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Potsdam

Potsdam is the capital and largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of Berlin, and lies embedded in a hilly morainic landscape dotted with many lakes, around 20 of which are located within Potsdam's city limits. It lies some 25 km southwest of Berlin's city centre. The name of the city and of many of its boroughs are of Slavic origin.

Potsdam was a residence of the Prussian kings and the German Emperor until 1918. Its planning embodied ideas of the Age of Enlightenment: through a careful balance of architecture and landscape, Potsdam was intended as "a picturesque, pastoral dream" which would remind its residents of their relationship with nature and reason.

The city, which is over 1,000 years old, is widely known for its palaces, its lakes, and its overall historical and cultural significance. Landmarks include the parks and palaces of Sanssouci, Germany's largest World Heritage Site, as well as other palaces such as the Orangery Palace, the New Palace, Cecilienhof Palace, and Charlottenhof Palace. Potsdam was also the location of the significant Potsdam Conference in 1945, the conference where the three heads of government of the USSR, the US, and the UK decided on the division of Germany following its surrender, a conference which defined Germany's history for the following 45 years.

Babelsberg, in the south-eastern part of Potsdam, was already by the 1930s the home of a major film production studio and it has enjoyed success as an important center of European film production since the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Filmstudio Babelsberg, founded in 1912, is the oldest large-scale film studio in the world.

Potsdam developed into a centre of science in Germany in the 19th century. Today, there are three public colleges, the University of Potsdam, and more than 30 research institutes in the city.

Geography
The area was formed from a series of large moraines left after the last glacial period. Today, only one quarter of the city is built up, the rest remaining as green space.

There are about 20 lakes and rivers in and around Potsdam, such as the Havel, the Griebnitzsee, Templiner See, Tiefer See, Jungfernsee, Teltowkanal, Heiliger See, and Sacrower See. The highest point is the 114 m high Kleiner Ravensberg.

Subdivisions
Potsdam is divided into seven historic city Stadtteile (quarters) and nine new Ortsteile (suburbs/wards, former separate villages), which joined the city in 2003. The appearance of the city boroughs is quite different. Those in the north and in the centre consist mainly of historical buildings, the south of the city is dominated by larger areas of newer buildings.

The city of Potsdam is divided into 32 Stadtteile (boroughs, both quarters and suburbs/wards together), which are divided further into 84 statistical Bezirke (districts).

Today, one distinguishes between the older parts of the city (areas of the historic city and places suburbanized at the latest in 1939) – these are the city center, the western and northern suburbs, Bornim, Bornstedt, Nedlitz, Potsdam South, Babelsberg, Drewitz, Stern and Kirchsteigfeld – and those communities incorporated after 1990 which have since 2003 become Ortsteile – these are Eiche, Fahrland, Golm, Groß Glienicke, Grube, Marquardt, Neu Fahrland, Satzkorn and Uetz-Paaren. The new Ortsteile are located mainly in the north of the city. For the history of all incorporations, see the relevant section on incorporation and spin-offs.

Structure with statistical numbering:

 * 1 Potsdam Nord
 * 11 Bornim
 * 12 Nedlitz
 * 13 Bornstedt
 * 14 Sacrow
 * 15 Eiche
 * 16 Grube
 * 17 Golm
 * 2 Nördliche Vorstädte
 * 21 Nauener Vorstadt
 * 22 Jägervorstadt
 * 23 Berliner Vorstadt
 * 3 Westliche Vorstädte
 * 31 Brandenburger Vorstadt
 * 32 Potsdam West
 * 4 Innenstadt
 * 41 Historische Innenstadt
 * 43 Zentrum Ost und Nuthepark
 * 44 Hauptbahnhof und Brauhausberg Nord
 * 5 Babelsberg
 * 51 Klein Glienicke
 * 52 Babelsberg Nord
 * 53 Babelsberg Süd
 * 6 Potsdam Süd
 * 61 Templiner Vorstadt
 * 62 Teltower Vorstadt
 * 63 Schlaatz
 * 64 Waldstadt I und Industriegelände
 * 65 Waldstadt II
 * 7 Potsdam Südost
 * 71 Stern
 * 72 Drewitz
 * 73 Kirchsteigfeld
 * 8 Nördliche Ortsteile
 * 81 Uetz-Paaren
 * 82 Marquardt
 * 83 Satzkorn
 * 84 Fahrland
 * 85 Neu Fahrland
 * 86 Groß Glienicke

At the end of 2019, a change was made to the administrative structure:
 * Borough 41 has been renamed: previously Nördliche Innenstadt, now Historische Innenstadt.
 * Borough 42 (Südliche Innenstadt) has been divided into two boroughs, 43 (Zentrum Ost und Nuthepark) and 44 (Hauptbahnhof und Brauhausberg Nord). The number 42 was thus repealed.
 * Some very sparsely populated urban boroughs have been disbanded:
 * Borough 33 (Wildpark) was incorporated into borough 32 (Potsdam-West).
 * Borough 66 (Industriegelände) was incorporated into borough 64 (formerly Waldstadt I). The borough was then renamed Waldstadt I und Industriegelände.
 * Borough 67 (Forst Potsdam Süd) was incorporated into borough 61 (Templiner Vorstadt).

Climate
Officially the climate is oceanic - more degraded by being far from the coast and to the east (Köppen: Cfb), but using the 1961–1990 normal and the 0 °C isotherm the city has a humid continental climate (Dfb), which also shows a slight influence of the continent different from the climates predominantly influenced by the Atlantic Ocean. Low averages below freezing for almost all winter causing snows that are frequent and winters are cold, but not as stringent as inland locations or with greater influence from the same. Summer is also relatively warm with temperatures between 23 and 24 °C, the heat waves being influenced by the UHI of Potsdam.

The average winter high temperature is 3.5 °C, with a low of -1.7 °C. Snow is common in the winter. Spring and autumn are short. Summers are mild, with a high of 23.6 °C and a low of 12.7 °C.

Etymology
The name "Potsdam" originally seems to have been Poztupimi. A common theory is that it derives from an old West Slavonic term meaning "beneath the oaks", i.e., the corrupted pod dubmi/dubimi (pod "beneath", dub "oak"). However, some question this explanation.

Pre- and early history

The area around Potsdam shows signs of occupancy since the Bronze Age and was part of Magna Germania as described by Tacitus. After the great migrations of the Germanic peoples, Slavs moved in and Potsdam was probably founded after the 7th century as a settlement of the Hevelli tribe centred on a castle. It was first mentioned in a document in 993 as Poztupimi, when Emperor Otto III gifted the territory to the Quedlinburg Abbey, then led by his aunt Matilda. By 1317, it was mentioned as a small town. It gained its town charter in 1345. In 1573, it was still a small market town of 2,000 inhabitants.

Early modern era
Potsdam lost nearly half of its population due to the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648).

A continuous Hohenzollern possession since 1415, Potsdam became prominent, when it was chosen in 1660 as the hunting residence of Frederick William I, Elector of Brandenburg, the core of the powerful state that later became the Kingdom of Prussia. It also housed Prussian barracks.

After the Edict of Potsdam in 1685, Potsdam became a centre of European immigration. Its religious freedom attracted people from France (Huguenots), Russia, the Netherlands and Bohemia. The edict accelerated population growth and economic recovery.

Later, the city became a full residence of the Prussian royal family. The buildings of the royal residences were built mainly during the reign of Frederick the Great. One of these is the Sanssouci Palace (French: "without cares" or "no concern", by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff, 1744), famed for its formal gardens and Rococo interiors. Other royal residences include the New Palace and the Orangery.

In 1815, at the formation of the Province of Brandenburg, Potsdam became the provincial capital until 1918, except for a period between 1827 and 1843 when Berlin was the provincial capital (as it became once again after 1918). The province comprised two governorates named after their capitals Potsdam and Frankfurt (Oder).

Governorate of Potsdam

Between 1815 and 1945, the city of Potsdam served as capital of the Regierungsbezirk of Potsdam (Regierungsbezirk Potsdam). The Regierungsbezirk encompassed the former districts of Uckermark, the Mark of Priegnitz, and the greater part of the Middle March. It was situated between Mecklenburg and the Province of Pomerania on the north, and the Province of Saxony on the south and west (Berlin, with a small surrounding district, was an urban governorate and enclave within the governorate of Potsdam between 1815 and 1822, then it merged as urban district into the governorate only to be disentangled again from Potsdam governorate in 1875, becoming a distinct province-like entity on 1 April 1881). Towards the north west the governorate was bounded by the rivers Elbe and the Havel, and on the north east by the Oder. The south eastern boundary was to the neighbouring governorate of Frankfurt (Oder). About 500,000 inhabitants lived in the Potsdam governorate, which covered an area of about 20700 km2, divided into thirteen rural districts, partially named after their capitals:

The traditional towns in the governorate were small, however, in the course of the industrial labour migration some reached the rank of urban districts. The principal towns were Brandenburg upon Havel, Köpenick, Potsdam, Prenzlau, Spandau and Ruppin. Until 1875 Berlin also was a town within the governorate. After its disentanglement a number of its suburbs outside Berlin's municipal borders grew to towns, many forming urban Bezirke within the governorate of Potsdam such as Charlottenburg, Lichtenberg, Rixdorf (after 1912 Neukölln), and Schöneberg (all of which, as well as Köpenick and Spandau, incorporated into Greater Berlin in 1920). The urban Bezirke were (years indicating the elevation to rank of urban Bezirkor affiliation with Potsdam governorate, respectively):

20th century
Berlin was the capital of Prussia and later of the German Empire, but the court remained in Potsdam, where many government officials settled. In 1914, Emperor Wilhelm II signed the Declaration of War in the Neues Palais (New Palace). The city lost its status as a "second capital" in 1918, when Wilhelm II abdicated and Germany became a Republic at the end of World War I.

