Olpe (district)

Olpe
District
Country  Germany
State North Rhine-Westphalia
Adm. region Arnsberg
Capital Olpe
Area
  Total 710.7 km2 (274.4 sq mi)
Population (31 December 2015)[1]
  Total 136,365
  Density 190/km2 (500/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
  Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Vehicle registration OE
Website http://www.kreis-olpe.de

Olpe is a Kreis (district) in the south-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Märkischer Kreis, Hochsauerland, Siegen-Wittgenstein, Altenkirchen, Oberbergischer Kreis.

History

The district was created in 1817 as Bilsteiner Kreis, in 1819 the capital was set to be Olpe. During the reorganization of the districts in 1969 several of the municipalities in the district were merged to become cities, however the district itself was only modified minimally, and also in the second reorganization 1974 it stayed nearly in the same borders as in 1817.

Geography

Geographically it covers the south-western part of the Sauerland mountains, which make the district rich in forests. The main river through the district is the Lenne.

Schützenbund

The Kreisschützenbund Olpe performs the Kreisschützenfest. [2]

Coat of arms

Coat of arms
The left half of the coat of arms show the cologne cross, as the Olpe area belonged to the bishops of Cologne. The right side show the sign of the Lords of Fürstenberg, who were governors for the bishops in this area.

Towns and municipalities

Towns Municipalities
  1. Attendorn
  2. Drolshagen
  3. Lennestadt
  4. Olpe
  1. Finnentrop
  2. Kirchhundem
  3. Wenden

References

  1. "Amtliche Bevölkerungszahlen". Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW (in German). 18 July 2016.
  2. Vereine im Kreisschützenbund Olpe

Media related to Kreis Olpe at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 51°05′N 8°00′E / 51.08°N 8.0°E / 51.08; 8.0

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 6/21/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.