Siegen, Arnsberg Region, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

🇩🇪 Siegen is a city in Germany, in the south Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia.

It is located in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in the Arnsberg region. The university town (nearly 20,000 students in the 2018–2019 winter semester) is the district seat, and is ranked as a "higher centre" in the South Westphalian urban agglomeration.

Location The city of Siegen lies in the basin of the upper reaches of the river Sieg. From there, lateral valleys branch off in many directions. The heights of the surrounding mountains, wherever they are not actually settled, are covered in coppice. To the north lies the Sauerland, to the north-west the Rothaargebirge and to the south-west the Westerwald.

The nearest cities to Siegen, taking into account average travelling distances, are Hagen to the north 83 km (52 mi), Frankfurt am Main to the south-east 125 km (78 mi), Koblenz to the south-west 105 km (65 mi) and Cologne to the west 93 km (58 mi).

As the crow flies the distances to these places are, however, 65 km (40 mi) (Hagen), 95 km (59 mi) (Frankfurt), 65 km (40 mi) (Koblenz) and 75 km (47 mi) (Cologne).

The city lies on the German-Dutch holiday road called the Orange Route, joining towns, cities and regions associated with the House of Orange.

City area The city's total land area is roughly 115 km² (44 sq mi). Its greatest east-west span is about 12 km (7 mi), and its greatest north-south span is about 12 km (7 mi). City limits are 48 km (30 mi) long. Siegen lies at a median elevation of 290 m (951 ft) above sea level. The city's greatest elevation is the peak of the Pfannenberg at 499 m (1,637 ft) above sea level at southern city limits. Siegen's lowest point is 215 m (705 ft) above sea level at Niederschelden at south-western city limits, which there also forms the state boundary with Rhineland-Palatinate. Roughly 60% of the city's land is wooded, making Siegen one of Germany's greenest cities.

The city area is divided into six zones, called Bezirke in German and comparable to boroughs in some cities, which themselves are further divided into various communities (Ortsteile and Stadtteile). Each "borough" has a borough board consisting of 15 voting and 15 non-voting members who are appointed by city council with regard to each party's share of the vote in the municipal elections in the borough in question. The borough boards decide on matters particular to their respective boroughs. These matters are laid down in Siegen's city charter.

Administrative division Siegen's six boroughs and communities belonging to each boroughs are: • District I (Geisweid): Birlenbach, Meiswinkel, Langenholdinghausen, Geisweid, Dillnhütten, Sohlbach, Buchen, Niedersetzen, Obersetzen • District II (Weidenau): • District III (Ost): Kaan-Marienborn, parts of Alt-Siegen (Giersberg), Bürbach, Volnsberg, Breitenbach, Feuersbach • District IV (Mitte): Alt-Siegen (parts not belonging to borough III or V) • District V (West): Seelbach, Trupbach and parts of Alt-Siegen (Wellersberg, Fischbacherberg, Achenbach, Rothenberg) • District VI (Süd): Oberschelden, Gosenbach, Niederschelden, Eiserfeld, Eisern.

Along with the boroughs and communities into which the city is divided, as mandated by law, there are also further subdivisions within the communities, each with its own name, but none with distinctly clear borders. They are called Quartiere, which can be rendered as "quarters" or "neighbourhoods". Examples of these include the Unterstadt, the Oberstadt, Hammerhütte, Lindenberg, Charlottental, Haardter Berg (with the university) and the Alte Dreisbach. Some neighbourhoods even straddle community boundaries, like Sieghütte, parts of which can be found in both Siegen-Mitte and Weidenau. Moreover, some neighbourhoods even overlap each other. Unlike the boroughs (Bezirke) or communities (Ortsteile and Stadtteile), the Quartiere have no statistical or administrative importance. They do, however, serve some function as to their inhabitants' identity, but more practically than that, they are also useful for finding one's way with a city map and using in bus route names and on public notices and traffic signs. Many of the Hüttentalstraße city Autobahn's exits are also named after the Quartiere that they serve.

