Hamm (German pronunciation: [ˈham] ⓘ, Latin: Hammona) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

It shows the markish chessboard ("märkischen Schachbalken") in red and silver on a golden field.

The chessboard and the colours are often displayed in the coats of arms of further towns founded by that family line.

The name Ham means "corner" in the old Low German dialect spoken at that time.

The name derives from the description of the Hamm's location in the corner of the Lippe river and the narrow Ahse affluent, where it was founded on Ash Wednesday in March 1226 by Count Adolf I of the Mark.

¹ "Volkszählungsergebnis" counted population The current Lord Mayor (Oberbürgermeister) of Hamm is Marc Herter of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) since 2020.

In the reorganisation of 1975, the following towns and municipalities were incorporated into the City of Hamm: [citation needed] The number of citizens more than doubles from 83.000 in 1974 to 173.000 in 1975.

The former town Bockum-Hövel today forms the quarter with the largest number of inhabitants, closely followed by the centre of the city Hamm-Mitte.

Also in Hamm established was the "Baugerichtstag e. V." a society organizing a congress about the German building law.

The "Klinik für Psychatrie und Psychotherapie of the Marienhospital" cooperates with Witten/Herdecke University in education and science.

During the summer 2009 another university of applied sciences was founded by the federal state NRW, named Hochschule Hamm-Lippstadt.

The university is divided in two departments, each with its own small Campus area, one in Hamm and another in Lippstadt.

Several hospitals in the urban district are also important employers, for example the EVK Hamm has about 1000 employees.

At first, a weekly newspaper in Hamm was the Kreis Hammsches Wochenblatt founded by Heinich Jakob Grote in 1822.

Two weekly newspapers appear in Hamm: the Stadtanzeiger from the Westfälischer Anzeiger with a total of 384.000 copies, and the Sonntags-Rundblick by a medium-sized local company.

Several state roads (Landesstrassen) connect Hamm with its neighbouring towns and municipalities.

The main station is one of the biggest railway hubs in Germany, and connected with one of the largest marshalling yards in Europe, the latter now only partly operating.

Notable is the railway station for its Art Deco Gründerzeit inspired building styles.

Its huge railroad yard—Europe's biggest at the time[4]—was bombed repeatedly during World War II,[5][6] as was the city itself (in December 1944 it was hit by eleven raids on one day).

Near the city centre, in the meadows by the River Lippe, the Hamm sport airfield is situated.