Dortmund
Hörde did not originally belong to Dortmund, but was an independent city. The name of the town of Hörde, founded by Count von der Mark, goes back to Huryde or Huride. This meant something like 'hurdle'. At the time of its founding, the Emscher swamps ensured that these hurdles really existed.
Hörde was first mentioned in a document from Emperor Otto IV in 1198. Hörder Castle was built by the Lords of Hörde in the 12th century. In 1340, Konrad von der Mark, with the approval of the ruling Count Adolf von der Mark, granted town rights to the village of Hörde. The Count von der Mark wanted to surround his arch-enemy, the city of Dortmund, with a ring of his own cities.
In the Middle Ages, wine was grown on the steep southern slopes north of the Emscher, on the “Remberg” (vine mountain). Today, street names such as Weingartenstrasse, Am Rebstock and Winzerweg are reminiscent of wine-growing history.
From 1388 to 1390 the Great Dortmund Feud occurred. During the course of the feud, Dortmund troops tried to take the city and castle by trickery; However, the attempt was discovered prematurely and thwarted. In 1390, a negotiated peace brokered by the city of Soest, which like Hörde and Dortmund was a member of the Hanseatic League, ended the dispute after Dortmund made a monetary payment to each of its main opponents.
Hörde was severely damaged by several major fire disasters, including three fires in the 16th century. At the beginning of the 17th century, Hörder Castle was occupied by the Spanish during the Thirty Years' War. Only twenty families survived the Thirty Years' War; two thirds of Hörde was destroyed.
From March 31, 1911 to March 31, 1928, Hörde was an independent city and at the same time the district town of the district of the same name, which existed until July 31, 1929. Hörde was incorporated into the city of Dortmund on April 1, 1928. Within two years in 1928/29, a new Greater Dortmund with more than 540,000 inhabitants was created.
During the National Socialist dictatorship, the Hörder Gestapo cellar was located in the police station on Benninghofer Strasse . A single, accurate bomb drop on the building from a small aircraft is attributed to an escaped torture victim and pilot. The murders in Rombergpark and Bittermark in 1945 were organized from the police station. The Bittermark Memorial and a memorial plaque at the police station commemorate these crimes.
There was a Jewish community in Hörde until the time of National Socialism. A monument on Friedrich-Ebert-Platz in Hörder Rathausstrasse commemorates this. The name Hörde is also engraved on the monument in the Valley of Communities in Yad Vashem, Jerusalem. There is still a Jewish cemetery in Hörde today.
________________________________________________
Dortmund is the largest city in the Ruhr area. It has a population of 593,000 inhabitants, making it the eighth largest city in Germany. Dortmund was founded around 882. Throughout the 13th to 14th centuries, it was the "chief city" of the Rhine, Westphalia, and the Netherlands Circle of the Hanseatic League. During the Thirty Years' War, the city was destroyed and decreased in significance until the onset of industrialization. The city then became one of Germany's most important coal, steel and beer centres. The town expanded into a city, with the population rising from 57,742 in 1875 to 379,950 in 1905. Sprawling residential areas like the North, East, Union and Kreuz district sprang up in less than 10 years. Dortmund consequently was one of the most heavily bombed cities in Germany during World War II. The devastating bombing raids of 12 March 1945 destroyed 98% of buildings in the inner city center. These bombing raids, with more than 1,110 aircraft, hold the record to a single target in World War II. Post-war, most of the ancient buildings were not restored, and large parts of the city area were completely rebuilt in the style of the 1950s. A few historic buildings as the main churches Reinoldikirche and Marienkirche were restored or rebuilt, and extensive parks and gardens were laid out. The simple but successful postwar rebuilding has resulted in a very mixed and unique cityscape.
________________________________________________
After visiting the Ruhr area three years ago, I did a revisit, since there was still so much to see. In less than six days I visited six cities, two museums, and I did some extensive car spotting by bicycle. I have hundreds of car spots to share and took photos of the historic or interesting buildings.
The Ruhr area ('Ruhrgebiet') is named after the river that borders it to the south and is the largest urban area in Germany with over five million people. It is mostly known as a densely-populated industrial area. By 1850 there were almost 300 coal mines in operation in the Ruhr area. The coal was exported or processed in coking ovens into coke, used in blast furnaces, producing iron and steel. Because of the industrial significance, it had been a target from the start of the war, yet "the organized defences and the large amount of industrial pollutants produced a semi-permanent smog or industrial haze that hampered accurate bombing". During World War II, the industry and cities in the Ruhr area were heavily bombed. The combination of the lack of historic city centres, which were burned to ashes, (air) pollution, and urban decay has given the area and the cities a bad reputation.
Source: Wikipedia