122-539: Minden ( German: [ˈmɪndn] ) is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia , Germany, the largest town in population between Bielefeld and Hanover . It is the capital of the district ( Kreis ) of Minden-Lübbecke , which is part of the region of Detmold . The town extends along both sides of the River Weser , and is crossed by the Mittelland Canal , which
244-704: A 1042-founded Benedictine monastery removed in 1434 from the Weser shore to a new upper site, where the monastery of St Mauritius was founded. The Dominicane convent St Paul was established in 1236. German medieval sovereigns governed their realms with an itinerant court , travelling from town to town. Louis the German hold an imperial assembly in Minden in 852. The Emperors of the Ottonian and Salian dynasty visited Minden several times. When Henry IV came to visit in 1062,
366-463: A Prussian fortress until 1873, when Germany's Imperial Diet ( Reichstag ) passed the law to remove the fortress status of several fortified places, among them Minden. The fortress walls were razed by 1880 – the town had to pay for it – and a new Weser bridge was constructed, permitting the town to catch up economically. However, it was never able to regain its former political and economic importance. The upper class used
488-927: A biological site ( Biologische Station Nordholz ) for education in ecology. The percentage of woodland is smaller than in other towns of the same type. Old Saxony bef.798–804 [REDACTED] Duchy of Saxony 804–1180 [REDACTED] Prince-Bishopric of Minden 1180–1648 [REDACTED] Margraviate of Brandenburg 1648–1701 [REDACTED] Kingdom of Prussia 1701–1807 [REDACTED] Kingdom of Westphalia 1807–1810 [REDACTED] First French Empire 1810–1813 [REDACTED] Kingdom of Prussia 1813–1871 [REDACTED] German Empire 1871–1918 [REDACTED] Weimar Republic 1918–1933 [REDACTED] Nazi Germany 1933–1945 [REDACTED] Allied-occupied Germany 1945–1949 [REDACTED] West Germany 1949–1990 [REDACTED] Germany 1990–present The Minden area shows continuing settlement activity from
610-651: A dispute between members of his entourage and citizens caused a fire that destroyed the cathedral and parts of the town. The imperial visit of Charles IV in October 1377 was the last one until the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. In 1168, Henry the Lion , Duke of Saxony, married his second wife Matilda , daughter of Henry II of England , in Minden Cathedral ; with this marriage Henry maintained
732-577: A fortress in 1764. The town functioned as the capital of the Prussian territory of Minden-Ravensberg from 1719 to 1807 and as the seat of the upper administrative authority named Kriegs- und Domänenkammer (Chamber of War Affairs and State Property), that ruled Minden-Ravensberg together with the Prussian territories of the County of Lingen and the County of Tecklenburg . The most prominent president of
854-562: A framework of a federal parliamentary representative democratic republic. The two main parties are, as on the federal level, the centre-right Christian Democratic Union and the centre-left Social Democratic Party . From 1966 to 2005, North Rhine-Westphalia was continuously governed by the Social Democrats or SPD-led governments. The state's legislative body is the Landtag ("state parliament house"). It may pass laws within
976-544: A general election to elect at least 181 members of the Landtag. Only parties who win at least 5% of the votes cast may be represented in parliament. The Landtag, the parliamentary parties and groups consisting of at least 7 members of parliament have the right to table legal proposals to the Landtag for deliberation. The law that is passed by the Landtag is delivered to the Minister-President, who, together with
1098-691: A length of 52 m (171 ft). Historically speaking, this building is considered to be the most precious possession of the town. It was the starting point of the Protestant Reformation in Bielefeld in 1553. A valuable wing-altar with 13 pictures, known as the Marienaltar is also kept inside. The baroque spires were destroyed in World War II and later replaced by two unusually-shaped "Gothic" clocktowers. The altarpiece of
1220-629: A nearby highway ( Autobahn ) junction. Minden is a town in the northeastern part of the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia . The town is crossed by the Weser flowing north. The town centre lies on a plateau on the western side of the river 5 kilometres (3 miles) north of the Porta Westfalica gap between the ridges of the Weser Hills and Wiehen Hills , where the Weser leaves
1342-727: A pass crossing the Teutoburg Forest , Bielefeld was the "city of linen " as a minor member of the Hanseatic League , known for bleachfields into the 19th century. Bielefeld was part of the Kingdom of Westphalia when it was created in 1807. In 1815 it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Prussia following the defeat of France and the Congress of Vienna . After the Cologne-Minden railway opened in 1849 ,
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#17327726099331464-555: A population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region ( Regierungsbezirk ) of Detmold and the 18th largest city in Germany. The historical centre of the city is situated north of the Teutoburg Forest line of hills, but modern Bielefeld also incorporates boroughs on the opposite side and on the hills. The city is situated on the Hermannsweg , a hiking trail which runs for 156 km along
1586-601: A rebuilt railway station, a municipal theatre, and finally, the Rudolf-Oetker-Halle concert hall, renowned for its excellent acoustics. The Dürkopp car was produced 1898–1927 . After printing emergency money ( German : Notgeld ) in 1923 during the inflation in the Weimar Republic , Bielefeld was one of several towns that printed very attractive and highly collectable banknotes with designs on silk , linen and velvet . These pieces were issued by
1708-483: A reminder of the time when the city gained importance through the production of linen , with the traditional crafts of spinning and weaving, and its high-quality linen became known worldwide, characterised by its own seal of quality. The Old City Hall ( Altes Rathaus ) was built in 1904 and still serves the same function. Its façade reflects the so-called Weserrenaissance and features elements of various architectural styles , including Gothic and Renaissance . Though
1830-595: A road network in the outer areas of the town. Since the 1890s, a sequence of six ring roads in the west and north of the town has formed the backbone of the road network. Grandiose festivities took place when Emperor William II and Empress Auguste Victoria visited Minden and the southern village of Barkhausen for inauguration of the Emperor William Monument on the Wittekindsberg above the Porta Westfalica gap on 18 October 1896. Since then
