Kaarst

Kaarst is a town in Germany. It lies in the district of Rhein-Kreis Neuss in North Rhine-Westphalia. It is 5 km west of Neuss and 12 km east of Mönchengladbach.Division of the townKaarst consists of 5 subdivisions Kaarst (23,495 inhabitants) Büttgen (6,415 inhabitants) Driesch (645 inhabitants) Holzbüttgen (5,967 inhabitants) Vorst (5,671 inhabitants)HistoryBefore 100 BC Celts lived in the area. Later the Franks came into this area as graves from the 7th century prove. The first written document is the Life of the first bishop of Münster. It describes how bishop Ludger walked from Budica, now Büttgen, through the forest of Hamrithi. The earliest known written mention of Kaarst refers to it as 'Karlesforst' and dates back to 1218. Karl was a very common name for frankish nobles including king Charlemagne ('Karl der Große'), but a link between Charlemagne and Kaarst has not been proven.Kaarst and Büttgen both have churches built in the 12th century. Both villages were destroyed by Charles the Bold duke of Burgundy (Karl der Kühne, 1474–1475), in the Cologne War (1585 to 1586) and in the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). Jan von Werth, a celebrated general during the Thirty Years' War, was born near Büttgen in 1591.