided into 6 parliamentary groups
  1. SPD
    Social Democratic Party of Germany
    The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...

    , 15 seats
  2. CDU
    Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
    The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...

    , 14 seats
  3. FDP, 2 seats
  4. Waltroper Aufbruch (WA), 3 seats
  5. Grüne Liste Waltrop (GLW), 2 seats
  6. Bündnis für Waltrop, 2 seats

plus a single member of Die Linke
plus a single member with no-party

Since 2004 Anne Heck-Guthe (SPD) is mayorette of Waltrop.

Notable places

Waltrop is home to a museum of old ship lift
Boat lift
A boat lift, ship lift, or lift lock is a machine for transporting boats between water at two different elevations, and is an alternative to the canal lock and the canal inclined plane....

s, including the Henrichenburg boat lift
Henrichenburg boat lift
The Henrichenburg boat lift facilitates a change in elevation of the Dortmund-Ems-Kanal in Waltrop-Oberwiese. The boat lift is part of the Waltrop Lock Park , which includes the old Henrichenburg boat lift built in 1899, a disused shaft lock from 1912, the new boat lift built in 1962 and a modern...

 and a historical coal mine.

International relations

Waltrop is twinned
Town twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...

  1.  Kingdom of England Herne Bay, Kent
    Herne Bay, Kent
    Herne Bay is a seaside town in Kent, South East England, with a population of 35,188. On the south coast of the Thames Estuary, it is north of Canterbury and east of Whitstable. It neighbours the ancient villages of Herne and Reculver and is part of the City of Canterbury local government district...

    , England

  2.  Early Modern France Cesson-Sévigné
    Cesson-Sévigné is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in north-western France.It is a suburb directly to the east of Rennes, bordered on its west side by the University of Rennes and the Technopole Atalante. It is primarily a residential area for the middle class. The south side...

    , France

  3.  Nicaragua San Miguelito, Río San Juan
    San Miguelito, Río San Juan
    San Miguelito is a municipality in the Río San Juan department of Nicaragua.San Miguelito is twinned with the town of Waltrop, Germany...

    , Nicaragua

  4.  Germany Gardelegen
    Gardelegen is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Milde, 20 m. W. from Stendal, on the main line of railway Berlin-Hanover....

    , Saxony-Anhalt
    Saxony-Anhalt is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of...

    , Germany

     (former GDR)

External links