1952-755: A sequence of geomorphological units (from south to north): the Wiehen Hills, the Lübbecke Loessland, therein the Bastau depression, and the Dümmer Geest Lowland . The eastern part lies in the Middle Weser Valley depression. Crossing the Weser valley was once favoured by a ford with a break in the middle; there its meander touches the western edge of the valley, the eastern floodplain is usually flood-meadow, so that
2074-516: A small airstrip, Flugplatz Bielefeld, in the Senne district but is mainly served by the three larger airports nearby, Paderborn Lippstadt Airport , Münster Osnabrück Airport and Hannover Airport . Bielefeld boasts a well-developed public transport system, served mainly by the companies moBiel (formerly Stadtwerke Bielefeld – Verkehrsbetriebe ) and "BVO". The Bielefeld Stadtbahn has four major lines and regional trains connect different parts of
2196-608: A uniform area; there are significant differences, especially in traditional customs, between the Rhineland region on the one hand and the regions of Westphalia and Lippe on the other. Its economy is the largest among German states by GRDP but is below the national average in GRDP per capita . The state of North Rhine-Westphalia was established by the British military administration 's "Operation Marriage" on 23 August 1946 by merging
2318-513: Is 40 kilometres (25 miles) northeast of Bielefeld , 60 km (37 miles) west of Hanover , 80 km (50 mi) south of Bremen and 60 km (37 mi) east of Osnabrück . The neighbouring towns and communities of Minden are (clockwise from north): Petershagen , Bückeburg ( Schaumburg District in Lower Saxony), Porta Westfalica , Bad Oeynhausen , and Hille . Minden is administratively divided into 19 quarters: The area of
2440-515: Is Pit Clausen of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), who was elected in 2009 and re-elected in 2014 and 2020. The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, with a runoff held on 27 September, and the results were as follows: The Bielefeld city council governs the city alongside the mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows: Two major autobahns ,
2562-591: Is hosted in Cologne . It is the largest video game convention in Europe. North Rhine-Westphalia has always been Germany's powerhouse with the largest economy among the German states by GDP figures . In the 1950s and 1960s, Westphalia was known as Land von Kohle und Stahl ( Land of Coal and Steel ). In the post-World War II recovery, the Ruhr was one of the most important industrial regions in Europe, and contributed to
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#17327726099332684-655: Is led over the river on the Minden Aqueduct . In its 1,200-year written history, Minden had functions as diocesan town from 800 CE to the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 CE , as capital of the Prince-Bishopric of Minden as imperial territory since the 12th century, afterwards as capital of Prussia 's Minden-Ravensberg until the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, and as capital of
2806-629: Is situated near Selfkant close to the Dutch border, the easternmost near Höxter on the Weser . The southernmost point lies near Hellenthal in the Eifel region. The northernmost point is the NRW-Nordpunkt near Rahden in the northeast of the state. The Nordpunkt has located the only 100 km to the south of the North Sea coast. The deepest natural dip is arranged in the district Zyfflich in
2928-637: Is strong in the eastern and northern parts with numerous free churches. Münster and especially Paderborn are thought of as Catholic. Osnabrück is divided almost equally between Catholicism and Protestantism. After the defeat of the Prussian Army at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt , the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807 made the Westphalian territories part of the Kingdom of Westphalia from 1807 to 1813. It
3050-457: Is the fourth-largest German state by size. North Rhine-Westphalia features 30 of the 81 German municipalities with over 100,000 inhabitants, including Cologne (over 1 million), the state capital Düsseldorf (630,000), Dortmund and Essen (about 590,000 inhabitants each) and other cities predominantly located in the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan area , the largest urban area in Germany and
3172-631: The Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 58 encamped a new barracks area in the nordwest of the town centre. The Hanoveran Pionier-Battalion No. 10 was part of the X Corps , that was incorporated into the Prussian Army after the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, and had its barracks near to Minden station. The main military training area was a large location in today's quarter of Minderheide at the very northwest edge of
3294-661: The A ;2 and A 33 , intersect in the south east of Bielefeld. The Ostwestfalendamm expressway connects the two parts of the city, naturally divided by the Teutoburg Forest. Bielefeld Hauptbahnhof , the main railway station of Bielefeld, is on the Hamm–Minden railway and is part of the German ICE high-speed railroad system. The main station for intercity bus services is Brackwede station . Bielefeld has
3416-661: The Bethel Institution and the Evangelisches Johanneswerk . Other important cultural sights of the region are the art museum (Kunsthalle) , the Rudolf-Oetker-Halle concert hall, and the city's municipal botanical garden ( Botanischer Garten Bielefeld ). Bielefeld is home to the widely known Bielefelder Kinderchor , founded in 1932 by Friedrich Oberschelp as the first mixed children's choir in Germany. It became famous for its recordings and concerts of traditional German Christmas carols, filling
3538-643: The Bundesstraße 65 [ de ] from Minden to Lübbecke and the regional road from Minden to Espelkamp . The villages, so connected, have developed into settlements of considerable size. The Bastau depression is wood and housing estate-free, having agricultural use. Only one north-south road passes through it, southwest of the town. The gleysols of this area as well as in the Weser valley depression are in agricultural use after drainage. Four nature conservation areas extend completely or partly over Minden territory. The most northern of them provides
3660-562: The Cologne-Minden Railway Company was opened in 1847 with a solidly fortified station and connected with the Hanover–Minden railway . After defortification, the railway got an important momentum for economic growth in Minden. The spatial narrowness in the fortress restricted the development of industrial firms of different branches to a certain degree, but did not prevent it. The dominant industry, as well as in
