# Bottrop

Bottrop (German pronunciation: ) is a city in west-central Germany, on the Rhine–Herne Canal, in North Rhine-Westphalia. Located in the Ruhr industrial area, Bottrop adjoins Essen, Oberhausen, Gladbeck, and Dorsten. The city had been a coal-mining and rail center and contains factories producing coal-tar derivatives, chemicals, textiles, and machinery. Bottrop grew as a mining center beginning in the 1860s, was chartered as a city in 1921, and bombed during the Oil Campaign of World War II. In 1975, it unified with the neighbouring communities of Gladbeck and Kirchhellen, but Gladbeck left it in 1976, leading to Kirchhellen becoming a district of Bottrop as Bottrop-Kirchhellen. It is also twinned with Blackpool, England.

## Boroughs

The total area of the municipal territory is about 101 km$^2$ (39 sq mi). The longest north-south distance is 17 km (11 mi), and from west to east 9 km (5.6 mi). The highest peak within the city's territory is 78 m (256 ft), the lowest one being 26 m (85 ft) above sea level.
Bottrop is divided into three boroughs: Bottrop-Mitte (Bottrop-Center), Bottrop-Süd (Bottrop South) and Bottrop-Kirchhellen, each having a borough representation and a borough ruler.
These boroughs are further subdivided into city parts, partly named after their traditional names, while the newly built parts are only recently named:
* Bottrop-Mitte: Eigen, Fuhlenbrock, Stadtmitte, and Marktviertel
* Bottrop-Süd: Batenbrock, Boy, Ebel, Lehmkuhle, Vonderort, Gartenstadt Welheim (Garden city Welheim), and Welheimer Mark
* Bottrop-Kirchhellen: Ekel, Feldhausen, Grafenwald, Hardinghausen, Holthausen, Im Loh, Kirchhellen, Kuhberg, and Overhagen
For statistical reasons, Bottrop is also divided into statistical boroughs. They are (with their official numbering):
| 11 Altstadt 12 Nord-Ost (Northeast) 13 Süd-West (Southwest) 21 Fuhlenbrock-Heide (Fuhlenbrock-Heath) 22 Fuhlenbrock-Wald (Fuhlenbrock-Forest) | 31 Stadtwald (City forest) 32 Eigen 41 Batenbrock-Nord (Batenbrock-North) 42 Batenbrock-Süd (Batenbrock-South) 51 Boy 52 Welheim | 61 Ebel/Welheimer Mark (Ebel-Welheim Market) 62 Süd (South) 71 Kirchhellen-Mitte (Kirchhellen-Center) 72 Kirchhellen-Süd/Grafenwald (Kirchhellen-South/Grafenwald) 73 Kirchhellen-Süd-West (Kirchhellen-Southwest) 74 Kirchhellen-Nord-Ost (Kirchhellen-Northeast) |

### Kirchhellen

From 1919 until 1976, Kirchhellen was its own town. Following a communal reorganization reform in 1975, both Kirchhellen and Gladbeck joined the city of Bottrop. This resulted in the nickname "GlaBotKi". Gladbeck left the city in 1976, and became part of the district of Recklinghausen.
Most of Kirchhellen is Catholic (around 65%). It has three churches, including one Lutheran church.

## Politics
### Mayor

The current mayor of Bottrop is Bernd Tischler of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) since 2009. The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows:
| Candidate | Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
| | Bernd Tischler | Social Democratic Party | 31,795 | 73.1 |
| | Andrea Swoboda | Alliance 90/The Greens | 4,117 | 9.5 |
| | Andreas Bucksteeg | Free Democratic Party | 3,023 | 7.0 |
| | Michael Gerber | German Communist Party | 2,071 | 4.8 |
| | Marianne Dominas | Ecological Democratic Party | 1,334 | 3.1 |
| | Günter Blocks | The Left | 1,153 | 2.7 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | Valid votes | 43,493 | 97.5 |
| Invalid votes | Invalid votes | Invalid votes | 1,114 | 2.5 |
| Total | Total | Total | 44,607 | 100.0 |
| Electorate/voter turnout | Electorate/voter turnout | Electorate/voter turnout | 92,241 | 48.4 |
| Source: State Returning Officer |||||

### City council

The Bottrop 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:
| Party | Party | Votes | % | +/- | Seats | +/- |
| | Social Democratic Party (SPD) | 17,668 | 40.2 | 7.4 | 24 | 2 |
| | Christian Democratic Union (CDU) | 10,513 | 23.9 | 3.2 | 14 | 1 |
| | Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) | 5,639 | 12.8 | 7.4 | 8 | 5 |
| | Alternative for Germany (AfD) | 3,076 | 7.0 | 5.2 | 4 | 3 |
| | Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP) | 1,856 | 4.2 | 0.4 | 2 | 1 |
| | German Communist Party (DKP) | 1,832 | 4.2 | 0.2 | 2 | ±0 |
| | Free Democratic Party (FDP) | 1,821 | 4.1 | 1.5 | 2 | 1 |
| | The Left (Die Linke) | 1,507 | 3.4 | 0.7 | 2 | ±0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 43,912 | 98.5 | | | |
| Invalid votes | Invalid votes | 672 | 1.5 | | | |
| Total | Total | 44,584 | 100.0 | | 58 | 4 |
| Electorate/voter turnout | Electorate/voter turnout | 92,241 | 48.3 | 0.2 | | |
| Source: State Returning Officer |||||||

