Plettenberg
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Plettenberg is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the east of the Sauerland hills, in the Märkischer Kreis. As of 2003 it has a population of 29,625.
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Geography
The city is located at Template:Coor dm. The highest elevation of the city area is in the Ebbegebirge with 593 m above sea level, the lowest elevation with 194 m near Teindeln. The city covers an area of 96.29 km².
The city is spread between the four valley of the rivers Lenne, Else, Oester and Grüne.
History
Probably the first written proof of Plettenberg was made in a document of Anno II, archbishop of Cologne, at that time named Heslipho. The name was later changed to Plettenberg, as the name of a noble family, who owned virtually all of the city and surrounding lands.
The Dukes of the Mark bought the town from Cologne, who in 1301 built the castle Schwarzenberg (which was destroyed by fire in 1864). In 1387 Count Engelbert III granted the town some priviledges, it received full city rights in 1397 from Count Dietrich von der Mark. At the same time the city was fortified. The city blossomed in the following centuries thanks to mining and iron casting, as well as trading with the Hanseatic League.
In 1941 the city was enlarged to its current size, when the former city and the surrounding Amt were merged.
The city has partnerships with Bludenz (Austria) since 1988, and Schleusingen (Thuringia) since 1990.
Coat of arms
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Coat of arms of Plettenberg
The coat of arms shows the coat of arms of the counts of Mark in the center. It is displayed between two towers. The coat of arms was granted together with the city rights. In 1794 the crown atop the shield was added in seals of the city. In 1840 the colored version on a shield was adopted.
1912 the city council agreed on the historical coat of arms, but the Königliche Heroldsamt in Berlin, which was responsible for the official approval, denied it - at that time the coat of arms of cities were supposed to be crowned by a city wall. However the city council did not want to repeat the symbols (city wall and crown) which was already present in the coat of arms, thus the coat of arms wasn't officially granted.
After Plettenberg merged with the municipalities Plettenberg-Land and Ohle in 1940, the council had the decide on the coat of arms again. This time it was officially granted on September 28 1942, however provisional due to the war. Yet after the lost war the coat of arms was never revoked.
The coat of arms of the municipality Plettenberg-Land showed a silber-blue shield split vertically, the symbol of the master of Plettenberg. It is overlayed with the red-and-white chequered bar of the Mark. The coat of arms was designed by Otto Hupp, and was granted on January 16 1935. The coat of arms of the Amt Plettenberg was very similar, it only had an additional red shell in the top-left corner as the symbol of the masters of Ohle. Also designed by Otto Hupp it was granted on July 13 1936.
The coat of arms of the municipality Ohle shows the Saint Martin of Tours splitting his coat to share with the beggar. Saint Martin is the patron saint of the church of Ohle. An small escutcheon is placed next to the Saint, showing a red shell on yellow ground, the symbol of the masters of Ohle. The coat of arms was also designed by Otto Hupp, and was granted on October 17 1935.