3782-781: The Duchy of Cleves and about a century later Upper Guelders and Moers also became Prussian. At the peace of Basel in 1795, the whole of the left bank of the Rhine was resigned to France, and in 1806, the Rhenish princes all joined the Confederation of the Rhine . After the Congress of Vienna, Prussia was awarded the entire Rhineland , which included the Grand Duchy of Berg , the ecclesiastic electorates of Trier and Cologne ,
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3904-754: The Ems , the Lippe , and the Weser . The Rhine is by far the most important river in North Rhine-Westphalia: it enters the state as Middle Rhine near Bad Honnef, where still being part of the Mittelrhein wine region . It changes into the Lower Rhine near Bad Godesberg and leaves North Rhine-Westphalia near Emmerich at a width of 730 metres. Almost immediately after entering the Netherlands,
4026-570: The Germanic tribes who fought at this battle came from the area of Westphalia. Charlemagne is thought to have spent considerable time in Paderborn and nearby parts. His Saxon Wars also partly took place in what is thought of as Westphalia today. Popular legends link his adversary Widukind to places near Detmold , Bielefeld , Lemgo , Osnabrück, and other places in Westphalia. Widukind
4148-782: The Moselle and Lower Lorraine on the Meuse. The Ottonian dynasty had both Saxon and Frankish ancestry. As the central power of the Holy Roman Emperor weakened, the Rhineland split into numerous small, independent, separate vicissitudes and special chronicles. The old Lotharingian divisions became obsolete, although the name survives for example in Lorraine in France, and throughout the Middle Ages and even into modern times,
4270-958: The Stemmer Berge . The terrain rises towards the south and in the east of the state into parts of Germany's Central Uplands . These hill ranges are the Weser Uplands – including the Egge Hills , the Wiehen Hills , the Wesergebirge and the Teutoburg Forest in the east, the Sauerland , the Bergisches Land , the Siegerland and the Siebengebirge in the south, as well as the left-Rhenish Eifel in
4392-429: The Weser Uplands and flows into the North German Plain . The small Bastau stream flows into the Weser from the west near the town centre. The edge of the plateau marks the transition from the Middle Weser Valley to the Lübbecke Loessland , divides the upper town from the lower town, and marks the boundary between two ecological zones. In the frame of Natural regions of Germany , the western part of Minden belongs to
4514-424: The province of Westphalia and the northern parts of the Rhine Province , both being political divisions of the former state of Prussia within the German Reich . On 21 January 1947, the former state of Lippe was merged with North Rhine-Westphalia. The constitution of North Rhine-Westphalia was then ratified through a referendum . The first written account of the area was by its conqueror, Julius Caesar ,
4636-478: The 17th and 18th centuries, but most of it remained divided duchies and other feudal areas of power. The Peace of Westphalia of 1648, signed in Münster and Osnabrück, ended the Thirty Years' War . The concept of nation-state sovereignty resulting from the treaty became known as " Westphalian sovereignty ". As a result of the Protestant Reformation , there is no dominant religion in Westphalia. Catholicism and Lutheranism are on relatively equal footing. Lutheranism
4758-481: The 1880s and an electric power station in 1902. North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia , commonly shortened to NRW , is a state ( Land ) in Western Germany . With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the most populous state in Germany. Apart from the city-states ( Berlin , Hamburg and Bremen ), it is also the most densely populated state in Germany. Covering an area of 34,084 km (13,160 sq mi), it
4880-413: The 1st to the 4th century, when it belonged to the Weser–Rhine Germanic development sphere. During the Roman campaigns in Germania , this part of Westphalia came into the focus of military activities. It remains a matter of discussion whether or not the Minden region was the location of the military camp from where commander Publius Quinctilius Varus began marching to the, for Rome disastrous, Battle of
5002-414: The Bielefeld Stadtsparkasse (town's savings bank) and were sent all around the world in the early 1920s. These pieces are known as Stoffgeld – that is, money made from fabric. The town's synagogue was burned in 1938 during the Kristallnacht pogrom carried out against Jewish population. In 1944, Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses of the USAAF bombed the gas works at Bielefeld on 20 September and
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5124-403: The Bielefeld church Neustädter Marienkirche from around 1400 is among the most prominent masterpieces of artwork of the German Middle Ages. Two of the altarpieces, The Flagellation and The Crucifixion are now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York . Bielefeld is also the seat of the two largest Protestant social welfare establishments ( Diakonie ) in Europe ,
5246-495: The Bozi brothers constructed the first large mechanised spinning mill in 1851. The Ravensberg Spinning Mill was built from 1854 to 1857, and metal works began to open in the 1860s. Founded in 1867 as a Bielefeld sewing machine repair company, Dürkoppwerke AG employed 1,665 people in 1892; it used Waffenamt code "WaA547" from 1938 to 1939 as the Dürkopp-Werke, and merged with other Bielefeld companies to form Dürkopp Adler AG in 1990. Between 1904 and 1930, Bielefeld grew, opening
5368-451: The Catholic occupation the bishop ordered the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in 1630; the calendar was re-set in 1634 under the Swedish régime, but finally standardized to the new style in 1668. The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 secularized the Prince-Bishopric to the Principality of Minden and assigned the territory to the Prince Electorate of Brandenburg , later named Brandenburg-Prussia . Swedish troops moved back in 1650, and
5490-433: The East-Westphalian region from the Congress of Vienna until 1947. Furthermore, Minden has been of great military importance with fortifications from the 15th to the late 19th century, and is still a garrison town. Minden hosts diverse industries, none predominant. The town has been terminus of one of the oldest German railway trunks since 1847, adding to the multimodal transport hub between its harbour, federal roads, and
5612-442: The French troops abandoned Minden on 3 November 1813 after the disastrous Battle of Leipzig , they blew up some of the arches of the Weser bridge, with the damage replaced for decades by a wooden auxiliary construction only. Minden became part of the Kingdom of Prussia again as capital both of the District of Minden and the government region ( Regierungsbezirk Minden ) in the new formed Province of Westphalia . By royal order it