The communities of Weidenau, Geisweid, Birlenbach, Langenholdinghausen, Buchen, Sohlbach, Dillnhütten, Niedersetzen, Obersetzen and Meiswinkel formed from 1 July 1966 to 31 December 1974 the town of Hüttental. The communities of Eiserfeld, Eisern, Gosenbach, Niederschelden and Oberschelden formed the town of Eiserfeld between those same two dates.

Neighbouring communities The city of Siegen borders in the north on the town of Kreuztal and the community of Wenden, in the east on the town of Netphen, in the south-east on the community of Wilnsdorf, in the south on the community of Neunkirchen, in the west on the community of Mudersbach (Altenkirchen in Rhineland-Palatinate) and in the north-west on the town of Freudenberg.

History The name Siegen comes from the possibly Celtic river name Sieg. It is, however, unclear whether there is any relation between this name and the Celtic-Germanic Sicambri (Ger. Sugambrer) people, who in pre-Christian times lived in parts of North Rhine-Westphalia. The first documentary mention of the place called Sigena dates from 1079. The city's history is markedly shaped by mining, which locally began as far back as La Tène times. Bearing witness to this longtime industry are the many mines that can be found within city limits.

In 1224, Siegen is mentioned as a newly built town whose ownership was shared by the Count of Nassau, Heinrich the Rich, and Engelbert II of Berg, Archbishop of Cologne after the latter transferred one half of the ownership to the former. Moreover, there is proof that the Oberes Schloss ("upper stately home") was already standing at this time. On 19 October 1303, the town was granted Soester Stadtrecht, or Soest town rights. The town remained under the two overlords' joint ownership until 1 February 1381, only then passing fully into Nassau hands.

In the 16th century, the town of Siegen bore a formidable defensive look. It was surrounded by mighty walls with 16 towers and three town gates, and was home to a great castle. The town was stricken several times by townwide fires. Documents record such fires in 1592, and from 10 to 20 April 1695.

In 1536, Heinrich the Rich built a "paedagogium" in the buildings that had once housed a Franciscan Monastery. It later grew into today's Gymnasium at Siegen's Löhrtor (gate). John VII of Nassau-Siegen ("John the Middle") built the Unteres Schloss ("lower stately home") on the site of an old Franciscan Monastery. In 1616, John VII founded a knightly war school in the still standing old armoury on Burgstraße, "expressly to produce an officer corps for Calvinism".

His son John VIII ("The Younger") returned in 1612 to the Roman Catholic Church, and wanted to use force to make the townsfolk also convert back to Roman Catholicism. In 1632, Nassau-Siegen was conquered by the Swedes, after which his half-brother John Maurice of Nassau-Siegen, the Dutch commander in Brazil, re-introduced Protestantism. John VIII died in 1638 and was succeeded by his only son Johan Frans Desideratus, who had to cede part of Nassau-Siegen (north of the Sieg river) to the Protestant branch of the family.

John Maurice's leadership served in 1650–1651 to bring about a split in the Siegerland along denominational lines. Under Wilhelm Hyacinth of Nassau-Siegen, violence broke out between the two denominational groups. When on 29 March 1707 townsman Friedrich Flender was killed, Wilhelm Hyacinth was himself unseated and furthermore driven out of the town. Wilhelm Hyacinth was the last in the line of Nassau-Siegen's Catholic rulers, dying in 1743. Already in 1734, though, the Reformed line had died out, too, with Friedrich Wilhelm's death, leading Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor to transfer power in the territory to the Prince of Orange and the Prince of Nassau-Diez. Under their leadership, mining, the main source of wealth, blossomed, along with agriculture and silviculture. When Prince William of Orange refused to join the Confederation of the Rhine, founded by Napoleon, he found himself unseated by the French leader and the Siegerland passed to the Grand Duchy of Berg. After Napoleon's downfall in 1813, however, William I regained his former German inheritances, but in 1815 he ceded them to the Kingdom of Prussia for the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Siegen was assigned to the Siegen district, first in the Koblenz region, and as of 1817 in the Arnsberg region within the Prussian Province of Westphalia.

