Vitis

Kempen (German: [ˈkɛmpm̩] ^ⓘ) is a town in the district of Viersen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately 30 kilometres (19 mi) northwest of Düsseldorf, and 20 kilometres (12 mi) 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

Twin towns – sister cities

Kempen is twinned with:^[3]

• 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
• 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

Gallery

• 
  View in a street
• 
  Church
• 
  Towngate (Das Kuhtor)
• 
  Lutheran church (Thomas Church)
• 
  Hessenmühle
• 
  Kempen Castle

References

External links

• Official website (in German)

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Wood, James, ed. (1907). "Kempen". The Nuttall Encyclopædia. London and New York: Frederick Warne.