Kempen () is a town in the district of Viersen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately northwest of Düsseldorf, and east of Venlo.
History
- 1186: First mention in official documentation of Kempen as a place – the sovereign until 1794 is the Archbishop (electoral prince) of Cologne
- around 1290: Kempen is rebuilt as a fortified town
- 11 March 1294: First confirmation of Kempen as a town in official documentation
- 15th century: town blooms economically and culturally (population of approx. 4,200)
- 1542–1543: Kempen is the centre of the Reformation for the Lower Rhine
- 1579: The plague costs the town almost half of its inhabitants
- 1642: Kempen is conquered and destroyed by the allied French, Hessian and Weimar troops during the "Hessen War" (Thirty Years' War)
- 1794–1814: Kempen is under French rule. In the département of Roer established in 1797, Kempen becomes a canton seat in 1798 and a French town in 1801.
- 1815: After the Congress of Vienna, Kempen becomes Prussian and is the county seat
- 1929: Due to local reforms, Kempen becomes the administrative seat of the county of Kempen-Krefeld
- 1966 onward: Restoration of the old town
- 1970: Communal restructuring: The communities of Hüls, St. Hubert, Tönisberg and Schmalbroich join Kempen along with the localities of St. Peter and Unterweiden to form a single town
- 1975: In further local reforms, Hüls is assigned to the city of Krefeld. The county of Viersen is formed and Kempen becomes part of "Kreis Viersen"
- 1984: The county seat is transferred from Kempen to Viersen.
- 1987: A cultural forum is opened in the Franciscan monastery after comprehensive restoration and renovation work.
- 11 March 1994: Date of the 700-year jubilee of the confirmation of Kempen as a town
Politics
The current mayor is Christoph Dellmanns who has been serving since 2020. In the 2025 local elections, he was reelected with 89 % of votes. His only opponent was Joachim von Contzen of Die PARTEI.
Council
After the 2025 elections, the Kempen city council is composed as follows:
! colspan=2| Party
! Votes
! %
! +/-
! Seats
! +/-
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
| 6,887
| 38.0
| 1.5
| 20
| ±0
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Social Democratic Party (SPD)
| 3,157
| 17.4
| 0.7
| 9
| ±0
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)
| 2,939
| 16.2
| 6.2
| 8
| 3
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Alternative for Germany (AfD)
| 1,754
| 9.7
| 7.8
| 5
| 4
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Free Voters Kempen (FWK)
| 1,275
| 7.0
| 3.2
| 4
| 2
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Free Democratic Party (FDP)
| 1,047
| 5.8
| 2.7
| 3
| 1
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| The Left (Die Linke)
| 726
| 4.0
| 1.9
| 2
| 1
|-
| bgcolor=#007800|
| align=left| ÖDP-Citizens Initiative Kempen (ÖDP-BIKK)
| 255
| 1.4
| 1.6
| 1
| 1
|-
| colspan=7 bgcolor=lightgrey|
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| The PARTY (PARTEI)
| 85
| 0.5
| New
| 0
| New
|-
! colspan=2| Valid votes
! 18,125
! 98.9
!
!
!
|-
! colspan=2| Invalid votes
! 198
! 1.1
!
!
!
|-
! colspan=2| Total
! 18,323
! 100.0
!
! 52
! 2
|-
! colspan=2| Electorate/voter turnout
! 28,523
! 64.2
!
!
!
|-
| colspan=7| Source: City of Kempen
|}
Twin towns – sister cities
Kempen is twinned with:
- Wambrechies, France (1972)
- Orsay, France (1973)
- East Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom (1978)
- Werdau, Germany (1990)
Notable people
- Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380–1471)
- John Brugman (?–1473), Franciscan friar and preacher in Flanders
- Wilhelm Hünermann (1900–1975), priest and writer
- Adolph Moses Radin (1848–1909), rabbi
- Udo Schiefner (1959–2025), politician
- Isabel Varell (born 1961), actress and singer
- Bernhard van Treeck (born 1964), psychiatrist and author
- Tobias Koch (born 1968), pianist
- Daniel Altmaier (born 1998), Tennis player
- Luca Witzke (born 1999), Handball player
- Jordan Beyer (born 2000), Football player
Gallery
<gallery mode="packed">
Kempen, straatzicht2 2009-08-16 13.33.JPG|View in a street
Kempen, kerk foto1 2009-08-16 13.35.JPG|Church
Kempen, Kuhtor foto1 2009-08-16 13.44.JPG|Towngate (Das Kuhtor)
Kempen, kerk3 2009-08-16 14.01.JPG|Lutheran church (Thomas Church)
Kempen Denkmal-Nr. 3c, Hessenwall 1 (2067).jpg|Hessenmühle
Burg_Kempen_Suedansicht_01.jpg|Kempen Castle
</gallery>