Herne is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Ruhr area directly between the cities of Bochum and Gelsenkirchen. Population: 169,200 (2001).

Like most other cities in the region Herne was a tiny village until the 19th century. When the mining of coal and the production of steel emerged, the villages of the Ruhr area became cities.

The present Herne includes the former settlements of Herne, Wanne and Eickel. The farms bearing these names were founded in the 11th and 12th centuries. In 1860 the first coal mine started operation. In the following thirty years the population increased twenty-fold. For the first time Herne was called a city. The same development occurred in Wanne and Eickel, which merged in 1926 to form the new city of Wanne-Eickel. In 1975 Wanne-Eickel, meanwhile as well a city with over 70,000 inhabitants, was incorporated into Herne.