After the Nazis seized power in 1933, there was a ceremonial handshake between President Paul von Hindenburg and the new Chancellor Adolf Hitler on 21 March 1933 in Potsdam's Garrison Church in what became known as the "Day of Potsdam". This symbolised a coalition of the military (Reichswehr) and Nazism. Potsdam was severely damaged by Allied bombing raids during World War II.

The Cecilienhof Palace was the scene of the Potsdam Conference from 17 July to 2 August 1945, at which the victorious Allied leaders Harry S. Truman, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin met to decide the future of Germany and postwar Europe in general. The conference ended with the Potsdam Agreement and the Potsdam Declaration.

The government of East Germany (formally known as the German Democratic Republic (German: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, DDR)) tried to remove symbols of "Prussian militarism". Many historic buildings, some of them badly damaged in the war, were demolished.

When in 1946 the remainder of the Province of Brandenburg west of the Oder-Neiße line was constituted as the state of Brandenburg, Potsdam became its capital. In 1952 the GDR disestablished its states and replaced them by smaller new East German administrative districts known as Bezirke. Potsdam became the capital of the new Bezirk Potsdam until 1990.

Potsdam, south-west of Berlin, lay just outside West Berlin after the construction of the Berlin Wall. The walling off of West Berlin not only isolated Potsdam from West Berlin, but also doubled commuting times to East Berlin. The Glienicke Bridge across the Havel connected the city to West Berlin and was the scene of some Cold War exchanges of spies.

After German reunification, Potsdam became the capital of the newly re-established state of Brandenburg. Since then there have been many ideas and efforts to reconstruct the original appearance of the city, including the Potsdam City Palace and the Garrison Church.

Demography
Since 2000 Potsdam has been one of the fastest-growing cities in Germany.

International residents

Largest groups of foreign residents:

City government
Potsdam has had a mayor (Bürgermeister) and city council since the 15th century. From 1809 the city council was elected, with a mayor (Oberbürgermeister) at its head. During Nazi Germany, the mayor was selected by the NSDAP and the city council was dissolved; it was reconstituted in token form after 1945, but free elections did not take place until after reunification.

Today, the city council is the city's central administrative authority. Local elections took place on 26 October 2003 and again in 2008. Between 1990 and 1999, the Chairman of the City Council was known as the "Town President" but today the post is the "Chairman of the City Council". The mayor is elected directly by the population.

The current mayor is Mike Schubert of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) since 2018. The most recent mayoral election was held on 23 September 2018, with a runoff held on 14 October, and the results were as follows:

! rowspan=2 colspan=2| Candidate ! rowspan=2| Party ! colspan=2| First round ! colspan=2| Second round ! Votes ! % ! Votes ! % ! colspan=3| Valid votes ! 74,175 ! 99.3 ! 52,086 ! 97.7 ! colspan=3| Invalid votes ! 549 ! 0.7 ! 1,251 ! 2.3 ! colspan=3| Total ! 74,724 ! 100.0 ! 53,337 ! 100.0 ! colspan=3| Electorate/voter turnout ! 140,963 ! 53.0 ! 141,109 ! 37.8
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Mike Schubert
 * align=left| Social Democratic Party
 * 23,872
 * 32.2
 * 28,803
 * 55.3
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Martina Trauth
 * align=left| The Left
 * 14,161
 * 19.1
 * 23,283
 * 44.7
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Götz Friederich
 * align=left| Christian Democratic Union
 * 12,892
 * 17.4
 * bgcolor=127070|
 * align=left| Lutz Boede
 * align=left| The Others
 * 8,449
 * 11.4
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Dennis Hohloch
 * align=left| Alternative for Germany
 * 8,215
 * 11.1
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Janny Armbruster
 * align=left| Alliance 90/The Greens
 * 6,586
 * 8.9
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Janny Armbruster
 * align=left| Alliance 90/The Greens
 * 6,586
 * 8.9
 * 8.9
 * colspan=7| Source: City of Potsdam (1st round, 2nd round )
 * }
 * }

The city council governs the city alongside the mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 26 May 2019, and the results were as follows:

! colspan=2| Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- ! colspan=2| Total ! 258,636 ! 100.0 ! ! ! ! colspan=2| Total votes ! 88,055 ! 100.0 ! ! 56 ! ±0 ! colspan=2| Electorate/voter turnout ! 141,443 ! 62.3 ! 13.5 ! !
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Social Democratic Party (SPD)
 * 49,898
 * 19.3
 * 4.0
 * 11
 * 2
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)
 * 48,739
 * 18.8
 * 6.9
 * 10
 * 3
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| The Left (Die Linke)
 * 46,761
 * 18.1
 * 7.2
 * 10
 * 4
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
 * 32,078
 * 12.4
 * 3.1
 * 7
 * 2
 * bgcolor=127070|
 * align=left| The Others (aNDERE)
 * 26,754
 * 10.3
 * 2.6
 * 6
 * 2
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Alternative for Germany (AfD)
 * 24,508
 * 9.5
 * 5.0
 * 5
 * 2
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Free Democratic Party (FDP)
 * 12,620
 * 4.9
 * 2.4
 * 3
 * 2
 * align=left| CitizensAlliance (BB)
 * 10,124
 * 3.9
 * 2.2
 * 2
 * 1
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Die PARTEI
 * 3,955
 * 1.5
 * New
 * 0
 * New
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Brandenburg United Civic Movements/Free Voters (BVB/FW)
 * 2,985
 * 1.2
 * 0.3
 * 1
 * ±0
 * colspan=7 bgcolor=lightgrey|
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Independent Charnow
 * 214
 * 0.1
 * New
 * 0
 * New
 * 0.3
 * 1
 * ±0
 * colspan=7 bgcolor=lightgrey|
 * bgcolor=|
 * align=left| Independent Charnow
 * 214
 * 0.1
 * New
 * 0
 * New
 * 0
 * New
 * colspan=7| Source: City of Potsdam
 * }
 * }

Brandenburg state government
The Landtag Brandenburg, the parliament of the state of Brandenburg is in Potsdam. It has been housed in the Potsdam City Palace since 2014.

Twin towns – sister cities
Potsdam is twinned with:

 * Opole, Poland (1973)
 * Bobigny, France (1974)
 * Jyväskylä, Finland (1985)
 * Bonn, Germany (1988)
 * Perugia, Italy (1990)
 * Sioux Falls, United States (1990)
 * Lucerne, Switzerland (2002)
 * Versailles, France (2016)
 * Zanzibar City, Tanzania (2017)
 * Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine (2023)

Rail transport
Potsdam, included in the fare zone "C" (Tarifbereich C) of Berlin's public transport area and fare zones A and B of its own public transport area, is served by the S7 S-Bahn line. The stations served are Griebnitzsee, Babelsberg and the Central Station (Hauptbahnhof), the main and long-distance station of the city. Other DB stations in Potsdam are Charlottenhof, Park Sanssouci (including the monumental Kaiserbahnhof), Medienstadt Babelsberg, Rehbrücke, Pirschheide and Marquardt. The city also possesses a 27 km-long tramway network.

Road transport
Potsdam is served by several motorways: the A 10, a beltway better known as Berliner Ring, the A 115 (using part of the AVUS) and is closely linked to the A 2 and A 9. The B 1 and B 2 federal roads cross the city. Potsdam features a network of urban and suburban buses.

Education and research

Potsdam is a university town. The University of Potsdam was founded in 1991 as a university of the State of Brandenburg. Its predecessor was the Akademie für Staats- und Rechtswissenschaften der DDR "Walter Ulbricht", a college of education founded in 1948 which was one of the GDR's most important colleges. There are about 20,000 students enrolled at the university.

In 1991 the Fachhochschule Potsdam was founded as the second college. It had 3,518 students as of 2017.

Konrad Wolf Film University of Babelsberg (HFF), founded in 1954 in Babelsberg, is the foremost centre of the German film industry since its birth, with over 600 students.

There are also several research foundations, including Fraunhofer Institutes for Applied Polymer Research and Biomedical Engineering, Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute), Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, and Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology, the GFZ – German Research Centre for Geosciences, the Potsdam Astrophysical Institute, the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, The Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, which employs 340 people in researching climate change.

As well as universities, Potsdam is home to reputable secondary schools. Montessori Gesamtschule Potsdam, in western Potsdam, attracts 400 students from the Brandenburg and Berlin region.

Culture

Potsdam was historically a centre of European immigration. Its religious tolerance attracted people from France, Russia, the Netherlands and Bohemia. This is still visible in the culture and architecture of the city.

The most popular attraction in Potsdam is Sanssouci Park, 2 km west of the city centre. In 1744 King Frederick the Great ordered the construction of a residence here, where he could live sans souci ("without worries", in the French spoken at the court). The park hosts a botanical garden (Botanical Garden, Potsdam) and many buildings:

 * The Sanssouci Palace (Schloss Sanssouci), a relatively modest palace of the Prussian royal (and later German imperial) family
 * The Orangery Palace (Orangerieschloss), former palace for foreign royal guests
 * The New Palace (Neues Palais), built between 1763 and 1769 to celebrate the end of the Seven Years' War, in which Prussia held off the combined attacks of Austria and Russia. It is a much larger and grander palace than Sanssouci, having over 200 rooms and 400 statues as decoration. It served as a guest house for numerous royal visitors. Today, it houses parts of University of Potsdam.
 * The Charlottenhof Palace (Schloss Charlottenhof), a Neoclassical palace by Karl Friedrich Schinkel built in 1826
 * The Roman Baths (Römische Bäder), built by Karl Friedrich Schinkel and Friedrich Ludwig Persius in 1829–1840. It is a complex of buildings including a tea pavilion, a Renaissance-style villa, and a Roman bathhouse (from which the whole complex takes its name).
 * The Chinese Tea House (Chinesisches Teehaus), an 18th-century pavilion built in a Chinese style, the fashion of the time.

Three gates from the original city wall remain today. The oldest is the Hunters' Gate (Jägertor), built in 1733. The Nauener Tor was built in 1755 and close to the historic Dutch Quarter. The ornate Brandenburg Gate (built in 1770, not to be confused with the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin) is situated on the Luisenplatz at the western entrance to the old town.

The Old Market Square (Alter Markt) is Potsdam's historical city centre. For three centuries this was the site of the City Palace (Stadtschloß), a royal palace built in 1662. Under Frederick the Great, the palace became the winter residence of the Prussian kings. The palace was severely damaged by Allied bombing in 1945 and demolished in 1961 by the Communist authorities. In 2002 the Fortuna Gate (Fortunaportal) was rebuilt in its original historic position which was followed by a complete reconstruction of the palace as the Brandenburg Landtag building inaugurated in 2014. Nearby the square in the Humboldtstraße block, which also was demolished after getting damaged in 1945, reconstructions of several representative residential palaces including Palazzo Pompei and Palazzo Barberini housing an arts museum were completed in 2016–2017 alongside buildings with modernized facades to restore the historical proportions of the block.

The Old Market Square is dominated today by the dome of St. Nicholas' Church, built in 1837 in the Neoclassical style. It was the last work of Karl Friedrich Schinkel, who designed the building but did not live to see its completion. It was finished by his disciples Friedrich August Stüler and Ludwig Persius. The eastern side of the Market Square is dominated by the Old City Hall, built in 1755 by the Dutch architect Jan Bouman (1706–1776). It has a characteristic circular tower, crowned with a gilded Atlas bearing the world on his shoulders.

North of the Old Market Square is the oval French Church (Französische Kirche), erected in the 1750s by Boumann for the Huguenot community. To the south lies the Museum Barberini, a copy of the previous building, the Barberini Palace. The museum was funded by the German billionaire Hasso Plattner. The former Baroque building was built by Carl von Gontard in 1771–1772, inspired by the Renaissance palace Palazzo Barberini in Rome. The newly built museum was scheduled to open in spring 2017.

Another landmark of Potsdam is the two-street Dutch Quarter (Holländisches Viertel), an ensemble of buildings that is unique in Europe, with about 150 houses built of red bricks in the Dutch style. It was built between 1734 and 1742 under the direction of Jan Bouman to be used by Dutch artisans and craftsmen who had been invited to settle here by King Frederick Wilhelm I. Today, this area is one of Potsdam's most visited quarters.

North of the city centre is the Russian colony of Alexandrowka, a small enclave of Russian architecture (including an Orthodox chapel) built in 1825 for a group of Russian immigrants. Since 1999, the colony has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin.

East of the Alexandrowka colony is a large park, the New Garden (Neuer Garten), which was laid out from 1786 in the English style. The site contains two palaces; one of them, the Cecilienhof, was where the Potsdam Conference was held in July and August 1945. The Marmorpalais (Marble Palace) was built in 1789 in Neoclassical style. Nearby is the Biosphäre Potsdam, a tropical botanical garden.

Babelsberg, a quarter south-east of the centre, houses the UFA film studios (Babelsberg Studios), and an extensive park with some historical buildings, including the Babelsberg Palace (Schloß Babelsberg, a Gothic revival palace designed by Schinkel).

The Einstein Tower is located within the Albert Einstein Science Park, which is on the top of the Telegraphenberg within an astronomy compound.

Potsdam also features a memorial centre in the former KGB prison in Leistikowstraße. In the Volkspark to the north, there is one of the last monuments dedicated to Lenin in Germany.

Potsdam joined UNESCO's Network of Creative Cities as a Design City on October 31, 2019 on the occasion of World Cities' Day.

Parks
There are many parks in Potsdam, most of them UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Among their attractions are:

Sports

 * 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam, one of the most successful German female football clubs (Bundesliga (women))
 * Potsdam Royals, American football team competing in the German Football League.
 * SV Babelsberg 03, football club Regionalliga Nordost
 * Olympic Training Centre Potsdam
 * USV Potsdam, rugby union (2nd Rugby-Bundesliga) and football (Kreisklasse)
 * List of football clubs in Potsdam
 * The Potsdamer Schlössermarathon (Potsdam Palace Marathon) is a marathon in that is held annually in June. Thousands of runners run the course past the palaces for the half marathon and several hundred repeat the course to complete the full marathon.

Notable people

 * 18th century
 * Abraham Abramson (1754–1811), medalist
 * Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg (1759–1830), Prussian field marshal
 * Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835), scholar and statesman, founder of the Berlin Humboldt University
 * Frederick William III of Prussia (1770–1840), King of Prussia 1797–1840
 * Wilhelm Ludwig Viktor Henckel von Donnersmarck (1775–1849), Prussian general lieutenant
 * Eleonore Prochaska (1785–1813), woman soldier during the liberation war, unrecognized as a man disguised as a drummer, later as an infantryman in the Prussian army against Napoleon
 * Friedrich Wilhelm von Rauch (1790–1850), lieutenant general in the Prussian Army
 * Heinrich Wilhelm Krausnick (1797–1882), lawyer and Lord Mayor of Berlin

 * 19th century
 * Moritz Hermann von Jacobi (1801–1874), physicist and engineer
 * Ludwig Persius (1803–1845), architect
 * Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi (1804–1851), mathematician
 * Adolf von Rauch (1805–1877), Prussian cavalry officer
 * Philipp Galen (1813–1899), writer and physician
 * Julius Lange (1815–1905), numismatist
 * Hermann von Helmholtz (1821–1894), physiologist and physicist, one of the most important natural scientists of his time
 * Alfred Bonaventura von Rauch (1824–1900), Prussian general
 * Friedrich Wilhelm von Rauch (1827–1907), Prussian general leutnant
 * Egmont von Rauch (1829–1875), Prussian cavalry officer and later colonel in the Prussian Army
 * Frederick III, German Emperor (1831–1888), Emperor of the German Empire and King of Prussia 1888
 * Alfred von Waldersee (1832–1904), field marshal
 * Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919), zoologist, philosopher
 * Gottlieb Graf von Haeseler (1836–1919), Prussian field marshal
 * Hermann Schubert (1848–1911), mathematician
 * Wilhelm II, German Emperor (1859–1941), Emperor of the German Empire and King of Prussia 1888–1918
 * Friedrich Adolf Steinhausen (1859−1910), doctor and physiologist
 * Friedrich Wilhelm von Rauch (1868–1899), Prussian officer
 * Friedrich Ludwig (1872–1930), music historian and rector of the University of Göttingen
 * Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1976-143-21, Hasso von Manteuffel.jpgrich Wilhelm von Bissing (1873–1956), egyptologist
 * Elisabeth von Knobelsdorff (1877–1959), engineer and architect
 * Prince Eitel Friedrich of Prussia (1883–1942), second son of King William II of Prussia
 * Ludowika Jakobsson (1884–1968), German-Finnish figure skater
 * Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg (1886–1974), general of tank troops and military attachée
 * Luise Schulze-Berghof (1889-1970), German composer and pianist
 * Hans-Karl Freiherr von Esebeck (1892-1955), general
 * Paul Blobel (1894–1951), Nazi war criminal, hanged for war crimes
 * Hasso von Manteuffel (1897-1978) General in the Wehrmacht, and later spokesman for defense of the Free Democratic Party in the Bundestag

 * 20th century

 * Margarete Buber-Neumann (1901–1989), writer
 * Egon Eiermann (1904–1970), architect
 * Louis Ferdinand of Prussia (1907–1994), German and Prussian heir to the throne and head of the House of Hohenzollern
 * Marie Eleonore of Albania (1909–1957), princess
 * Adam von Trott zu Solz (1909–1944), lawyer, diplomat and resistance fighter
 * Carol Victor (1913–1973), Hereditary Prince of Albania
 * Peter Weiss (1916–1982), writer, graphic artist and painter
 * Hans Richter (1919–2008), actor
 * Bernhard Hassenstein (1922–2016), biologist and behaviorist
 * Burkhard Heim (1925–2001), theoretical physicist
 * Günther Schramm (born 1929), actor
 * Hilla Becher (1934–2015), photographer
 * Nicole Heesters (born 1937), actress
 * Manfred Wolke (born 1943), boxer and boxing coach
 * Klaus Katzur (1943–2016), swimmer and Olympic medalist
 * Wolfgang Joop (born 1944), fashion designer
 * Oliver Bendt (born 1946), actor, gymnast, singer
 * Christiane Lanzke (born 1947), diver and actress
 * Lothar Doering (born 1950), handball player and coach
 * Brigitte Ahrenholz (born 1952), rower
 * Matthias Platzeck (born 1953), politician, Minister President of Brandenburg
 * Klaus Thiele (born 1958), athlete
 * Gabriele Berg (born 1963), biologist and biotechnologist
 * Ralf Brudel (born 1963), rower
 * Jens-Peter Berndt (born 1963), swimmer
 * Birgit Peter (born 1964), rower
 * Carsten Wolf (born 1964), cyclist, world champion
 * Daniela Neunast (born 1966), steward in rowing
 * René Monse (born 1968), heavyweight boxer
 * Klara Geywitz (born 1976), politician
 * Aleksandr Sayenko (born 1978), footballer
 * Sabine Uecker (born 1943), politician

 * 21st century

 * Melissa Kössler (born 2000), footballer for the Germany national team
 * Ermyas Mulugeta, assaulted in a nationally significant case

Honorary citizens

 * 1845: Wilhelm Ludwig Viktor Henckel von Donnersmarck, Lieutenant General
 * 1856: Friedrich von Wrangel, Field Marshal
 * 1863: Peter Joseph Lenné, gardener and landscape architect
 * 1891: Hermann von Helmholtz, naturalist
 * 1905: Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg, president of the province of Brandenburg
 * 1933: Paul von Hindenburg, Fieldmarshal and Reichspräsident (withdrawn 12 December 2021 by decision of the Potsdam City Council)
 * 1933: Adolf Hitler, chancellor (withdrawn 15 August 1990 by decision of the Potsdam City Council)
 * 1938: Josef Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda (withdrawn 3 November 2021 by decision of the Potsdam City Council)
 * 1955: Max Volmer, physical chemist
 * 1960: Hans Marchwitza, writer and proletarian poet
 * 1965: Otto Nagel, painter

title: Potsdam


text:
Rouen

Rouen (, ;  or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the region of Normandy and the department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, the population of the metropolitan area (aire d'attraction) is 702,945 (2018). People from Rouen are known as Rouennais.

Rouen was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy during the Middle Ages. It was one of the capitals of the Anglo-Norman and Angevin dynasties, which ruled both England and large parts of modern France from the 11th to the 15th centuries. From the 13th century onwards, the city experienced a remarkable economic boom, thanks in particular to the development of textile factories and river trade. Claimed by both the French and the English during the Hundred Years' War, it was on its soil that Joan of Arc was tried and burned alive on 30 May 1431. Severely damaged by the wave of bombing in 1944, it nevertheless regained its economic dynamism in the post-war period thanks to its industrial sites and its large seaport, which merged with the ports of Le Havre and Paris in 2021 to form the HAROPA Port.

Endowed with a prestige established during the medieval era, and with a long architectural heritage in its historical monuments, Rouen is an important cultural capital. Several renowned establishments are located here, such as the Museum of Fine Arts, the Secq des Tournelles museum, and Rouen Cathedral.

Seat of an archdiocese, it also hosts a court of appeal and a university. Every four to six years, Rouen becomes the showcase for a large gathering of sailing ships called "L'Armada"; this event makes the city an occasional capital of the maritime world.

History
Rouen was founded by the Gaulish tribe of the Veliocasses, who controlled a large area in the lower Seine valley. They called it Ratumacos; the Romans called it Rotomagus. It was considered the second city of Gallia Lugdunensis after Lugdunum (Lyon) itself. Under the reorganization of Diocletian, Rouen was the chief city of the divided province Gallia Lugdunensis II and reached the apogee of its Roman development, with an amphitheatre and thermae of which foundations remain. In the 5th century, it became the seat of a bishopric and later a capital of Merovingian Neustria.

From their first incursion into the lower valley of the Seine in 841, the Normans overran Rouen. From 912, Rouen was the capital of the Duchy of Normandy and residence of the local dukes, until William the Conqueror moved his residence to Caen. In 1150, Rouen received its founding charter which permitted self-government.

During the 12th century, Rouen was the site of a yeshiva known as La Maison Sublime. Discovered in 1976, it is now a museum. At that time, about 6,000 Jews lived in the town, comprising about 20% of the population.

On 24 June 1204, King Philip II Augustus of France entered Rouen and definitively annexed Normandy to the French Kingdom. He demolished the Norman castle and replaced it with his own, the Château Bouvreuil, built on the site of the Gallo-Roman amphitheatre. A textile industry developed based on wool imported from England, for which the cities of Flanders and Brabant were constantly competitors, and finding its market in the Champagne fairs. Rouen also depended for its prosperity on the river traffic of the Seine, on which it enjoyed a monopoly that reached as far upstream as Paris.

In the 13th and 14th centuries urban strife threatened the city: in 1291, the mayor was assassinated and noble residences in the city were pillaged. Philip IV reimposed order and suppressed the city's charter and the lucrative monopoly on river traffic, but he was quite willing to allow the Rouennais to repurchase their old liberties in 1294. In 1306, he decided to expel the Jewish community of Rouen, then numbering some five or six thousand. In 1389, another urban revolt of the underclass occurred, the Harelle. It was suppressed with the withdrawal of Rouen's charter and river-traffic privileges once more.

During the Hundred Years' War, on 19 January 1419, Rouen surrendered after a long siege to Henry V of England, who annexed Normandy once again to the Plantagenet domains. Rouen did not go quietly: Alain Blanchard hanged English prisoners from the walls, for which he was summarily executed after the city surrendered, while Canon and Vicar General of Rouen Robert de Livet became a hero for excommunicating the English king, resulting in de Livet's imprisonment for five years in England. Joan of Arc, who supported a return to French rule, was burned at the stake on 30 May 1431 in this city, where most inhabitants supported the duke of Burgundy, the French king's enemy. The king of France, Charles VII, recaptured the town in 1449.

Rouen was staunchly Catholic during the French Wars of Religion, and underwent an unsuccessful five-month siege in 1591/2 by the Protestant King Henry IV of France and an English force commanded by the Earl of Essex. A brief account by an English participant has survived. See 'Memoirs of Robert Carey', (F.H.Mares (ed.), Oxford, 1972), pp. 18–21.

The first competitive motor race ran from Paris to Rouen in 1894.

During the German occupation in World War II, the Kriegsmarine had its headquarters located in a chateau on what is now the Rouen Business School. The city was heavily damaged during the same war on D-day, and its famed cathedral was almost destroyed by Allied bombs.

Main sights
Rouen is known for Rouen Cathedral, with its Tour de Beurre (butter tower) financed by the sale of indulgences for the consumption of butter during Lent. The cathedral's gothic façade (completed in the 16th century) was the subject of a series of paintings by Claude Monet, some of which are exhibited in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

The Gros Horloge is an astronomical clock dating back to the 14th century. It is located in the Gros Horloge street.

Other famous structures include Rouen Castle, whose keep is known as the tour Jeanne d'Arc, where Joan of Arc was brought in 1431 to be threatened with torture (contrary to popular belief, she was not imprisoned there but in the tour de lady Pucelle(since destroyed); the Church of Saint Ouen (12th–15th century); the Palais de Justice, which was once the seat of the Parlement (French court of law) of Normandy; the Gothic Church of St Maclou (15th century); and the Museum of Fine Arts and Ceramics which contains a splendid collection of faïence and porcelain for which Rouen was renowned during the 16th to 18th centuries. Rouen is also noted for its surviving half-timbered buildings.

There are many museums in Rouen: the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen, an art museum with pictures of well-known painters such as Claude Monet and Géricault; the Musée maritime fluvial et portuaire, a museum on the history of the port of Rouen and navigation; Musée des antiquités, an art and history museum with local works from the Bronze Age through the Renaissance, the Musée de la céramique, the Museum of Natural History, founded in 1834 and re-opened in 2007, and the Musée Le Secq des Tournelles, which houses various collections of objects.

The Jardin des Plantes de Rouen is a notable botanical garden once owned by Scottish banker John Law, dating from 1840 in its present form. It was the site of Élisa Garnerin's parachute jump from a balloon in 1817. There is also a park and garden at the Champs de Mars, to the east of the city centre. The Paris–Rouen motor race of 1894, Le Petit Journal Horseless Carriages Contest, ended at the Champs de Mars.

In the centre of the Place du Vieux Marché (the site of Joan of Arc's pyre) is the modern church of St Joan of Arc. This is a large, modern structure which dominates the square. The form of the building represents an upturned Viking boat and a fish shape.

Rouen was also home to the French Grand Prix, hosting the race at the nearby Rouen-Les-Essarts track sporadically between 1952 and 1968. In 1999 Rouen authorities demolished the grandstands and other remnants of Rouen's racing past. Today, little remains beyond the public roads that formed the circuit.

Rouen has an opera house, whose formal name is "Rouen Normandy Opera House – Theatre of Arts" (in French: Opéra de Rouen Normandie – Théâtre des arts).

Climate
Rouen has an oceanic climate (Cfb in the Köppen climate classification).

Transport
Mainline trains operate from Gare de Rouen-Rive-Droite to Le Havre and Paris, and regional trains to Caen, Dieppe and other local destinations in Normandy. Daily direct trains operate to Amiens and Lille, and direct TGVs (high-speed trains) connect daily with Lyon and Marseille.

City transportation in Rouen consists of a tram and a bus system. The tramway branches into two lines out of a tunnel under the city centre. Rouen is also served by TEOR (Transport Est-Ouest Rouennais) and by buses run in conjunction with the tramway by TCAR (Transports en commun de l'agglomération rouennaise), a subsidiary of Transdev.

Rouen has its own airport.

The Seine is a major axis for maritime cargo links in the Port of Rouen. The Cross-Channel ferry ports of Caen, Le Havre, Dieppe (50 minutes) and Calais, and the Channel Tunnel are within easy driving distance (two and a half hours or less).

Administration
Rouen and its metropolitan area of 70 suburban communes form the Métropole Rouen Normandie, with 494,382 inhabitants at the 2010 census. In descending order of population, the largest of these suburbs are Sotteville-lès-Rouen, Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, Le Grand-Quevilly, Le Petit-Quevilly, and Mont-Saint-Aignan, each with a population exceeding 20,000.

Education
The main schools of higher education are the University of Rouen and NEOMA Business School (former École Supérieure de Commerce de Rouen), Unilasalle (agronomy and agriculture), both located at nearby Mont-Saint-Aignan, and the INSA Rouen, ESIGELEC, ESITech and the CESI, the three at nearby Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray.

Culture
The main opera company in Rouen is the Opéra de Rouen – Normandie. The company performs in the Théâtre des Arts, 7 rue du Docteur Rambert. The company presents opera, classical and other types of music, both vocal and instrumental, as well as dance performances. Every five years, the city hosts the large maritime exposition, L'Armada.

The city is represented by Quevilly-Rouen football club, currently in Ligue 2. Officially called Union Sportive Quevillaise-Rouen Métropole, the club play at the 12.018 capacity Stade Robert Diochon in nearby Le Petit-Quevilly. Rouen Normandie Rugby represent the city in Rugby Union. One of few professional rugby teams from northern France, Rouen Normandie Rugby, currently play in the second-tier Pro D2. Dragons de Rouen, an ice hockey club, play in the top-tier Ligue Magnus at the Île Lacroix arena. Baseball is also played in the city at Stade Saint Exupéry. The local team, Huskies de Rouen play in the top French tier, they also play some games in European competition.

Notable residents
Rouen was the birthplace of:
 * Edward IV (1442–1483), King of England.
 * Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk (1444-c1503), sister of Edward IV, married John de la Pole, Plantagenet.
 * Thomas Aubert (b. 1500s), explorer
 * Guillaume Guéroult (1507–1569), poet
 * François de Civille (1537–1610), military commander
 * Isaac Oliver (1556–1617), French-born English painter.
 * Guy de la Brosse (1586–1641), botanist and pharmacist
 * Antoine Girard de Saint-Amant (1594–1661), poet.
 * Samuel Bochart (1599–1667), Protestant theologian.
 * Pierre Corneille (1606–1684), tragedian.
 * Guillaume Couture (1617–1701), lay missionary and diplomat
 * Adrien Auzout (1622–1691), astronomer
 * Thomas Corneille (1625–1709), dramatist, brother of Pierre Corneille.
 * Noel Alexandre (1639–1724), theologian and ecclesiastical historian.
 * Robert Hubert (c. 1640-1666), executed in England for falsely confessing to starting the Great Fire of London
 * Marie Champmeslé (1642–1698), actress.
 * René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle (1643–1687), explorer.
 * Jean Jouvenet (c. 1644–1717), painter of religious subjects.
 * Nicolas Lemery (1645–1715), chemist.
 * Pierre Le Pesant, sieur de Boisguilbert (1646–1714) economist and lawmaker.
 * Gabriel Daniel (1649–1728), Jesuit historian.
 * Anne Mauduit de Fatouville (mid 17th C – 1715), playwright
 * Jean Jouvenet (1647–1717), painter.
 * Nicolas Gueudeville (1652–1721), Catholic writer
 * Jacques Basnages (1653–1723), Protestant theologian.
 * Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle (1657–1757), author, nephew of Pierre Corneille.
 * François Raguenet (1660–1722), historian, biographer and musicologist
 * Pierre Antoine Motteux (1663–1718), French-born English dramatist.
 * Pierre Dangicourt (1664–1727), mathematician
 * François Blouet de Camilly (1664–1723), Catholic Archbishop
 * Jean-Laurent Le Cerf de La Viéville (1674–1707), musicographer
 * Pierre François le Courayer (1681–1776), theologian.
 * François d'Agincourt (1684–1758), composer
 * Jean II Restout (1692–1768), painter.
 * Louise Levesque (1703–1745), playwright, poet
 * Jacques-François Blondel (1705–1774), architect.
 * Marie-Madeleine Hachard (1708–1760), nun and abbess
 * Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont (1711–1780), novelist
 * Jacques Duphly (1715–1789), composer
 * Pierre-Antoine Guéroult (1749–1816), scholar
 * Charles Boulanger de Boisfremont (1773-1838), painter
 * François-Adrien Boïeldieu (1775–1834), composer.
 * Pierre Louis Dulong (1785–1838), physicist and chemist.
 * Théodore Géricault (1791–1824), painter.
 * Armand Havet (1795–1820), botanist
 * Armand Carrel (1800–1836), writer.
 * Jean-Amédée Méreaux (1802–1874), musicologist, pianist and composer
 * Pierre Adolphe Chéruel (1809–1891), historian.
 * Alphonse Maille (1813–1865) botanist
 * Gustave Flaubert (1821–1880), novelist.
 * Joseph-Henri Altès (1826–1895), flautist and pedagog
 * Eugène Ketterer (1831–1870), composer
 * Eugène Caron (1834–1903), opera singer
 * Maurice Leblanc (1864–1941), novelist
 * Charles Nicolle (1866–1936), bacteriologist
 * Léon de Saint-Réquier (1872–1964), organist and composer
 * Georges Guillain (1876–1961), neurologist
 * Robert Antoine Pinchon (1886–1943), painter
 * Marcel Dupré (1886–1971), composer
 * Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968), artist
 * Juliette Billard, (1889–1975), architect, watercolorist, designer
 * Philippe Étancelin (1896–1981), race car driver
 * Armand Salacrou (1899–1989), dramatist
 * Roger Apéry (1916–1994), mathematician
 * Jean Lecanuet (1920–1993), politician
 * Jacques Rivette (1928–2016), film director
 * Jean-Yves Lechevallier (b. 1946), sculptor
 * Anny Duperey (b. 1947), actress and novelist
 * Dominique Lokoli (b. 1952), footballer
 * François Hollande (b. 1954), 24th President of the French Republic
 * Hubert Wulfranc (b. 1956), Member of Parliament
 * Élise Lucet (b. 1963), journalist
 * Stéphan Caron (b. 1966), swimmer
 * Karin Viard (b. 1966), actress
 * Céline Minard (b. 1969), writer
 * Christophe Mendy (b. 1971), boxer
 * David Trezeguet (b. 1977), footballer
 * Thomas Pesquet (b. 1978), astronaut
 * Nathalie Péchalat (b. 1983), ice dancer
 * Ian Mahinmi (b. 1986), basketball player
 * Fayçal Fajr (b. 1988), footballer
 * Amaury Vassili (b. 1989), singer
 * Alexis Gougeard (b. 1993), cyclist
 * Pierre Gasly (b. 1996), Formula One driver
 * Petit Biscuit (b. 1999), music producer
 * Iliman Ndiaye (b. 2000), footballer
 * Aurélien Tchouaméni (b. 2000), footballer
 * Théo Maledon (b. 2001), basketball player
 * Lola Lovinfosse (b. 2005), racing driver

International relations
Rouen is twinned with:
 * 🇺🇸 Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States, since 1963
 * 🇩🇪 Hannover, Germany, since 1966
 * 🇬🇧 Norwich, Norfolk, England, United Kingdom, since 1959
 * 🇺🇸 Cleveland, Ohio, United States, since 2008
 * 🇵🇱 Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland, since 1992
 * 🇮🇹 Salerno, Campania, Italy, since 2002
 * Zhejiang, China, since 1990

Sculpture
During the second half of the 20th century, several sculptures by Jean-Yves Lechevallier were erected in the city. Inaugurated in 2010, the Rouen Impressionnée hosted the contemporary urban (re)development installation sculpture 'Camille' by Belgian artist Arne Quinze. Quinze's use of interlocking systems in sculpture employ wood, concrete, paint and metal. The Quasi-Quinze method of sculpture utilizes structural integrity and randomness as key elements for 'Camille'. Located on the Boieldieu Bridge in the center of Rouen, this intentional location was chosen by the artist to magnify the historical separation of its city's citizens.

Representations in art
Rouen Cathedral is the subject of a series of paintings by the Impressionist painter Claude Monet, who painted the same scene at different times of the day. Two paintings are in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; two are in the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow; one is in the National Museum of Serbia in Belgrade. The estimated value of one painting is over $40 million.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Rouen


text:
Solothurn

Solothurn (, ; Soleure ; Soletta ; ) is a town, a municipality, and the capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the north-west of Switzerland on the banks of the Aare and on the foot of the Weissenstein Jura mountains.

The town is the only municipality of the district of the same name.

The town got its name from Salodurum, a Roman-era settlement. From 1530 to 1792 it was the seat of the French ambassador to Switzerland. The pedestrian-only old town was built between 1530 and 1792 and shows an impressive array of Baroque architecture, combining Italian Grandezza, French style, and Swiss ideas. The town has eighteen structures listed as heritage sites.

The official language of Solothurn is (the Swiss variety of Standard) German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect.

Pre-Roman settlement
The oldest finds from Solothurn probably date from the Paleolithic era. The remains of a Mesolithic camp were discovered in 1986 during renovations of the former Kino Elite building. From the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Age, only a few scattered items have been discovered.

Roman settlement

The Roman settlement at Solothurn was probably built around AD 15–25 as a road station and bridge head on the road from Aventicum to Augusta Raurica or Vindonissa. A small vicus or settlement quickly developed around the castrum. Solothurn is first mentioned in 219 as vico salod[uro] on the so-called Eponastein. The name may indicate either that a Celtic settlement existed on the site before or just be a testimony to the mixed Gallo-Roman culture in the north-west provinces of the Roman Empire. It came to be known as Salodurum, this name believed to derive from a Celtic language, possibly meaning "Salo's fort," from the personal name Salo + Proto-Celtic *dūnom, meaning "fort" or "stronghold," likely influenced by the Latin durus, meaning "hard" or "strong," as in other place names. Its strategical importance lay in the position at the approach to the Rhine from southeast. In the 2nd–3rd century AD, the vicus expanded rapidly to fill almost all of what is now the old town of Solothurn, including a portion of today's suburb south of the Aare.

The Roman bridge was probably somewhat above the current Wengibrücke. The Roman era river bed was 40 - 80 m north of the present Aare. The main street of the Vicus was well below the present main street. In addition to the normal government of the settlement, there were two mayors (magistri), and a six-member college (seviri Augustales), which was entrusted with supporting the imperial cult. Salodurum was also home to a guard detachment of the XXII Legion, whose high command was stationed in Mainz in Germany. According to inscriptions, there was a temple of Jupiter, a temple of Apollo Augustus and an altar to the goddess of horses Epona, who was popular in the Roman military and of Celtic origin. However, the locations of those three temples is not known. There was bath house on the main street and a pottery district in the northwest of the town which have been documented archaeologically. A cemetery with urns and cremation burials on the eastern end of the Vicus was discovered in 1762–63 during the demolition of the old church of St. Ursus. In addition, two Roman tombs were discovered in the same area.

Around 325–350, the unfortified settlement along the road was transformed into a fortified camp or castrum, which covered only half of the former settlement area. A 2 - 3 m thick and 9 m high wall was built around the settlement. The new, fortified town was bell-shaped, and is still visible in the cadastral map of the town. At various points in the town, large and small pieces of the old Roman wall are still visible in the houses of the old town. The location of a gate in the north and a tower in the south-east corner are known and it is likely that there were additional gates and towers. Almost nothing is known about the buildings inside the walls.

Early Middle Ages
In the Early Middle Ages there were two settlement centres, a secular settlement in the former castrum and a religious settlement on the grounds of the late-Roman cemeteries outside the walls. Both the religious histories and archeological discoveries indicate that both areas remained inhabited continuously into the Early Middle Ages. The former chapel of St. Stephen inside the castrum was built on the foundation of an earlier, late-Roman building. A burial memorial in the cemetery of the nearby St. Peter's Chapel dates to around the collapse of the Roman Empire. By the middle of the 5th century, St. Eucherius of Lyon mentions the martyrdom of St. Ursus and St. Victor and a cult of saints in Solothurn. About 500 AD, the Burgundian Princess Sedeleuba took the bones of St. Victor to Geneva, while the bones of St. Ursus remained in Solothurn. The church dedicated to the veneration of Saint Ursus is first mentioned in 870.

Medieval city
During the Early Middle Ages, Solothurn was part of the Kingdom of Lotharingia (Lorraine). After the collapse of Lotharingia, it became part of the Second Kingdom of Burgundy. In 1033, the Kingdom of Burgundy became part of the Holy Roman Empire and Solothurn gained some independence. In 1038, Emperor Conrad II held court at Solothurn and there crowned his son, Henry III King of Burgundy. The royal court resided in Solothurn on several occasions until 1052, however, there is no evidence of a permanent royal palace. In 1127, it was acquired by the dukes of Zähringen. Under the rule of the Zähringens, in 1146, Solothurn's coins are first mentioned. In 1182, causidicus or Zähringen appointed judges first appeared in Solothurn. After the extinction of the Zähringer line in 1218 it became a free imperial city under the Holy Roman Emperor. In 1252, the town council and Schultheiss or mayor became mostly independent and had their own town seals. In 1251 it was mentioned as saluerre and in 1275 as Solotren. Starting around 1200, there was a council of nobles in the town.

In 1252, a group of nobles that could witness and support deeds, known as consuls et cives Solodorenses, first appears in the town. Initially the nobles exercised power over the entire town. However, the guild movement of the 14th century resulted in a reduction in the power of the nobles and also a restricted guild system in Solothurn. By around 1350, an eleven-member Altrat (Council of Elders) and a 22-member Jungrat (Younger Council) existed in the city. Each of the eleven guilds were represented by a member of the Altrat and two members of the Jungrat. These 33 councillors exercised, together with the mayor, the power of government and helped appoint lawmakers. The members of the two councils were elected each year by the citizens of the city, after which the councils and mayor appointed many of the government officials. The noble families retained some power as the guilds became part of the town council. However, in 1459 the last noble family died out and positions on the council fell to wealthy farmers, butchers and millers.

Until the pogrom on 1348 during an outbreak of the plague, there was a small Jewish community in Solothurn.

Over the 13th to 15th centuries, the citizens of the city slowly emancipated themselves from the higher nobility. In 1276 and 1280 Emperor Rudolf I codified the previously poorly defined rights of the city and granted it the privilege de non Evocando or the right that their citizens were protected from trial in foreign courts. In 1344 Solothurn acquired the right to appoint their own Schultheiss from the Count of Buchegg, which was confirmed by Emperor Charles IV in 1360. In 1409, Emperor Ruprecht extended the de non Evocando privilege to include the royal High Court as well.

As the city grew in power, it bound the Monastery of St. Ursus more closely to the city. In 1251 the city defeated claims made by the Monastery on the right to appoint the Schultheiss. Shortly after the acquisition of the right to the Schultheiss office in 1344, the city came into possession of the vogt right over the Monastery by granting citizenship rights to the former vogt (bailiff), Burkhard Senn the Elder. In 1512–20 the city received the right to appoint canons and provosts from the Pope.

After the alliance with Bern in 1295, it became part of the Swiss Confederation. In 1382 the Habsburgs attacked the city, involving Solothurn in the Battle of Sempach. By the treaty of two years later, the Habsburgs renounced all claims to the territory of the city. The latter was expanded by acquisition of neighbouring lands in the 15th century, roughly up to the today's canton area.

In 1481, it obtained full membership in the Swiss Confederation.

Buildings in the medieval city
Before 1200 there was a Zähringer fortified tower north of the Monastery of St. Ursus. In the first half of the 13th century, a city wall was built around the area of the former castrum as well as the adjoining industrial area to the east and the churches of St. Peter and St. Urs. Near the Monastery of St. Ursus, a Franciscan monastery was built, and after 1280 it formed the northern city wall on the eastern part of the city. In 1532, the French embassy with a church and stately home was built in the eastern half of the city. In the western part of Solothurn, the town hall was built. First it was along the main street and in 1476 it moved south of the Franciscan monastery. A main market place grew up along the main street, and in the first half of the 17th century it moved to the northern banks of the Aare. The town hall, market place and clock tower formed the political and economic centre of city life.

