Warstein

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Location of the town of Warstein within Soest district
Warstein
View of Warstein with church

Warstein
Coordinates	51°27′N 8°21′E / 51.45°N 8.35°E / 51.45; 8.35Coordinates: 51°27′N 8°21′E / 51.45°N 8.35°E / 51.45; 8.35
Administration
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Arnsberg
District	Soest
Town subdivisions	9
Mayor	Manfred Gödde (BG)

Basic statistics
Area	157.91 km² (60.97 sq mi)
Elevation	310 m (1017 ft)
Population	27,170 (31 December 2010)^[1]
- Density	172 /km² (446 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate	SO
Postal code	59581
Area codes	02902 (Warstein), 02925 (Allagen)
Website	www.warstein.de

Warstein ([ˈvaːɐ̯ˌʃtaɪn] ( listen)) is a town in the district of Soest, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located at the north end of the Sauerland.

1 Geography
- 1.1 Neighbouring municipalities
- 1.2 Division of the town
2 History
- 2.1 List of mayors
3 International relations
4 Economy
5 Literature
6 References
7 External links

Geography [link]

Warstein is located north of the Arnsberger Wald (forest) at a brook called Wäster. The area south of the city is mostly forested; the lightly forested Haarstrang mountain is to the north. The river Möhne flows between these two areas. The highest elevation is 581 m (1,906 ft) in the south of the city near a hill called Stimm Stamm; the lowest elevation is 216 m (709 ft) in the village Waldhausen in the north.

Neighbouring municipalities [link]

The following towns border Warstein (clockwise, beginning in the north): Anröchte, Rüthen, Bestwig, Meschede, Arnsberg, Möhnesee, Bad Sassendorf.

Division of the town [link]

Warstein consists of the following 9 districts:

Allagen
Belecke
Hirschberg
Mülheim
Niederbergheim

Sichtigvor
Suttrop
Waldhausen
Warstein

History [link]

Evidence of human life was found in the Bilsteinhöhle cave between Warstein and Hirschberg. Warstein was first mentioned officially in 1072. Historians once thought Warstein was organized as an official town in 1276, but that is wrong. Probably it became a town in the same year as Belecke in 1296. In the Middle Ages Warstein was part of the Hanseatic League, that is a trade association for guilds, a very important international business association at that time. A fire in 1802 destroyed big parts of the town. After that the town centre was moved to the Wester brook. In 1844 the Amt Warstein was founded. It was part of the Archbishopric Cologne till 1902. In 1975 Warstein and the other eight independent villages became the new town of Warstein.

The decrease of population in Warstein since 1998:

1998: 29.102
1999: 29.084
2000: 29.028
2001: 29.007
2002: 29.012
2003: 28.762
2004: 28.629

List of mayors [link]

Manfred Gödde (BG) - since 2004
Georg Juraschka (SPD) - 1999 to 2004
Manfred Gödde - before 1999

International relations [link]

Main article: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Warstein is twinned with:

Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise (France) -- since 1964
Wurzen (Saxony, Germany) -- since 3 October 1990
Hebden Royd (United Kingdom) -- since November 1995
Pietrapaola (Italy) -- an official friendship since 2001

Economy [link]

The largest employer in Warstein is the Warsteiner Brauerei founded in 1753. It is one of the largest breweries in Germany and is famous all over the world.

Literature [link]

Heppekausen, Wolfgang; Clewing, Christian: Warstein: Bilder einer sauerländischen Stadt. Selbstverlag, Warstein 2001. ISBN 3-00-008520-3
Gerte, Franz im Auftrag der Volkshochschule Möhne-Lippe: Wie war das?: Belecke 1923-1948. Selbstverlag, Belecke 2001.
Bamberg, Fritz: Die neue Stadt Warstein in alten Ansichten. Europäische Bibliothek, Zaltbommel 1986. ISBN 90-288-3363-3
Bender, Josef: Geschichte der Stadt Warstein. Stein, Werl 1973. ISBN 3-920980-03-4
Sandgathe, Günther: Die Stadt Warstein im Dreissigjährigen Krieg. Selbstverlag, Warstein 1971.