From 1671 to 1673 the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin erected a monastery and, from 1677 to 1681, the Catholic Church. (The Martin Luther Church at the Wichernstraße dates from 1904). From the Napoleonic time to industrialization Werne, which had come under the administration of Prussia in 1803 when the Prince-Bishopric of Münster had been dissolved, was attached to the Grand Duchy of Berg by Napoleon in 1806. The Congress of Vienna restored the town to Prussia which incorporated it with other territories into its Province of Westphalia. In 1831 was granted a degree of administrative independence under the Prussian municipal code of 1831. In 1873 and 1874 the search for coal produced a brine thermal spring, and the Werne Baths were established in 1878. The actual coal mine did not commence operations before 1899; it was operated until 1975. Today the buildings of the "Zeche Werne" have been converted to public meeting places, or are part of a business park. The railway line Münster-Werne-Dortmund was opened in 1928. It had taken a significant amount of lobbying to get Werne a railway station, which was totally refurbished in 2005. World War II During the war, 471 citizens of Werne died and 500 more disappeared without trace. The town accommodated nearly 4,000 refugees. Population The population of the town of Werne (and the ward of Stockum) increased from 1974 to 2003 by about 23%. The proportion of foreigners was about five percent in 2003. In the same year, the ward of Stockum with 4,760 inhabitants presented 14.6% of the population of Werne. The proportion of the Catholic population amounted to 57.4%, the proportion of the Protestant population to 25.0%. 17.6% had no religious affiliation or belonged to another faith. In 2012 Werne had a population of 29,482. Education and culture Schools Gymnasium St. Christophorus Anne-Frank-Gymnasium, municipal high school Freiherr-vom-Stein vocational school Konrad-Adenauer-Realschule Marga-Spiegel-Schule, comprehensive school since August 2012, named after Marga Spiegel, a holocaust survivor Schule am Windmühlenberg, municipal Hauptschule Barbaraschule – special school, named after Barbara von Nikomedien Kardinal-von-Galen school, catholic primary school Uhlandschule, catholic primary school Weihbachschule, undenominational primaryschool Wiehagenschule, catholic primary school (also open day school) Wienbredeschule, catholic primary school (also open day school) Familienbildungsstätte Folk high school Werne Town library Stages Sylvan theatre Werne Kolpinghaus Werne Museums Karl Pollender town museum Notable people Hans-Martin Linde (born 1930), classical flautist Dietrich Schwanitz (1940–2004), writer and literature scientist Theodor