The town lies in the valley of the river Ennepe in the Süder Uplands, which is part of the Rhenish Massif. Gevelsberg lies about halfway between Wuppertal and Hagen, and is part of the industrial Ruhr Region. The lowest elevation is the Ennepe river at Vogelsang (132 m or 433 ft) and highest is the Hageböllinger Kopf (336 m or 1,102 ft). Its east-to-west length is 7.1 kilometres (4+3⁄8 miles) and the north to south length is 7.15 km (4+7⁄16 mi).
Division of the town
Asbeck
Berge
Gevelsberg
Silschede
History
Church of St. Engelbert
The town has a history of nearly 785 years. The archbishop of CologneEngelbert II of Berg was killed on November 7, 1225 by his cousin Frederick of Isenberg in Gievilberch. As a consequence, a monastery of atonement (German: Sühnekloster) was established at the place of Engelbert's death and became the origin of the settlement resulting in today's Gevelsberg.[3]
The population grew strongly in the 19th century, when many small industries related to iron processing were developed.
Coat of arms
Gevelsberg received its coat of arms (a brick gable on a green hill, and a cogwheel indicating its industry) by decree of the Prussian Department of the Interior in 1903. In the mid-1950s a city wall was added to the coat of arms.
Politics
The current mayor of Gevelsberg is Claus Jacobi of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) since 2004. In the most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, Jacobi was re-elected with 87.1% of votes, defeating Felix Keßler, who was endorsed by the CDU, Free Voters, The Greens, and FDP.[4]
City council
Results of the 2020 city council election.
The Gevelsberg 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:
