Recklinghausen

Recklinghausen, Germany – a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, at the Ren-Herne Canal. It has ca. 127 thousand residents. Recklinghausen underwent the mining transformation process in the 20th century as the mines were liquidated and the city coped with problems similar to the ones faced by Bytom. Many former residents of Bytom came to live in Recklinghausen which contributes to establishing “bottom-up” partner contacts instead of purely formalized ones, initiated by the municipal authorities. The partnership agreement by and between Bytom and Recklinghausen was signed on 15 December 2000 in Bytom and then on 13 March 2001 in Recklinghausen. The agreement provides for the cities’ cooperation with respect to municipal management, environment protection and sustainable development, culture and education, economic and structural development and social issues.