Lünen

Town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Lünen is a town with around 86,000 inhabitants in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located north of Dortmund, on both banks of the River Lippe. It is the largest town of the Unna district and part of the Ruhr Area.

In 2009 a biogas plant was built to provide electric power to the city. Lünen is the first city in the world to receive electricity via public utility companies that is generated on the base of animal waste.^[3] The plant produces up to 6.6 MW, supplying 26,000 homes with heat and electricity.^[4]

Culture and main sights

Saint George's Church

Structure

• Saint George's Church
• Saint Mary's Church
• Chateau of Schwansbell
• Colani-UFO
• Freiherr-vom-Stein School
• Town hall of Lünen
• Geschwister-Scholl School
• Industrial Monument "Moor Crane"

Museum

• Museum of the town Lünen
• Mining Museum in Lünen South
• Mining residential Museum in Lünen Brambauer

Theatre

• Heinz-Hilpert theater

Politics

The current mayor of Lünen is independent politician Jürgen Kleine-Frauns since 2015; he was originally elected as a member of Together for Lünen (German: Gemeinsam für Lünen = GFL), but later left the party. The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, with a runoff held on 27 September, and the results were as follows:

City council

Results of the 2020 city council election.

The Lünen city council governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows:

Twin towns - sister cities

Lünen is twinned with:^[5]

• Bartın, Turkey
• Demmin, Germany
• Kamień Pomorski, Poland
• Panevėžys, Lithuania
• Salford, England, United Kingdom
• Zwolle, Netherlands

Notable people

• Jens Beutel (1946–2019), SPD politician, mayor of Mainz 1997–2011
• Markus Brzenska (born 1984), footballer
• Karl-Heinz Granitza (born 1951), footballer
• Björn Höcke (born 1972), AfD politician, Member of Landtag in Thuringia
• Theodor Kleine (1924–2014), sprint canoer, Olympic medalist
• Friedhelm Konietzka (1938–2012), football player and coach
• Wilhelm Kuhne (born 1926), priest (Monsignore) and former rector of the Hardehausen Abbey
• Michael Mendl (born 1944), actor
• Max Raabe (born 1962), singer and conductor of the Palast Orchester in Berlin
• Berndt Röder (born 1948), CDU politician, former president of the Hamburgische Bürgerschaft
• Rollergirl (born 1975), singer
• Rüdiger Sagel (born 1955), politician Alliance 90/The Greens, later The Left, Member of Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia 1998–2012
• Max Simon (1899–1961), SS officer and war criminal
• Andreas Thiel (born 1960), handball player
• Eckhart Tolle (born 1948), spiritual teacher and author
• Clara Vogedes (1892–1983), artist
• Ernst Waldschmidt (1897–1985), orientalist and indologist
• Wolfgang Wendland (born 1962), singer, politician of the Pogo party
• Dieter Zorc (1939–2007), footballer

References

1. Wahlergebnisse in NRW Kommunalwahlen 2020, Land Nordrhein-Westfalen, accessed 30 June 2021.
2. "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden Nordrhein-Westfalens am 31. Dezember 2023 – Fortschreibung des Bevölkerungsstandes auf Basis des Zensus vom 9. Mai 2011" (in German). Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW. Retrieved 2024-06-20.
3. Pidd, Helen (28 May 2009). "Poo power to the people". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
4. "German city uses waste to generate green energy". Building. Building Sustainable Design. 28 May 2009. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
5. "Städtepartnerschaften". luenen.de (in German). Lünen. Retrieved 2021-02-19.