Around 1126 Netthe was first mentioned in documents. That’s the name of Nette a long time ago. Today Nette is a district in Dortmund. It is part of the Mengede borough. Nette has a long and fascinating history.
Originally Nette was just a few farms. It was divided into Niedernette Obernette and some farmhouses. Nette’s real growth began in the mid-19th century. The Westhausen colliery in Bodelschwingh and the Adolf von Hansemann colliery in Mengede were built. A miners’ settlement called the ‘Colonie’ was established. Nette started to grow to its current size.
By 1705 Nette had 19 taxpayers. They were farm owners paying taxes to the Castrop tax office. Hof Plaes and Galmergen were the largest taxpayers. In the 19th century Nette was a rural community. It was in the Dortmund district and the Castrop office. After 1889 Nette belonged to the Mengede office. By 1895 Nette covered 5.47 square kilometers. It had 56 buildings 112 households and 672 inhabitants.
On April 1st 1928 Nette became part of Dortmund. The name Nette comes from ‘Nyt’ or ‘Ned’. It means a damp lowland. Today Nette is mostly a residential area. It is surrounded by farmland. There’s a mix of housing. The BuRiAd settlement has high-rise buildings. The eastern part of Nette has mostly apartment buildings. The west has miners’ houses and smaller houses.
Nette has both a Catholic and a Protestant church. Nette is one of Dortmund’s 13 socially disadvantaged districts. The average income is 15% below Dortmund’s average. The population is young with 19.7% under 18. That is above Dortmund’s average of 16.2%. 21.8% of the population is 65 or older. That is slightly higher than Dortmund’s 20.2%. The proportion of foreigners is 26.3%. That is higher than Dortmund’s average of 21.8%. Unemployment is 15.7%. It is much higher than Dortmund’s average of 11%.
Nette has a school center. This includes the Albert-Schweitzer secondary school and the Heinrich-Heine grammar school. The grammar school opened in 1972. The secondary school is older. It’s been around since 1920. The school center also uses the former main school building. That building was formerly used by the Mengede main school. The main school moved to the Mengede town center.
Sport is also a part of Nette. The DJK Sportfreunde Nette 1920 football club is based there. They joined the district league in 2006. The club has youth teams senior teams and a veterans’ team. They also have women’s and under-17 girls’ teams. The sports complex has a large field and two smaller fields.
Transportation is easy too. Nette has a train station. This is the Dortmund-Nette/Oestrich station on the S 2 line. The line goes to Dortmund central station and Dortmund-Mengede. Obernette is served by the U 47 tram line. The Dortmund local transport museum is near the station. It is in the old Hansa coking plant building. The museum has historical trams. You can even take rides on them. Nette is rich in history and full of character. This makes it a unique place to discover.