Meschede

Meschede is a town in the Hochsauerland district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the district Hochsauerlandkreis.

Education

One of the five branches of South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences (also: Fachhochschule Südwestfalen (FH SWF)) is located here.

Geography
Meschede is situated in the Ruhr valley, near to the Hennesee, south of the nature-park Arnsberger Wald. Major towns in the vicinity of Meschede are Paderborn (51 km), Kassel (85 km), Siegen (57 km), Hagen, Dortmund (60 km) and Hamm (49 km).

Neighbouring municipalities 
 Arnsberg
 Bestwig
 Eslohe
 Schmallenberg
 Sundern
 Warstein

Division of the town 
After the local government reforms of 1975 Meschede consists of these districts and villages:

History
In 1921 the Sauerländer Heimatbund was founded.

Transportation

Meschede is connected with two national roads, the federal roads B 7 and B 55, and the motorway A 46.  It has an airfield, the Meschede-Schüren Airfield, with a 900 m runway.

Climate

The city's climate is continental.  The lowest temperature recorded was , its highest was recorded at .

Mayors of Meschede
1952–1961: Engelbert Dick (CDU)
1961–1969: Josef Busch (CDU)
1969–1974: Bruno Peus (CDU)
1975–1998: Franz Stahlmecke (CDU)
1998–1999: Bruno Peus (CDU)
1999–2015: Hans-Ulrich (Uli) Hess (CDU)
2015-present: Christoph Weber (CDU)

Media

Meschede has its local radio station Radio Sauerland. The Fachhochschule Südwestfalen runs its own radio station called radioFH!.  The regional newspapers are Westfalenpost and Westfälische Rundschau.  The local newspaper is the Sauerlandkurier. The local magazin is the WOLL-Magazin.

Notable people
Karl Lehr (1842–1919), mayor of Duisburg
August Macke (1887–1914), painter
Ansgar Nierhoff (b. 1941), artist
Werner Pieper (b. 1948), author
Klaus-Jürgen Wrede (b. 1963), author of the Carcassonne games
Matthias Ungemach (b. 1968), Olympic rower
Armin Petras (b. 1964), theatre director
Daniela Bette (b. 1981), actress
Joseph Hippolyt Pulte (6 October 1811 – died in Cincinnati, Ohio, 24 February 1884) was a homeopathic physician. 
Dieter Wurm, chairman of Sauerländer Heimatbund
Daniel Ceylan (b. 1985), singer, 3rd place in the 2014 season of "Deutschland sucht den Superstar"

Main sights
Abbey Königsmünster, built by Order of Saint Benedict
Hennesee - The Hennesee is a lake near Meschede and the main recreational area of the town. It was built to secure the water supply of the close Ruhrgebiet and is today mainly use to generate hydropower, flood protection and baseflow. Recreational areas are the tanning lawn and bath area, fishing, rowing, sailing, walking and hiking.

International relations

Meschede is twinned with:
 Wińsko, Poland, since 1956
 Le Puy-en-Velay, France, since 1975
 Cousolre, France, since 1965 (twin town of Freienohl)

Also unofficial friendly relations exist with the following towns:
 Coventry, United Kingdom
 Coventry, United States
 Vannes, France
 Neufraunhofen, Germany

References

External links
 Official site 

Category:Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia
Category:Hochsauerlandkreis
Category:Province of Westphalia