A short portrait of the cultural region of South Westphalia
A few words and problems in advance
In addition to various other global challenges, we in South Westphalia currently have many other very specific issues to address. Even if they are all somehow connected: Our forests are suffering from the increasing drought, especially the spruce trees from the bark beetle, and the economy and cultural activities are currently groaning under the consequences of the closed bridge on the A45. Symbolically, one could say: the lungs are defective and the main artery is severed. Perhaps a warning sign that we can no longer continue as before!
Page content:
- The geographical location of the region
- The peculiarities of the region
- A poetry about the smells of South Westphalia
The geographical location of the region
The South Westphalia cultural region is comprised of the independent city of Hagen, the Märkischer Kreis (Märkischer Kreis), and the districts of Olpe and Siegen-Wittgenstein. Neighboring cultural regions are the Bergisches Land region and the Rhine region, as well as the Hellweg, Sauerland, and Ruhr regions. The city of Hagen lies within both the Ruhr region and the South Westphalia cultural region. The southern district of Siegen-Wittgenstein is also known as the border triangle, as the three federal states of Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, and North Rhine-Westphalia meet here.
The peculiarities of the region:
Green Industry - an area between two poles
Economy and forest: A very special symbiosis
Since ancient times, the area along Autobahn A45 has been a region of industrial activity – this has shaped, and continues to shape, the rhythm of life and the mentality of its people. South Westphalia is one of the strongest economic regions in Germany and one of the oldest industrial regions in Central Europe, but also the most densely forested region in North Rhine-Westphalia: in some places, forest cover reaches up to 75%. Through their economic activity, the people have shaped a historic cultural landscape full of typical and atypical places, full of stories, projection surfaces, and spaces for action. The care and preservation of the historic (industrial) cultural landscape plays just as important a role here as technological progress and innovation.
City and village: difficult to separate
Between mountains and valleys: South Westphalia is neither truly urban nor truly rural. In the cultural region of South Westphalia, lively urban spaces are embedded in a quiet, but by no means boring, green landscape. Even the two major cities of Hagen and Siegen are somehow manageable and, above all, very green. The region offers an ideal retreat for people from the nearby Rhine-Ruhr metropolis. However, anyone seeking rural tranquility is in the wrong place. The valleys and mountains of the low mountain range are bustling with activity: in addition to the high employment and low unemployment rates, people find time for a high level of volunteer work.
Squares and niches: open spaces for culture
South Westphalia still offers plenty of scope for the development of creative ideas, niches for occupying cultural themes, and always room for innovation. "Making culture yourself" and enjoying culture – both always involve a personal and individual encounter and engagement with the environment and fellow human beings. Many people in the region therefore use their personal resources such as free time, know-how, creativity, and sometimes even muscle power to make the region an even more livable and lovable place. They are culturally committed, cultural entrepreneurs, and cultural drivers. Therefore, supporting the people creating culture in the South Westphalia cultural region is a priority.
Monolingual and multilingual: Learning together
The region is multicultural, although the proportion of the population with a so-called migrant background varies between 32 and 19% depending on the subregion. Sometimes, however, it plays a greater role whether one was socialized in the Siegerland or Sauerland region, as the "Benrath Line" divides the region into Low German in the Sauerland and West Central German in the Siegerland region. While the difference is no longer as pronounced, it still provides a good source of conversation. Likewise, the differences between the Catholic and Protestant-Calvinist subregions are always worth discussing – often with a wink. Apart from that, countless religious communities have now found their place and home here.
Sun valleys, rain mountains and other boundaries
There are plenty of weather divides: on one mountain it is raining and in the district further on the other side of the next weather divide the sun is shining.
Elsewhere, the aforementioned language border, or the border between the Protestant Siegerland and the Catholic Sauerland, runs through the region. Or historical borders between the Nassau, Cologne, and Brandenburg territories. Boundary stones abound here, and Schnadegänge (literally "drinking grounds") are often celebrated.
Negotiating and acting between these many opposing poles is what defines cultural work in the South Westphalia cultural region, makes it exciting, and creates friction. And friction creates warmth – something you sometimes need in the sometimes colder and rainy low mountain ranges.
A poetry about life in South Westphalia: they complement each other well, all the colorful smells
The motto of the anniversary celebration for 25 Years of the Regional Cultural Program NRW on October 21, 2022, at the Historic Community Center in Velbert-Langenberg was "Forward Together." Ten selected poetry slammers from ten different cities in the individual cultural regions also followed this motto. The ten young people eloquently and emotionally described their own region as individual homes with their own charm within the shared home of North Rhine-Westphalia. In the contribution about the cultural region of South Westphalia, Luise Wolf, a native of Plettenberg, gives listeners a glimpse into her home, the cultural region of South Westphalia, "80 km across, stretching from Siegen to Hagen" with "beams that hold it together like a brick wall." Listen to what it's like to live in South Westphalia. Not everything is fine and dandy, but much is. In any case, the region is one thing: incomprehensible...