Kempen () is a town in the district of Viersen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately northwest of Düsseldorf, and east of Venlo.
History 1186: First mention in official documentation of Kempen as a place – the sovereign until 1794 is the Archbishop (electoral prince) of Cologne around 1290: Kempen is rebuilt as a fortified town 11 March 1294: First confirmation of Kempen as a town in official documentation 15th century: town blooms economically and culturally (population of approx. 4,200) 1542–1543: Kempen is the centre of the Reformation for the Lower Rhine 1579: The plague costs the town almost half of its inhabitants 1642: Kempen is conquered and destroyed by the allied French, Hessian and Weimar troops during the "Hessen War" (Thirty Years' War) 1794–1814: Kempen is under French rule. In the département of Roer established in 1797, Kempen becomes a canton seat in 1798 and a French town in 1801. 1815: After the Congress of Vienna, Kempen becomes Prussian and is the county seat 1929: Due to local reforms, Kempen becomes the administrative seat of the county of Kempen-Krefeld 1966 onward: Restoration of the old town 1970: Communal restructuring: The communities of Hüls, St. Hubert, Tönisberg and Schmalbroich join Kempen along with the localities of St. Peter and Unterweiden to form a single town 1975: In further local reforms, Hüls is assigned to the city of Krefeld. The county of Viersen is formed and Kempen becomes part of "Kreis Viersen" 1984: The county seat is transferred from Kempen to Viersen. 1987: A cultural forum is opened in the Franciscan monastery after comprehensive restoration and renovation work. 11 March 1994: Date of the 700-year jubilee of the confirmation of Kempen as a town
Population
Politics The current mayor is Christoph Dellmanns who has been serving since 2020. In the 2025 local elections, he was reelected with 89% of votes. His only opponent was Joachim von Contzen of Die PARTEI.
Council After the 2025 elections, the Kempen city council is composed as follows:
! colspan=2| Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Christian Democratic Union (CDU) | 6,887 | 38.0 | 1.5 | 20 | ±0 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Social Democratic Party (SPD) | 3,157 | 17.4 | 0.7 | 9 | ±0 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) | 2,939 | 16.2 | 6.2 | 8 | 3 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Alternative for Germany (AfD) | 1,754 | 9.7 | 7.8 | 5 | 4 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Free Voters Kempen (FWK) | 1,275 | 7.0 | 3.2 | 4 | 2 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| Free Democratic Party (FDP) | 1,047 | 5.8 | 2.7 | 3 | 1 |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| The Left (Die Linke) | 726 | 4.0 | 1.9 | 2 | 1 |- | bgcolor=#007800| | align=left| ÖDP-Citizens Initiative Kempen (ÖDP-BIKK) | 255 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 1 | 1 |- | colspan=7 bgcolor=lightgrey| |- | bgcolor=| | align=left| The PARTY (PARTEI) | 85 | 0.5 | New | 0 | New |- ! colspan=2| Valid votes ! 18,125 ! 98.9 ! ! ! |- ! colspan=2| Invalid votes ! 198 ! 1.1 ! ! ! |- ! colspan=2| Total ! 18,323 ! 100.0 ! ! 52 ! 2 |- ! colspan=2| Electorate/voter turnout ! 28,523 ! 64.2 ! ! ! |- | colspan=7| Source: City of Kempen
Twin towns – sister cities
Kempen is twinned with: Wambrechies, France (1972) Orsay, France (1973) East Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom (1978) Werdau, Germany (1990)
Notable people Thomas à Kempis (c. 1380–1471) John Brugman (?–1473), Franciscan friar and preacher in Flanders Wilhelm Hünermann (1900–1975), priest and writer Adolph Moses Radin (1848–1909), rabbi Udo Schiefner (1959–2025), politician Isabel Varell (born 1961), actress and singer Bernhard van Treeck (born 1964), psychiatrist and author Tobias Koch (born 1968), pianist Daniel Altmaier (born 1998), Tennis player Luca Witzke (born 1999), Handball player Jordan Beyer (born 2000), Football player
Gallery
References
External links