Bergisch Gladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

🇩🇪 Bergisch Gladbach is a city in the Cologne/Bonn Region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and capital of the Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis.

Geography Bergisch Gladbach is east of the Rhine and about 10 km east of Cologne.

Neighbouring municipalities Beginning in the north, the neighbouring municipalities and neighbouring towns are clockwise Odenthal, Kürten, Overath, Rösrath, Cologne and Leverkusen.

History Early settlements existed in the 13th century, but the town was officially founded in 1856.

The word Bergisch in the name does not originate from its location in the county of Berg, and it was not added to distinguish it from Mönchengladbach, as is believed by many people, but from the counts who gave their name to the region.

In the early 12th century, the counts of Berg settled in the area, which later became the Duchy of Berg (under Napoleon, it became a grand duchy). That is where the first part of the name (Bergisch) comes from, the town being located in the former County of Berg. The town is the administrative headquarters ('Kreisstadt') of the Rheinish-Bergisch district (or 'Kreis').

The second part of the name, Gladbach (cognate with English Ladbrooke), originates from Low Rhenish (Bergisches Platt) and means canalised stream in reference to the small river (the Strunde) that was artificially canalised (laid) in early medieval times. In Bergisch Platt, the regional dialect, laid is pronounced gelaat, which eventually evolved to glad (in this case, the 'd' is pronounced as a 't'). The second part of the word, bach, is the Standard German word for a small stream and refers in this case to the Strunde.

In 1975, the town incorporated the neighbouring Bensberg, and when it reached a population of 100,000 in 1977 it was given city status.

Economy Paper manufacturing, printing, glass wool manufacturing, chocolate and high-tech industries are a large part of Bergisch Gladbach's economy.