Gladbeck
Gladbeck
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Gladbeck

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Gladbeck

Gladbeck (German pronunciation: [ˈɡlatbɛk] ) is a town in the district of Recklinghausen in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Gladbeck is quite a young town, first recognised 21 July 1919 when it was given town rights. The town established itself around five farming villages, Brauck, Butendorf, Ellinghorst, Rentfort and Zweckel.

Gladbeck is located in the northern part of the Ruhr Area and belongs to the so-called Emscherzone in which mining started late in relation to other towns of this area. Gladbeck is predominantly surrounded by Bottrop, Gelsenkirchen, Dorsten and by Essen in the south.

Early archeological finds prove that the region of Gladbeck was already populated as early as 2000 BC. It was first mentioned in 1020 as Gladbeki and was originally a small village of 300 inhabitants. The village with its five peasantries (Butendorf, Brauck, Rentfort, Ellinghorst and Zweckel, now quarters of Gladbeck) was arranged around St. Lamberti cathedral.

From 1180 to 1802 Gladbeck belonged to the Vest Recklinghausen and was thus linked with the Electorate of Cologne. A certificate from 1236 mentions Knight Ludolfus de Wittering who is most likely to have erected Wittringen Castle around that time. Especially during the first years of the Thirty Years' War (1618–48) many cornfields in and around Gladbeck were destroyed by marauding soldiers. Additionally, the Black Death killed many inhabitants of Gladbeck during the Thirty Years' War.

At the 1815 Congress of Vienna the Kingdom of Prussia acquired the area and administered it within the Province of Westphalia. Before the Revolutions of 1848 there were three bad food crises in Gladbeck in 1816/17, 1830/31 and 1846/47. However, the "March Revolution" had no consequences on Gladbeck.

Coal was found in the 1870s and the first coal was produced in 1878. Depending on additional workers, the coal mines attracted many people. Therefore, Gladbeck rapidly grew by immigration from surrounding Westphalia, the Rhine Province, and from the eastern provinces of Prussia including citizens with Polish as their native language.

The little village quickly turned into an establishment of industry and was given town privilege in July 1919. Also Gladbeck benefited from the general boom in the years 1925 to 1929 when important building projects were realised in spite of all troubles, such as the open-air bath as well as the stadium, in which Adolf Hitler delivered a speech in 1932.

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