Plettenberg

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title: "Plettenberg" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["towns-in-north-rhine-westphalia", "plettenberg"] topic_path: "general/towns-in-north-rhine-westphalia" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plettenberg" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox German location"]

Field	Value
name	Plettenberg
type	Stadt
image_photo	Plettenberg-Amtsgericht1-Bubo.JPG
image_caption	District Amtsgericht in Plettenberg
image_coa	DEU Plettenberg COA.svg
coordinates
image_plan	Plettenberg in MK.svg
state	North Rhine-Westphalia
region	Arnsberg
district	Märkischer Kreis
elevation	194 - 593
area	96.75
postal_code	58840
area_code	02391
licence	MK
Gemeindeschlüssel	05 9 62 052
website	www.plettenberg.de
mayor	Ulrich Schulte
leader_term	2020–25
party	parteilos
::

Plettenberg (; ) is a town in the Märkischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Geography

Plettenberg is located to the west of the Sauerland hills. The highest elevation of the town area is in the Ebbe Mountains with 663 m above sea level, the lowest elevation with 194 m near . The town is spread out between the four valleys of the rivers Lenne, Else, and .

Division of the town

Plettenberg consists of 5 districts:

Plettenberg (town centre) (14,012 inhabitants)
Eiringhausen (4,905 inhabitants)
Holthausen/upper Elsetal (3,985 inhabitants)
Oestertal (3,055 inhabitants)
Ohle (2,825 inhabitants)

History

Probably the first written proof of Plettenberg was made in a document from Grafschaft Abbey of Anno II, archbishop of Cologne, at that time named Heslipho. The name was later changed to Plettenberg, as the name of the noble family von Plettenberg, who owned virtually all of the town and surrounding lands.

The Dukes of the Mark bought the town from Cologne, who in 1301 built the castle Schwarzenberg (which was destroyed by fire in 1864). In 1387, Count Engelbert III granted the town some privileges, it received full town rights in 1397 from Count Dietrich von der Mark. At the same time, the town was fortified. The town blossomed in the following centuries thanks to mining and iron casting, as well as trading with the Hanseatic League.

In 1941, the town was enlarged to its current size, when the former town and the surrounding Amt were merged.

Population development

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Year	Inhabitants
1719	749
1758	1,051
1765	933
1818	1,307
1839	1,539
1849	1,652
1871	1,976
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Year	Inhabitants
1910	5,981
1933	7,169
1998	29,263
1999	29,133
2000	29,031
2001	28,959
2002	28,698
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Year	Inhabitants
2003	28,442
2004	28,255
2005	29,130
2006	28,782
2007	27,397
2008	27,026
2009	26,665
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Year	Inhabitants
2010	26,494
2011	26,132
2012	25,968
2013	25,684
::

|} The number of inhabitants till 1933 is the core town, since 1998 with the incorporated districts.

Mayors

1902–1924: Rudolf Emil Gottlob Köhler
1925–1930: Ludwig Schneider
1934–1938: Engelbert Wahle
1945–1948: Wilhelm Ding (SPD)
1948–1951: Karl Halfmann (CDU)
1951–1954: Emil Arndt (SPD)
1954–1956: Paul Thomee (FDP)
1956–1960: Heinz Chmill (SPD)
1960–1964: Wilhelm Wicker (CDU)
1964–1983: Heinz Baberg (SPD)
1984–1986: Udo Scheepers (SPD)
1986–1999: Otto Klehm (SPD)
1999–2004: Walter Stahlschmidt
2004–2015: Klaus Müller (SPD)
since 2015: Ulrich Schulte

Twin towns – sister cities

Plettenberg is twinned with:

AUT Bludenz, Austria (1988)
GER Schleusingen, Germany (1990)

Coat of arms

The coat of arms shows the coat of arms of the counts of Mark in the center. It is displayed between two towers. The coat of arms was granted together with the town rights. In 1794, the crown atop the shield was added in seals of the town. In 1840, the colored version on a shield was adopted.

In 1912, the town council agreed on the historical coat of arms, but the Königliche Heroldsamt in Berlin, which was responsible for the official approval, denied it - at that time the coat of arms of cities were supposed to be crowned by a town wall. However the town council did not want to repeat the symbols (town wall and crown) which was already present in the coat of arms, thus the coat of arms was not officially granted.

After Plettenberg merged with the municipalities of Plettenberg-Land and Ohle in 1940, the council had to decide on the coat of arms again. This time it was officially granted on September 28, 1942, however provisionally due to the war. Yet after the lost war, the coat of arms was never revoked.

The coat of arms of the municipality of Plettenberg-Land showed a silver-blue shield split vertically, the symbol of the master of Plettenberg. It is overlaid with the red-and-white chequered bar of the Mark. The coat of arms was designed by Otto Hupp, and was granted on January 16, 1935. The coat of arms of the Amt Plettenberg was very similar, it only had an additional red shell in the top-left-hand corner as the symbol of the masters of Ohle. Also designed by Otto Hupp it was granted on July 13, 1936.

The coat of arms of the municipality of Ohle shows the Saint Martin of Tours splitting his cloak to share with the beggar. Saint Martin is the patron saint of the church of Ohle. A small escutcheon is placed next to the Saint, showing a red shell on a yellow background, the symbol of the masters of Ohle. The coat of arms was also designed by Otto Hupp, and was granted on October 17, 1935.

Notable people

William C. Edenborn (1848–1926), businessman, inventor and philanthropist
Carl Schmitt (1888–1985), philosopher, jurist, political theorist and professor of law
Ruth Eweler (1913–1947), actress
Eike Wilm Schulte (1939–2025), opera singer
Rolf Steininger (born 1942), historian and university professor for contemporary history
Max Otte (born 1964), German-American economist, author and political activist
Michael Bartels (born 1968), racing driver
Marc Hoffmann (born 1973), sex offender and murderer
Markus Dworrak (born 1978), footballer

References

[https://www.wahlergebnisse.nrw/kommunalwahlen/2020/index_bm.shtml Wahlergebnisse in NRW Kommunalwahlen 2020], Land Nordrhein-Westfalen, accessed 21 June 2021.
"Partnerstädte". Plettenberg.

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