## Culture and attractions
### Theaters, museums, and buildings

* Main Post Office, constructed 1921-1923
* The Quadrat is a museum housing permanent exhibitis on local history and displaying works by Josef Albers and many temporary exhibitions.
* City Hall (Neo-Renaissance 1910–1916) is regarded as the emblem of the city.
* Schloss Beck theme park and castle (late baroque period 1766–1777)
* Villa Dickmann, constructed 1901–1903 (art nouveau)
* Alte Apotheke (Old Pharmacy, Wilhelminian style 1895)
* Catholic churches
** Heilige Familie
** Heilig Kreuz, built 1955–57, windows by Georg Meistermann
** Herz Jesu, built 1929
** Liebfrauen
** St. Antonius
** St. Barbara
** St. Bonifatius
** St. Cyriakus, Propstei, built 1861/62 by Emil von Manger
** St. Elisabeth, built 1954
** St. Franziskus
** St. Johannes Baptist (BOT-Boy)
** St. Johannes der Täufer (BOT-Kirchhellen)
** St. Joseph
** St. Ludger
** St. Mariä Himmelfahrt
** St. Matthias
** St. Michael
** St. Paul
** St. Peter
** St. Pius
** St. Suitbert, built 1955
* Protestant churches
** Auferstehungskirche
** Friedenskirche
** Gnadenkirche
** Martin-Niemöller-Kirche
** Martinskirche, erbaut 1884
** Paul-Gerhardt-Kirche
** Pauluskirche
* Malakow-Turm (1872) of the coal mine Prosper II
* Coal Mining Tip Haniel with an open-air theater (Amphitheater) and the Stations of the Cross designed by Tisa von der Schulenburg and Adolf Radecki and opened in 1995.
* Saalbau, convention center

### Attractions

* Alpincenter - the world's longest indoor ski slope
* Tetraeder is a 50-m-tall walkable steel tetrahedron, placed on a 90-m slag heap. It has been the town's landmark since its construction in 1995.
* Movie Park Germany - theme park (in Bottrop-Kirchhellen)
* Schloss Beck is a castle turned into an amusement park (in Bottrop-Kirchhellen).
* Indoor Skydiving Bottrop, a powerful vertical wind tunnel, attracts skydivers from all over Europe.
* Since September 12, 2005, so called Stolpersteine have been placed by artist Gunter Demnig all over the city in remembrance of the people deported and killed by the Nazis.

### Periodic events

* January: Festival Orgel PLUS (music festival started in 1989)
* February: Rose Monday Parade and Carnival
* May: Horse Market
* May: Asparagus - Farmers' Market in Kirchhellen
* Brezelfest (Pretzel Festival) in Kirchhellen
* May/June/July: Schützenfeste (marksmen festivals) of Bottrops marksmen companies (BSV Bottrop Batenbrock, BSV Bottrop Eigen, BSV Bottrop Fuhlenbrock, BSV Bottrop Vonderort, BSV Andreas Hofer, Alte Allgemeine Bürgerschützengesellschaft, BSV Bottrop Boy)
* September: Michaelismarket

## Religion

* Catholic: 50% (19 churches)
* Protestant (Lutheran): 20% (8 churches)
* Atheist/agnostic: 20%
* Muslim: 2%

## Notable people

* Josef Albers (1888–1976), painter, graphic artist, designer, art teacher
* August Everding (1928–1999), director of the Hamburgische Staatsoper 1973–77, general director of the Bavarian State Theater rector
* Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser (born 1965), archaeologist
* Paul Holz (1952–2017), football player
* Martin Honert (born 1953), artist, professor at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts
* Da Hool (born 1968), DJ and music producer
* Theo Jörgensmann (born 1948), jazz musician and composer
* Gisela Kinzel (born 1961), athlete and Olympian
* Ulla Kock am Brink (born 1961), television presenter
* Bernhard Korte (born 1938), mathematician and computer scientist
* Werner Münch (born 1940), politician (CDU), prime minister of Saxony-Anhalt (1991–1993)
* Christian Scheuß (born 1966), journalist and writer
* Claus Spahn (born 1940), journalist and author
* Andrea C. Hoffer (born 1964), painter

## Twin towns – sister cities

Bottrop is twinned with:
* Blackpool, England, United Kingdom (1980)
* Gliwice, Poland (2007)
* Merseburg, Germany (1989)
* Mitte (Berlin), Germany (1983)
* Tourcoing, France (1967)
* Veszprém, Hungary (1987)
* Nobeoka, Miyazaki, Japan