Marl (German: [maʁl] ⓘ) is a town and a municipality in the district of Recklinghausen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

The town area was already populated in the old and middle Stone Age, as many archeological finds in the district of Sinsen confirm.

In the 1920th archeological excavations proofed, that the Brukterer built a circular hillfort in the district of Sinsen to defend against the Saxon attacks.

In the urban district of "Alt-Marl" (Old Marl) stands St George's Church, which in the 11th century belonged to the local Count Balderich of the Lower Rhine.

Between 1856 and 1859 the church was completely restored, to plans drawn up by Emil von Manger, a builder employed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Münster.

In 1378 the castle was signed over as an "Offenhaus" by the owner Wessel van Loe to the Archbishop of Cologne, Frederick III.

The family had very many properties in the region, several farms and mills, like the "Loemill", the "Sickingmill" and the Wermeling manor at the Lippe river.

Although the Loe-family had no male successor, the name lived on as in 1585 the daughter of Wolter van Loe married her cousin Baron Dietrich of Dorneburg-Loe from Eickel.

The noble Loe-family is borne in remembrance through several names like "Loe Street", "Grammar school at the Loefield" or "Loemill-Airport".

Between 1243 and 1384 there were many military operations between the Archbishop of Cologne and the Count of Mark among other things about the possession of the neighbor town of Recklinghausen.

During the French campaign of Charles, Prince of Soubise, in the Seven Years' War in 1758 the plundering of Marl started again.

From 1810 to 1813, during the French occupation the village was renamed in "Mairie Marl" and belonged to the Grand Duchy of Berg.

In this age, Marl had only village mayors, who were elected for one year and directly responsible to the governors of the Vest Recklinghausen.

The administration area included Marl, the villages of Polsum, Hamm and Altendorf-Ulfkotte, plus the surrounding farming communities.

The former village mayor Bölling reports in his chronicle: "…has built here some factories and kudos to the damask weaving mills, which deliver precious table-linen for high-standing persons and earned great reputation.

In the records of 1842 the following professions are listed: 3 bakers, 1 butcher, 17 shoemakers, 17 tailors, 17 carpenters, 5 cabinetmakers, 6 coopers, 1 bricklayer, 15 blacksmiths, 6 cellarmen, 60 weavers, 42 chandlers, 12 hawkers, 2 inns, 11 taverns, 6 brewer, 2 distilleries, 6 corn dealer, 5 wood dealer… The turning point in Marls history was 21 January 1875.

On this day the "Simson well-drilling Company" found a coal deposit in the depth of 514 meter in the urban district Polsum.

Eponym for the mine was Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, (1858–1921) the last German empress and wife of Emperor Wilhelm II.

On 1 April 1920 the so-called "Red Ruhr Army" occupied Marl and started a gunfight with the Reichswehr at the Lippe river-crossing near Hamm-Bossendorf.

On 1 April 1926 Marl grew bigger as the surrounding villages of Sinsen, Hüls, Lenkerbeck and Löntrop were suburbanized.

In 1931 the "Handbook of all towns and villages in the Rhine province and Westpfalia" states, that Marl had 34102 inhabitants ( 19598 Roman Catholic, 12105 Protestants, 30 Jewish and 2309 other confessions) There was no mayor at that time.

On 20 April 1936 Marl received its town charter by the headpresident of the province of Westphalia, Ferdinand, Baron of Lüninck.

In 1985 the company was merged with the Degussa AG and later in 2007 with the Evonik industries and is now called "Chemical Park Marl".

These incidents were documented by the German artist Gunter Demnig and his project "Stolpersteine" (stumbling blocks).

As the town was merged from several farming communities with the mining settlements and houses of the chemical workers it has no real centre.

In the 1960s and 1970s a new centre was built in greenfield strategy as a new town hall, high-rise buildings and the shopping mall "Marler Stern" originated.

In 2007, the "Official Number of inhabitants" calculated by the Landesamt für Datenverarbeitung und Statistik of North Rhine Westphalia was 89,122.

The mass production of the Loremo was planned for 2010 in a yet-to-be-constructed car factory in the industrial complex of Dorsten/Marl, but looks now into uncertain future.

The Hüls synthetic rubber plant was a bombing target of the Oil Campaign of World War II.

On 22 June 1943, the sole Eighth Air Force operation against Nazi Germany synthetic-rubber production during the first phase of the Combined Bomber Offensive opened "a new chapter in aerial warfare" (RAF Fighter Commander Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory) with a bombing that destroying 6,200 of 8,380 built-up acres of "the city".