Ahaus
Town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ahaus (German pronunciation: [ˈaːhaʊs] ⓘ; Westphalian: Ausen) is a town in the district of Borken in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located near the border with the Netherlands, lying some 20 km south-east of Enschede and 15 km south from Gronau. Ahaus is the location of one of Germany's interim storage facilities for radioactive spent fuel.[2]
Ahaus | |
|---|---|
St George's Fountain in Ahaus | |
 Coat of arms | |
Location of Ahaus
within Borken district  | |
 Location of Ahaus | |
  Ahaus  Ahaus | |
| Coordinates: 52°4′N 7°0′E | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | North Rhine-Westphalia |
| Admin. region | Münster |
| District | Borken |
| Subdivisions | 6 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2025–30) | Karola Voß (Ind.) |
| Area | |
• Total | 151.24 km2 (58.39 sq mi) |
| Highest elevation | 70 m (230 ft) |
| Lowest elevation | 36 m (118 ft) |
| Population (2023-12-31)[1] | |
• Total | 40,580 |
| • Density | 268.3/km2 (694.9/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Postal codes | 48683 |
| Dialling codes | 02561, 02567 |
| Vehicle registration | BOR, AH, BOH |
| Website | www.ahaus.de |
History
The first written mention of the aristocratic seat of Haus an der Aa dates from around 1030. Around 1120, Bernhard von Diepenheim had Ahaus Castle built where Ahaus Castle stands today. In 1154 his son Lifhard called himself von Ahaus for the first time.[3] The lords of Ahaus belonged to the smaller noble dynasties in Westphalia in the wider environment of the Munster bishops. They got into a fight with them in 1176 when the nobleman Johann von Ahaus gave his castle as a fief to the Archbishop of Cologne. In 1177, however, John had to surrender to Prince Bishop Hermann II of Munstersubdue. The castles of Ahaus and Diepenheim, which belonged to the noble lords of Ahaus, were destroyed. Nevertheless, the noble lords remained in possession of their rule.[4]
In 1389 the noble lords of Ahaus granted the castle settlement an excise privilege. Two years later, Ahaus received city rights. In 1406, the Prince-Bishop of Munster, Otto IV von Hoya, bought the lordship of Ahaus and incorporated it into the Bishopric of Munster.[3] It was combined by the Bishopric of Münster together with 24 parishes, which extended over large parts of West Münsterland, to form the Amt of Ahaus . It lasted until it was dissolved by the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss in 1803.
Politics
The current mayor is Karola Voß who has been serving as mayor since 2015. In the 2025 local elections she was reelected with 90% of the votes.[5]
Council
After the 2025 elections, the Ahaus city council is composed as follows:
| Party | Votes | % | +/- | Seats | +/- | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian Democratic Union (CDU) | 9,700 | 51.1 |  5.4 |
22 | 2 | |
| Independent Voters Association (UWG) | 3,099 | 16.3 |  0.6 |
7 | ±0 | |
| Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) | 1,665 | 8.8 | 3.9 |
4 | 1 | |
| Social Democratic Party (SPD) | 1,625 | 8.6 | 3.6 |
4 | 1 | |
| Free Democratic Party (FDP) | 793 | 4.2 | 0.3 |
2 | ±0 | |
| The Left (Die Linke) | 670 | 3.5 | 2.9 |
1 | 1 | |
| Voters Association social Ahaus (WSA) | 637 | 3.4 | New | 1 | New | |
| Voters Association Ahaus worth living (WLA) | 534 | 2.8 | 0.6 |
1 | ±0 | |
| Independent Tobias Groten | 178 | 0.9 | New | 0 | New | |
| Independent Christoph Bromisch | 89 | 0.5 | New | 0 | New | |
| Valid votes | 18,990 | 98.0 | ||||
| Invalid votes | 385 | 2.0 | ||||
| Total | 19,375 | 100.0 | 42 | ±0 | ||
| Electorate/voter turnout | 32,132 | 60.3 | ||||
| Source: City of Ahaus | ||||||
Climate
Ahaus has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb; Trewartha: Dobk).
