Kaarst

Kaarst

Saint Martin Church

Coat of arms
Kaarst

Coordinates: 51°13′N 06°37′E / 51.217°N 6.617°E / 51.217; 6.617Coordinates: 51°13′N 06°37′E / 51.217°N 6.617°E / 51.217; 6.617
Country Germany
State North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region Düsseldorf
District Rhein-Kreis Neuss
Government
 • Mayor Dr. Ulrike Nienhaus (CDU)
Area
 • Total 37.48 km2 (14.47 sq mi)
Population (2015-12-31)[1]
 • Total 43,286
 • Density 1,200/km2 (3,000/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 41564
Dialling codes 02131
Vehicle registration NE
Website www.kaarst.de

Kaarst (Limburgish: Kaasj) is a town in the district Rhein-Kreis Neuss, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Geography

Kaarst is located west of the city Neuss (5 km) and east of Mönchengladbach (12 km).

Division of the town

Kaarst consists of 5 subdivisions

History

Before 100 BC Celts lived in the area. Later the Franks came into this area as graves from the 7th century prove. The first written document is the Life of the first bishop of Münster. It describes how bishop Ludger walked from Budica, now Büttgen, through the forest of Hamrithi. Kaarst was mentioned for the first time as 'Karlesforst' in the year 1218. Karl was a very common name for frankish nobles including king Charlemagne ('Karl der Große'), but a link between Charlemagne and Kaarst has not been proven.

Kaarst and Büttgen both have churches built in the 12th century. Both villages were destroyed by Charles the Bold duke of Burgundy (Karl der Kühne, 1474–1475), in the Cologne War (1585 to 1586) and in the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). Jan van Werth, a celebrated general during the Thirty Years' War, was born near Büttgen in 1591.

During the Thirty Years' War, Kaarst was attacked several times by hostile armies, e.g. the one of Northern-Hesse (Northern-Hesse collaborated with Sweden and France, whereas the southern part of Hesse did not). Some time in 1642, a Hessian troop entered the city murdering the local preacher and destroying the vicarage. From 1794 till 1814 Kaarst was in the area occupied by France under Napoleon I. The French redrew district boundaries in 1798 and assigned Kaarst to Kanton Neuss. A relic of Napoleon I is the Nordkanal, a canal to connect the rivers Maas and Rhine.

In 1936 Büttgen had 4,400 inhabitants and Kaarst 2,000.

In 1975 Büttgen and villages around Kaarst were formally amalgamated into Kaarst to form administrative area with 33,500 inhabitants.

Politics

In the 2015 communal elections, Dr. Ulrike Nienhaus (CDU) was elected mayor of Kaarst with 55.8 percent of the valid votes. She is the first female mayor of Kaarst. She won the election in September 2015 against Christian Gaumitz.

Transport

Kaarster See station is the western terminus of the Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn line S 28. The town is also served by Kaarster Bahnhof, Kaarst Mitte/Holzbüttgen and Kaarst IKEA stations.

Kaarst is connected to the motorway system via the Bundesautobahn 52 and Bundesautobahn 57, which intersect here.

Notable residents

References

  1. ↑ "Amtliche Bevölkerungszahlen". Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW (in German). 18 July 2016.
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