Early modern Solothurn
The medieval cooperative election of the mayor and councillors led to the creation of a nearly hereditary oligarchy by the 15th century. By the second half of the 16th century, the political voice of citizens was nearly totally suppressed. By the second half of the 17th century, the government was run by a small group of patricians. The oligarchs were weakened in the 18th century, when in 1718–21 the city council managed to regain some powers. However, in 1682, a new citizenship law prevented wealthy families who had moved into Solothurn from becoming members of the council. While this law reduced the number of people who could be on the city council, the introduction of a secret ballot procedure in 1764 and measures against vote-buying in 1774 allowed more and more non-patrician burghers to join the council.

During the heyday of the patricians in the 17th and 18th centuries, a number of elegant town houses (Reinert House 1692–93, Palais Besenval 1703–06) and summer residences outside the city (Sommerhaus Vigier 1648–50, Waldegg Castle 1682–86 (now in nearby Feldbrunnen-St. Niklaus), Steinbrugg Castle 1665–68 and Blumenstein Castle 1725–28) were built. A number of new public buildings were also added including; the Arsenal (1610–19), the town hall with its north staircase tower (1632–34) and its eastern façade (Archive tower 1624, completed 1703–14), the Jesuit church (1680–89), the new Ambassadorenhof (1717–24), the Holy Spirit Hospital in a suburb (1735–1800) and the new classicist Church of St. Ursus (1763–90). In the 16th century the town walls were reinforced with the Basel gate and three round towers.

Between 1667 and 1727, following plans by Francesco Polatta, Jacques Le Prestre Tarade and Sébastien de Vauban, the city built fortifications with eleven full and half bastions. The new city wall increased the size of the city by including the eastern suburb of Kreuzacker. Until the 18th century, prisoners were housed in the towers of the medieval and early modern fortifications store. Between 1753 and 1761 a new prison was built outside the city walls, which remained in use into the 20th century. A gallows was first mentioned in 1460 and was located northeast of the city near Feldbrunnen. A second gallows was located to the southwest of the city.

From 1530 to 1792 it was the seat of the French ambassador to Switzerland.

The early modern period in Solothurn ended, as in the rest of Switzerland, with the French invasion in 1798.

Modern Solothurn
Following the capitulation of Solothurn on 2 March 1798, the French General Balthazar Alexis Henri Schauenburg set up a provisional government on the following day. The new government met in April to set up the new constitution. The eleven old Vogtei (baillywicks) were replaced by five districts: Solothurn, Biberist, Balsthal, Olten, and Dornach. The municipal Bürgergemeinde laid claim to the assets of the defunct city-state and in 1801 it received the Sönderungsconvention, large estates and extensive forest land outside the town. In 1831 the cantonal parliament withdrew all political power from the eleven city guilds. Over the following years (1831–1842) all the guilds were dissolved. Due to the municipal law of 1859, the enforcement of the Federal Constitution of 1874 and the Cantonal Constitution of 1875, an Einwohnergemeinde was created. The Einwohnergemeinde included all residents of the town, as opposed to the more limited Bürgergemeinde. The division of property between residents and the Bürgergemeinde proved to be lengthy and could not be completed until 1978 and then only with the help of the Executive Council.

In 1828 Solothurn became the seat of the Bishop of Basel.

Since 1897, the municipal council has been elected by proportional voting and consists of 30 members and 15 alternate members. As the executive body, it elects the council commission (seven members). Mayor and Vice-Mayor are elected by the people. The municipal assembly is the legislative body. The composition of the council remained remarkably stable between 1917 and 1973. The Liberals held an average of 60% of the seats, the Social Democrats and the Conservative People's Party (CVP today), about 20% each. In 1970, the municipality granted voting rights for women. With the emergence of new parties, the Liberals lost its dominant position. 2009, the FDP 30%, SP 23%, CVP 23%, the Greens 17% and 7% of the votes go to the SVP.

Rock band Krokus was formed in Solothurn in 1974.

Geography
Solothurn has an area,, of 6.28 km2. Of this area, 1.42 km2 or 22.6% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.17 km2 or 2.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 4.37 km2 or 69.6% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.33 km2 or 5.3% is either rivers or lakes.

Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 4.1% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 38.5% and transportation infrastructure made up 17.5%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 1.9% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 7.5%. Out of the forested land, 0.5% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 14.2% is used for growing crops and 7.0% is pastures, while 1.4% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.

Solothurn is located in the north-west of Switzerland on the banks of the Aare and on the foot of the Weissenstein Jura mountains.

The municipalities of Biberist, Derendingen, Luterbach, Bellach, Langendorf and Solothurn are considering a merger at a date in the future into the new municipality of with an,, undetermined name.

Coat of arms
The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Per fess Gules and Argent.

Demographics
Solothurn has a population of. , 21.1% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1999–2009) the population has changed at a rate of 4.4%.

Most of the population speaks German (13,270 or 85.7%), with Italian being second most common (469 or 3.0%) and Albanian being third (261 or 1.7%). There are 193 people who speak French and 19 people who speak Romansh.

, the gender distribution of the population was 48.1% male and 51.9% female. The population was made up of 5,891 Swiss men (37.0% of the population) and 1,775 (11.1%) non-Swiss men. There were 6,669 Swiss women (41.8%) and 1,604 (10.1%) non-Swiss women. Of the population in the municipality 3,864 or about 24.9% were born in Solothurn and lived there in 2000. There were 3,630 or 23.4% who were born in the same canton, while 4,135 or 26.7% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 3,193 or 20.6% were born outside of Switzerland.

In there were 115 live births to Swiss citizens and 27 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 190 deaths of Swiss citizens and 10 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 75 while the foreign population increased by 17. There were 8 Swiss men and 13 Swiss women who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 91 non-Swiss men and 78 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was an increase of 98 and the non-Swiss population increased by 161 people. This represents a population growth rate of 1.7%.

The age distribution,, in Solothurn is; 913 children or 5.9% of the population are between 0 and 6 years old and 2,013 teenagers or 13.0% are between 7 and 19. Of the adult population, 888 people or 5.7% of the population are between 20 and 24 years old. 4,832 people or 31.2% are between 25 and 44, and 3,678 people or 23.7% are between 45 and 64. The senior population distribution is 2,068 people or 13.4% of the population are between 65 and 79 years old and there are 1,097 people or 7.1% who are over 80.

, there were 6,784 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 6,403 married individuals, 1,144 widows or widowers and 1,158 individuals who are divorced.

, there were 7,447 private households in the municipality, and an average of 1.9 persons per household. There were 3,468 households that consist of only one person and 303 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 7,625 households that answered this question, 45.5% were households made up of just one person and there were 49 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 1,907 married couples without children, 1,455 married couples with children. There were 405 single parents with a child or children. There were 163 households that were made up of unrelated people and 178 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.

there were 1,311 single family homes (or 44.3% of the total) out of a total of 2,957 inhabited buildings. There were 838 multi-family buildings (28.3%), along with 441 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (14.9%) and 367 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (12.4%). Of the single family homes 161 were built before 1919, while 62 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (443) were built between 1919 and 1945.

there were 8,586 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 3 rooms of which there were 2,954. There were 728 single room apartments and 1,634 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 7,272 apartments (84.7% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 794 apartments (9.2%) were seasonally occupied and 520 apartments (6.1%) were empty. , the construction rate of new housing units was 3.3 new units per 1000 residents. the average price to rent an average apartment in Solothurn was 980.18 Swiss francs (CHF) per month (US$1043, £760, €852) approx. exchange rate from March 4, 2018). The average rate for a one-room apartment was 568.85 CHF (US$605, £438, €495), a two-room apartment was about 725.13 CHF (US$772, £558, €631), a three-room apartment was about 904.51 CHF (US$962, £696, €787) and a six or more room apartment cost an average of 1564.78 CHF (US$1665, £1204, €1361). The average apartment price in Solothurn was 87.8% of the national average of 1116 CHF. The vacancy rate for the municipality,, was 0.45%.

Historical population
The historical population is given in the following chart:

Main sights
The old town was built between 1530 and 1792 and shows an architectural combination of Italian Grandezza, French style and Swiss ideas.

In 1980, Solothurn was awarded the Wakker Prize for the development and preservation of its architectural heritage.

Solothurn is home to 18 structures that are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance. The religious buildings on the list are; the Visitation Convent, the Jesuit Church with Kollegium (Lapidarium), the Swiss Reformed Church on Westringstrasse and the St. Ursen Cathedral. There are four civic buildings on the list; the old Armory which is now the Cantonal Museum, the Rathaus (town council house), the State Archives at Bielstrasse 41 and the nearby Central Library at Bielstrasse 39. Two other museums are on the list, the Art Museum and the Naturmuseum. There are two houses and two public objects on the list; the Haller-Haus (former Bishops Palace) at Baselstrasse 61, the Sommerhaus Vigier at Untere Steingrubenstrasse 21, the Mauritius Fountain and the town clock tower. Two castles are listed; the former Blumenstein Castle and Steinbrugg Castle. Finally, the list includes the old town of Salodurum which was a Roman era Vicus and the medieval and early modern city as well as the city walls. The entire old city of Solothurn is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.