| Climate data for Ahaus, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 2006–present | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 16.1 (61.0) |
19.3 (66.7) |
24.5 (76.1) |
28.5 (83.3) |
32.3 (90.1) |
35.9 (96.6) |
39.5 (103.1) |
36.6 (97.9) |
32.2 (90.0) |
28.0 (82.4) |
19.8 (67.6) |
16.5 (61.7) |
39.5 (103.1) |
| Mean maximum °C (°F) | 11.7 (53.1) |
12.4 (54.3) |
17.7 (63.9) |
23.9 (75.0) |
27.1 (80.8) |
30.9 (87.6) |
33.3 (91.9) |
31.4 (88.5) |
27.3 (81.1) |
22.1 (71.8) |
16.3 (61.3) |
12.6 (54.7) |
34.9 (94.8) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 5.4 (41.7) |
6.5 (43.7) |
10.0 (50.0) |
15.4 (59.7) |
18.8 (65.8) |
21.9 (71.4) |
24.0 (75.2) |
23.0 (73.4) |
19.5 (67.1) |
14.7 (58.5) |
9.6 (49.3) |
6.3 (43.3) |
14.6 (58.3) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 3.1 (37.6) |
3.5 (38.3) |
5.8 (42.4) |
10.1 (50.2) |
13.7 (56.7) |
16.8 (62.2) |
18.6 (65.5) |
17.7 (63.9) |
14.5 (58.1) |
10.9 (51.6) |
6.9 (44.4) |
4.2 (39.6) |
10.5 (50.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 0.6 (33.1) |
0.5 (32.9) |
1.7 (35.1) |
4.3 (39.7) |
8.0 (46.4) |
11.2 (52.2) |
12.8 (55.0) |
12.3 (54.1) |
9.5 (49.1) |
7.1 (44.8) |
3.9 (39.0) |
1.7 (35.1) |
6.1 (43.0) |
| Mean minimum °C (°F) | −7.3 (18.9) |
−5.5 (22.1) |
−4.3 (24.3) |
−2.2 (28.0) |
1.1 (34.0) |
5.8 (42.4) |
6.9 (44.4) |
7.0 (44.6) |
3.8 (38.8) |
0.6 (33.1) |
−2.9 (26.8) |
−5.3 (22.5) |
−9.4 (15.1) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −17.1 (1.2) |
−16.0 (3.2) |
−9.1 (15.6) |
−5.7 (21.7) |
−1.0 (30.2) |
3.4 (38.1) |
4.9 (40.8) |
5.0 (41.0) |
0.7 (33.3) |
−4.0 (24.8) |
−7.2 (19.0) |
−14.3 (6.3) |
−17.1 (1.2) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 76.2 (3.00) |
56.7 (2.23) |
57.6 (2.27) |
29.7 (1.17) |
49.6 (1.95) |
64.1 (2.52) |
75.8 (2.98) |
97.5 (3.84) |
58.9 (2.32) |
65.1 (2.56) |
65.5 (2.58) |
78.1 (3.07) |
774.9 (30.51) |
| Average extreme snow depth cm (inches) | 3.5 (1.4) |
1.2 (0.5) |
0.1 (0.0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0 (0) |
0.3 (0.1) |
2.9 (1.1) |
4.7 (1.9) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 19.8 | 15.9 | 15.9 | 11.9 | 13.4 | 13.7 | 15.8 | 17.4 | 13.3 | 15.7 | 18.1 | 20.7 | 191.8 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 87.8 | 83.8 | 78.0 | 70.7 | 70.0 | 72.6 | 73.3 | 77.1 | 81.4 | 85.3 | 88.3 | 89.1 | 79.8 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 43.8 | 70.4 | 128.6 | 191.0 | 207.1 | 202.9 | 218.2 | 188.5 | 147.8 | 100.7 | 56.4 | 40.8 | 1,596.3 |
| Source: Deutscher Wetterdienst/SKlima.de[6] | |||||||||||||
Twin towns – sister cities
Argentré-du-Plessis, France
Haaksbergen, Netherlands
Notable people
- Friedrich Koechling (1893–1970), officer, general of infantry
- Michael Denhoff (born 1955), composer and cellist
- Jens Spahn (born 1980), politician (CDU), Member of Bundestag
- Heike Wermer (born 1988), CDU politician
- Urszula Radwańska (born 1990), Polish tennis player
- Stefan Thesker (born 1991), footballer