{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2023}} {{Expand German|topic=geo|date=December 2021}}{{Infobox German location |type = Stadt |name = Erftstadt |image_photo = Amtsgericht Lechenich.jpg |imagesize = 230px |image_caption = The old courthouse in Erftstadt-Lechenich |image_coa =Stadtwappen_der_Stadt_Erftstadt.svg |coordinates = {{coord|50|49|N|6|46|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}} |image_plan = Erftstadt in BM.svg |state = North Rhine-Westphalia |region = Cologne |district = Rhein-Erft-Kreis |elevation = 100 |area = 119.89 |postal_code = 50374 |area_code = 02235 |licence = BM |Gemeindeschlüssel = 05 3 62 020 |divisions = 18 |website = [http://www.erftstadt.de/ www.erftstadt.de] |mayor = Carolin Weitzel<ref>[https://www.wahlergebnisse.nrw/kommunalwahlen/2020/index_bm.shtml Wahlergebnisse in NRW Kommunalwahlen 2020], Land Nordrhein-Westfalen, accessed 29 June 2021.</ref> |leader_term = 2020–25 |party = CDU }}
'''Erftstadt''' ({{IPA|de|ˈɛʁftˌʃtat|-|De-Erftstadt.ogg}}) is a town located about 20 km south-west of Cologne in the Rhein-Erft-Kreis, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The name of the town derives from the river that flows through it, the Erft. The neighbouring towns are Brühl, Kerpen, Zülpich and Weilerswist.
In 1977, the RAF held their hostage, Hanns-Martin Schleyer, captive in a flat in Liblar for about a month.
A landslide during the 2021 European floods led to the collapse of several houses.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dw.com/en/death-toll-climbs-in-western-germany-flooding-live-updates/a-58284256|title = Death toll rises above 100 in German floods — as it happened | DW | 17.07.2021| website=Deutsche Welle }}</ref>
== Coat of arms == thumb|left In green are one silver/white left flank bar and on the right border of the shield two golden/yellow squares. The green ground expresses the nature and the health. The silver flank bar represents the river Erft. The right side looks like an "E" for Erftstadt. The yellow squares represent the biggest villages Lechenich and Liblar. The coat of arms was designed by Josef Günterberg from Berlin. The town got it as an official coat of arms on 15 March 1974.
== Geography == Erftstadt is located 25 km north-west of Bonn. Its height ranges from 81 to 151 metres above sea level. The following towns and municipalities border on Erftstadt: {{div col|colwidth=15em}} *Kerpen *Hürth *Brühl *Weilerswist *Zülpich *Vettweiß *Nörvenich {{div col end}}
== Education == In Erftstadt are five further schools: two gymnasiums, two ''Realschulen'' and one Hauptschule. In Lechenich are the Theodor-Heuss-Schule, the only Hauptschule in Erftstadt. There also are the Realschule Lechenich and the Gymnasium Lechenich. The Realschule "Gottfried-Kinkel-Realschule" and the Gymnasium Ville-Gymnasium are located in Liblar. The only private school in Erftstadt, the Freie Waldorfschule Erftstadt, can be found in Liblar too. It is a primary and a secondary school. There are seven primary schools in Erftstadt: {{div col|colwidth=15em}} *Donatus-Schule Liblar *Erich-Kästner-Schule Bliesheim *Nordschule Lechenich *Südschule Lechenich *Grundschule Gymnich *St. Barbara-Concordia-Schule Kierdorf *Janusz-Korczak-Schule Erp {{div col end}} The TH Köln plans to have a new faculty for Spatial development and infrastructure systems in Erftstadt. There is one music school called Bernd-Alois-Zimmermann-Musikschule in Liblar.
==Twin towns – sister cities== {{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany}} Erftstadt is twinned with:<ref>{{cite web |title=Städtepartnerschaften|url=https://www.erftstadt.de/web/infos-zu-erftstadt/staedtepartnerschaften|website=erftstadt.de|publisher=Erftstadt|language=de|access-date=30 November 2019}}</ref> *{{flagicon|ENG}} Wokingham, England, United Kingdom (1977) *{{flagicon|FRA}} Viry-Châtillon, France (1980) *{{flagicon|POL}} Jelenia Góra, Poland (1995) *{{flagicon|UKR}} Ternopil, Ukraine (2023) *{{flagicon|GER}} Panketal, Brandenburg (1990)
==Wards of Erftstadt==
The town of Erftstadt consists of the following 14 ''Stadtbezirke'' (in brackets: population, 2023/03/01) {{div col|colwidth=15em}} *Ahrem (1,176) *Blessem and Frauenthal (1,641) *Bliesheim (3,721) *Borr and Scheuren(366) *Dirmerzheim (2,223) *Erp (2,665) *Friesheim (3,070) *Gymnich and Mellerhöfe (5,003) *Herrig (552) *Kierdorf (3,163) *Köttingen (3,584) *Lechenich and Konradsheim (11, 503) *Liblar (13,365) *Niederberg (542) {{div col end}}
Most of the town administration is in Liblar, the most populous ''Stadtbezirk''. The second-most populous ''Stadtbezirk'' is Lechenich.
== Notable people == thumb|150px|Coat of arms of the family Wolff von Metternich * thumb|150px|Carl Schurz * Carl Schurz (1829–1906), politician and first German-born cabinet secretary (Secretary of the Interior 1877–1881) in the US * Jean Bungartz (1854–1934), animal artist, specialist author, photographer, breeder, lived from 1886 to 1913 in Lechenich thumb|150px|Joseph Kentenich * Joseph Kentenich (1885–1968), founder of the Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement * Anna Reitler (1894 – 1948, born in Liblar), politician (KPD), Reichtags deputy * Bernd Alois Zimmermann (1918–1970), composer, born in Bliesheim thumb|150px|Hennes Weisweiler * Hennes Weisweiler (1919–1983), football coach, born in Lechenich [[File: isql 3.jpg|thumb|150px|Peter Mittelstaedt (right) with Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker (left)]] *Peter Mittelstaedt:(1929–2014) Physicist, philosopher and science theorist * Manfred Donike (1933–1995), cyclist, chemist and well-known doping investigator [[File: KAS-Küpper, Heinz-Bild-6752-1.jpg|thumb|150px|Heinz Küpper, Landtag election 1990]] * thumb|150px|Herbert Feuerstein * Herbert Feuerstein (1937–2020), satirist and entertainer, lived in Niederberg thumb|150px|Cornelius Bormann * thumb|150px|Lukas Klünter (2019) * Lukas Klünter (born 1996), football player, lives in Friesheim * Ismail Jakobs (born 1996), football player, lives in Liblar
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.wisoveg.de/liblar/erftstadt.html Liblar and Carl Schurz] * [https://erftstadtwiki.de ErftstadtWiki] (local city wiki)
{{Cities and towns in Rhein-Erft-Kreis (district)}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Erftstadt Category:Rhein-Erft-Kreis Category:Districts of the Rhine Province