Alpen was mentioned documentarily for the first time in 1074.
Politics
The current mayor is Ludger Staymann (CDU), who was elected with 61.9% of the votes during the 2025 local elections.
City Council
The Alpen city council governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 14 September 2025, and the results were as follows:
Alpen is reachable by the Bundesautobahn 57 and the federal highways B57 and B58. There is also a train, the RB31 from Duisburg Hbf (direction Xanten) every hour which stops at Alpen. From there it is a 10-minute walk into the centre of Alpen.
Security
The municipality of Alpen maintains a Volunteer Fire Department consisting three firehouses with about 105 active firefighter and 14 vehicles. In addition to the area of Alpen, the Bundesautobahn 57 is also part of the area of operation. Crime protection is provided by the state Police of North Rhine-Westphalia with stations in Rheinberg, Xanten and Kamp-Lintfort.
