Viersen is the capital of the district of Viersen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Geography

Viersen is situated approximately 8 km north-west of Mönchengladbach, 15 km south-west of Krefeld and 20 km east of Venlo (Netherlands).

Division of the town

The city of Viersen is made up of three (formerly independent) cities: Süchteln, Dülken and Viersen, which combined in 1970, and one former village, Boisheim, which combined with Viersen in 1968.

Politics

The current mayor of Viersen is Sabine Anemüller of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) since 2015. The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, with a runoff held on 27 September, and the results were as follows: ! rowspan=2 colspan=2| Candidate ! rowspan=2| Party ! colspan=2| First round ! colspan=2| Second round ! Votes ! % ! Votes ! % ! colspan=3| Valid votes ! 28,258 ! 98.2 ! 23,527 ! 99.5 ! colspan=3| Invalid votes ! 521 ! 1.8 ! 118 ! 0.5 ! colspan=3| Total ! 28,779 ! 100.0 ! 23,645 ! 100.0 ! colspan=3| Electorate/voter turnout ! 63,176 ! 45.6 ! 63,169 ! 37.4

City council

The Viersen city council governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2| Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- ! colspan=2| Valid votes ! 28,170 ! 98.0 ! ! ! ! colspan=2| Invalid votes ! 584 ! 2.0 ! ! ! ! colspan=2| Total ! 28,754 ! 100.0 ! ! 54 ! 2 ! colspan=2| Electorate/voter turnout ! 63,176 ! 45.5 ! 2.1 ! !

Economy

The company Mars Incorporated (chocolate bars) is situated in one of Viersen's industrial districts named Dülken-Mackenstein. Kaiser's Tengelmann AG (a big supermarkets chain in Germany) had his headquarter in Viersen, until it was closed in 2010. Cable manufacturer SAB Bröckskes employs 550 people (430 of them in Viersen-Süchteln).

Culture

Recurring events

[Viersen sculpture collection

Erwin Heerich: Monument | upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Skulptur///monument.jpg]

Main sights

Transport

Viersen is connected to the region by a dense bus network and Viersen station. The station is served by various local and regional rail lines.

Notable people

Twin towns – sister cities

Viersen is twinned with: