Editing Gelsenkirchen (section)

== History ==
[[File:Einwohnerentwicklung von Gelsenkirchen.svg|thumb|Population development since 1800]]

===Ancient and medieval times===
Although the part of town now called Buer was first mentioned by [[Heribert of Cologne|Heribert I]] in a document as ''Puira'' in 1003, there were hunting people on a hill north of the [[Emscher]] as early as the [[Bronze Age]] &ndash; earlier than 1000 BC. They did not live in houses as such, but in small yards gathered together near each other. Later, the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] pushed into the area. In about 700, the region was settled by the [[Saxons]]. A few other parts of town which today lie in Gelsenkirchen's north end were mentioned in documents from the early [[Middle Ages]], some examples being: ''Raedese'' (nowadays ''Resse''), Middelvic (''Middelich'', today part of Resse), ''Sutheim'' (''Sutum''; today part of Beckhausen) and ''Sculven'' (nowadays ''Scholven''). Many nearby farming communities were later identified as {{Lang|la|iuxta Bure}} ("near Buer").

It was about 1150 when the name ''Gelstenkerken'' or ''Geilistirinkirkin'' appeared up for the first time. At about the same time, the first [[Church (building)|church]] in town was built in what is now Buer. This {{Lang|la|ecclesia Buron}} ("church at Buer") was listed in a directory of [[parish]] churches by the sexton from [[Deutz, Cologne|Deutz]], Theodericus. This settlement belonged to the [[County of Mark|Mark]]. However, in ancient times and even in the Middle Ages, only a few dozen people actually lived in the settlements around the Emscher basin.

===Industrialisation===
Up until the middle of the 19th century, the area in and around Gelsenkirchen was only thinly settled and almost exclusively agrarian. In 1815, after temporarily belonging to the [[Grand Duchy]] of [[Duchy of Berg|Berg]], the land now comprising the city of Gelsenkirchen passed to the [[Kingdom of Prussia]], which assigned it to the [[province of Westphalia]]. Whereas the Gelsenkirchen of that time &ndash; not including today's north-end communities, such as Buer &ndash; was put in the {{lang|de|[[Amt]]}} of [[Wattenscheid]] in the [[Bochum]] district, in the governmental [[Arnsberg (region)|region of Arnsberg]], Buer, which was an {{lang|de|Amt}} in its own right, was along with nearby Horst joined to [[Recklinghausen (district)|Recklinghausen district]] in the governmental [[Münster (region)|region of Münster]]. This arrangement came to an end in 1928.

After the discovery of [[coal]] &ndash; lovingly known as "Black Gold" &ndash; in the [[Ruhr]] area in 1840, and the subsequent [[industrialisation]], the [[Cologne]]–[[Minden]] Railway and the Gelsenkirchen Main Railway Station were opened. In 1868, Gelsenkirchen became the seat of an {{lang|de|Amt}} within the Bochum district which encompassed the communities of Gelsenkirchen, Braubauerschaft (since 1900, {{Interlanguage link|Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck|de}}), Schalke, Heßler, Bulmke and Hüllen.

[[Friedrich Grillo]] founded the Corporation for Chemical Industry ({{lang|de|Aktiengesellschaft für Chemische Industrie|italic=no}}) in Schalke in 1872, as well as founding Vogelsang & Co. with the Grevel family (later {{lang|de|[[Schalker Eisenhütte Maschinenfabrik]]|italic=no}}), and also the Schalke Mining and Ironworks Association ({{lang|de|Schalker Gruben- und Hüttenverein|italic=no}}). A year later, and once again in Schalke, he founded the Glass and Mirror Factory Incorporated ({{lang|de|Glas- und Spiegel-Manufaktur AG|italic=no}}).

After Gelsenkirchen had become an important heavy-industry hub, it was raised to city in 1875.

