Olpe (district)

Olpe
—  District  —
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Adm. region	Arnsberg
Capital	Olpe
Area
- Total	710.7 km2 (274.4 sq mi)
Population (31 December 2010)[1]
- Total	138,961
- Density	195.5/km2 (506.4/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
- Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Vehicle registration	OE
Website	http://www.kreis-olpe.de

Olpe is a Kreis (district) in the south-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Märkischer Kreis, Hochsauerland, Siegen-Wittgenstein, Altenkirchen, Oberbergischer Kreis.

History

The district was created in 1817 as Bilsteiner Kreis, in 1819 the capital was set to be Olpe. During the reorganization of the districts in 1969 several of the municipalities in the district were merged to become cities, however the district itself was only modified minimally, and also in the second reorganization 1974 it stayed nearly in the same borders as in 1817.

Geography

Geographically it covers the south-western part of the Sauerland mountains, which make the district rich in forests. The main river through the district is the Lenne.

Schützenbund

The Kreisschützenbund Olpe performs the Kreisschützenfest. ^[2]

Coat of arms

Coat of arms

The left half of the coat of arms show the cologne cross, as the Olpe area belonged to the bishops of Cologne. The right side show the sign of the Lords of Fürstenberg, who were governors for the bishops in this area.

Towns and municipalities

Towns	Municipalities
Attendorn Drolshagen Lennestadt Olpe	Finnentrop Kirchhundem Wenden

References

1. ^ "Amtliche Bevölkerungszahlen" (in German). Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW. 31 December 2010. http://www.it.nrw.de/statistik/a/daten/amtlichebevoelkerungszahlen/index.html. 
2. ^ Vereine im Kreisschützenbund Olpe

External links

Media related to Kreis Olpe at Wikimedia Commons

• Official Webpage
• Der Vokalismus der Mundarten im Kreise Olpe

Coordinates: 51°05′N 8°00′E / 51.08°N 8.0°E / 51.08; 8.0