Gladbeck
| Coat of Arms | Map |
|---|---|
| base data | |
| Federal state: | North Rhine-Westphalia |
| District: | Recklinghausen |
| Area: | 35.9 km² |
| Population: | 78,170 (31.12.2002) |
| Pop. density: | 2,177 inhabitants/km² |
The city of Gladbeck (since 1919) is a community within the district of Recklinghausen in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Gladbeck was originally a small village of 300 inhabitants, until the 1870s when coal was found. It rapidly grew by immigration from the sourrounding Prussian provinces Westphalia and Rhineland and from eastern provinces of Prussia including citizens with Polish as their native language. Gladbeck was heavily damaged in World War II.
In the 1950s Gladbeck started to have twin towns, with Enfield in Britain and Marc-en-Baroeuil in France.
In the 1960s the coal industry went into a substantial crisis, with joblessness as result.