5734-425: The German Wirtschaftswunder . As of the late 1960s, repeated crises led to contractions of these industrial branches. On the other hand, producing sectors, particularly in mechanical engineering and metal and iron working industry, experienced substantial growth. Despite this structural change and an economic growth which was under national average, the 2018 GDP of 705 billion euro (1/4 of the total German GDP) made NRW
5856-571: The Rhine splits into many branches. The Pader , which flows entirely within the city of Paderborn , is considered Germany's shortest river. For many, North Rhine-Westphalia is synonymous with industrial areas and urban agglomerations. However, the largest part of the state is used for agriculture (almost 52%) and forests (25%). The state consists of five government regions ( Regierungsbezirke ), divided into 31 districts ( Kreise ) and 23 urban districts ( kreisfreie Städte ). In total, North Rhine-Westphalia has 396 municipalities (1997), including
5978-446: The Rhine, and by the end of the fifth century had conquered all the lands that had formerly been under Roman influence. By the eighth century, the Frankish dominion was firmly established in western Germany and northern Gaul, but at the same time, to the north, Westphalia was being taken over by Saxons pushing south. The Merovingian and Carolingian Franks eventually built an empire which controlled first their Ripuarian kin, and then
6100-404: The Rhine, but the Romans never succeeded in gaining a firm footing on the right bank, where the Sugambri neighboured several other tribes including the Tencteri and Usipetes . North of the Sigambri and the Rhine region were the Bructeri . As the power of the Roman empire declined, many of these tribes came to be seen collectively as Ripuarian Franks and they pushed forward along both banks of
6222-403: The Rudolf-Oetker-Halle several times each season. Foreign tours have taken the choir to many European countries, and also the U.S. and Japan. On Hünenburg there is an observation tower , next to a 164-metre-high (538 ft) radio tower . Bielefeld is home to the professional football team DSC Arminia Bielefeld . Currently a member of 3. Liga in the 2023-24 season , the club plays at
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#17327726099336344-409: The Saxons. On the division of the Carolingian Empire at the Treaty of Verdun , the part of the province to the east of the river fell to East Francia , while that to the west remained with the kingdom of Lotharingia . By the time of Otto I (d. 973), both banks of the Rhine had become part of the Holy Roman Empire , and the Rhenish territory was divided between the duchies of Upper Lorraine on
6466-415: The Schaumburg district. In both elevations the hard coal containing Berriasian layers reach near to the surface. By reason of the correspondence of the Bückeberg Formation to the Wealden Group , the type of coal found here was named Wealdenkohle in German. Mining in the Minden Coalfield started in the 17th century during the Swedish occupation and ended in the late 19th century. Another coal mine in
6588-472: The Teutoburg Forest in 9 CE . Likewise, the localization of the Battle of Idistaviso and the Battle of the Angrivarian Wall , both taking place in 16 CE , to the eastern part of Minden or its neighbour town of Porta Westfalica is uncertain. Definite archaeological proofs for these locations have not been found as of 2024. However, relicts of a temporary Roman military camp were found in Barkhausen in 2008, about 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) south of
6710-416: The Teutoburg Forest were incorporated. Starting in 1994, the city has been featured in the humorous Bielefeld conspiracy which satirises conspiracy theories by claiming that the city does not exist. Bielefeld is subdivided into the following ten (10) districts: Bielefeld has an oceanic climate ( Köppen : Cfb ; Trewartha : Dobk ). The average annual high temperature is 14.6 °C (58.3 °F),
6832-563: The Theological Seminary Bethel ( Kirchliche Hochschule Bethel ) and the Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences ( German : Hochschule Bielefeld ), which offers 21 courses in 8 different departments (agriculture and engineering are in Minden ) and has been internationally recognized for its photography school. Bielefeld has several vocational schools like Berufskolleg Senne. and Berufskolleg Bethel These schools focus on hands-on training in various fields, including business, healthcare, and technical disciplines. The current mayor of Bielefeld
6954-425: The Weser department. On 1 January 1811 Napoleon moved Minden to the department Ems-Supérieur of the French Empire ; now the Weser formed the eastern frontier between France and Westphalia. The rights of the Cathedral chapter in the cathedral close were abolished, the still existing convents were dissolved, and some ecclesiastical buildings like St John's church were secularized and used for military purposes. Before
7076-443: The Weser depression, Weichselian gravel deposits are found and used in gravel pits. The forestry use of the considerably inclined Wiehen Hills shows a striking contrast to the nearly woodless loess stripes of the northern foothills as well as north of the Bastau depression. The loess developed to most fertile soils ( luvisols ) and has been used as arable land since prehistoric times. Both of its stripes are key traffic veins, today
7198-464: The Weser – like Bremen and Münden – had similar rights, many conflicts arose about the partly contradictory legal positions. In course of the War of the Fourth Coalition , French troops occupied the town on 13 November 1806. In the following year Napoleon founded the Kingdom of Westphalia , governed by his brother Jerome Bonaparte as king, and Minden became part of this client state until 1810 as district capital in
7320-450: The Wiehen Hills is often connected with clear sky in the north of the hills. The Wiehen Hills escarpment extends more than 100 kilometres (62 mi) from west of Osnabrück to the Porta Westfalica gap and is continued in the Weser Hills range. The escarpment forming horizons incline gently flattening to the north; they are of jurassic age, overlayed by cretaceous sediments that form the hill of Bölhorst, and tertiary layers further to
7442-432: The allied French and Saxonian troops in a decisive battle. The region remained Prussian, with the adjacent region in the possession of the British King George II (being the Prince-elector of Hanover in personal union ). Because French troops had occupied the town twice during the war, King Frederick the Great realized that it could no more be defended in the old manner; thus he gave order to annul Minden's status as
