Lünen

Lünen (German pronunciation: [ˈlyːnən] ^ⓘ) is a town with around 86,000 inhabitants in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located north of Dortmund, on both banks of the River Lippe. It is the largest town of the Unna district and part of the Ruhr Area.

Lünen
Town
View with the bridge on the River Lippe
Coat of arms
Location of Lünen within Unna district
Lünen Show map of Germany Lünen Show map of North Rhine-Westphalia
Coordinates: 51°37′N 7°31′E
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Arnsberg
District	Unna
Subdivisions	14 Stadtteile
Government
• Mayor (2020–25)	Jürgen Kleine-Frauns[1]
Area
• Total	59.39 km2 (22.93 sq mi)
Elevation	58 m (190 ft)
Population  (2023-12-31)[2]
• Total	85,919
• Density	1,400/km2 (3,700/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	44532, 44534, 44536
Dialling codes	02306, 0231
Vehicle registration	UN, LÜN
Website	www.luenen.de

In 2009 a biogas plant was built to provide electric power to the city. Lünen is the first city in the world to receive electricity via public utility companies that is generated on the base of animal waste.^[3] The plant produces up to 6.6 MW, supplying 26,000 homes with heat and electricity.^[4]

Culture and main sights

Saint George's Church

Structure

• Saint George's Church
• Saint Mary's Church
• Chateau of Schwansbell
• Colani-UFO
• Freiherr-vom-Stein School
• Town hall of Lünen
• Geschwister-Scholl School
• Industrial Monument "Moor Crane"

Museum

• Museum of the town Lünen
• Mining Museum in Lünen South
• Mining residential Museum in Lünen Brambauer

Theatre

• Heinz-Hilpert theater

Politics

The current mayor of Lünen is independent politician Jürgen Kleine-Frauns since 2015; he was originally elected as a member of Together for Lünen (German: Gemeinsam für Lünen = GFL), but later left the party. The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, with a runoff held on 27 September, and the results were as follows:

Candidate		Party	First round		Second round
			Votes	%	Votes	%
	Rainer Schmeltzer	Social Democratic Party	10,864	40.9	9,824	48.9
	Jürgen Kleine-Frauns	Independent	9,767	36.7	10,282	51.1
	Christoph Tölle	Christian Democratic Union	4,341	16.3
	Sascha Gottwald	Free Voters Lünen	1,624	6.1
Valid votes			26,596	97.7	20,106	98.9
Invalid votes			641	2.3	215	1.1
Total			27,237	100.0	20,321	100.0
Electorate/voter turnout			66,291	41.1	66,247	30.7
Source: City of Lünen (1st round, 2nd round)

City council

Results of the 2020 city council election

The Lünen 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:

Party		Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	9,066	33.9	7.0	19	3
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	5,895	22.1	2.5	12	1
	Together for Lünen (GFL)	3,835	14.4	1.1	8	1
	Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)	3,690	13.8	6.4	8	4
	Alternative for Germany (AfD)	1,816	6.8	New	4	New
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	922	3.5	0.7	2	±0
	The Left (Die Linke)	846	3.2	0.9	2	±0
	Free Voters Lünen (FW Lünen)	501	1.9	New	1	New
	Independent Fohrmeister	85	0.3	New	0	New
	Independent Rosenkranz	85	0.2	New	0	New
	Independent God	19	0.1	New	0	New
Valid votes		26,730	98.2
Invalid votes		480	1.8
Total		27,210	100.0		56	2
Electorate/voter turnout		66,291	41.1	3.4
Source: City of Lünen

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Lünen is twinned with:^[5]

• Bartın, Turkey
• Demmin, Germany
• Kamień Pomorski, Poland
• Panevėžys, Lithuania
• Salford, England, United Kingdom
• Zwolle, Netherlands

Notable people

• Jens Beutel (1946–2019), SPD politician, mayor of Mainz 1997–2011
• Markus Brzenska (born 1984), footballer
• Karl-Heinz Granitza (born 1951), footballer
• Björn Höcke (born 1972), AfD politician, Member of Landtag in Thuringia
• Hubert Hüppe (born 1956), CDU politician
• Theodor Kleine (1924–2014), sprint canoer, Olympic medalist
• Friedhelm Konietzka (1938–2012), football player and coach
• Wilhelm Kuhne (born 1926), priest (Monsignore) and former rector of the Hardehausen Abbey
• Michael Mendl (born 1944), actor
• Max Raabe (born 1962), singer and conductor of the Palast Orchester in Berlin
• Berndt Röder (born 1948), CDU politician, former president of the Hamburgische Bürgerschaft
• Rollergirl (born 1975), singer
• Rüdiger Sagel (born 1955), politician Alliance 90/The Greens, later The Left, Member of Landtag North Rhine-Westphalia 1998–2012
• Max Simon (1899–1961), SS officer and war criminal
• Andreas Thiel (born 1960), handball player
• Eckhart Tolle (born 1948), spiritual teacher and author
• Clara Vogedes (1892–1983), artist
• Ernst Waldschmidt (1897–1985), orientalist and indologist
• Wolfgang Wendland (born 1962), singer, politician of the Pogo party
• Dieter Zorc (1939–2007), footballer