Every design for Iserlohn

Do you still know the way up to the Danzturm without thinking? For many people from Iserlohn, the tower on the hill above the old town is the first thing they look for when they come back. Iserlohn is the largest town in the Sauerland, at the northern edge of the hills where they meet the Ruhr, and it calls itself the Waldstadt, the forest town, with good reason: much of it is woodland, from the Stadtwald to the Seilerwald.

Growing up here means winter evenings at the rink cheering on the Iserlohn Roosters, school trips into the Dechenhöhle with its stalactites and stalagmites, and a local beer with the Danzturm on its logo. It means knowing the Altes Rathaus and the Stadtmuseum, and hearing how metalworking once made this the second-largest town in Westphalia. Granted municipal rights in 1237, Iserlohn later became known for its engraved snuff boxes, some bearing the image of Frederick the Great.

Wherever you have moved since, the forest town is still yours. Look at the map and you will see it: a band of streets between the woods to the south and the Ruhr to the north.