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The city of Siegen is located on the Sieg river in the district of Arnsberg in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is noted for two castles: the Lower Castle, former residence of the Protestant branch of the House of Nassau-Siegen, and the Upper Castle, former residence of the Roman Catholic branch, now serving as a museum. There is also a hexagonal Romanesque church. The painter Peter Paul Rubens was born here in 1577. Located in the middle of a rich iron-ore field, it had and still has iron foundries and metalworking facilities. It was heavily bombed in World War II, but has been rebuilt and still functions as a center of heavy industry. Its 2004 estimated population was 107,800.