| Wickrathberg | |
|---|---|
| Borough of Mönchengladbach | |
 Monument to the 1945 German prisoner of war camp in Wickrathberg. | |
Location of Wickrathberg in Mönchengladbach
 | |
  Wickrathberg Show map of Germany Wickrathberg Show map of North Rhine-Westphalia | |
| Coordinates: 51°7′N 06°25′E / 51.117°N 6.417°E / 51.117; 6.417 | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | North Rhine-Westphalia |
| Admin. region | Düsseldorf |
| District | Urban district |
| City | Mönchengladbach |
| Area | |
| • Total | 3.52 km (1.36 sq mi) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 2,185 |
| • Density | 620/km (1,600/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Postal codes | 41189 |
| Dialling codes | 02161, 02166 |
Wickrathberg is a borough of the German city Mönchengladbach, located in the west of North Rhine-Westphalia. The river Niers flows through the village.
History
The village belonged to the manor of Wickrath in the Middle Ages and early modern times.
An important Jewish community existed in Wickrathberg since before 1704. There was a synagogue, a school and a Jewish cemetery in neighboring Wanlo. The Wickrathberg synagogue was destroyed during the Kristallnacht in November 1938. Only a memorial plaque remains in the pavement of Berger Dorfstraße. In the following years, the Jewish citizens were arrested and deported to concentration camps. By 1942, the 250-year-old Wickrathberg Jewish community had ceased to exist.
In 1945, after the end of the Second World War, the American army built a large temporary prisoner of war camp in the triangle between Güdderath, Hochneukirch and Wickrathberg, one of the so-called "Rheinwiesenlager". It held between 120,000 and 150,000 German prisoners of war from April to September 1945 in the open air.
People who grew up in Wickrathberg
- Hilde Sherman (1923–2011), Jewish woman who survived the Holocaust.
- Wolfgang Lüderitz (1926–2012), composer.
References
- "Die Bevölkerung der Stadt Mönchengladbach am Ort der Hauptwohnung nach Stadtbezirken und Stadtteilen am 31.12.2022" (PDF). Stadt Mönchengladbach. April 2023.
- Heimatverein Wickrathberg, Juedische Gemeinde
- Heimatverein Wickrathberg, Zweiter Weltkrieg