View source for Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis

{{Infobox District DE
|name =  Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis
|map ={{Germany district OSM map |parent_subdivision = Q1198}}
|image_coa = Wappen des Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreises.svg
|image_flag = Flagge Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis.svg
|state =North Rhine-Westphalia
|regierungsbezirk =  [[Arnsberg (region)|Arnsberg]]
|region =
|capital = [[Schwelm]]
|area = 408.44
|Kreisschlüssel = 05954
|district_admin=Arnim Brux
| admin_party       = SPD
|carsign = EN, WIT
|founded =1 August 1929
|url = {{url|https://www.enkreis.de/}}
}}

The '''Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis''' is a [[Districts of Germany|district]] in the center of [[North Rhine-Westphalia]], [[Germany]]. It is part of the southern [[Ruhr|Ruhr urban area]] and has ca. 324,000 inhabitants (2012). The district's [[Seat (legal entity)|seat]] ([[capital city]]) is [[Schwelm]]; the largest of its nine towns is [[Witten]].

==Geography==
The name of the district describes its geographical location – it is located in the valleys of the rivers [[Ruhr (river)|Ruhr]] and [[Ennepe]]. Geologically it is part of the north-eastern [[Rhenish Massif]], a ''[[Mittelgebirge]]'' landscape; only small parts of Witten belong to the flat [[Westphalian Lowland]].

<gallery>
File:Gevelsberg - Rocholzallee - Ennepe 05 ies.jpg|[[Ennepe]] in Gevelsberg
File:Bergerdenkmal Witten Aussicht.jpg|[[Ruhr (river)|Ruhr]] valley in Witten
File:Ennepetal.Milspe.jpg|wooded hills in [[Ennepetal]]
</gallery>

===Municipalities===
The district consists of nine [[Municipalities of Germany|municipalities]], all entitled "Stadt" (town or city).

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! rowspan="11" | {{Imagemap Germany district EN|Municipalities in EN.svg|250px|municipalities in Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis}} !! Municipality !! Area 
|-
| 1. [[Breckerfeld]] || align="right" | {{convert|58.78|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|-
| 2. [[Ennepetal]] || align="right" | {{convert|57.43|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|-
| 3. [[Gevelsberg]] || align="right" | {{convert|26.29|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|-
| 4. [[Hattingen]] || align="right" | {{convert|71.40|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|-
| 5. [[Herdecke]] || align="right" | {{convert|22.40|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|-
| 6. [[Schwelm]] || align="right" | {{convert|20.50|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|-
| 7. [[Sprockhövel]] || align="right" | {{convert|47.80|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|-
| 8. [[Wetter (Ruhr)]] || align="right" | {{convert|31.47|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|-
| 9. [[Witten]] || align="right" | {{convert|72.37|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}
|-
| style="background-color:#F2F2F2" | Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis, total || style="background-color:#F2F2F2" align="right" | '''{{convert|408.44|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}'''
|}

=== Adjacent cities and districts ===
The Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the district-free cities of [[Bochum]], [[Dortmund]] and [[Hagen]], the districts of [[Märkischer Kreis]] (with [[Schalksmühle]] and [[Halver]]) and [[Oberbergischer Kreis]] (with [[Radevormwald]]), the city of [[Wuppertal]], the district of [[Mettmann (district)|Mettmann]] (with [[Velbert]]) and the city of [[Essen, Germany|Essen]].

Largest groups of foreigners :

{|
|-
|{{flag|Turkey}}||6,474
|-
|{{flag|Italy}}||3,416
|-
|{{flag|Poland}}||2,655
|-
|{{flag|Greece}}||1,864
|-
|{{flag|Syria}}||1,433
|-
|{{flag|Portugal}}||1,200
|}

==History==
[[File:Schwelm - Kreishaus 01 ies.jpg|thumb|The ''Kreishaus'' (district administration building) in [[Schwelm]]]]
The district was created in 1929 by merging the former district of Schwelm with parts of the former districts of Hattingen and Hagen. In 1970 and 1975 it was modified a bit during the reorganization of the districts in [[North Rhine-Westphalia]]; most notable was the inclusion of the previously [[independent city]] of Witten in 1975.

