Altena

County (Duchy) of Altena
*Grafschaft (Herzogtum) Altena*
County (Duchy) of Altena Grafschaft (Herzogtum) Altena
10th century–1609
Status	State of the Holy Roman Empire
Capital	Altena
Government	Principality
Historical era	Middle Ages
• Established	10th century
• Merged with parts of Berg; to form Altena-Berg	; 1160–80
• Merged with Berg	1249
• Raised to duchy	1308
• Granted city rights	20 December 1367
• Annexed by Brandenburg	1609
• Brandenburg-Prussia	August 27, 1618
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Duchy of Saxony
Margraviate of Brandenburg

Altena
Altena
Town
	Castle Altena
	Coat of arms
	Location of Altena within Märkischer Kreis district
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Arnsberg
District	Märkischer Kreis
Subdivisions	7
Government
• Mayor	Dr Andreas Hollstein (CDU)
Area
• Total	44.29 km2 (17.10 sq mi)
Highest elevation	511 m (1,677 ft)
Lowest elevation	145 m (476 ft)
Population (2023-12-31)
• Total	16,315
• Density	370/km2 (950/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	58741–58762
Dialling codes	02352
Vehicle registration	MK
Website	www.altena.de

Altena is a town in the district Märkischer Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the Lenne river valley, north of the Sauerland.

History

The Castle Altena was build in the early 12th century, as a stronghold of the older Counts of Berg. A short time lter a village was foundes beneath the the hill with the castle alongside the river Lenne. After the distribution of the Berg family estates in 1161 it became the centre of the County of Altena. First Count of Altena was Eberhard I. de Berg-Altena. In 1180 after the death of the first count the County of Altena was divided between the two oldest sons Arnold de Altena and Friedrich de Altena. The Third son Adolf de Altena became Archbishop of Cologne. Arnold was provided with on half of the Castle and County of Altena, the Castle Hövel and some estates as fiefdoms of the Archbishops of Cologne and balliwicks of the Abbey Essen. Near the Village and Castle of Hövel, he build the Castle and town of Nienbrügge (Novus Ponte) on the Lippe riverbanks. His Family branch renamed themselfs after selling their half of Altena to the Archbishop of Cologne as de Nienbrügge or de Novus Ponte, their new principle residence about forty kilometers to the north. The heir of Arnold was Friedrich de Novus Ponte (Nienbrügge) who changed his title to Isenberg after his new castle in Hattingen. He was death sentencend to death as head of the conspiration to murder Engelbert I. Archbishop of Cologne, Chancellor of the Holy Roman Empire, Duke of Westphalia and Count of Berg - a close relative - in 1226. The Archbishop was ambushed an slain on his way from his City of Soest to City of Cologne by Friedrich and his men near Gevelsberg in a hollow way. Both had a dispute over the balliwicks of the Abbey Essen. The junior branch of the Counts of Altena, was founded by Friedrich de Altena. He was provided with the other half of Altena and a vassall to his brother the Archbishop of Cologne. In or about 1170 he bought the Oberhof Mark or was rewarded with it by the Archbishop of Cologne. The Oberhof was a mayor farm or manor without fortifications in the village Mark between the Lippe and Ahse rivers less then five kilometers to the east of the Castle Nienbrügge and about seven kilometers southeast to the Castle Hövel north of the Lippe river. Today about a 1.5 kilometers to the east of the centre of the City of Hamm. Before or in 1198 he build the Castle Mark. His son Adolf I. named himself in 1202 puer comes de marca and became the first count of Mark. He sometimes used the old title Altena in combination with Mark. His principal residenz was the Castle Mark. After the execution of his cousin Friedrich de Isenberg in Cologne he destroyed the Castle Neinbruegge and took over the possesions of the senior family branch.

The Castle Altena was after 1202 only one of several Stronghold of the Family Altena-Mark. During a feud in 1323 between the Prince Bishop of Münster and the Count of Mark the Bishop was captured and hold for ransom in Altena.In 1367 the settlement below the castle received the rights of a small town through Engelbert III. Count de la Mark. Since 1392 it was only the seat of the bailiff for balliwick Altena. The castle was aslso used as archiv for documents and patents of the county. In 1609 the last count died childless. His realm the United duchies of Jülich-Cleve-Berg were practically divided into a catholic part and a prostestant part. The Duchy Cleve and the counties Mark and Ravensberg and the Dominion of Ravenstein were inherited by the protestant Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, Margrave of Brandenburg, and Duke of Prussia Johann Sigismund of Hohenzollern. The catholic duchies of Jülich and Berg were inherited by the Count Palatine Wolfgang Wilhelm of Neuburg.

Durig the napoleonic occupation of the Rhineland and Westphalia, Altena became part of the Grand Duchy of Berg. After the Congress of Vienna the County of Mark was incorporated by the Kingdom of Prussia and reorganized in Districts (de: Kreise) and Government Districts (de: Regierungsbezirke). Altena becam part of the Regierungsbezirk Hamm and was seat of the Kreis Altena. Within the year 1815 the Government moved the quarters from Hamm to Arnsberg, and changed the name into Regierungsbezirk Arnsberg.

With the start of the year 1969 the Kreis Altena and the town Lüdenscheid were merged to form the new Kreis Lüdenscheid. Lüdenscheid became the new adminsitrative center of the district. Only six years läter the Kreis Lüdenscheid was reformed and enlarged. In reminiscence of the County of Mark it was renamed as Märkischer Kreis.

Points of interest

The town's biggest attraction is the castle Burg Altena. After being unused for centuries it was in ruins, although part of the buildings was used as a hospital. A complete reconstruction was undertaken in order to hold the celebrations of the 300th anniversary in 1909 of the incorporation of Mark into Prussia (Brandenburg) at this castle, but the works finished mostly by 1914; the celebrations were then held at Hohensyburg castle.

In 1912 the world's first youth hostel was created by Richard Schirrmann inside the castle. The old rooms are still on display, and new rooms inside the castle area are still part of the hostel now.

The dominant industry in Altena was wire production, and thus it has a museum dedicated to this industry only, the Drahtmuseum.

See also: Burgrock

Coat of arms

The coat of arms shows Catherine of Alexandria, the patron saint of the church built in 1310. She is depicted with a sword and a wheel, as she was killed in 307 by these two items. The choice of patron saint goes back to a vow made by Count Engelbert III of the Mark made at the burial place of Catherine in Jerusalem. The red and white checked fess refers to the coat of arms of the Counts of the Mark.

The coat of arms is quite old: a seal from the 15th century already depicts the same elements. In its current design it was created by Otto Hupp in 1938.