Schwerte ( German pronunciation: [ʃveːɐ̯tə] ; Westphalian : Schweierte ) is a town in the district of Unna , in North Rhine-Westphalia , Germany .
6-835: Schwerte is situated in the Ruhr valley, at the south-east border of the Ruhr Area . South of Schwerte begins the mountainous Sauerland region. After the local government reforms of 1975 Schwerte consists of the following districts: Schwerte received civic rights in the 12th century. The railway facility in the eastern district of Schwerte became a branch of the Buchenwald concentration camp in April 1944. The camp had 445 prisoners in August and 670 in November 1944. The number of escapees
12-634: A right tributary (east-side) of the Rhine . The source of the Ruhr is near the town of Winterberg in the mountainous Sauerland region, at an elevation of approximately 670 metres (2,200 ft). It flows into the lower Rhine at an elevation of only 17 metres (56 ft) in the municipal area of Duisburg . Its total length is 219 km (136 mi), its average discharge is 79 cubic metres per second (2,800 cu ft/s) at Mülheim near its mouth. Thus, its discharge is, for example, comparable to that of
18-624: The dams on the Ruhr, the Möhne Dam and the Sorpe Dam were targets for Operation Chastise , in which special "bouncing bombs" were developed to take out the dams and flood the valley, with the hope of seriously affecting the German industries there. The story was told in a 1951 book and the popular 1955 film made from it, The Dam Busters . There are five Ruhr reservoirs on the river, often used for leisure activities. The main tributaries of
24-599: The river Ems in Northern Germany or the River Thames in the United Kingdom . The Ruhr first passes the towns of Meschede , Arnsberg , Wickede , Fröndenberg , Holzwickede , Iserlohn , and Schwerte . Then the river marks the southern limit of the Ruhr area , passing Hagen , Dortmund , Herdecke , Wetter , Witten , Bochum , Hattingen , Essen , Mülheim , and Duisburg . The Ruhr area
30-513: Was Germany's primary industrial area during the early- to mid-20th century. Most factories were located there. The occupation of the Ruhr from 1923 to 1924 by French forces, due to the Weimar Republic 's failure to continue paying reparations from World War I , provoked passive resistance , which saw production in the factories grind to a halt. As a result, the German hyperinflation crisis grew even worse. During World War II , two of
36-519: Was comparatively high; in November 1944 48 prisoners escaped. The camp in Schwerte was disbanded in December 1944 and the remaining prisoners were brought back to Buchenwald. Today, there are some industries left, which are confined to the manufacture of iron and steel goods. Schwerte is twinned with: Ruhr (river) The Ruhr is a river in western Germany ( North Rhine-Westphalia ),
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