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Wikipedia / Bottrop

Bottrop () is a city in west-central Germany, on the Rhine–Herne Canal, in North Rhine-Westphalia. Located in the Ruhr industrial area, Bottrop adjoins Essen, Oberhausen, Gladbeck, and Dorsten. The city had been a coal-mining and rail center and contains factories producing coal-tar derivatives, chemicals, textiles, and machinery. Bottrop grew as a mining center beginning in the 1860s, was chartered as a city in 1921, and bombed during the Oil Campaign of World War II. In 1975, it unified with the neighbouring communities of Gladbeck and Kirchhellen, but Gladbeck left it in 1976, leading to Kirchhellen becoming a district of Bottrop as Bottrop-Kirchhellen. It is also twinned with Blackpool, England.

Boroughs

The total area of the municipal territory is about . The longest north-south distance is , and from west to east . The highest peak within the city's territory is , the lowest one being above sea level.

Bottrop is divided into three boroughs: Bottrop-Mitte (Bottrop-Center), Bottrop-Süd (Bottrop South) and Bottrop-Kirchhellen, each having a borough representation and a borough ruler.

These boroughs are further subdivided into city parts, partly named after their traditional names, while the newly built parts are only recently named:

  • Bottrop-Mitte: Eigen, Fuhlenbrock, Stadtmitte, and Marktviertel

  • Bottrop-Süd: Batenbrock, Boy, Ebel, Lehmkuhle, Vonderort, Gartenstadt Welheim (Garden city Welheim), and Welheimer Mark

  • Bottrop-Kirchhellen: Ekel, Feldhausen, Grafenwald, Hardinghausen, Holthausen, Im Loh, Kirchhellen, Kuhberg, and Overhagen

For statistical reasons, Bottrop is also divided into statistical boroughs. They are (with their official numbering):

Kirchhellen

From 1919 until 1976, Kirchhellen was its own town. Following a communal reorganization reform in 1975, both Kirchhellen and Gladbeck joined the city of Bottrop. This resulted in the nickname "GlaBotKi". Gladbeck left the city in 1976, and became part of the district of Recklinghausen.

Most of Kirchhellen is Catholic (around 65%). It has three churches, including one Lutheran church.

Population

Politics

Mayor

The current mayor of Bottrop is Matthias Buschfeld of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) since 2025. The most recent mayoral election was held on 14 September 2025, and the results were as follows:

! colspan=2| Candidate ! Party ! Votes ! % |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Matthias Buschfeld | align=left| Social Democratic Party | 19,101 | 38.5 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Frank Kien | align=left| Christian Democratic Union of Germany | 12,104 | 24.6 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Markus Mellerke | align=left| Alternative for Germany | 10,829 | 21.8 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Nick Nowara | align=left| BEWEGT | 5,336 | 10.8 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Sven Hermens | align=left| The Left | 2,138 | 4.3 |- ! colspan=3| Valid votes ! 49,598 ! 99.1 |- ! colspan=3| Invalid votes ! 438 ! 0.9 |- ! colspan=3| Total ! 50,036 ! 55.8 |- ! colspan=3| Electorate/voter turnout ! 89,679 ! 100.0 |- | colspan=5| Source: State Returning Officer |}

City council

The Bottrop city council governs the city alongside the mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows:

! colspan=2| Party ! Votes ! % ! ± ! Seats ! ± |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Social Democratic Party (SPD) | 17,668 | 40.2 | 7.4 | 24 | 2 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Christian Democratic Union (CDU) | 10,513 | 23.9 | 3.2 | 14 | 1 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) | 5,639 | 12.8 | 7.4 | 8 | 5 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Alternative for Germany (AfD) | 3,076 | 7.0 | 5.2 | 4 | 3 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP) | 1,856 | 4.2 | 0.4 | 2 | 1 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| German Communist Party (DKP) | 1,832 | 4.2 | 0.2 | 2 | ±0 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Free Democratic Party (FDP) | 1,821 | 4.1 | 1.5 | 2 | 1 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| The Left (Die Linke) | 1,507 | 3.4 | 0.7 | 2 | ±0 |- ! colspan=2| Valid votes ! 43,912 ! 98.5 ! ! ! |- ! colspan=2| Invalid votes ! 672 ! 1.5 ! ! ! |- ! colspan=2| Total ! 44,584 ! 100.0 ! ! 58 ! 4 |- ! colspan=2| Electorate/voter turnout ! 92,241 ! 48.3 ! 0.2 ! ! |- | colspan=7| Source: State Returning Officer |}

Culture and attractions

Theaters, museums, and buildings

  • Main Post Office, constructed 1921-1923

  • The Quadrat is a museum housing permanent exhibitis on local history and displaying works by Josef Albers and many temporary exhibitions.

  • City Hall (Neo-Renaissance 1910–1916) is regarded as the emblem of the city.

  • Schloss Beck theme park and castle (late baroque period 1766–1777)

  • Villa Dickmann, constructed 1901–1903 (art nouveau)

  • Alte Apotheke (Old Pharmacy, Wilhelminian style 1895)

Catholic churches

  • Heilige Familie

  • Heilig Kreuz, built 1955–57, windows by Georg Meistermann

  • Herz Jesu, built 1929

  • Liebfrauen

  • St. Antonius

  • St. Barbara

  • St. Bonifatius

  • St. Cyriakus, Propstei, built 1861/62 by Emil von Manger

  • St. Elisabeth, built 1954

  • St. Franziskus

  • St. Johannes Baptist (BOT-Boy)

  • St. Johannes der Täufer (BOT-Kirchhellen)

  • St. Joseph

  • St. Ludger

  • St. Mariä Himmelfahrt

  • St. Matthias

  • St. Michael

  • St. Paul

  • St. Peter

  • St. Pius

  • St. Suitbert, built 1955

Protestant churches

Attractions

Periodic events

  • January: Festival Orgel PLUS (music festival started in 1989)

  • February: Rose Monday Parade and Carnival

  • May: Horse Market

  • May: Asparagus - Farmers' Market in Kirchhellen

  • Brezelfest (Pretzel Festival) in Kirchhellen

  • May/June/July: Schützenfeste (marksmen festivals) of Bottrops marksmen companies (BSV Bottrop Batenbrock, BSV Bottrop Eigen, BSV Bottrop Fuhlenbrock, BSV Bottrop Vonderort, BSV Andreas Hofer, Alte Allgemeine Bürgerschützengesellschaft, BSV Bottrop Boy)

  • September: Michaelismarket

Religion

  • Catholic: 50% (19 churches)

  • Protestant (Lutheran): 20% (8 churches)

  • Atheist/agnostic: 20%

  • Muslim: 2%

Notable people

Twin towns – sister cities

Bottrop is twinned with:

References