The Holzplatz in Dorsten-Hervest is a place with a rich and eventful history. From being the site of an important timber trade to the construction of the tower railway station and later becoming an administrative and educational center, it reflects the development of the district over more than a century.
The history station makes these changes visible and tells the story of trade, infrastructure, the impact of war, and reconstruction – up to its present-day use as a place for administration, education, and community.
| The cable-laying ship Faraday, owned by the company Telegraphen-Bauanstalt Siemens & Halske, laid the first permanently functioning transatlantic telegraph cable. | vor 1900 | The merchants Johann and Ignatz Klapheck established a timber business between today’s Bismarckstraße and Am Holzplatz, which existed until 1935. The site became commonly known as “Klapheckscher Holzplatz” or simply “Holzplatz.” |
| 1913-1916 | The railway stations previously built in Hervest were replaced by a central tower station adjacent to the Holzplatz, which was opened in 1916. | |
Ehemaliges Postgebäude |
1917 | In the immediate vicinity of the station, a large two-story post office building with a high half-hipped roof was constructed (today: Fatih Mosque of the Turkish-Islamic cultural association Diyanet). |
| 1938 | After the city of Dorsten joined the Amt Hervest-Dorsten, founded in 1929, in 1937, the administrative headquarters was relocated from Wulfen to the Klapheckscher Holzplatz. | |
Administrative barrack |
1945 | After the wartime destruction of the town hall in Dorsten’s city center on (today’s) Klosterstraße – where some departments of the Hervest-Dorsten administration had been housed since 1938 – parts of the administration were relocated to barracks at the Holzplatz. |
| 1952 | The city council decided to make the municipally owned Klapheckscher Holzplatz available as a construction site for a new administrative building. | |
Hervest-Dorsten administrative office (since 1975: town hall of the city of Dorsten) |
1957 | The Hervest-Dorsten administration moved into the new administrative building at the Gemeindedreieck. The attached restaurant “Ratsstuben” has been used as a citizens’ office since 2001. |
| 1960 | After 130 years, the vocational school of the city of Dorsten (today: Paul-Spiegel Vocational College) received its first own school building at the Holzplatz, which was expanded in the following years. | |
| The first UN World Conference on Women took place in Mexico City as part of the International Women’s Year. | 1975 | As part of the municipal reorganization, the Amt Hervest-Dorsten was dissolved. The former administrative office now serves as the town hall of the newly restructured city of Dorsten. |
Church in the station |
1983 | The former reception building of Hervest-Dorsten railway station has since been used by the Free Christian Congregation, founded in 1961, as a community center. |
| 1994 | In this year, the town hall with its former library (today: Cornelia Funke Tree House) was added to the list of monuments of the city of Dorsten. | |
| 2008-2010 | The church in the station with its foyer extension was completely renovated. | |
| Jahr | The redesign of the square in front of the former station building was completed with the planting of the roundabout. |
Eröffnung:
25.09.2025
Adresse:
Geodaten:
51°39'08.9''N 6°57'17.8''E
At the prominent location of Hervest, the 50th history station was inaugurated as part of the dual anniversary marking 50 years of municipal reorganization and 775 years of the city.
Opening
Mayor Tobias Stockhoff delivered the opening speech, emphasized the importance of the history station for local remembrance culture. Dr. Josef Ulfkotte expressed his special thanks to the sponsors Felix Holzwarth and Marco Landwehr for their dedicated support.
With good music
This time, the inauguration was organized by the initiators as a particularly festive event.
Bouncy castle
With drink and food stalls, a bouncy castle, music, and a covered seating area, the occasion was celebrated in a fitting manner.
Ditib-Moschee-Gemeinde