===Independent city===
[[File:Gelsenkirchen nordstern.jpg|thumb|left|Former Nordstern Colliery]]
[[File:Gelsenkirchen altstadt.jpg|thumb|left|Contrasts in the inner-city]]
In 1885, after the Bochum district was split up, Gelsenkirchen became the seat of its own district (''Kreis''), which would last until 1926. The cities of Gelsenkirchen and Wattenscheid, as well as the {{lang|de|[[Amt (administrative division)|Ämter]]}} of Braubauerschaft (in 1900, Bismarck), Schalke, {{ill|Ückendorf|de}}, [[Wanne-Eickel|Wanne]] and [[Wattenscheid]] all belonged to the Gelsenkirchen district. A few years later, in 1896, Gelsenkirchen split off from Gelsenkirchen district to become an [[independent city]] ({{lang|de|kreisfreie Stadt}}). In 1891, Horst was split off from the {{lang|de|Amt}} of Buer, which itself was raised to city status in 1911, and to an independent city status the next year. Meanwhile, Horst became the seat of its own {{lang|de|Amt}}. In 1924, the rural community of [[Flugwerk Deutschland GmbH|Rotthausen]], which until then had belonged to the [[Essen]] district, was made part of the Gelsenkirchen district.

In 1928, under the Prussian local government reforms, the cities of Gelsenkirchen and Buer along with the {{lang|de|Amt}} of Horst together became a new {{lang|de|kreisfreie Stadt}} called Gelsenkirchen-Buer, effective on 1 April that year. From that time, the whole city area belonged to the governmental district of Münster. In 1930, on the city's advice, the city's name was changed to 'Gelsenkirchen', effective 21 May. By this time, the city was home to about 340,000 people.

In 1931, the Gelsenkirchen Mining Corporation ({{lang|de|Gelsenkirchener Bergwerks-Aktien-Gesellschaft|italic=no}}) founded the Gelsenberg Petrol Corporation ({{lang|de|Gelsenberg-Benzin-AG|italic=no}}). In 1935, the Hibernia Mining Company founded the {{lang|de|Hydrierwerk Scholven AG GE-Buer|italic=no}} [[coal liquefaction]] plant. Scholven/Buer began operation in 1936 and achieved a capacity of 200,000 tons/year of finished product, mainly aviation base gasoline.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fischer-tropsch.org/Bureau_of_Mines/info_circ/ic_7375/ic_7375.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071108041008/http://www.fischer-tropsch.org/Bureau_of_Mines/info_circ/ic_7375/ic_7375.htm |archive-date=8 November 2007 |title=Untitled Document}}</ref> After 1937, Gelsenberg-Benzin-AG opened the Nordstern plant for converting bituminous coal to synthetic oil.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Becker |first=Peter W. |year=1981 |title=The Role of Synthetic Fuel in World War II Germany: implications for today? |url=http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1981/jul-aug/becker.htm |journal=Air University Review |location=[[Maxwell Air Force Base]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130222003452/http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/aureview/1981/jul-aug/becker.htm |archive-date=22 February 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Nazi Germany===
The [[9 November in German history|9 November 1938]] [[Kristallnacht]] antisemitic riots destroyed Jewish businesses, dwellings and cemeteries, and a [[synagogue]] in Buer and one in downtown Gelsenkirchen. A new downtown Gelsenkirchen synagogue was opened on 1 February 2007.

Gelsenkirchen was a target of [[strategic bombing during World War II]], particularly during the 1943 [[Battle of the Ruhr]] and the [[Oil campaign of World War II|oil campaign]]. Three quarters of Gelsenkirchen was destroyed<ref>[http://www.dw.com/en/gelsenkirchen/a-1533348 "World Cup 2006 – Gelsenkirchen"], [[Deutsche Welle]], 19 October 2005</ref> and many above-ground [[air raid shelter]]s such as near the town hall in Buer are in nearly original form.

[[Oberst]] [[Werner Mölders]], the legendary [[Luftwaffe]] fighter pilot, was born here.

The [[Gelsenberg Lager]] subcamp of the [[Buchenwald concentration camp]] was established in 1944<ref>Edward Victor. [http://www.edwardvictor.com/Holocaust/Gelsenkirchen.htm Alphabetical list of camps, subcamps and other camps], Gelsenkirchen</ref> to provide [[forced labour]] of about 2000 Hungarian women and girls for Gelsenberg-Benzin-AG. About 150 died during September 1944 bombing raids (shelters and protection ditches were forbidden to them).<ref>[http://www.gelsenzentrum.de/gelsenberg_lager.htm Das Gelsenberglager, Außenlager des KZ Buchenwald in Gelsenkirchen] {{in lang|de}}</ref> There was also a camp for [[Sinti]] and [[Romani people]] (see ''[[Romani Holocaust]]'') in the city.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=1522|title=Lager für Sinti und Roma Gelsenkirchen|website=Bundesarchiv.de|access-date=9 January 2024|language=de}}</ref>

From 1933 to 1945, the city's mayor was the appointed [[Nazi]] Carl Engelbert Böhmer. In 1994, the Institute for City History opened the documentation centre "Gelsenkirchen under National Socialism" ({{Lang|de|Dokumentationsstätte "Gelsenkirchen im Nationalsozialismus"}}).

