Viersen (district)

Viersen is a Kreis (district) in the west of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
 History 
In 1816, the new Prussian government created the district of Kempen. In 1929 the district was made a lot bigger and renamed Kempen-Krefeld.

In 1975 the district again changed its borders and was renamed to Viersen even though Kempen remained the capital. Viersen city replace Kempen as the capital in 1984.

Since 1983 the district has had been twinned with Cambridgeshire in England.

 Coat of arms 
100px|Coat of armsAt the top of the coat of arms is the black cross of the Cologne bishops, as the district used to belong to the clerical state Cologne. The golden lion on blue ground is the symbol of the duchy of Guelders; the black lion on golden ground the symbol of the duchy of Jülich.

 Cities and municipalities 
district-depending municipalities
 Brüggen
16.211 inhabitants
 Grefrath
15.929 inhabitants
 Niederkrüchten
15.457 inhabitants
 Schwalmtal
19.279 inhabitantsmedium district-depending cities
  Kempen
36.323 inhabitants
 Nettetal
42.434 inhabitants
 Tönisvorst
30.238 inhabitants
 Willich
51.939 inhabitantslarge district-depending cities
 Viersen
76.330 inhabitants
based on data from: 31. December 2005>

References

 Other websites
 Official website (German)