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Kempen, Germany

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:

Notable people

Gallery

References

External links