Under Prussian rule, Siegen developed into the South Westphalian centre that it is today. On 1 March 1923, Siegen was set apart from the district bearing its name, and became a district-free town, while still keeping its function as seat of the district of which it was no longer part, and which was itself merged with Wittgenstein district under district reform in 1975. Siegen also lost its district-free status at this time, becoming part of the new Siegen-Wittgenstein district, the name that the district has borne since 1984.

During World War II, Siegen was repeatedly bombed by the Allies owing to a crucial railroad that crossed through the town. On 1 April 1945, the US 8th Infantry Division began the Allied ground assault against Siegen and the dominating military-significant high ground north of the river. The battle against determined German forces at Siegen continued through 2 April 1945, until organized resistance was finally overwhelmed by the division on 3 April 1945.

Sport The city sport league includes 160 sport clubs in which roughly 37,000 members are active. National importance was achieved in 2005 by the Sportfreunde Siegen men's football team at Leimbachstadion when they rose from the Regionalliga Süd up to the 2nd Bundesliga, although the next year they dropped back down again. As six-time German Champions, the TSV Siegen women's football team was very successful in the 1990s.

Air transport In the south of the district in the community of Burbach lies the Siegerland Airport. There are no scheduled services to other German cities. The airport is mainly used for general aviation and parachuting.

Bicycle transport The city of Siegen lies on European long-distance path E1 running from the middle of Sweden to Umbria in Italy. There is, however, no organized cycling trail network in Siegen. Riding in bus lanes is sporadically allowed. Bicycle transport is generally poorly developed in Siegen. Owing to dual carriageways within the city and nearby, as well as transport planning that rather favours cars, bicycle transport has been somewhat thwarted. Together with the partly hilly topography, there is therefore little in the way of bicycle transport in Siegen.

Rail transport Siegen station lies at the junction of the following railway lines: • The two-track electrified Ruhr–Sieg line (Ruhr-Sieg-Strecke) is used for regional services, usually hourly, of the Ruhr-Sieg-Express (RE 16) and the Ruhr-Sieg-Bahn (RB 91). • The Rothaar Railway (Rothaarbahn) is served, usually hourly by Rothaar-Bahn (RB 93) services, connecting in Erndtebrück to Obere Lahntal-Bahn (RB 94/RMV Line 43) services, usually two-hourly, on the Upper Lahn Valley Railway (Obere Lahntal-Bahn). • The two-track electrified Dill Railway (Dill-Strecke) is served, usually two-hourly, by the Rhein-Sieg-Express (RE 9) and the Main-Sieg-Express (RE 99) and hourly by the Sieg-Dill-Bahn (RB 95) (only to and from Dillenburg). • The mostly two-track electrified Sieg line (Siegstrecke) is served, usually hourly, by the Rhein-Sieg-Express (RE 9) and Sieg-Dill-Bahn (RB 95) services (only to and from Au).

Bus transport On 18 March 1895, the Netphener Omnibusgesellschaft opened the world's first busline using a petrol-powered omnibus, running a service from its base in Netphen to Siegen and Deuz. Today, local road transport offers many regional, express and local buses, along with a night bus service connecting Siegen with its outlying communities and neighbouring towns. They are run by the South Westphalia Transport Services (Verkehrsbetriebe Westfalen-Süd; VWS) whose headquarters are in Siegen. For the whole of local public transport, the tariff of the South Westphalia Transport Community (Verkehrsgemeinschaft Westfalen-Süd; VGWS) applies, regardless of the North Rhine-Westphalia tariff.

Roads With regard to long-distance roads, the city of Siegen is connected to Autobahnen A 45 (Dortmund – Aschaffenburg) and A 4 (Cologne – Olpe), and to Federal Highways (Bundesstraßen) 54, 54n, 62 and 62n. Siegen is home to the tallest bridge of the A 45 and one of the highest in Germany, the Siegtalbrücke. Built from 1964 to 1969, it is approximately 96 m high and 1 050 m long.

