Recklinghausen

RECKLINGHAUSEN

I have added some points from the past of my hometown Recklinghausen in Germany that seem important to me.
 Recklinghausen's first documentary mention dates from 1017 and served the relative localization of an undisclosed estate that Emperor Heinrich II bequeathed to the bishop's church in Paderborn. The document itself is available in book form from the middle of the 15th century.
In economic geography, however, the city and Vest Recklinghausen were located away from important long-distance trade routes, lack of south-north connections and poor river crossings left the region on the periphery of the prospering Hellweg zone, along which large trading cities such as Dortmund or Soest were established. From the middle of the 16th century, Recklinghausen was a member of the Hanseatic League - subordinated as a so-called "auxiliary city" - and thereby indirectly gained connection to the economic and trade policy of the North German Association of Towns and Merchants, which, however, in the course of the 17th century his final crisis came.

1864-1869 the first coal mine settled on the Emscher in the city. The mining era began with the "Clerget" mine (later "Recklinghausen I", already closed in 1931); the old arable town quickly made its way into the industrial age. In 1873 the "General Blumenthal" mine also began coal mining, in 1882 "Clerget II" (later "Recklinghausen II") followed in Hochlarmark and in 1872-1889 the "King Ludwig" mine. Mechanized and rationalized coal extraction led to the upsurge of the medium-sized mining supply industry from 1900; important companies for mechanical mine construction and coal processing settled in Recklinghausen.
After a marked impoverishment in the years of the Great Depression, the National Socialists assumed a more or less unspectacular takeover, although it was only in late 1939 that Emil Irrgang, a mayor with NSDAP party affiliation, was put into office by the NSDAP Gauleitung Westfalen-Nord. But already in the first half of 1933 local parties and unions were smashed, boycott calls against Jewish business owners were published, improvised book burning was carried out in Recklinghausen-Süd, and a ceremonial honorary certificate for Hitler and the President of Hindenburg was issued. The police headquarters in Recklinghausen, along with the Gestapo control center there, developed early on into the center of repressive and violent exercise of power. November 1938 led to the destruction of the synagogue and also brought danger to property, life and limb for the Jews of Recklinghausen as part of the Reichspogrom Night; At the end of January 1942, the only rudimentary Jewish life was extinguished by the systematic deportation to Riga and the subsequent murder of the Recklinghausen Jews in various extermination camps.
At the beginning of April 1945, US troops occupied and liberated Recklinghausen and the surrounding area after a bomb attack on the main train station in late March destroyed large parts of the northern part of the city. In mid-June, the Americans were replaced by British units, especially since all of North Rhine-Westphalia belonged to the British zone of occupation. The British operate an internment camp for Nazi perpetrators on Hillerheide for several years, which also made Recklinghausen the focus of prosecution, jurisdiction and denazification.
The early closure of the high-performance mines "König Ludwig" (1965) and "Recklinghausen II" (1974) already points to the crisis in the mining industry in the Ruhr area and caused the deterioration in economic data and corresponding upheavals on the labor market. The socio-economic structural change began in the late 20th century, at the turn of the millennium the mining age in Recklinghausen ended with the closure of the Blumenthal-Haard coal mine.

RECKLINGHAUSEN LEUCHTET

For more than fifteen years, the city of Recklinghausen has put around 50 buildings in the spotlight. Every year, the buildings in the old town become canvas for magical light art. During a walk through the old town, you will come across around a hundred spotlights that shine their colorful light on the spectacle.  Every year this event has a different motto. The motto for 2019 was "legends and fairy tales"

PORTRAIT PICTURES FROM RECKLINGHAUSEN LEUCHTET

Some pictures look better to me if the photos were made in portrait format. Here are some pictures from the RECKLINGHAUSEN LEUCHTET festival. I hope you like them!
  • cafe eckstein bei recklingausen leuchtet

    • ILLUMINATED SPARKASSE VEST

    This building of the Sparkasse Vest ( savings bank Vest) is particularly well illuminated during the RECKLINGHAUSEN LEUCHTET festival. Conveniently, it is a few meters from my front door, so I can always take my photo camera for a few snapshots. You can see the results here.
    RECKLINGHAUSEN LEUCHTET 2016
    The theme of the RECKLINGHAUSEN LEUCHTET festival in 2016 was the Ruhr Festival (Ruhrfestspiele) , because this year they were 70 years old, from their beginnings to today's theater festival. I also photographed a few special details.
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