# Erftstadt

Erftstadt (German pronunciation: ) is a town located about 20 km south-west of Cologne in the Rhein-Erft-Kreis, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The name of the town derives from the river that flows through it, the Erft. The neighbouring towns are Brühl, Kerpen, Zülpich and Weilerswist.
A landslide during the 2021 European floods led to the collapse of several houses.

## Coat of arms

In green are one silver/white left flank bar and on the right border of the shield two golden/yellow squares. The green ground expresses the nature and the health. The silver flank bar represents the river Erft. The right side looks like an "E" for Erftstadt. The yellow squares represent the biggest villages Lechenich and Liblar. The coat of arms was designed by Josef Günterberg from Berlin. The town got it as an official coat of arms on 15 March 1974.

## Geography

Erftstadt is located 25 km north-west of Bonn. Its height ranges from 81 to 151 metres above sea level. The following towns and municipalities border on Erftstadt:
* Kerpen
* Hürth
* Brühl
* Weilerswist
* Zülpich
* Vettweiß
* Nörvenich

## Education

In Erftstadt are five further schools: two gymnasiums, two Realschulen and one Hauptschule. In Lechenich are the Theodor-Heuss-Schule, the only Hauptschule in Erftstadt. There also are the Realschule Lechenich and the Gymnasium Lechenich. The Realschule "Gottfried-Kinkel-Realschule" and the Gymnasium Ville-Gymnasium are located in Liblar. The only private school in Erftstadt, the Freie Waldorfschule Erftstadt, can be found in Liblar too. It is a primary and a secondary school. There are seven primary schools in Erftstadt:
* Donatus-Schule Liblar
* Erich-Kästner-Schule Bliesheim
* Nordschule Lechenich
* Südschule Lechenich
* Grundschule Gymnich
* St. Barbara-Concordia-Schule Kierdorf
* Janusz-Korczak-Schule Erp
The TH Köln plans to have a new faculty for Spatial development and infrastructure systems in Erftstadt. There is one music school called Bernd-Alois-Zimmermann-Musikschule in Liblar.

## Twin towns – sister cities

Erftstadt is twinned with:
* Wokingham, England, United Kingdom (1977)
* Viry-Châtillon, France (1980)
* Jelenia Góra, Poland (1995)
* Ternopil, Ukraine (2023)
* Panketal, Brandenburg (1990)

## Wards of Erftstadt

The town of Erftstadt consists of the following 14 Stadtbezirke (in brackets: population, 2023/03/01)
* Ahrem (1,176)
* Blessem and Frauenthal (1,641)
* Bliesheim (3,721)
* Borr and Scheuren(366)
* Dirmerzheim (2,223)
* Erp (2,665)
* Friesheim (3,070)
* Gymnich and Mellerhöfe (5,003)
* Herrig (552)
* Kierdorf (3,163)
* Köttingen (3,584)
* Lechenich and Konradsheim (11, 503)
* Liblar (13,365)
* Niederberg (542)
Most of the town administration is in Liblar, the most populous Stadtbezirk. The second-most populous Stadtbezirk is Lechenich.

## Notable people

* Adolph Wolff von Metternich zur Gracht (1553–1619), cathedral dean in Speyer and steward of the duke Wilhelm V. of Bavaria
* Wilhelm Wolff von Metternich zur Gracht (1563–1636), Jesuit Father and Rector of the Colleges of Speyer, Trier and Cologne
* Johann Adolf Wolff Metternich zur Gracht (1592–1669), high official at multiple princely courts, Baron, Lord to Liblar, Odenthal and Flehingen
* Anna Adriana Wolff von Metternich zur Gracht (1621–1698), Canoness and Abbess of St. Maria in the Kapitol, Cologne
* Hermann Werner Wolff-Metternich zur Gracht (1625–1704), prince bishop of Paderborn. He funded and equipped the church St. Alban in Liblar
* Franz Arnold Wolff-Metternich zur Gracht (1658–1718, born in Liblar), later prince bishop of Paderborn and Münster
* Carl Schurz (1829–1906), politician and first German-born cabinet secretary (Secretary of the Interior 1877–1881) in the US
* Carl Brendgen (1841–1916), owner of three briquette factories in the area of Erftstadt and pioneer of the industrial use of brown coal in the Rhineland
* Jean Bungartz (1854–1934), animal artist, specialist author, photographer, breeder, lived from 1886 to 1913 in Lechenich
* Joseph Kentenich (1885–1968), founder of the Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement
* Anna Reitler (1894 – 1948, born in Liblar), politician (KPD), Reichtags deputy
* Dietrich Schulz-Köhn (28 December 1912 – 7 December 1999, born in Sonneberg, Thuringia) was a music author, radio host and jazz expert, lived and died in Liblar
* Bernd Alois Zimmermann (1918–1970), composer, born in Bliesheim
* Hennes Weisweiler (1919–1983), football coach, born in Lechenich
* Peter Mittelstaedt:(1929–2014) Physicist, philosopher and science theorist
* Manfred Donike (1933–1995), cyclist, chemist and well-known doping investigator
* Heinz Küpper (born 1935), First Deputy (CDU) and Head of Culture of Erftstadt from 1982 to 1999
* Herbert Feuerstein (1937–2020), satirist and entertainer, lived in Niederberg
* Cornelius Bormann (born 1939), journalist of the WDR, lives in Lechenich
* Norbert Pies (born 1956), biologist, author, local historian and genealogist, lives in Lechenich
* Michael Breuer (born 1965), minister of state a. D., president of the Rheinischer Sparkassenverband, head of supervisory board WestLB
* Lukas Klünter (born 1996), football player, lives in Friesheim
* Ismail Jakobs (born 1996), football player, lives in Liblar