Schwerte
Town
Church of St. Victor
Coat of arms
Location of Schwerte within Unna district
Schwerte Show map of Germany Schwerte Show map of North Rhine-Westphalia
Coordinates: 51°26′45″N 7°33′55″E / 51.44583°N 7.56528°E / 51.44583; 7.56528
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Arnsberg
District	Unna
Government
• Mayor (2018–23)	Dimitrios Axourgos[1] (SPD)
Area
• Total	56.2 km2 (21.7 sq mi)
Elevation	120 m (390 ft)
Population  (2023-12-31)[2]
• Total	46,571
• Density	830/km2 (2,100/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	58239
Dialling codes	02304
Vehicle registration	UN
Website	www.schwerte.de

Schwerte (German pronunciation: [ʃveːɐ̯tə] ^ⓘ; Westphalian: Schweierte) is a town in the district of Unna, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Schwerte is situated in the Ruhr valley, at the south-east border of the Ruhr Area. South of Schwerte begins the mountainous Sauerland region.

After the local government reforms of 1975 Schwerte consists of the following districts:

Schwerte received civic rights in the 12th century.

The railway facility in the eastern district of Schwerte became a branch of the Buchenwald concentration camp in April 1944. The camp had 445 prisoners in August and 670 in November 1944. The number of escapees was comparatively high; in November 1944 48 prisoners escaped. The camp in Schwerte was disbanded in December 1944 and the remaining prisoners were brought back to Buchenwald.^[3]

• The Romanesque church of St. Victor has a carved altar of 1523, and stained glass of the 14th and 15th centuries.
• The Wuckenhof is a timber-framed house built in the 16th century.^[4]
• The Ruhrtalmuseum is situated in a former town hall, that was built in 1547.^[5]
• The Rohrmeisterei was built in 1889 by a water purification company. It was a pumping station until 1924. Today it is part of the German route of industrial heritage (Route der Industriekultur).^[6]

Today, there are some industries left, which are confined to the manufacture of iron and steel goods.

Schwerte is twinned with:^[7]

• Johannes Goddaeus (1555–1632), jurist
• Heinrich Rehkemper (1894–1949), baritone singer
• Erwin Rösener (1902–1946), SS-Obergruppenführer Nazi officer executed for war crimes
• Werner van der Zyl (1902–1984), rabbi
• Detlef Lewe (1939–2008), sprint canoer, lived in Schwerte
• Paul Kevenhörster (born 1941), political scientist
• Wolfgang Kleff (born 1946), footballer
• Rosemarie Trockel (born 1952), artist
• Carmen Rischer (born 1956), rhythmic gymnast
• Thomas Kroth (born 1959), footballer, lives in Schwerte
• Violetta Oblinger-Peters (born 1977), Austrian slalom canoeist
• Jens Ewald (born 1983), slalom canoeist
• Lasse Sobiech (born 1991), footballer

• Official website (in German)
• Heimatverein Ergste Internet site of the local history society of Ergste