Erkrath

Erkrath
Town
Coat of arms of Erkrath
Coat of arms
Mettmann (district)North Rhine-WestphaliaEnnepe-Ruhr-KreisRemscheidWuppertalSolingenRheinisch-Bergischer KreisLeverkusenCologneRhein-Kreis NeussDüsseldorfDuisburgMülheim an der RuhrEssenMonheim am RheinLangenfeldHildenHaanErkrathMettmannWülfrathVelbertHeiligenhausRatingen
Location of Erkrath within Mettmann district
Interactive map of Erkrath
Erkrath is located in Germany
Erkrath
Erkrath
Location within Germany
Erkrath is located in North Rhine-Westphalia
Erkrath
Erkrath
Location within North Rhine-Westphalia
Coordinates: 51°13′26″N 06°54′53″E / 51.22389°N 6.91472°E / 51.22389; 6.91472
CountryGermany
StateNorth Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. regionDüsseldorf
DistrictMettmann
Subdivisions3
Government
 • Mayor (2020–25)Christoph Schultz (CDU)
Area
 • Total
26.88 km2 (10.38 sq mi)
Elevation
68 m (223 ft)
Population
 (2025-12-31)
 • Total
43,555
 • Density1,620/km2 (4,197/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes
40699
Dialling codes0211, 02104, 02129, 02103
Vehicle registrationME
Websitewww.erkrath.de

Erkrath (German pronunciation: [ˈɛʁkʁaːt] ⓘ) is a town in the district of Mettmann, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Geography

Erkrath is situated on the river Düssel, directly east of Düsseldorf and west of Wuppertal, close to the famous Neandertal. It has two stations, Erkrath station, which is served by Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn line S 8, and Erkrath Nord station, which is served by S-Bahn line S 28, both at 20-minute intervals.

History

In that part of Neandertal, which is located in Erkrath, in the summer of 1856, quarry workers discovered the fossilised remains of what became known as the Neanderthal man or Homo neanderthalensis in Feldhof cave. The name Erkrath was first mentioned in 1148. Erkrath received town rights in 1966. In 1975, the municipality of Hochdahl was incorporated into Erkrath. As well its former borough Unterbach was incorporated into Düsseldorf. Only a part of Unterbach called Unterfeldhaus remained as now a borough of its own with Erkrath. Erkrath today has three local parts: Erkrath, Hochdahl and Unterfeldhaus.

Population

Mayors

Twin towns – sister cities

Erkrath is twinned with:

Erkrath's twin town partnership with Cergy-Pontoise, France was dissolved in 2019.

Notable people

Johann Heinrich Bongard around 1840
Joachim Neander

References

  1. ↑ Wahlergebnisse in NRW Kommunalwahlen 2020, Land Nordrhein-Westfalen, accessed 21 June 2021.
  2. ↑ "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden Nordrhein-Westfalens am 31. Dezember 2025 – Fortschreibung des Bevölkerungsstandes auf Basis des Zensus 2022" (in German). Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW.
  3. ↑ "Landesdatabank Nordrhein-Westfalen Tabelle 12411-01i: Bevölkerungsstand - Gemeinden - Stichtag". Retrieved 26 August 2026.
  4. ↑ Stadt Erkrath (Hrsg.), Erika Stubenhöfer: Die Erkrather Bürgermeister 1898–1999 – Stadtgeschichte im Spiegel von Biografien 2004 (ohne ISBN)
  5. ↑ Ergebnis auf der Webseite der Stadt Erkrath: http://wahlen.erkrath-it.de/bw2015.html
  6. ↑ "Haushaltsrede 2019 CDU-Fraktionsvorsitzender Wolfgang Jöbges" (PDF). erkrath.de (in German). Erkrath. 2019-02-26. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-09-20. Retrieved 2021-02-02.
  7. ↑ "Town twinning". West Lancashire Borough Council. West Lancashire Borough Council. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  8. ↑ Lavoie, Luke (7 June 2019). "CA marks 35th year with French sister city at 'Twinning Celebration'". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  9. ↑ "Cergy-Pontoise löst Städtepartnerschaft mit Erkrath". Rheinische Post (in German). 5 November 2019. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  10. ↑ Werner Raupp: Toni Turek – „Fußballgott“. Eine Biographie, Hildesheim: Arete Verlag 2019 (ISBN 978-3-96423-008-9), p. 73–74; 117–119; 171–176.