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#17327726099337564-400: The annual low temperature is 5.4 °C (41.7 °F), and the annual precipitation is 866.4 millimetres (34.11 inches). The Alzey weather station has recorded the following extreme values: Bielefeld was a linen-producing town, and in the early 1920s the Town's Savings Bank (Stadtsparkasse) issued money made of linen, silk and velvet. These items were known as 'stoffgeld'. In addition to
7686-489: The beginning of the 14th century. The church was damaged in World War II and later rebuilt. Three times a day, a carillon can be heard. The most valuable treasure of this church is a carved altar from Antwerp , decorated with 250 figures. A small museum housed within illustrates the history of the church up to World War II. The largest church is the Neustädter Marienkirche , a Gothic hall church dating back to 1293, completed 1512. It stands 78 m (256 ft) tall and has
7808-407: The central bridgehead ( Brückenkopf ) becomes a river island . Today a system of two bridges crosses the valley. The Mittelland Canal connecting the river systems of Ems , Weser and Elbe traverses the town from west to east. These waterways cross in the northern area of the town at the Minden Aqueduct ( Wasserstraßenkreuz Minden ). The Weser leaves the Minden area at its lowest part in
7930-402: The centre of Minden. The name Minda was firstly mentioned in a Royal Frankish Annals record referring to an army assembly held by Charlemagne in 798 CE . The location of the so-named settlement is supposed at the left river side, where today's Fischerstadt exists. Directly neighbouring was the suspected site of a permanent frankish army camp and a royal estate, located favourably at
8052-516: The chamber was the Baron vom Stein (in office from 1796 to 1803). The Weser had long been an important trade route, and the legal regulation of trading had immense significance. In 1552 Emperor Charles V conferred the privilege of its merchants' unhindered trading on the whole Weser to the town of Minden. During the Thirty Years' War, Emperor Ferdinand II confirmed the staple right to Minden in 1627, meaning that all passing merchants had to offer their goods for sale for some days. As other towns on
8174-470: The citizens was demonstrated by the construction of the town hall, probably adjoining the separately governed cathedral precinct. As a result, the Bishop moved his official residence from Minden to Petershagen in 1307. The economic development of Minden was influenced by its location on a navigable river and by its success in grain trading since the Middle Ages. Minden got the right to store goods and could force passing ships to unload their cargo; furthermore
8296-406: The city in April 1945. Due to the presence of a number of barracks built during the 1930s and its location next to the main East-West Autobahn in northern Germany, after World War II Bielefeld became a headquarters town for the fighting command of the British Army of the Rhine – BAOR (the administrative and strategic headquarters were at Rheindahlen near the Dutch border). Until the 1980s there
8418-403: The city of Kranenburg with 9.2 m above sea level in the northwest of the state. Though, the deepest point overground results from mining. The open-pit Hambach reaches at Niederzier a deep of 293 m below sea level. At the same time, this is the deepest human-made dip in Germany. The most important rivers flowing at least partially through North Rhine-Westphalia include: the Rhine , the Ruhr ,
8540-496: The city with nearby counties. Buses also run throughout the area. Sparrenburg Castle is Bielefeld's characteristic landmark. It was built between 1240 and 1250 by Count Ludwig von Ravensberg . The 37-metre-high (121 ft) tower and the catacombs of the castle are open to the public. The Linen Weavers' Monument, with the German name Leineweber-Denkmal, created by the Tyrolean sculptor Perathoner, has been one of Bielefeld's most recognisable symbols for over 100 years. It stands as
8662-434: The competency of the state, e.g. cultural matters, the education system, matters of internal security, i.e. the police, building supervision, health supervision and the media; as opposed to matters that are reserved to Federal law. North Rhine-Westphalia uses the same electoral system as the Federal level in Germany: " Personalized proportional representation ". Every five years the citizens of North Rhine-Westphalia vote in
8784-547: The continuance of the House of Welf . The rights to hold a market, to mint coins, and to collect customs duties were granted in 977 by Emperor Otto II . Until the beginning of the 13th century, the bishop appointed the Wichgraf as secular administrator of the town. The citizens of Minden and their council obtained independence from the bishop's rule around 1230 and received a town charter in 1301. The increased self-confidence of
8906-516: The eastern quarter of Meißen worked from 1878 to 1958. A source of 10-percentage brine with its origin in the deep Zechstein series was pumped in the Bölhorst mine and once used for balneotherapy . The last relief -forming age was the pleistocene . During the Saalian glaciation the whole region was ice-covered, now verified by glacial erratic rocks from Scandinavia placed for decoration in
9028-542: The economically strongest state of Germany by GRP figures , as well as one of the most important economical areas in the world. Of Germany's top 100 corporations, 37 are based in North Rhine-Westphalia. On a per capita base, however, North Rhine-Westphalia remains one of the weaker among the Western German states. North Rhine-Westphalia attracts companies from both Germany and abroad. In 2009,
9150-561: The former town hall building on the Old Market Square ( Alter Markt ), which also contains a row of restored 16th and 17th-century townhouses with noteworthy late Gothic and Weser Renaissance style façades ( Bürgerhäuser am Alten Markt ). The oldest city church is Altstädter Nicolaikirche . It is a Gothic hall church with a height of 81.5 m (267 ft). It was founded in 1236 by the Bishop of Paderborn , and enlarged at
9272-463: The former kingdom, including the town of Osnabrück , had become part of the states of Hanover and Oldenburg . The flag of North Rhine-Westphalia is green-white-red with the combined coats of arms of the Rhineland (white line before green background, symbolizing the river Rhine), Westfalen (the white horse) and Lippe (the red rose). After the establishment of North Rhine-Westphalia in 1946,
9394-841: The fourth-largest on the European continent . The location of the Rhine-Ruhr at the heart of the European Blue Banana makes it well connected to other major European cities and metropolitan areas like the Randstad , the Flemish Diamond and the Frankfurt Rhine-Main Region . North Rhine-Westphalia was established in 1946 after World War II from the Prussian provinces of Westphalia and