Sights include:

 * Aarhof
 * Besenval Palace
 * Cathedral of St. Ursus (1762–73). It was begun by Gaetano Matteo Pisoni and completed by Paolo Antonio Pisoni. The interior has stuccoes by Francesco Pozzi and canvasses by Domenico Corvi.
 * Church of the Jesuits (Jesuitenkirche, 1680–89)
 * Clock tower (Zeitglockenturm, 12th century)
 * Gate of Basel
 * Gate of Bienne
 * Kosciuszko Museum
 * Krone
 * Landhaus
 * Museum of the Old Arsenal (1609–14), housing the most ancient collection of armour in Europe.
 * Old town
 * The Verena Gorge and the Verena Gorge Hermitage
 * Waldegg Castle
 * Weissenstein mountain

Politics
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SP which received 24.09% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the FDP (23.53%), the Green Party (18.56%) and the CVP (17.19%). In the federal election, a total of 5,767 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 53.8%.

Economy

, Solothurn had an unemployment rate of 4.6%. , there were 22 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 4 businesses involved in this sector. 2,587 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 178 businesses in this sector. 14,381 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 1,226 businesses in this sector. There were 8,023 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which women made up 46.9% of the workforce.

the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 13,378. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 16, of which 7 were in agriculture and 9 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 2,430 of which 1,398 or (57.5%) were in manufacturing and 813 (33.5%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 10,932. In the tertiary sector; 1,537 or 14.1% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 454 or 4.2% were in the movement and storage of goods, 610 or 5.6% were in a hotel or restaurant, 583 or 5.3% were in the information industry, 975 or 8.9% were the insurance or financial industry, 1,095 or 10.0% were technical professionals or scientists, 614 or 5.6% were in education and 2,612 or 23.9% were in health care.

, there were 13,529 workers who commuted into the municipality and 3,598 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 3.8 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. Of the working population, 20.1% used public transportation to get to work, and 40.3% used a private car.

Religion

From the, 5,463 or 35.3% were Roman Catholic, while 4,358 or 28.1% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 278 members of an Orthodox church (or about 1.79% of the population), there were 182 individuals (or about 1.18% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 248 individuals (or about 1.60% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 27 individuals (or about 0.17% of the population) who were Jewish, and 915 (or about 5.91% of the population) who were Islamic. There were 78 individuals who were Buddhist, 173 individuals who were Hindu and 27 individuals who belonged to another church. 3,139 (or about 20.27% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 601 individuals (or about 3.88% of the population) did not answer the question.

Education

In Solothurn about 5,724 or (37.0%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 2,815 or (18.2%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). Of the 2,815 who completed tertiary schooling, 58.0% were Swiss men, 28.0% were Swiss women, 8.1% were non-Swiss men and 5.9% were non-Swiss women.

During the 2010–2011 school year there were a total of students in the Solothurn school system. The education system in the Canton of Solothurn allows young children to attend two years of non-obligatory Kindergarten. During that school year, there were Schülerbestand children in kindergarten. The canton's school system requires students to attend six years of primary school, with some of the children attending smaller, specialized classes. In the municipality there were 2010–2011 students in primary school. The secondary school program consists of three lower, obligatory years of schooling, followed by three to five years of optional, advanced schools. All the lower secondary students from Solothurn attend their school in a neighboring municipality. , there were 2,517 students in Solothurn who came from another municipality, while 188 residents attended schools outside the municipality.

Solothurn is home to two libraries. These libraries include the Zentralbibliothek Solothurn and the Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz, Pädagogische Hochschule, Standort Solothurn (a library of the Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz). There was a combined total of 1,195,394 books or other media in the libraries, and in the same year a total of 522,650 items were loaned out.

Sport
FC Solothurn is the town's football club.

The number 11
Solothurn has a special affinity for the number eleven.

The Canton of Solothurn was the eleventh to become part of the Swiss Confederation. There are eleven churches and chapels, as well as eleven historical fountains and eleven towers. The St. Ursus cathedral has eleven altars and eleven bells, and the stairs in front of the cathedral have landings after every eleven steps.

A local brewery has named itself Öufi, which is Swiss German for eleven, and produces a beer with the same name.

Twin towns—Sister cities
Solothurn is twinned with:

 * 🇩🇪 Heilbronn, Germany, since 1981
 * Le Landeron, Switzerland, since 2003

Partnerships

 * 🇵🇱 Kraków in Poland, since 1990

Early times

 * Ursus of Solothurn († c. 303), saint and patron of the Roman Catholic cathedral in Solothurn, where his body is located
 * Urs Graf der Ältere (1485–1528), Renaissance goldsmith, painter, printmaker and mercenary
 * Gregorius Sickinger (1558–1631), painter, draughtsman and engraver
 * Georg Gotthart (1552–1619), poet and playwright

17th century

 * Jean II d'Estrées (1624–1707), Marshal of France and a naval commander of Louis XIV
 * Johann Rudolf Byss (1660–1738), painter of the Netherlandish and Italian classic styles
 * Franz Adam Karrer (1672–1741), senior Swiss military officer in French service

18th century

 * Franz Josef von Hallwyl (1719–1785), senior Swiss military officer in French service
 * Pierre Victor, baron de Besenval de Brünstatt (1722–1794), last commander of the Swiss Guards in France
 * General Tadeusz Kościuszko (1746–1817), Polish statesman and American military leader, lived in exile in Solothurn
 * Urs Glutz von Blotzheim (1751–1816), military officer and politician
 * Robert Glutz-Blotzheim (1786–1818), writer, librarian and historian
 * Konrad Josef Glutz von Blotzheim (1789–1857), priest
 * Charles Sealsfield (1793–1864), Austrian-American writer, journalist and advocate for a German democracy

19th century

 * Johann Friedrich Dietler (1804–1874), portrait painter
 * Franz Krutter (1807–1873), writer, lawyer and politician
 * Franz Pfeiffer (1815–1868), literary scholar who worked in Germany and Austria
 * Wilhelm Vigier (1823–1886), politician, President of the Swiss Council of States 1862–1863 and 1882–1883
 * Frank Buchser (1828–1890), painter of notable post–Civil War American figures
 * Otto Frölicher (1840–1890), landscape painter
 * Conradin Zschokke (1842–1918), engineer
 * Victor Sterki (1846–1933), Swiss malacologist who lived in Ohio, USA
 * Cuno Amiet (1868–1961), painter, illustrator, graphic artist and sculptor

20th century

 * Ruedi Walter (1916–1990), comedian, radio personality and stage and film actor
 * Oscar Wiggli (1927–2016), composer and sculptor
 * Herbert Meier (1928–2018), writer and translator
 * Otto F. Walter (1928–1994), publisher and author
 * Urs Jaeggi (born 1931), sociologist, painter and author
 * Urs Noel Glutz von Blotzheim (born 1932), zoologist, known for his ornithological work
 * Schang Hutter (1934–2021), sculptor
 * Peter Bichsel (born 1935), writer and journalist, representing modern German literature
 * Walter Bloch (born 1943), philosopher and writer
 * Walter Schenker (1943–2018), author
 * Anton Mosimann OBE, DL (born 1947), chef and restaurateur
 * Markus Gygax (born 1950), former commander of the Swiss Air Force
 * Chris von Rohr (born 1951), rock musician, record producer, founder of hard rock band Krokus
 * Kurt Fluri (born 1955), politician, member of the National Council of Switzerland
 * Esther Alder (born 1958), politician, in 2015 became the Mayor of Geneva
 * Denise Wyss (born 1965), first woman to be ordained in the Old Catholic Church
 * Bernhard Hess (born 1966), politician, member of the National Council 1999–2007
 * Tom Misteli (born 1966), cell biologist and pioneer in the field of genome cell biology
 * Martin vom Brocke (born 1969), dentist, orthodontist and author
 * Adèle Thorens Goumaz (born 1971), politician, member of the National Council since 2007
 * Martin Oeggerli (born 1974), photographer specializing in scientific microscopy and fine art
 * Krokus (founded 1975 by Chris von Rohr), hard rock and heavy metal band
 * Andreas Reize (born 19 May 1975), organist and conductor, Thomaskantor

Sport

 * Edgar Buchwalder (1916–2009), cyclist, silver medalist at the 1936 Summer Olympics
 * Anton Allemann (1936–2008), footballer, played 27 times for the Swiss national team
 * Alex Tschui (born 1939), modern pentathlete, competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics
 * Marco Walker (born 1970), former footballer who played 344 games
 * Alexander Popov (born 1971), Russian former swimmer, won gold in the 50m. and 100m. freestyle at the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics, lives in Solothurn
 * Tim Hug (born 1987), Nordic combined skier, competed in the 2010 Winter Olympics
 * Yannick Schwaller (born 1995), curler, 2023 World Men's Curling Championship bronze medalist, 2014 World Junior Men's Curling Champion

title: Solothurn