City structure

The city is divided into the districts,^[4] with the associated hamlets:

• Haltern-Mitte (19,771 inhabitants); with Berghaltern (formerly the Holtwick farmstead), which has grown close to the core city,[5] in the extreme southwest.
• Sythen (6,305 inhabitants); with Lehmbraken, Uphusen, and Stockwiese; the Sythener End in the extreme northeast has belonged to Hausdülmen since 1975.
• Lippramsdorf (3,569 inhabitants); with Freiheit in the east, Eppendorf in the northeast, and Tannenberg in the extreme north-northeast (former Eppendorf farming community), the younger settlements of Mersch in the south and Hagelkreuz (Schabbrink) in the northwest, as well as the scattered Kusenhorst farming community in the extreme southwest
• Hullern (2,379 inhabitants); with the settlements of Overrath, Westrup, and Antrup
• Hamm-Bossendorf (2,061 inhabitants); Bossendorf is now the larger of the two villages
• Flaesheim (1,905 inhabitants); with Westleven
• Lavesum (1,741 inhabitants); with Lochtrup, Ontrup, Strünkede, and Granat in the extreme west
• Holtwick (932 inhabitants); with Lünzum to the east, Hennewig to the far east, the younger settlement on Waldstraße towards the city center to the southeast, as well as Bergbossendorf and, to the east of it, Annaberg in the far south near the Lippe River.

The medieval structure of the old town is clearly recognizable, with only hidden remnants of the buildings from this period remaining (e.g., the town hall, Gänsemarkt). Nevertheless, the image of a typical Münsterland town emerges.

Prehistory

About one hundred flint artifacts from the late Neanderthal period were found in a dry sand pit in Haltern-Lavesum between 2009 and 2012. Cores provided evidence of the typical use of Levallois technique, a technique used to obtain flakes and blades. The site is associated with wedge knife groups (cf. Micoquia).^[5]

Artifacts from the Neolithic also come from Lavesum. These include two blades made of Rijckholt flint, i.e., from the Netherlands or the Rhine region, and a chalcedony scraper from a deposit near Bonn-Muffendorf. Not only were they transported over 100 km, but they also represent some of the earliest artifacts from the period of repopulation of the Westphalian Bay after the last Last Glacial Period.^[6]

254 flint artifacts from Bergbossendorf can be dated to the Late Glacial Interstadial. This constitutes a complete inventory that likely originates from a short stay by a hunting party.^[7]

In Haltern-Uphusen, small remains of a solitary farmstead with a granary (probably without livestock) from the Early Iron Age were excavated starting in 2015.

Roman rule

Along the Lippe River, the Romans repeatedly moved from the west into the Westphalian hinterland and established military camps. The plan to make Germania a Roman province failed in 9 AD with the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest and finally in 16 AD with Tiberius's renunciation of the Germania east of the Rhine after the failed campaigns of Germanicus. All Lippe camps, including the one in Haltern, were abandoned. In the present-day urban area of Haltern, there were several partially fortified camps and forts, as well as a harbor on the Lippe River. The former Roman Aliso camp is believed to have been located in the Haltern Roman camp. Many finds from this period are on display in the LWL-Römermuseum [de] in Haltern.

Middle Ages

On February 3, 1289, what was then Halteren received lower city rights (minor city) from its sovereign, the Prince-Bishop of Münster Everhard von Diest, “quale in aliis opides nostris Coesvelt et Borken”^[8] (Latin: as in our other cities Coesfeld and Borken), and thus the right to build a city wall, of which the Seven Devils Tower (Siebenteufelsturm) is still preserved.

Like many other towns in Westphalia, Haltern was a member of the Hanseatic League from the 14th century until 1611.^[9] The activities of Haltern citizens in the Hanseatic League's trading alliance can be traced back even further. Today, Haltern is a member of the International Hanseatic League of the Modern Age and the Westphalian Hanseatic League, which sought to revive the Hanseatic League with their re-foundation in the 1980s.^[10]

20th century

During Kristallnacht (1938), the town's synagogue, Jewish cemetery and the houses and shops belonging to the town's Jews were vandalised. Jews were deported to concentration camps, the last five of whom were deported in January 1942.^[11] Only one of the town's Jews survived the Holocaust: Alexander Lebenstein, after whom a school is named.

21st century

In March 2015, the town received international attention when 16 students and two teachers from the Joseph-König-Gymnasium in Haltern, were killed in the Germanwings Flight 9525 crash in the French Alps. They were on their way home from a student exchange with the Giola Institute in Llinars del Vallès, Catalonia, Spain.^[12] Haltern's then mayor, Bodo Klimpel, described it as "the darkest day in the history of our city."^[13]