9516-712: The free cities of Aachen and Cologne, and nearly a hundred small lordships and abbeys. The Prussian Rhine province was formed in 1822 and Prussia had the tact to leave the lower Rhenish districts in undisturbed possession of the liberal institutions to which they had become accustomed under the republican rule of the French. In 1920, the districts of Eupen and Malmedy were transferred to Belgium (see German-speaking Community of Belgium ). Around AD 1, numerous incursions occurred through Westphalia and perhaps even some permanent Roman or Romanized settlements. The Battle of Teutoburg Forest took place near Osnabrück and some of
9638-514: The historical town until the 19th century is today part of the quarter Innenstadt. Minden has no meteorological station, therefore the data of the next station Bückeburg in distance of 10 kilometres (6 miles) are given. The meteorological data of the whole East-Westphalian region comply with zone Cfb of the Köppen climate classification , named as Temperate Oceanic climate . This rough classification gives no suitable and detailed description of
9760-628: The interior ministry of North Rhine-Westphalia reported that the number of mosques with a Salafist influence had risen from 3 to 9, which indicated both an actual increase and improved reporting. According to German authorities, Salafism is incompatible with the principles codified in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany , in particular: democracy , the rule of law , and political order based on human rights . The politics of North Rhine-Westphalia takes place within
9882-410: The largest city of Dortmund and the Rhenish cities of Bonn , Cologne and Düsseldorf . 30 of the 80 largest cities in Germany are located within North Rhine-Westphalia. The state's capital is Düsseldorf; the state's largest city is Cologne. In 2022, there were 164,496 births and 234,176 deaths. The following table shows the ten largest cities of North Rhine-Westphalia: The following table shows
10004-652: The length of the Teutoburg Forest. Bielefeld is home to a significant number of internationally operating companies, including Dr. Oetker , DMG Mori (former Gildemeister), Möller Group , Goldbeck and Schüco . It has a university and several technical colleges ( Fachhochschulen ). Bielefeld is also known for the Bethel Institution . Holy Roman Empire 1214– Hanseatic League 14th century– Berg (state) 1346– Margraviate of Brandenburg 1614– Minden-Ravensberg 1719–1807 Kingdom of Westphalia Kingdom of Prussia ( Province of Westphalia ) 1815– Founded in 1214 by Count Hermann IV of Ravensberg to guard
10126-501: The lower Weser terrace was soon surrounded to the north and west by a settlement of artisans and merchants, who lived in a parish of their own. The development of the upper town began with the activities of ecclesiastical convents. A convent of Benedictine nuns removed from the Wiehen Hills to the northwestern edge of the town around St Mary approximately 1000 CE . In 1029, the Canonical Convent of St Martin appears, and
10248-440: The manufacture of home appliances and various heavy industries , Bielefeld companies include Dr. Oetker (food manufacturing), Möller Group (leather products and plastics), Seidensticker (clothing and textiles) and Bethel Institution with 17.000 employees. Bielefeld University was founded in 1969. The first professors included the well-known German sociologist Niklas Luhmann . Other institutions of higher education include
10370-514: The marshaling yard on 30 September; Bielefeld was bombed again on 7 October and the RAF bombed the town on the night of 4/5 December. On 17 January 1945, B-17s bombed the nearby Paderborn marshalling yard, and the railway viaduct in the suburb of Schildesche. On 14 March the RAF bombed the viaduct again, wrecking it. This was the first use of the RAF's 10 tonne Grand Slam bomb . American troops entered
10492-551: The mayor still holds office in the Old City Hall, most of the city's administration is housed in the adjacent New City Hall ( Neues Rathaus ). The City Theatre ( Stadttheater ) is part of the same architectural ensemble as the Old City Hall, also built in 1904. It has a notable Jugendstil façade, is Bielefeld's largest theatre and home of the Bielefeld Opera . Another theatre ( Theater am Alten Markt ) resides in
10614-1127: The ministers involved, is required to sign it and announce it in the Law and Ordinance Gazette. These are the minister-presidents of North Rhine-Westphalia : For the current state government, see Wüst cabinet . The state has Aachen Cathedral , the Cologne Cathedral , the Zeche Zollverein in Essen , the Augustusburg Palace in Brühl and the Imperial Abbey of Corvey in Höxter which are all World Heritage Sites . North Rhine-Westphalia hosts film festivals in Cologne , Bonn, Dortmund , Duisburg , Münster , Oberhausen and Lünen . Other large festivals include Rhenish carnivals , Ruhrtriennale . Every year Gamescom
10736-425: The monument has been a visible element of the southern view from Minden. The first line of the Minden tramway has connected the primary site of the memorial with Minden since 1893 when the memorial was still under construction. The Minden District Railways ( Mindener Kreisbahnen ), founded in 1898, built up a narrow-gauge railway net with three lines until World War I. Minden got a municipal water supply system in
10858-405: The new conditions for construction of a new town quarter in a half-circle to the north and west of the old centre with prestigious buildings on spacious plots, but the urgent narrowness inside the centre maintained. A lot of buildings in the style of historicism replaced older ones at the market place and in the main streets. The lack of buildings outside the fortifications was favourable for planning
10980-712: The nobility of these areas often sought to preserve the idea of a preeminent duke within Lotharingia, something claimed by the Dukes of Limburg , and the Dukes of Brabant . Such struggles as the War of the Limburg Succession therefore continued to create military and political links between what is now Rhineland-Westphalia and neighbouring Belgium and the Netherlands . In spite of its dismembered condition and
11102-712: The north and northeast, Rhineland-Palatinate to the south and Hesse to the southeast. Approximately half of the state is located in the relative low-lying terrain of the Westphalian Lowland and the Rhineland , both extending broadly into the North German Plain . A few isolated hill ranges are located within these lowlands, among them the Hohe Mark, the Beckum Hills , the Baumberge and
