Alpen, Germany

Alpen
Town hall
Location of Alpen within Wesel district
Location of Alpen
Alpen
Alpen
Coordinates: 51°34′30″N 06°30′45″E / 51.57500°N 6.51250°E / 51.57500; 6.51250
CountryGermany
StateNorth Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. regionDüsseldorf
DistrictWesel
Subdivisions4
Government
 • Mayor (2025–30) Ludger Staymann[1] (CDU)
Area
 • Total
59.6 km2 (23.0 sq mi)
Elevation
25 m (82 ft)
Population
 (2024-12-31)[2]
 • Total
12,515
 • Density210/km2 (544/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes
46519
Dialling codes02802
Vehicle registrationWES
Websitewww.alpen.de

Alpen (German pronunciation: [ˈalpn̩] ) is a municipality in the district of Wesel, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Geography

Alpen is situated in the Lower Rhine region, located between the Ruhr area and the border with the Netherlands. Adjacent cities are Rheinberg, Xanten.

Division of the town

The municipality consists of 4 districts:

  • Alpen
  • Menzelen
  • Veen
  • Bönninghardt

History

Alpen was mentioned documentarily for the first time in 1074.

Politics

The current mayor is Ludger Staymann (CDU), who was elected with 61.9 % of the votes during the 2025 local elections.

City Council

The Alpen city council governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 14 September 2025, and the results were as follows:

Party Votes % +/- Seats +/-
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 3,612 48.5 2.5 17 ±0
Free Citizens Society Alpen (FBA) 1,070 14.4 New 5 New
Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) 916 12.3 7.3 4 2
Social Democratic Party (SPD) 838 11.3 4.3 4 1
Alternative for Germany (AfD) 500 6.7 New 2 New
The Left (Die Linke) 300 4.0 New 1 New
The PARTY (Die PARTEI) 207 2.8 2.0 1 ±0
Valid votes 7,443 98.8
Invalid votes 90 1.2
Total 7,533 100.0 34 2
Electorate/voter turnout 10,956 68.8
Source: Municipality of Alpen

Transport

Alpen is reachable by the Bundesautobahn 57 and the federal highways B57 and B58. There is also a train, the RB31 from Duisburg Hbf (direction Xanten) every hour which stops at Alpen. From there it is a 10-minute walk into the centre of Alpen.

Security

The municipality of Alpen maintains a Volunteer Fire Department consisting three firehouses with about 105 active firefighter and 14 vehicles. In addition to the area of Alpen, the Bundesautobahn 57 is also part of the area of operation. Crime protection is provided by the state Police of North Rhine-Westphalia with stations in Rheinberg, Xanten and Kamp-Lintfort.

References

  1. ^ "Wahlergebnispräsentation Gemeinde Alpen Bürgermeisterwahl" (in German). 2025-09-14. Retrieved 2026-02-21.
  2. ^ "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden Nordrhein-Westfalens am 31. Dezember 2024 – Fortschreibung des Bevölkerungsstandes auf Basis des Zensus 2022" (in German). Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW.