Düren (district)
This article deals with the district of Düren from 1972 to the present; for the predecessor district of the same name, see Kreis Düren (1816-1971).
The district of Düren is a German district in the west of North Rhine-Westphalia in the administrative district of Cologne. About 265,000 people live in the district, which is located between Aachen and Cologne. The Rur flows through the 941.37 km² large district.
The largest of a total of 15 municipalities is the eponymous city of Düren with a good 90,000 inhabitants, followed by Jülich with around 32,000 inhabitants, which used to be the centre of a district itself. Today's Düren district was created in 1972 following a municipal reform under the Aachen Act.
Wolfgang Spelthahn has been in office as district administrator since 1999. He belongs to the CDU, which has been the strongest party in the district council almost continuously since 1972.
Culturally, the district of Düren has museums on paper, pottery, art and history to offer. Concerts and other events take place in the Arena Kreis Düren, at Nideggen Castle and in the Jülich Bridgehead Park, among others. In addition, the Annakirmes as a large folk festival in Düren and the carnival provide entertainment every year.
In addition to castles and sacred buildings, numerous other architectural monuments can be found in the district of Düren. For local recreation, there are extensive forest areas in the Eifel National Park, the Drover Heide nature reserve, several parks and the paths along the Rur.
Economically, the district of Düren is characterised by the paper industry, mechanical engineering and open-cast lignite mining with all its consequences in structural change. Energy from hydrogen is added as a modern development. With the Jülich Research Centre, one of the largest research facilities in Germany is located in the district. The RurUfer cycle path, the public transport network with Rurtalbus and Rurtalbahn as well as several motorways and federal roads are available as means of transport and routes.
Geography
Geographical location
The district of Düren is located in the western Rhineland between the cities of Aachen and Cologne. The Jülich-Zülpicher Börde, which belongs to the Lower Rhine Bay, extends to the north and the Eifel begins in the south. The Rur flows through the district from south to north.
Neighboring counties
Starting clockwise in the west, the district of Düren borders on the Aachen city region, the Heinsberg district, the Rhine district of Neuss, the Rhine-Erft district and the Euskirchen district.
Land use
The district covers an area of 94,137 hectares or 941.37 km². According to the municipal profile, more than half of the area is used for agriculture. A good fifth is covered with forest, which makes the proportion larger than the total transport and settlement area.
| Land use in the district of Düren | ||
| Type of use | Area in ha | Share |
| Agricultural area | 52121 | 55,4 % |
| Forest area | 19900 | 21,1 % |
| Building and open space, operational area | 7993 | 8,5 % |
| Traffic area | 6034 | 6,4 % |
| Mining land | 4711 | 5,0 % |
| Water surface | 1511 | 1,6 % |
| Recreational area, cemetery area | 1422 | 1,5 % |
| moor, heath, wasteland | 313 | 0,3 % |
| Areas of other use | 132 | 0,1 % |
Rur in the forest area between Nideggen-Brück and Heimbach
Cities and towns
The district of Düren is made up of five cities and ten other municipalities. The largest city in the district is the city of Düren, which with a good 90,000 inhabitants can be classified as a large district city, followed by Jülich, which is a medium-sized district city.
The following list shows all places in the district of Düren with the population figures as of 31 December 2020.
| Cities
| Other municipalities
|
