Editing Märkischer Kreis (section)

==History==

The district was created in 1975 as part of the reorganization of [[North Rhine-Westphalia]]n districts. The former districts of [[Lüdenscheid]] and [[Iserlohn]], together with the [[Iserlohn|City of Iserlohn]], previously an urban district, plus the area around [[Balve]] (previously part of Arnsberg District) were amalgamated to form the new district. Lüdenscheid District itself had been created just a few years earlier, in 1968, when the city of Lüdenscheid was merged with Altena District (originally created in 1753). The name Märkischer Kreis was chosen in recognition of the fact that most of its territory formerly belonged to the county of the [[County of Mark|Mark]].