Soest is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It's located east of Dortmund along the Hellweg, at .

Population: 48,361 (2001).

Area: 85.81 km².

Neighbours: Hamm, Lippstadt, Erwitte , Werl

It is the capital of the Soest district.

History

Due to the fertile soil the area around Soest was long occupied before in 836 the first official paper mentions a village. In the 11th and 12th century Soest did grow a lot, making it one of the biggest cities in Westphalia with about 10,000 citizens. It was also member of the Hanseatic League at that time until 1609.

Being always very self-confident in the so-called Soester Fehde from 1444 to 1449, Soest liberated itself from the bishop of Cologne, the owner of Westphalia. No longer capital of Westphalia, the city aligned itself with the duke of Cleves. When the last duke of Cleves died in 1609 that dukedom was inherited by Brandenburg; after a short siege Soest was also part of it. During and after the Thirty Years' War Soest suffered a tremendous loss of both population and influence; at the lowest point in 1756 it only had 3,600 citizens.

With the creation of the Soest district in 1817 its influence slowly rose. However, the industrialization of the Ruhr area did not reach Soest, thus keeping it a small city.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms shows a key, which is the symbol for Saint Peter, the patron of Cologne. The coat wasn't changed even after Soest no longer belonged to the Cologne area.

Twinning

Soest is twinned with Bangor, Wales.

External links

• Official Website