Borbeck-Mitte

Borbeck-Mitte is the central borough of Borbeck, the fourth suburban district of Essen, Germany. Together with the other boroughs of the district, it was incorporated on April 1, 1915. Borbeck-Mitte has a population of roughly 13,500 people and a total area of 3.19 km² or 1.23 sq mi. The name Borbeck derives from Bor(a)thbeki, which means either river in a fertile lowland or river of the Bructeri.

History

Early history synopsis

The first document mentioning Borbeck dates back to 869, when Borthbeki, a small rural commune, was mentioned as one of nine communes around

mortgaged parts of the region and built the predecessor of Schloss Borbeck. By the 14th century, Schloss Borbeck had become the favorite residence of the princess-abbesses, which came along with a rise of prestige for the region. In 1339, princess-abbess Katharina von der Mark had Borbeck's old Romanesque church modified so the abbesses and their entourage could adequately attend mass

.

19th and 20th centuries

After the dissolution of Essen Abbey in 1803, Borbeck was occupied by

Bürgermeister Rudolf Heinrich managed to use the size of Borbeck to attain several concessions from Essen, such as the construction of a public indoor swimming pool

if the new Stadtbezirk was to break 100,000 inhabitants again.

Institutions

The suburban district Stadtberzirk IV Borbeck, amongst Borbeck-Mitte (~ 13,500 inhabitants, 3.19 km² or 1.23 sq mi), also comprises the following boroughs:

Bedingrade (~ 12400 inhabitants, 2.93 km² or 1.13 sq mi)
Bergeborbeck (~ 4300 inhabitants, 4.96 km² or 1.92 sq mi)
Bochold (~ 18000 inhabitants, 3.19 km² or 1.23 sq mi)
Dellwig (~ 9300 inhabitants, 3.62 km² or 1.40 sq mi)
Frintrop (~ 8700 inhabitants, 1.96 km² or 0.76 sq mi)
Gerschede (~ 8000 inhabitants, 1.51 km² or 0.58 sq mi)
Schönebeck (~ 10200 inhabitants, 3.31 km² or 1.28 sq mi)

Borbeck-Mitte, as the central borough of the district, offers several central institutions for the district, including a

street market

each Tuesday and Friday.

Culture, public life and education

Borbeck-Mitte has a distinctive cultural life, mainly on personal initiative. Several

amateur theater groups. The cultural historical society maintains a small museum and meeting place in the Alte Cuesterey

near the central market place.

register office has set up a special room for marriages. The 55 ha (135.9 acres) park is open to the public and the largest park in the northwestern part of Essen. A street nowadays separates a smaller part in front of the castle from the rest of the park; this smaller part mostly consists of hilly lawns and includes a former boxing

arena, which is now used for concerts.

A

Ruhr Area specialties. The brewery was founded in 1896 on the premises of the old brewery of the castle. It was later taken over by the local competitors Stern and, in the 1990s, Stauder. Brewing has continued, but has been shifted to Stauder's main facilities. The brewery has since become a restaurant and is popular with final years, class reunions

and corporate events, mainly from the Borbeck area.

On one corner of the new market place, a fountain commemorates the habits of shortening old trousers for the summer months or buying clothes, especially trousers, a few sizes larger for children to grow into. Throughout the Ruhr Area, this habit has become known as Borbecker Halblang (Borbeck's half long).

Since 1949, a weekly local newspaper called Borbecker Nachrichten reports on cultural events, sports and general news from the district. The gazette, which at times had been the largest local newspaper in Germany, remained independent until 2000, when it was acquired by Essen-based

WAZ-Mediengruppe

.

Well-known educational institutions in Borbeck are the

speech disorders

can also be found in Borbeck-Mitte.

Notable personalities

Heinrich Uhlendahl (1868-1954), librarian and founder of the German national bibliography

Otto Doppelfeld (1907-1979),
archaeologist

Heinz-Horst
entrepreneur

Albert Vögler (1877-1945), entrepreneur

Footnotes

^ "Portrait of the borough on the website of the city of Essen". Archived from the original on 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2009-03-28.

References

Most sections of this article are translations from the German Wikipedia. The version used can be found under this link. The original authors of the German-language version can be found here.

Literature

The periodicals of the Cultural Historical Society of Borbeck, called Borbecker Beiträge, since 1987

Walter Wimmer: Gewachsen in 11 Jahrhunderten - Borbecker Chronik, Verlag Borbecker Nachrichten, Essen (1980 - 1993)

Lutz Niethammer: Die Unfähigkeit zur Stadtentwicklung. Erklärung der seelischen Störung eines Communalbaumeisters in Preußens größtem Industriedorf, in: Engelhart, U. u.a. (eds.): Soziale Bewegung und politische Verfassung. Beiträge zur Geschichte der modernen Welt, Stuttgart 1976.

Ludwig W. Wördehoff: Borbeck in seinen Straßennamen, Rainer-Henselowsky-Verlag, Essen 1987

External links

Cultural Historical Society of Borbeck (German only)
Old pictures and postcards from Borbeck
Portrait of the borough on the website of the city of Essen Archived 2009-04-08 at the Wayback Machine (German only)

51°28′30″N 6°57′04″E / 51.47500°N 6.95111°E / 51.47500; 6.95111

[1] "Portrait of the borough on the website of the city of Essen". Archived from the original on 2009-04-08. Retrieved 2009-03-28.