Wetter (Ruhr)
Wetter (Ruhr) is a town in western Germany, in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the district of Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis. The river Ruhr flows through the urban area, separating the district of Alt-Wetter from the districts of Esborn, Volmarstein and Wengern. The cities of Dortmund and Bochum are within 20 minutes by road or rail. Geography. Neighbour municipalities. Neighbour municipalities are Gevelsberg, Hagen, Herdecke, Sprockhövel and Witten. The Cities of Dortmund, Bochum, Essen and Wuppertal are near. History. The town of Wetter is first documented in the year 1214 in relation with the Castle  Wetter and the knights Bruno and Friedrich. Another famous castle ruin is the Castle Volmarstein which was built in the 11th century by the archbishop of Cologne Frederick I. The castle is located on the other side of the Ruhr in the district of Volmarstein which has been part of Wetter since the municipal community-reform in 1970. In 1819 Friedrich Harkort founded the first industrial workshop at Castle Wetter, producing steam engines and gas light equipment. Thus he did not just develop education and social policy but also laid the cornerstone of the early industrialization of the Ruhr area  and Germany. The reservoir between Wetter and Herdecke, Harkortsee, and the highest mountain in the area, Harkortberg, were both named after him. Due to the lowering bombardments in 1944/45, during the second world war, the town became the domicile of the Reichsgau south-Westfalia, originally residing in Bochum. Politics. The current mayor of Wetter is Frank Hasenberg of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) since 2007. In the most recent mayoral election on 13 and 27 September 2020, Hasenberg advanced to the runoff with 46.9% of votes against Karen Haltaufderheide of The Greens, who won 20.1%. CDU candidate Stefan Wedegärtner placed  third with 16.3%, followed by the FDP's Alexander Stuckenholz (10.7%), independent Eva Holzhauer (3.7%), and Christian-Social Reformers candidate Christopher Krüger (2.3%). Local council. The Wetter 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 ! Votes ! +/- ! Seats !| Valid votes ! 11,599 ! 98.4 ! !| Invalid votes ! 194 ! 1.6 ! !| Total ! 11,793 ! 100.0 ! 42 ! 6 !| Electorate/voter turnout ! 22,448 ! 52.5 ! Town twinnings. Wetter is twinned with South Elmsall (England), Turawa (Poland) and Stadtilm (Germany).