===After the war===
On 17 December 1953, the {{lang|de|Kokerei Hassel}} went into operation, billed as Germany's "first new [[coking plant]]" since the war. The [[Scholven Power Station]] was built in the late 1960s with further development until 1985, one of the largest in Europe at the time.<ref>[https://www.uniper.energy/germany/power-plants-germany/scholven "Scholven"], [[Uniper]]. {{Retrieved|access-date=30 January 2024}}</ref> Its {{convert|302|m|feet}} chimneys are among the tallest in Germany. When [[postal code]]s were introduced in 1961, Gelsenkirchen was one of the few cities in [[West Germany]] to be given two codes: Buer was given 466, while Gelsenkirchen got 465. These were in use until 1 July 1993. The first [[comprehensive school]] in North Rhine-Westphalia was opened in 1969. Scholven-Chemie AG (the old hydrogenation plant) merged with Gelsenberg-Benzin-AG to form the new corporation VEBA-Oel AG. In 1987, [[Pope John Paul II]] celebrated [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] before 85,000 people at Gelsenkirchen's [[Parkstadion]]. The Pope also became an honorary member of [[FC Schalke 04]].

In 1997, the Federal Garden Show ({{lang|de|Bundesgartenschau}} or {{lang|de|BUGA}}) was held on the grounds of the disused {{Interlanguage link|Zeche Nordstern|de|lt=Nordstern}} [[coalmine]] in Horst. In 1999, the last phase of the [[Internationale Bauausstellung Emscher Park]], an undertaking that brought together many cities in North Rhine-Westphalia, was held. [[Coke (fuel)|Coke]] was produced at the old Hassel coking works for the last time on 29 September 1999. This marked the shutdown of the last coking plant in Gelsenkirchen, after being a coking town for more than 117 years. In the same year, Shell Solar Deutschland AG took over production of [[photovoltaic]] equipment. On 28 April 2000, the Ewald-Hugo colliery closed &ndash; Gelsenkirchen's last colliery. Three thousand coalminers lost their jobs. In 2003, Buer celebrated its thousandth anniversary of first documentary mention, and FC Schalke 04 celebrated on 4 May 2004 its hundredth anniversary.

{{wide image|Gelsenkirchen Altstadt Panorama.jpg|2000px|Panorama of Gelsenkirchen}}
{{clear|left}}

===Jewish history===

====19th century====
The [[Jewish]] community of Gelsenkirchen was officially established in 1874, relatively late compared to the Jewish [[Ashkenazi]] communities in Germany. In a list of 1829 to determine the salary for the [[Chief Rabbi]] of [[Westphalia]], {{Interlanguage link|Abraham Sutro|de}}, three families were named: the families of Ruben Levi, Reuben Simon, and Herz Heimann families.<ref name="talmud.de">[http://www.talmud.de/gelsenkirchen/ "Das Judentum in Gelsenkirchen"], by Chajm Guski {{in lang|de}}</ref> With the growth of the town during the second half of the 19th century, its Jewish population also grew bigger, with about 120 Jews living in town in 1880, and a [[synagogue]] established in 1885. With the growth of the community, a bigger building was built to serve as the community school.<ref>[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0007_0_07162.html Gelsenkirchen], Jewish Virtual Library</ref>

