Kempen, Germany

Kempen is a town in the district of Viersen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately 30 km northwest of Düsseldorf, and 20 km east of Venlo.

History

 * 1186: First mention in official documentation of Kempen as a place – the sovereign until 1794 is the Archbishop (electoral prince) of Cologne
 * around 1290: Kempen is rebuilt as a fortified town
 * 11 March 1294: First confirmation of Kempen as a town in official documentation
 * 15th century: town blooms economically and culturally (population of approx. 4,200)
 * 1542–1543: Kempen is the centre of the Reformation for the Lower Rhine
 * 1579: The plague costs the town almost half of its inhabitants
 * 1642: Kempen is conquered and destroyed by the allied French, Hessian and Weimar troops during the "Hessen War" (Thirty Years' War)
 * 1794–1814: Kempen is under French rule. In the département of Roer established in 1797, Kempen becomes a canton seat in 1798 and a French town in 1801.
 * 1815: After the Congress of Vienna, Kempen becomes Prussian and is the county seat
 * 1929: Due to local reforms, Kempen becomes the administrative seat of the county of Kempen-Krefeld
 * 1966 onward: Restoration of the old town
 * 1970: Communal restructuring: The communities of Hüls, St. Hubert, Tönisberg and Schmalbroich join Kempen along with the localities of St. Peter and Unterweiden to form a single town
 * 1975: In further local reforms, Hüls is assigned to the city of Krefeld. The county of Viersen is formed and Kempen becomes part of "Kreis Viersen"
 * 1984: The county seat is transferred from Kempen to Viersen.
 * 1987: A cultural forum is opened in the Franciscan monastery after comprehensive restoration and renovation work.
 * 11 March 1994: Date of the 700-year jubilee of the confirmation of Kempen as a town

Twin towns – sister cities
Kempen is twinned with:
 * 🇫🇷 Wambrechies, France (1972)
 * 🇫🇷 Orsay, France (1973)
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 East Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom (1978)
 * 🇩🇪 Werdau, Germany (1990)

Notable people

 * Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380–1471)
 * John Brugman (?–1473), Franciscan friar and preacher in Flanders
 * Wilhelm Hünermann (1900–1975), priest and writer
 * Adolph Moses Radin (1848–1909), rabbi
 * Isabel Varell (born 1961), actress and singer
 * Bernhard van Treeck (born 1964), psychiatrist and author
 * Tobias Koch (born 1968), pianist
 * Daniel Altmaier (born 1998), Tennis player