Dorsten returned to its former prosperity. Spinning, weaving and metal casting industries found their way into town and in 1912, the first coal mine opened. Between 1929 and 1975, surrounding villages became districts of the gradually enlarging town of Dorsten. Only a few days before the end of the Second World War, the historical old town was almost completely destroyed in an Allied air raid. 319 people died in the air raids on Dorsten and 700 families were made homeless. However, after 1945, the town’s centre was rebuilt on its historical foundations and thus still resembles its medieval shape today. Dorsten is widely known today for its Jewish Museum of Westphalia which was established in 1987. In 2001, the last coal mine closed and the town celebrated its 750th jubilee with a festival in the old town. Gallery Main sights Schloss Lembeck Historical Town Hall Jewish Museum of Westphalia Historical Tüshaus Mill Transport Dorsten has its own airfield. The airfield has a grass strip with a runway of and one government-sponsored hangar being used by the local gliding club. Dorsten station is on the Duisburg–Quakenbrück and the Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck–Winterswijk railways and is served by regional services to Gladbeck, Bottrop, Essen, Dortmund, Borken (Westf) and Coesfeld (Westf). Notable people Dirk Balster (born 1966), rowing world champion 1989–1991 Franz Bronstert (1895–1967), engineer and painter Cornelia Funke (born 1958), children's and young people's book author Agnes Hürland-Büning (1926–2009), controversial politician (CDU) Julia Lohmann (born 1951), painter and sculptor Winfried Nachtwei (born 1946), politician (The Greens) and Member of Bundestag 1994–2009 Manfred Nielson (born 1955), admiral Günter Pröpper (born 1941), footballer Thorsten Streppelhoff (born 1969), rowing world champion in 1991 and 1993 Winfried Toll (born 1955), conductor, singer and composer of classical music Kevin Vennemann (born 1977), writer Twin towns – sister cities Dorsten is twinned with: Crawley, England, United Kingdom Dormans, France Ernée, France Hainichen in Germany Hod HaSharon, Israel Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom Rybnik, Poland Waslala, Nicaragua References Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia Recklinghausen (district) Members of the Hanseatic League