Arnsberg is located in the north-east of the Sauerland in the Ruhr river valley. The river Ruhr meanders around the south of the old town of Arnsberg. The town is nearly completely encircled by forest, and the nature parkArnsberger Wald lies to the north". Arnsberg is connected by Federal Motorway 46Brilon in the east and Werl in the west. It is also connected by several railroad stations, which provide a connection to the major city Dortmund and the Ruhrgebiet. There is also a regional airport, located in the city district of Vosswinkel, which is exclusively used for small private aircraft. The municipal territory spans a distance of up to from the southern to the northern limits.
Arnsberg was first mentioned in 789 in the Carolingian records as belonging to the abbey of Werden. The town was built by the counts of Werl in the 11th century. They built a castle there whose remains can still be visited and are occasionally used for public celebrations. It was destroyed in the Seven Years' War in 1769. In the 12th century, old Arnsberg became the seat of Westphalian jurisdiction. Later, the city lost its independence and was subject to the Archbishops of Colognea. In 1816, it came under Prussian rule and was made a local administrative centre. In 1794 the French attacked Cologne, so parts of the treasure of the Cologne Cathedral were brought to safety to Arnsberg, also the relics of the Biblical Magi. In 1804 the treasure was returned to Cologne. A plaque in the Propsteikirche reminds of those years. The current city of Arnsberg was created in 1975 by merging 14 cities and municipalities into one city. Old Arnsberg itself and Neheim-Hüsten are the two urban parts, while the other parts are very rural. Neheim and Hüsten were merged in 1941. In the Second World War, Arnsberg first suffered widespread destruction and catastrophic loss of lives when RAFLancasters breached the dam of the Möhne Reservoir in the night from 16 to 17 May 1943. The nearby Abbey Himmelpforten was completely washed away. Later, dozens of Arnsberg citizens were killed in several British air raids aimed at destroying the railway viaduct. The targets were finally destroyed on 19 March 1945 using a Grand Slam bomb.
Demographics
Religion
Arnsberg's population is mostly Roman Catholic. Arnsberg belongs to the Archdiocese of Paderborn. Catholic churches include the "Propsteikirche" or the "Heilig-Kreuz Kirche"; the "Auferstehungskirche" is a Protestant church. There is also a New Apostolic congregation. In the last years Arnsberg's Muslim minority grew considerably. There's a mosque. The cemeteries are mostly Catholic but there is also a Jewish cemetery.
The arms of the city depict a white eagle on a blue field. Earlier it was a white eagle on a red field, introduced in 1278 and as used by the counts of Arnsberg. In the 17th century the red was changed to blue, reflecting the Bavarian blue of the House of Wittelsbach.
Abbé Franz Stock, since 1934 pastor of the German Catholic community in Paris, during the German occupation chaplain for French prisoners, 1945 Head of a prisoner of war seminar in Chartres, formerly advocate of Franco-German reconciliation
People related to Arnsberg
Paul Moder, German politician, Freikorps member and SS officer
