Oberhausen was named for its 1847 railway station which had taken its name from the Oberhausen Castle. The new borough was formed in 1862 following inflow of people for the local coal mines and steel mills. Awarded town rights in 1874, Oberhausen absorbed several neighbouring boroughs including Alstaden, parts of Styrum and Dümpten in 1910. Oberhausen became a city in 1901, and they incorporated the towns of Sterkrade and Osterfeld in 1929. The Ruhrchemie AG synthetic oil plant ("Oberhausen-Holten" or "Sterkrade/Holten")[6] was a bombing target of the oil campaign of World War II, and the US forces reached the plant by 4 April 1945.
In 1973, Thyssen AG employed 14,000 people in Oberhausen in the steel industry, but ten years later the number had fallen to 6,000.[7]
There were 12.5% non-Germans living in Oberhausen, as of 2014.[10]
The unemployment rate is 10.4% (Jul 2020).[11]
Migrant communities in Oberhausen as of 31 December 2017:
Politics
Mayor
The current mayor of Oberhausen is Daniel Schranz of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2020. The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, with a runoff held on 27 September, and the results were as follows:
City council
The Oberhausen 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:
The city has established itself as a popular destination for professional wrestling in Germany, with Essen-based promotion Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) regularly running shows in Oberhausen's Turbinenhalle.[15] wXw's 16 Carat Gold Tournament is considered one of the most prestigious independent wrestling tournaments in the world[16] and is held in March every year in Oberhausen - attracting fans from around the world.
^Wahlergebnisse in NRW Kommunalwahlen 2020, Land Nordrhein-Westfalen, accessed 19 June 2021.
^ "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden Nordrhein-Westfalens am 31. Dezember 2023 – Fortschreibung des Bevölkerungsstandes auf Basis des Zensus vom 9. Mai 2011" (in German). Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW. Retrieved 2024-06-20.
^Powell, A.R. (9–10 January 1945). "Detailed Summary of meeting of Oil Mission Held in New Interior Building" (PDF). Enemy Oil Intelligence Committee. p. 17 (p61 of pdf). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 August 2008. Retrieved 25 March 2009.
^John Tagliabue (27 November 1983). "The Twilight of the Industrial Ruhr". New York Times. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
^Link
^"Demografiebericht AG Ruhr" (PDF). Arbeitsgemeinschaft der kommunalen Statistikstellen der Metropole Ruhr.
^"2.02 Fläche und Bevölkerung nach Statistischen Bezirken 2014" (PDF). Statistisches Jahrbuch 2015 der Stadt Oberhausen (in German). Stadt Oberhausen. January 2015. p. 31. Retrieved 29 August 2017.