11224-483: The north. The underground basis is of palaeozoic material from Devonian to Permian . A new described genus of dinosaur, the Wiehenvenator , was found in the Wiehen Hills near Haddenhausen, popularly referred to as the "Monster of Minden". The Porta sandstone ( Portasandstein ) of the Wiehen Hills has been used as building material for centuries and is seen in many public and private buildings in Minden and
11346-600: The northern part of Rhine Province ( North Rhine ), and the Free State of Lippe by the British military administration in Allied-occupied Germany and became a state of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. The city of Bonn served as the federal capital until the reunification of Germany in 1990 and as the seat of government until 1999. Culturally, North Rhine-Westphalia is not
11468-469: The older village. After the dissolution of the Duchy of Saxony in 1180 the bishop became sovereign of the Prince-Bishopric of Minden as a constitutional territory of the Holy Roman Empire , and remained in this status until 1648. During the Investiture controversy two bishops were nominated at the same time in 1080 both by the papal supporters and those of King Henry IV . The Cathedral close on
11590-537: The place where ways from the south were bundled by the Porta Westfalica gap, connected with a west–east way parallel to the Wiehen and Weser hills, and at a ford through the Weser. The region had already been converted to Christianity, when around 800 CE a bishopric was founded in Minden, one of the seven diocese foundations established under the rule of Charlemagne. The first cathedral was built nearby to
11712-484: The plains of the Lower Rhine region and parts of the Central Uplands ( die Mittelgebirge ) up to the gorge of Porta Westfalica . The state covers an area of 34,083 km (13,160 sq mi) and shares borders with Belgium ( Wallonia ) in the southwest and the Netherlands ( Limburg , Gelderland and Overijssel ) in the west and northwest. It has borders with the German states of Lower Saxony to
11834-694: The population of the state since 1930. The values until 1960 are the average of the yearly population, from 1965 the population at year end is used. Source: Statistische Ämter des Bundes Und der Länder As of 2020 , 50% of the population of the state adhered to the Roman Catholic Church , 25% to the Protestant Church in Germany , and 28% of the population is irreligious or adheres to other denominations or religions. North Rhine-Westphalia ranks first in population among German states for both Roman Catholics and Protestants. In 2016,
11956-408: The principality administration was restored from Petershagen to Minden in 1668. The Brandenburgian "Great Elector" Frederick William ( r. 1640–1688 ) confirmed all traditional rights of the town, but under his successors King Frederick I ( r. 1688–1713 ) and Frederick William I ( r. 1713–1740 ) the town was subordinated to the strongly centralized Prussian government in
12078-503: The quarter of Leteln, at 40 metres (131 feet), while the highest part is the top of Häverstädter Berg with 272 metres (892 feet), at the edge of the Wiehen Hills in the quarter of Haddenhausen. The altitude of the town is given officially as 42.2 metres (138.5 feet), based on the elevation of the town hall. The town covers an area of 101.12 square kilometres (39.04 sq mi). It extends 13.1 km (8.1 miles) from north to south and 14.1 km (9 mi) from east to west. Minden
12200-523: The region. Another valuable material is iron ore, that was being mined until the first half of the 20th century. Mining relics remain: e.g. the Potts Park , an amusement park in Dützen, on a former ore mine. The Bölhorst hill 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north of the Wiehen Hills is formed by horizons of Lower Cretaceous age and, in geological sense, is the western extension of the eastward Bückeberg in
12322-420: The regional situation. The furthest north-eastern part of East-Westphalia is the driest of the state, though located in a small distance to the sea, caused by the main direction of the cyclones from roughly west to east with its prevailing south-westerly rain-bringing weather fronts . So the Minden region lies in the leeward rain shadow of the Teutoburg Forest and the Wiehen Hills. A cloudy weather south of
12444-699: The southwest of the state. The Rothaargebirge in the border region with Hesse rises to height of about 800 m above sea level. The highest of these mountains are the Langenberg , at 843.2 m above sea level, the Kahler Asten (840.7 m) and the Clemensberg (839.2 m). The planimetrically determined centre of North Rhine-Westphalia is located in the south of Dortmund- Aplerbeck in the Aplerbecker Mark (51° 28' N, 7° 33' Ö). Its westernmost point
12566-534: The spirit of absolutism . The 400-year civil self-determination ended with two town regulations from 1711 and 1721; the representatives of the town were no longer elected for a certain period, but for life, and they needed royal confirmation for inauguration. The Battle of Minden took place some miles to the north of Minden on 1 August 1759, during the Seven Years' War of 1756 to 1763. The allied forces of Prussia, Great Britain , and some German allies defeated
12688-517: The state had the most foreign direct investments ( FDI ) anywhere in Germany. Around 13,100 foreign companies from the most important investment countries control their German or European operations from bases in North Rhine-Westphalia. Bielefeld Bielefeld ( German pronunciation: [ˈbiːləfɛlt] ) is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia , Germany. With
12810-410: The state's borders is 1,645 km. The following countries and states have a border with North Rhine-Westphalia: North Rhine-Westphalia has a population of approximately 18.1 million inhabitants (more than the entire former East Germany , and slightly more than the Netherlands ) and is centred around the polycentric Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region , which includes the industrial Ruhr region with
12932-411: The sufferings it underwent at the hands of its French neighbours in various periods of warfare, the Rhenish territory prospered greatly and stood in the foremost rank of German culture and progress. Aachen was the place of coronation of the German emperors, and the ecclesiastical principalities of the Rhine bulked largely in German history. Prussia first set foot on the Rhine in 1609 by the occupation of
13054-696: The territories west of the Rhine were occupied by the Eburones and east of the Rhine he reported the Ubii (across from Cologne) and the Sugambri to their north. The Ubii and some other Germanic tribes such as the Cugerni were later settled on the west side of the Rhine in the Roman province of Germania Inferior . Julius Caesar conquered the tribes on the left bank, and Augustus established numerous fortified posts on
