Location
City and district profiles
Show Profiles- Alpen
- Bergkamen
- Bochum
- Bottrop
- Bönen
- Breckerfeld
- Datteln
- Dinslaken
- Dortmund
- Duisburg
- Ennepetal
- Essen
- Gelsenkirchen
- Fröndenberg
- Gladbeck
- Hagen
- Haltern am See
- Hamm
- Hamminkeln
- Hattingen
- Herdecke
- Herne
- Herten
- Kamen
- Hünxe
- Kamen
- Kamp-Lintfort
- Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis
- Kreis Recklinghausen
- Kreis Unna
- Kreis Wesel
- Lünen
- Marl
- Moers
- Mülheim an der Ruhr
- Neukirchen-Vluyn
- Oberhausen
- Recklinghausen
- Rheinberg
- Schermbeck
- Schwelm
- Schwerte
- Selm
- Sonsbeck
- Sprockhövel
- Essen
- Voerde
- Waltrop
- Werne
- Wesel
- Witten
- Xanten
Alpen
Alpen – at the edge of the Ruhr district
The municipality of Alpen is one of 13 communities in the Wesel district. Alpen is not situated in the mountains, as the name would suggest, but in the lower Rhine region in the north-west of North Rhine-Westphalia. Alpen is an attractive residential green-field community, situated idyllically among expansive recreation areas with a flair typical of the lower Rhine region, bordering onto the town of Xanten in the North, the municipality of Sonsbeck in the North-West, the towns of Wesel and Rheinberg in the East, the town of Kamp-Lintfort in the South, and the municipality of Issum in the Kleve district in the West.With its population of 13,000, it counts among the smaller municipalities of the lower Rhine region, consisting of four communities (Alpen, Bönninghardt, Menzelen and Veen) and covering an area of 60 sq. kilometres. Its heart and local focus is Alpen's town centre featuring excellent infrastructural and shopping facilities.
Alpen's economic structure
- [+]
Most of Alpen's area is still used for agriculture. With the development of new commercial and trading estates, a number of interesting companies have settled in Alpen, making it a first-rate business location. The positive economic trend of recent years has been promoted by a strong infrastructure, which includes the A57 autobahn, linking Alpen to the conurbations of the Ruhr district via the A40 and A42, and the B57 and B58 national roads, which are both linked to the A3 autobahn, but also the Duisburg - Xanten railway, which runs every hour. It is also conveniently connected to the Rhine ports of Duisburg and Wesel, and the airports in Düsseldorf, Cologne-Bonn, Weeze and Amsterdam.
A total of 3,600 employees work in Alpen's 370 small and medium-sized businesses, with around 1,800 commuters travelling into Alpen to work.
The leading employers and the backbone of the local economy are Norgren GmbH (pneumatic controls), LEMKEN GmbH & Co. KG (agricultural machines) and Gardemann (working platform rentals), all three located in the Nord commercial and trading estate. These companies are European market leaders in their sectors and employ a total of 1,400 staff members.
Leisure, sports and culture
- [+]
Its excellent leisure and recreation facilities make the municipality of Alpen a worthwhile destination, especially for day trippers and people looking for recreation locally.
The Bönninghardt and Leucht forests with their 114 kilometres of marked hiking and cycling trails and an extensive network of bridle paths are ideal for a family outing, and a cycle tour of the municipality invites tourists to visit the many local sights.
Enjoy the excellent water sports facilities at the recreational lake in Menzelen-Ost, which is ideal not only for swimming and diving, but also a surfers' paradise.
Conservative estimates put the number of members in Alpen's various clubs with their many local activities at around 15,000 - in other words more club members than residents. Alpen's swimming club currently counts around 2,000 members, who confirm the local population's allegiance and commitment to their club.
The cultural sector is influenced mainly by Alpen's Music and Literary Circle, which has been successful in expanding the music and literature scenes, including the local library. The circle enjoys an excellent reputation in the music sector as a promoter of first-rate chamber music events and vocal nights with unusual programme elements or billings. The main venue, Alpen's protestant church, being renowned as a filigree, closed acoustic body from the early baroque era. Its Jakob Engelbert Teschemacher organ (1782) is frequently integrated into these concerts.
With similar enthusiasm for new and experimental works, the programme frequently includes cabaret.
Since 1 April 1994, the Music and Literary Circle has been in charge of Alpen's public library.
Another attraction is the museum of local history in Veen. Situated close to the primary school, it highlights recent agricultural developments in relation to the evolution of the local villages.