==Politics==
[[File:2020 Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis district administrator election.svg|thumb|300px|Results of the 2020 district administrator election.]]
Since 2015, the district administrator of the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis has been Olaf Schade of the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party]] (SPD). In the most recent election on 13 September 2020, Schade was re-elected with the support of the SPD and [[Alliance 90/The Greens|The Greens]], winning 61.6% of votes against Oliver Flüshöh, who was nominated by the [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|Christian Democratic Union]] (CDU) and [[Free Democratic Party (Germany)|Free Democratic Party]] (FDP).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wahlergebnisse.stadt-hagen.de/prod/KW2020/05954000/html5/Landratswahl_NRW_225_Kreis_EnnepeRuhrKreis.html|title=Election of the District Administrator 13-09-2020|date=16 September 2020|publisher=District Ennepe-Ruhr}}</ref>

===District council===
[[File:2020 Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis district election.svg|thumb|300px|Results of the 2020 district council election.]]
The Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis council governs the district alongside the administrator. The most recent district council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows:

{{election table}}
! colspan=2| Party
! Votes
! %
! +/-
! Seats
! +/-
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Social Democratic Party of Germany}}| 
| align=left| [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party]] (SPD)
| 42,403
| 31.3
| {{decrease}} 8.1
| 19
| {{decrease}} 7
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Christian Democratic Union of Germany}}| 
| align=left| [[Christian Democratic Union of Germany|Christian Democratic Union]] (CDU)
| 36,275
| 26.8
| {{decrease}} 1.9
| 16
| {{decrease}} 3
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Alliance 90/The Greens}}| 
| align=left| [[Alliance 90/The Greens]] (Grüne)
| 28,175
| 20.8
| {{increase}} 7.8
| 13
| {{increase}} 5
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Free Democratic Party (Germany)}}| 
| align=left| [[Free Democratic Party (Germany)|Free Democratic Party]] (FDP)
| 7,864
| 5.8
| {{increase}} 1.3
| 4
| {{increase}} 1
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Alternative for Germany}}| 
| align=left| [[Alternative for Germany]] (AfD)
| 7,250
| 5.4
| {{increase}} 1.8
| 3
| {{increase}} 1
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|The Left (Germany)}}| 
| align=left| [[The Left (Germany)|The Left]] (Die Linke)
| 5,174
| 3.8
| {{decrease}} 1.6
| 2
| {{decrease}} 2
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Pirate Party Germany}}| 
| align=left| [[Pirate Party Germany]] (Piraten)
| 3,326
| 2.5
| {{increase}} 0.2
| 1
| {{decrease}} 1
|-
| bgcolor={{party color|Free Voters}}| 
| align=left| [[Free Voters]] (FW-EN)
| 2,893
| 2.1
| {{decrease}} 0.6
| 1
| {{decrease}} 1
|-
| 
| align=left| Citizens' Forum (BF)
| 2,224
| 1.6
| New
| 1
| New
|-
! colspan=2| Valid votes
! 135,584
! 98.4
! 
! 
! 
|-
! colspan=2| Invalid votes
! 2,199
! 1.6
! 
! 
! 
|-
! colspan=2| Total
! 137,783
! 100.0
! 
! 60
! {{decrease}} 6
|-
! colspan=2| Electorate/voter turnout
! 267,170
! 51.6
! 
! 
! 
|-
| colspan=7| Source: [http://wahlergebnisse.stadt-hagen.de/prod/KW2020/05954000/html5/Kreistagswahl_NRW_226_Kreis_EnnepeRuhrKreis.html District Ennepe-Ruhr]
|}

===State Landtag===
In the [[Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia]], the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis is divided between three constituencies: 104 Hagen II – Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis III (containing Breckerfeld, Ennepetal, and Gevelsberg), 105 Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis I (Hattingen, Schwelm, Sprockhövel, and Wetter), and 106 Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis II (Herdecke and Witten). In the 2017–22 parliamentary term, all three constituencies were held by the SPD. Hagen II – Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis III was represented by Falk Heinrichs, Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis I by Rainer Bovermann, and Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis II by Nadja Büteführ.

===Federal parliament===
In the [[Bundestag]], the Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis is divided between two constituencies: 138 [[Hagen – Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis I]] (Breckerfeld, Gevelsberg, Schwelm, and Ennepetal) and 139 [[Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis II]] (Hattingen, Herdecke, Sprockhövel, Wetter, and Witten). In the [[List of members of the 20th Bundestag|20th Bundestag]], both are held by the SPD. Hagen – Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis I is represented by Timo Schisanowski, and Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis II by Axel Echeverria.

==Coat of arms==
In the middle of the coat of arms there is the checked red-white bar of the [[County of Mark]], which owned the area in medieval times. The two wavy lines above and below depict the two rivers which gave the district its name, the Ruhr and the Ennepe.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commonscat-inline}}
*[https://www.enkreis.de/ Official Webpage] (German)

{{Germany districts north rhine-westphalia}}

{{Coord|51|21|N|7|18|E|display=title|region:DE_type:adm3rd_source:GNS-enwiki}}

{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis| ]]
[[Category:Arnsberg (region)]]