13176-652: The town became a flourishing member of the Hanseatic League . The precise year of the first Weser bridge construction is not known. A previous wooden pedestrian bridge was replaced in the late 13th century by another one fit for wagon transport. In the early 16th century Minden got a stone arch bridge . At the end of the medieval age the papal legate Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa visited some German church provinces to remedy deficits in pastoral care and clerical administration. During his journey he stayed in Minden for one week in August 1451, where he signed various decrees, but on
13298-625: The town, an area that had already been part of the main fighting during the Battle of Minden in 1759. After the Congress of Vienna of 1815 had passed general principles of free traffic on the main rivers, the six Weser-states of the German Confederation annulated all restrictions and most of the financial burdens for shipping on the river by the Weser Shipping Act ( Weserschifffahrtsakte ) of 1823. The first steam ship
13420-440: The town. The Bastau depression, a late-Saalian Weser bed, became a marshy peat-covered area; the peat is completely exhausted for its use in firing. In the time of Weichselian glaciation the glacier did not reach this region. In the periglacial climate of that time fine material ( silt ) was blown and accumulated north of the Wiehen Hills as well as north of the Bastau depression in either small west–east stripes of loess . In
13542-440: The tricolor was first introduced in 1948, but was not formally adopted until 1953. The plain variant of the tricolor is considered the civil flag and state ensign, while government authorities use the state flag ( Landesdienstflagge ) which is defaced with the state's coat of arms . The state ensign can easily be mistaken for a distressed flag of Hungary , as well as the former national flag of Iran (1964–1980). The same flag
13664-524: The urban districts, which are municipalities by themselves. The government regions have an assembly elected by the districts and municipalities, while the Landschaftsverband has a directly elected assembly. The five government regions of North Rhine-Westphalia each belong to one of the two Landschaftsverbände : The state's area covers a maximum distance of 291 km from north to south, and 266 km from east to west. The total length of
13786-526: The whole district, was the manufacture of cigars ; this branch decreased after World War I and finally vanished, because the growing market share of cigarettes had been ignored. Minden was seat of a Chamber of commerce from 1849 to 1932, when it was merged with those of Bielefeld. Overpopulation and unemployment were the reasons for an enormous emigration from the Minden Land ; various emigration agencies had their location in Minden. The town remained
13908-495: The whole this project did not achieve the intended aims. The Lutheran Reformation was introduced in 1529 during a vacancy after the death of the not very respected Bishop Francis of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel , and a 36-man unit constituted itself as town regiment. A new church order, based on Martin Luther 's principles, was announced from the pulpit of St Martin's Church ( Martinikirche ) on 13 February 1530. The Dominican convent
14030-477: Was a large British presence in the barracks housing the headquarters of the British First Corps and support units, as well as schools, NAAFI shops, officers' and sergeants' messes and several estates of married quarters. The British presence was heavily scaled back after the reunification of Germany and most of the infrastructure has disappeared. In 1973 the first villages on the south side of
14152-521: Was buried in Enger , which is also a subject of a legend. Along with Eastphalia and Engern , Westphalia ( Westfalahi ) was originally a district of the Duchy of Saxony . In 1180, Westphalia was elevated to the rank of a duchy by Emperor Barbarossa . The Duchy of Westphalia comprised only a small area south of the Lippe River . Parts of Westphalia came under Brandenburg-Prussian control during
14274-398: Was declared a fortress once more. The fortress regulations ordered a 600-metre (2,000 ft) area in front of the wall being free of any buildings, not even vertical gravestones were allowed. The refortification had severe consequences, hindering any extension of the town area and thus economic development. The Infanterie-Regiment "Prinz Friedrich der Niederlande" (2. Westfälisches) Nr. 15
14396-525: Was dissolved in 1529, and its buildings have been used since 1530 as a location of the new founded municipal Gymnasium , the first Protestant Gymnasium in Westphalia. Imperial Catholic troops occupied Minden from 1625 to 1634 during the Thirty Years' War . Protestant Swedish troops laid siege to Minden and captured it in 1634. Queen Christina of Sweden ( r. 1632–1654 ) granted Minden full sovereignty in internal and external affairs. During
14518-444: Was founded by Napoleon and was a French vassal state . This state only shared the name with the historical region; it contained only a relatively small part of Westphalia, consisting instead mostly of Hessian and Eastphalian regions. After the Congress of Vienna , the Kingdom of Prussia received a large amount of territory in the Westphalian region and created the province of Westphalia in 1815. The northernmost portions of
14640-422: Was put in operation in 1836, and a first harbour basin was built in 1859 on the east side of the river, connected with the railway in 1863. In the following decades, the great majority of transferred goods were imported goods, as export was of low importance. Inland shipment grew enormously after the completion of the Mittelland Canal and its connection to the Weser by the shaft lock in 1915. The trunk line of
14762-473: Was stationed in the garrison from 1820 to 1919, when it was dissolved; the naming Colonel-in-chief was Prince Frederick of the Netherlands and after his death Queen Emma of the Netherlands . Frederick's wife Princess Louise of Prussia was Colonel-in-chief of the Infanterie-Regiment " Graf Bülow von Dennewitz " (6. Westfälisches) Nr. 55 , that was partly stationed in Minden, too. Since 1999,
14884-644: Was used by the Rhenish Republic (1923–1924) as a symbol of independence and freedom. The horse on the coat of arms is a reference to the Saxon Steed , a heraldic motif associated with both Westphalia and Lower Saxony . The horse first featured in the 15th century coat of arms of the Duchy of Westphalia, before being inherited by the Prussian province of Westphalia and finally the modern state of North Rhine-Westphalia. North Rhine-Westphalia encompasses
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