Erftstadt () is a town located about 20 km south-west of Cologne in the Rhein-Erft-Kreis, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The name of the town derives from the river that flows through it, the Erft. The neighbouring towns are Brühl, Kerpen, Zülpich and Weilerswist.

In 1977, the RAF held their hostage, Hanns-Martin Schleyer, captive in a flat in Liblar for about a month.

A landslide during the 2021 European floods led to the collapse of several houses.

Coat of arms

thumb|left

In green are one silver/white left flank bar and on the right border of the shield two golden/yellow squares.

The green ground expresses the nature and the health. The silver flank bar represents the river Erft. The right side looks like an "E" for Erftstadt. The yellow squares represent the biggest villages Lechenich and Liblar.

The coat of arms was designed by Josef Günterberg from Berlin. The town got it as an official coat of arms on 15 March 1974.

Geography

Erftstadt is located 25 km north-west of Bonn. Its height ranges from 81 to 151 metres above sea level.

The following towns and municipalities border on Erftstadt:

  • Kerpen
  • Hürth
  • Brühl
  • Weilerswist
  • Zülpich
  • Vettweiß
  • Nörvenich

Education

In Erftstadt are five further schools: two gymnasiums, two Realschulen and one Hauptschule. In Lechenich are the Theodor-Heuss-Schule, the only Hauptschule in Erftstadt. There also are the Realschule Lechenich and the Gymnasium Lechenich. The Realschule "Gottfried-Kinkel-Realschule" and the Gymnasium Ville-Gymnasium are located in Liblar. The only private school in Erftstadt, the Freie Waldorfschule Erftstadt, can be found in Liblar too. It is a primary and a secondary school.

There are seven primary schools in Erftstadt:

  • Donatus-Schule Liblar
  • Erich-Kästner-Schule Bliesheim
  • Nordschule Lechenich
  • Südschule Lechenich
  • Grundschule Gymnich
  • St. Barbara-Concordia-Schule Kierdorf
  • Janusz-Korczak-Schule Erp

The TH Köln plans to have a new faculty for Spatial development and infrastructure systems in Erftstadt.

There is one music school called Bernd-Alois-Zimmermann-Musikschule in Liblar.

Twin towns – sister cities

Erftstadt is twinned with:

  • Wokingham, England, United Kingdom (1977)
  • Viry-Châtillon, France (1980)
  • Jelenia Góra, Poland (1995)
  • Ternopil, Ukraine (2023)
  • Panketal, Brandenburg (1990)

Wards of Erftstadt

The town of Erftstadt consists of the following 14 Stadtbezirke (in brackets: population, 2023/03/01)

  • Ahrem (1,176)
  • Blessem and Frauenthal (1,641)
  • Bliesheim (3,721)
  • Borr and Scheuren(366)
  • Dirmerzheim (2,223)
  • Erp (2,665)
  • Friesheim (3,070)
  • Gymnich and Mellerhöfe (5,003)
  • Herrig (552)
  • Kierdorf (3,163)
  • Köttingen (3,584)
  • Lechenich and Konradsheim (11, 503)
  • Liblar (13,365)
  • Niederberg (542)

Most of the town administration is in Liblar, the most populous Stadtbezirk. The second-most populous Stadtbezirk is Lechenich.

Notable people

thumb|150px|Coat of arms of the family Wolff von Metternich

thumb|150px|Carl Schurz

  • Carl Schurz (1829–1906), politician and first German-born cabinet secretary (Secretary of the Interior 1877–1881) in the US
  • Jean Bungartz (1854–1934), animal artist, specialist author, photographer, breeder, lived from 1886 to 1913 in Lechenich

thumb|150px|Joseph Kentenich

  • Joseph Kentenich (1885–1968), founder of the Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement
  • Anna Reitler (1894 – 1948, born in Liblar), politician (KPD), Reichtags deputy
  • Bernd Alois Zimmermann (1918–1970), composer, born in Bliesheim

thumb|150px|Hennes Weisweiler

  • Hennes Weisweiler (1919–1983), football coach, born in Lechenich

thumb|150px|Peter Mittelstaedt (right) with [[Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker (left)]]

  • Peter Mittelstaedt:(1929–2014) Physicist, philosopher and science theorist
  • Manfred Donike (1933–1995), cyclist, chemist and well-known doping investigator

thumb|150px|Heinz Küpper, [[Landtag election 1990]]

thumb|150px|Herbert Feuerstein

  • Herbert Feuerstein (1937–2020), satirist and entertainer, lived in Niederberg

thumb|150px|Cornelius Bormann

thumb|150px|Lukas Klünter (2019)

  • Lukas Klünter (born 1996), football player, lives in Friesheim
  • Ismail Jakobs (born 1996), football player, lives in Liblar

References

  • Liblar and Carl Schurz
  • ErftstadtWiki (local city wiki)