SOEST, GERMANY

'Soest' (pronounced ) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Soest district.

Contents

Geography

Neighbouring places

History

St Patrokli Dom

Coat of arms

Twin towns

External links

Geography

Soest is located along the ''Hellweg'' road, approx. 50 kilometres east of Dortmund and approx. 50 kilometres west of Paderborn.

Neighbouring places

★ Bad Sassendorf

★ Ense

★ Lippetal

★ Möhnesee

★ Werl

★ Welver

History

Due to the fertile soil the area around Soest was occupied long before 836 when the village is first mentioned in the "Dagobertsche Schenkung", although the origin of this document is historically uncertain. But there is no doubt that Soest has been inhabited for a long time; excavations in the last two decades have uncovered signs of habitation stretching back more than 4.000 years. In the 11th and 12th century Soest grew considerably, making it one of the biggest cities in Westphalia with some 10,000 citizens. It was also an important member of the Hanseatic League until 1609.
Being always very self-confident, Soest in the so-called ''Soester Fehde'' from 1444 to 1449 liberated itself from control by the Bishop of Cologne, the owner of Westphalia. Being no longer capital of Westphalia, the city aligned itself with the Duke of Cleves. This was a Pyrrhic victory, however; the city had shown itself strong enough to defy the powerful Archbishop of Cologne, but lost much of its vital international trade. The "liberated" town was two-thirds surrounded by territories with other allegiances. When the last Duke of Cleves died in 1609 that dukedom was inherited by Brandenburg and after a short siege Soest was incorporated into 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 had only 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, which remained a small city.

St Patrokli Dom

In 960, Bruno I, Archbishop of Cologne translated St. Patroclus' relics from Troyes and buried them in 964 at St Patrokli Dom in Soest, where he is still today venerated.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms shows a key, which is the symbol for Saint Peter, the patron of Cologne. The coat was not modified even after Soest no longer fell within the jurisdiction of Cologne.

Twin towns

★ Bangor (Wales)

★ Guérard (France)

★ Herzberg (Brandenburg, Germany)

★ Kampen (Netherlands)

★ Sárospatak (Hungary)

★ Soest (Netherlands)

★ Strzelce Opolskie (Poland)

★ Visby (Sweden)

External links

★ Official site

★ Tourist attractions in Soest

★ Articles about "Aldegrever and the Protestant Reformation in Soest" / virtual exhibition "Iconoclastic Controversy and sensual pleasure - Heinrich Aldegrever" with introductory texts and about 170 commented copperplate engravings