====20th century====
The community continued to grow and around 1,100 Jews were living in Gelsenkirchen in 1901, a number that reached its peak of 1,300 individuals in 1933. At the turn of the 20th century the [[Reform Judaism|Reform Jewish]] community was the most dominant among all Jewish communities in town, and after an [[Organ (music)|organ]] was installed inside the synagogue, and most prayers performed mostly in German instead of traditional Hebrew, the town's [[Orthodox Judaism|orthodox]] community decided to stop attending the synagogue and tried to establish a new orthodox community, led by Dr. Max Meyer, Dr. Rubens and Abraham Fröhlich, most of them living on Florastraße.<ref name="talmud.de" /> In addition, another Jewish orthodox congregation of Polish Jews was found in town.<ref>''The Encyclopedia of Jewish Life Before and During the Holocaust: A–J'' by Shmuel Spector and Geoffrey Wigoder, New York University Press 2001, [https://books.google.com/books?id=MFn3KeENnA0C&q=Gelsenkirchen&pg=PA422 p. 422], {{ISBN|9780814793565}}</ref> In 1908, a lot on Wanner Straße was purchased and served the community as its cemetery until 1936, today containing about 400 graves.<ref name="talmud.de" /> In addition, another cemetery was built in 1927 in the suburb of Ückendorf.

====Nazi Germany====
With the rise of [[Hitler]] and [[National Socialism]] in 1933, Jewish life in Gelsenkirchen was still relatively unaffected at first. In August 1938, 160 Jewish businesses were still open in town. In October 1938, though, an official ban restricted these businesses and all Jewish doctors became unemployed. In the same month, the Jewish community of the town was expelled. Between 1937 and 1939, the Jewish population of Gelsenkirchen dropped from 1,600 to 1,000. During [[Kristallnacht]], the town's synagogue was destroyed, after two thirds of the town's Jewish population had already left. On 27 January 1942, 350 among the 500 remaining Jews in town were deported to the [[Riga Ghetto]]; later, the last remaining Jews were deported to Warsaw and the [[Theresienstadt concentration camp]].

====The Gelsenkirchen transport====
On 31 March 1942, a Nazi deportation train set out from Gelsenkirchen and, carrying 48 Jews from the town area, made its way to the [[Warsaw Ghetto]]. The train was the first to deport Jews to Warsaw and not to [[Trawniki concentration camp]] in southern Poland, as used before. After it left Gelsenkirchen, the train was boarded by other Jews from [[Münster]], [[Dortmund]] and a few other stops along the way, and mostly by the Jews of [[Hanover]], 500 in number. The arrival of this transport from Westphalia and Upper Saxony was recorded in his diaries by Adam Czerniakov, the last chairman of the Warsaw Ghetto [[Judenrat]]. He stated that those older than 68 were allowed to stay in Germany. The majority of these deportees were killed later on the different death sites around modern-day Poland.<ref>[http://www.blankgenealogy.com/holocaust/Transports/Germany/March%2031%201942%20Deportation%20Transport%20from%20Gelsenkirchen%20to%20Warsaw%20Ghetto.pdf "March 31, 1942, Deportation from Gelsenkirchen to Warsaw Ghetto"] (English), citing A. Gottwaldt and D. Schulle, ''Die "Judendeportationen" aus dem Deutschen Reich 1941–1945''</ref>

====After World War II====
In 1946, 69 Jews returned to Gelsenkirchen and in 1958, a synagogue and cultural centre were built for the remaining community. In 2005, about 450 Jews were living in town. During the last decade of the 20th century, a noted number of Jews came to the town, after emigrating out of the former USSR. This situation made it necessary to extend the synagogue. Eventually, a new and bigger synagogue was built to serve the increasing Jewish community of Gelsenkirchen. The current community practices Orthodox Judaism, even though no family practices it at home.<ref name="talmud.de" /> On 16 May 2014, antisemitic graffiti were painted on the town synagogue.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://antisemitism.org.il/article/87383/swastika-synagogue-old-city|title=CFCA – Swastika on synagogue in an old city|work=antisemitism.org.il}}</ref>

====Sites====
The building at Husemannstraße 75 belonged to Dr. Max Meyer, who built it between 1920 and 1921. A [[mezuzah]] sign can still be seen on the top right side of the door.<ref name="talmud.de" /> On Florastraße, near Kennedyplatz, (formerly Schalker Straße 45), stands the house of the Tepper family, a Jewish family that vanished during the [[The Holocaust|Holocaust]]. As part of the national [[Stolperstein]] project, five bricks, commemorating the Jewish inhabitants, were installed outside the house.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stolpersteine-gelsenkirchen.de/stolpersteine_tepper_family.htm|title=Stolpersteine Gelsenkirchen – Tepper Family lived here...|work=stolpersteine-gelsenkirchen.de}}</ref>