The Siegtalbrücke as seen from Alte Dreisbach in Siegen The shape that the city takes has much to do with the Hüttentalstraße (HTS) (Federal Highways 54n and 62n) which serves as a municipal Autobahn – much of it elevated – that runs through the city area.

The A 4 between Wenden and Kreuztal has been newly built. In the heights over Kreuztal's outlying community of Krombach, it now joins with the HTS. On this 12-kilometre stretch of highway are eight valley bridges as well as ten under- and overpasses. This new part was opened on 1 December 2007.

Economy Siegen is South Westphalia's service and administrative centre. Much of its industry is based on metalworking.

Pedestrian precincts in Bahnhofsstraße ("Railway Station Street") and Kölner Tor ("Cologne Gate"), both downtown, have made shopping in Siegen very convenient, as have the shopping centres City-Galerie (opened in 1998) and Sieg Carré (opened in 2006, both downtown) and Siegerlandzentrum (Siegen-Weidenau), and the Marburger Straße shopping street (downtown). In 2005, an IKEA store and a Peek & Cloppenburg location opened.

Public institutions Siegen is home to the Siegen-Wittgenstein district administration and location of a Chamber of Industry and Trade (Industrie- und Handelskammer, or IHK, one of 81 such regional institutions in Germany) for the districts of Siegen-Wittgenstein and Olpe.

Home to the Siegen State Court, a local court and a labour court, the city is also an important court centre.

Media In Siegen, the Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) maintains a studio where regional radio and television news for South Westphalia is produced. The daily broadcast goes out in the "South Westphalia" regional window following the programme Aktuelle Stunde (a newsmagazine show) on WDR's third channel. Moreover, WDR also runs a transmission facility for VHF radio and television (once also medium wave) at the Giersberg.

Daily newspapers in Siegen include not only the Siegener Zeitung but also local editions of the Westfälische Rundschau and the Westfalenpost. All three appear in the morning, although the first was until 2000 an afternoon paper. Furthermore, at the "Obergraben" is found the regional, Radio-NRW-connected Radio Siegen's studio building.

Higher education Siegen is headquarters of the University of Siegen, founded on 1 August 1972 as the Gesamthochschule Siegen.

As well, the Fachhochschule für Oekonomie & Management has a study centre, which is shared with the Academy of Administration and Economics.

Siegen also has various general-education and professional schools, and the Siegerlandkolleg.

Sights Although the town was about 80% destroyed in the World War II, Siegen has kept a number of buildings worth seeing, such as the two stately homes, the Oberes Schloss and the Unteres Schloss.

Oberes Schloss The castle on the Siegberg was first mentioned in a document in 1259 and was the family seat of the House of Nassau. Since 1905, the Siegerland Museum has been here. Alongside regional exhibits – among them an artificial demonstration mine – are many paintings. The centrepiece of this collection is made up of works by the man who is arguably the best known native, Peter Paul Rubens. There is also quite a comprehensive collection of portraits of members of the Houses of Nassau and Orange. The top floor is devoted to 19th-century home décor. A kitchen from the Siegerland, a bedroom and many pieces of furniture from the Biedermeier era give one an impression of life in the region in bygone days.

Unteres Schloss Late in the 17th century, the Lower Stately Home came into being in its current form, somewhat like an open rectangle. The Evangelical line of the House of Nassau-Siegen resided here. Also belonging to the Schloss is the "Dicker Turm", or "Fat Tower" with a carillon. In 1959, the then town of Siegen built a memorial for victims of war and tyranny. Inside the Schloss is also found the crypt of the Evangelical branch of the Nassau princely house.

Today, the Schloss serves as a state authority building in which the North Rhine-Westphalia Building and Property Establishment, the State Environment Office, the Office for Occupational Health and Safety and the Attendorn Correctional Facility (Siegen Branch Facility) are all housed. By the city's plans, a university is supposed to move into the Unteres Schloss within the next few years, but at this time, the plan is failing to find any financial backing.

