Beginnings of the local history

Around 950, Borghorst Abbey owned extensive landed property around Gescher, spread over ten farms. Among them was a farm called Gasgare, which gave name to the first parish and village of Gescher. It is unclear when exactly the original parish and the independent village of Gescher were founded, but this may date back to the period between 985 and 1020 AD. Previously, Gescher had belonged to Stadtlohn.

Originally, the parish consisted only of a church surrounded by a closed ring of houses and storehouses. Gescher then developed into a street village mainly along Hellweg, connecting Coesfeld and Stadtlohn. At times, the church even functioned as a refuge fort. The church and surrounding houses were protected by moats, which were fed by three streams. This protection system was abandoned after 1665. New streets such as Hauptstrasse, the southern church square, Armlandstrasse and Eschstrasse were built. The village then developed into a typical Westphalian street village, mainly towards the west and south-east.

The simple basic structure of the town centre remained largely intact until around 1950. Gescher’s appearance began to change partly due to the strong influx of German refugees from former East Germany who made Gescher their new home and also due to positive developments in the trade, service and industrial sectors.

The town centre and its immediate surroundings met with constant changes from the 1950s onwards. The network of roads had been rather limited until then and the changes and extensions now helped develop the town centre and the residential and commercial quarters surrounding it. Thus a modern urban development was initiated.

Further details on the local history can be seen on the adjacent board or at History Station F at Marien-Quartier.

1905 Huesker company constructs an imposing spinning mill. A second, similar building is added only four years later.

1906 Industrial peat extraction starts in the "Weiße Venn" area of Hochmoor

1907/08 Gescher railway station is built; the line is linked to the regional railway network

1909 First workers settlement in Hochmoor (14 houses on Klasmannstrasse)

1912 Primary school opens in Hochmoor in what is today’s village museum

1914-18 World War I. 392 men from Gescher do active service. Sadly, 175 of them are killed or reported missing. Dire shortages in the village and in agriculture and, from 1915, food rationing on a nation-wide basis.

1920s Private building activities increase

1931 Construction of a road connecting "Gabelpunkt" with the northern edge of Hochmoor

1933 Moorland cultivation in the "White Fens" area, assisted by Nazi labour service; foundation of a local Nazi party and Hitler Youth

1934 The company Eckrodt builds a spinning mill on Fabrikstrasse

1935 Opening of swimming pool in Berkelbogen near "Alfer’s Mill".

1936 Gescher receives official coat of arms (three ducks in the river). Anton Huesker is made honorary citizen of Gescher (the only person so far)

1938 Riots against Jewish fellow citizens and their institutions during November Pogrom

1940 Inauguration of new primary schools, today’s Von-Galen-Schule

1941 Deportation of all 20 Jews from Gescher to Riga, Latvia

1944/45 A military hospital opens. Isolated bombings occur near the railway station, at the dummy airport Hochmoor and the eastern town centre (Koenigstrasse), where six residents die on 22 March.       

                        Several aeroplanes crash in the outskirts of town, causing death, injury and considerable damage to property.             

1945 Invasion of allied troops on Good Friday, 30.03.1945

                        550 people from Gescher killed and many injured during the war.

1946 Up to 2,300 refugees from the East are accommodated in Gescher.

1947 Founding of local history society with its first chairman Dr. Hans Hüer

1949 Gescher has 10,000 inhabitants.