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Gronau, North Rhine-Westphalia

Coordinates: 52°12′45″N 7°02′30″E / 52.21250°N 7.04167°E / 52.21250; 7.04167
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Gronau
Town
Saint Anthony Church
Saint Anthony Church
Flag of Gronau
Flag
Coat of arms of Gronau
Coat of arms
Location of Gronau within Borken district
Borken (district)North Rhine-WestphaliaKleve (district)Wesel (district)Coesfeld (district)Coesfeld (district)Lower SaxonySteinfurt (district)NetherlandsRaesfeldHeidenRhedeBocholtBorkenRekenVelenStadtlohnHeekAhausGescherLegdenSchöppingenGronauVredenSüdlohnIsselburg
Gronau is located in Germany
Gronau
Gronau
Gronau is located in North Rhine-Westphalia
Gronau
Gronau
Coordinates: 52°12′45″N 7°02′30″E / 52.21250°N 7.04167°E / 52.21250; 7.04167
CountryGermany
StateNorth Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. regionMünster
DistrictBorken
First mentioned1365
Subdivisions2
Government
 • Mayor (2019–25) Rainer Doetkotte[1] (CDU)
Area
 • Total
78.63 km2 (30.36 sq mi)
Elevation
27 m (89 ft)
Population
 (2023-12-31)[2]
 • Total
50,151
 • Density640/km2 (1,700/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes
48599
Dialling codes+49 (0)2562
+49 (0)2565 (Epe)
Vehicle registrationBOR
Websitewww.gronau.de

Gronau (German pronunciation: [ˈɡʁoːnaʊ] ⓘ; officially Gronau (Westf.), is a town in the district of Borken in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, near the border with the Netherlands, 10 km east of Enschede. The city is divided into the districts of Gronau and Epe.

Local history

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Documentary evidence of Gronau dates to 1365, and of district Epe to 1188.

Industrialisation took hold in Gronau with the founding of the first textile factory in 1854.[3] Dutch investors, in particular, drove the growing textile industry. In 1875, railway lines were opened from Gronau to Münster, Dortmund, and Enschede.

With the growth of the textile industry and the founding of the Gronauer Bauverein (homebuilding) in the eastern part of the city (1893), an expansion of the settlement area began. By the time of World War I, a new town hall, the district court, the parish church of St. Antonius [de], schools, hospitals, an indoor swimming pool, waterworks, an electricity plant, and the city park had been built in Gronau.

On 27 December 1897, Gronau was granted town rights.[4]

On the night of 9 to 10 November 1938, also known as “Reichsprogromnacht”, the synagogue in Wallstraße was desecrated in connection with the persecution of the Jewish population.[5] Eventually, most Jews from Gronau and Epe were deported to the extermination camps. There is still a Jewish cemetery in Gronau today. In the Epe district, the former Jewish synagogue is currently being rebuilt as a cultural centre.[6]

In 1975, Gronau and the municipality of Epe were merged into the new municipality of Gronau.[7]

The bankruptcy of the van Delden Group [de], founded in 1854, in 1980-1981 marked the end of the era of the textile industry in Gronau.[8]

Culture

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JazzFest Gronau logo

Since 1989 an annual music festival, the Jazzfest Gronau [de],[9] takes place in Gronau. A broad range of national and international musicians have performed at the festival, including Jan Garbarek, McCoy Tyner, Klaus Doldinger’s Passport, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Al Di Meola, Avishai Cohen, Al Jarreau, Ian Anderson, Richard Galliano, Ron Carter, Mother's Finest, Gregory Porter, Maceo Parker, Stefanie Heinzmann.[10]

The Jazzfest is currently funded to a large extent by local and regional sponsors and enjoys a constantly growing audience. The annual number of visitors swings between 12,000 and 18,000 visitors (incl. open-air events). The share of foreign visitors is around 65%.[10]

Transport

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Gronau can be reached by road via the Autobahn A 30 and A 31, the Dutch Rijksweg 35, the Bundesstraße B 54n. Gronau (Westf) railway station connects Gronau with Enschede in the Netherlands via the Dortmund–Enschede railway and the Münster–Enschede railway. The nearest airports are Münster Osnabrück Airport and Enschede Airport Twente, although the latter has no scheduled flights.

Overview map

Notable people

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The Dutch singer Rania Zeriri lives in Gronau. The Polish tennis player Agnieszka Radwańska grew up here; her father was a tennis coach at the local club. Blaise Nkufo, a Swiss footballer with African roots, former player of the Dutch football club FC Twente, lived in Gronau. Klaus Vogelgesang [de], a German artist, grew up in Gronau.

Born in Gronau

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Further information: List of people from Gronau

(in German)

Twin towns – sister cities

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See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Gronau is twinned with:[11]

References

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  1. ^ "Rainer Doetkotte neuer Bürgermeister in Gronau", Westdeutscher Rundfunk, 24 March 2019
  2. ^ "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden Nordrhein-Westfalens am 31. Dezember 2023 – Fortschreibung des Bevölkerungsstandes auf Basis des Zensus vom 9. Mai 2011" (in German). Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW. Retrieved 2024-06-20.
  3. ^ Muthesius, Volkmar (1954). 100 Jahre M. van Delden & Co: 1854–1954; Zur Geschichte d. münsterländischen Baumwollindustrie. M. van Delden & Company. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  4. ^ Reekers, Stephanie (1977). Die Gebietsentwicklung der Kreise und Gemeinden Westfalens 1817–1967. Münster (Westfalen): Aschendorff. p. 238. ISBN 3-402-05875-8.
  5. ^ Pracht-Jörns, Elfi (2002). "Gronau – Stadtteile Gronau und Epe". Jüdisches Kulturerbe in Nordrhein-Westfalen. Regierungsbezirk Münster: Beiträge zu den Bau- und Kunstdenkmälern von Westfalen, Band 1.2. Vol. 4. Cologne: J. P. Bachem. pp. 91–95, 153–155. ISBN 3-7616-1397-0.
  6. ^ "Alte Synagoge Epe e.V." Alte Synagoge Epe e.V. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  7. ^ Bünermann, Martin; Köstering, Heinz (1975). Die Gemeinden und Kreise nach der kommunalen Gebietsreform in Nordrhein-Westfalen. Cologne: Deutscher Gemeindeverlag. ISBN 3-555-30092-X.
  8. ^ Hassink, Robert (2010). "Locked in decline? On the role of regional lock-ins in old industrial areas". In Boschma, R.; Martin, R (eds.). The Handbook of Evolutionary Economic Geography. Edward Elgar. pp. 461–463. ISBN 978-1-84720-491-2.
  9. ^ "36. Jazzfest in Gronau vom 30.04 – 05.05.2024". Jazzfest Gronau (in German). Retrieved 2023-11-27.
  10. ^ a b "Jazzfest Gronau (history)". Retrieved 3 December 2023.
  11. ^ "Städtepartnerschaften". gronau.de (in German). Gronau. Retrieved 2019-12-02.
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