Churches Two churches in downtown Siegen are to be brought to the visitor's attention: The Martinikirche dating from the 11th century and the Nikolaikirche at the marketplace with its unusual eight-sided shape and its golden Krönchen ("coronet") – the city's landmark – on the church tower, which is a prominent feature of Siegen's skyline (Siegen is sometimes called Krönchenstadt for this unusual feature). Another church is the Marienkirche, built by the Jesuits between 1702 and 1729. Also worth seeing are Siegen's Old Town and several museums in the city core.

Gasometer In the south-west of the city core, at the foot of the Ziegenberg, is a spherical gas holder, or gasometer, which is protected by law as a monument. It is one of the oldest spherical gas holders still preserved. Another peculiarity is its riveted casing. Only three other such gas holders are known to exist worldwide (all in Germany, in Schwerte, Offenburg and Bielefeld). The holder had to be moved a few metres owing to construction on the municipal Autobahn, the Hüttentalstraße, and in the residential area of Ziegenberg, and it now forms the symbolic sun as part of a scale model of the planets above the gas holder.

Cemeteries Within Siegen's city limits are 36 municipally run cemeteries. Ten of them are already closed and are available for burials only because of existing laws. The cemeteries have a total area of 730 000 m² with roughly 65,000 graves. Characteristic of regional cemeteries are hillside graves and a green, parklike layout that even affords wildlife a chance at reoccupying the land. Cemeteries within city limits are: • Lindenbergfriedhof • Hermelsbacher Friedhof • Stockfriedhof • Geisweider Friedhof • Haardter Friedhof • Gilbergfriedhof • Friedhof Kaan-Marienborn • Neuer Friedhof Niederschelden.

Theatre In the Apollo-Theater (a downtown former 1930s cinema that underwent remodelling and opened in mid-2007), Siegen has one of the current decade's most important newly built theatres. A controlling interest in this venture is held by TheaterSiegen intendant Magnus Reitschuster.

Since 1992, the media and cultural house Lÿz has been a venue for cabaret, music and theatre in Siegen. On the two stages, roughly 150 events appear every season. Bigger events take place at the Bühne der Stadt ("City's Stage", with about 820 seats), the Siegerlandhalle (1 800 m², 2,300 seats) or the Bismarckhalle. As well, there are regular open-air concerts and productions in the inner yard at Unteres Schloss.

Orchestras and choirs • Philharmonie Südwestfalen • Evangelische Kantorei Siegen • Bach-Chor Siegen • Sängerkreis Siegerland.

Museums The main centre of art in Siegen are the Museum for Contemporary Art and the Haus Seel – city gallery.

The Siegerland Museum is dedicated to regional history. The Oranienstraße House, built at 1900 in the Italian country house style, is attached to the Siegerland Museum since 1993 as an exhibit forum. There is a varied program of temporary exhibitions of all kinds, from archaeological excavations to contemporary avant-garde art. Poet and author readings are also part of the program, such as classic concerts.

In Geisweid is found the Beatles Home Museum, run by Harold Krämer. According to the 2000 Guinness Book of Records, the 27 m² museum is the smallest public museum in the world devoted to the four Liverpudlian musicians. The collection holds more than 17,000 recordings, souvenirs, film posters, and autographs and other memorabilia.

Regular events • Early in the year: SILA (Siegerlandausstellung – Siegerland Exhibition), even-numbered years only • March to November, first Saturday in each month: Flea market in Siegen-Geisweid (since 1970), no new goods • June to August: "Mittwochs in" different bands every Wednesday in Siegen-Weidenau • June: Johannimarkt, a fair held for some 400 years • June/July: Siegener Sommerfestival, plays, cabaret, theatre, music and cinema since about 1990. (In 2006, instead of the traditional summer festival, a World Cup festival was held) • July: Stadtfest (City Festival), even-numbered years only • July: Rubensfest, odd-numbered years only • August: Siegen Open-Air Cinema • August: Christopher Street Day (CSD), since 2000 • August: Siegtal-Pur All streets only opened for bikes (the HTS (local Motorway) too) • Summer: Street Festival at the Corn Market • October: 2nd Sunday: Bürgerfest Geisweid • November: Geisweider Adventsmarkt, since about 1985 • December: Christmas market, since about 1980.