Datteln is a town in the district of Recklinghausen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on a crossroads of four canals (Datteln-Hamm Canal, Wesel-Datteln Canal, Dortmund-Ems Canal and Rhein-Herne Canal), which makes it the biggest canal junction in the World, approx. 10 km north-east of Recklinghausen and 20 km north-west of Dortmund.

Katja Seizinger, retired ski racing champion and triple Olympic gold medalist, was born in Datteln.

Notable people

• Horst Niggemeier (1929–2000), politician, mayor of Datteln
• Reinhard Lettmann (1933–2013), bishop of Münster (1980–2008)
• Egon Ramms (born 1948), General, 2007–2010 commander at NATO
• Klaus Eberhard (born 1957), director of Sport of German Tennis Federation and former tennis player
• Ingo Anderbrügge (born 1964), football player and coach
• Katja Seizinger (born 1972), World Cup alpine ski racing champion; three times the Sportswoman of the Year
• Dunja Hayali (born 1974), journalist and television presenter
• Charlotte Becker (born 1983), cyclist
• Lukas Nottbeck (born 1988), footballer
• Sarah Petrausch (born 1990), volleyball player
• Dominik Steinmann (born 1997), darts player

Twin towns – sister cities

Datteln is twinned with:

• Cannock Chase, England, United Kingdom
• Genthin, Germany