Bielefeld travel guide — Bielefeld tourism and travel information

Bielefeld travel guide

about Bielefeld

Bielefeld is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on both the western and eastern slopes of the Teutoburg Forest. Population: 325,000. The current mayor is Eberhard David.

The name Bielefeld is derived from the old name bileveld, which means "hilly field". The centre of Bielefeld is situated on the eastern side of the Teutoburg Forest. Today there are boroughs on the opposite side and on the hilltops incorporated into Bielefeld. Bielefeld separates the two main ridges of the Northern Teutoburg Forest and the Southern Teutoburg Forest from each other.

Bielefeld history

Bielefeld was founded in 1214 in order to guard a pass crossing the Teutoburg Forest. A great castle, the Sparrenburg, was built in the middle of the medieval town - it remained impregnable through the Middle Ages. The present view of the castle does not resemble the medieval look: the Sparrenburg decayed during the 18th and 19th centuries and was restored in 1879.

In the 15th century Bielefeld was a minor member of the Hanseatic League. Afterwards it began to trade linen and became famous as "the town of linen". Major industries in Bielefeld are currently food processing, household appliances, information technology, and also various heavy industries. Bielefeld is also the seat of the two largest protestant social welfare works (Diakonie) in Europe, the von Bodelschwingsche Anstalten Bethel and the Evangelisches Johanneswerk (http://www.johanneswerk.de/).

Bielefeld has a university (http://www.uni-bielefeld.de) since 1969. Among the first professors of the university was the important contemporary German sociologist Niklas Luhmann. Other institutions of higher education in Bielefeld are the Theological Seminary Bethel (Kirchliche Hochschule Bethel) and a Fachhochschule. Among important cultural institutions for the region and beyond are the art museum (Kunsthalle) and the Rudolf Oetker concert hall (Rudolf-Oetker-Halle).

In 1973 the first villages on the opposite side of the Teutoburg Forest were incorporated. The current districts of the city are: Brackwede, Dornberg, Gadderbaum, Heepen, Jöllenbeck, Mitte (Downtown), Schildesche (with the irregular pronounciation /'ʃɪldɛʃǝ/ - similar to an adjective rather than a noun), Senne, Sennestadt, and Stieghorst.

Near cities to Bielefeld

• Paderborn travel guide 37 km
• Hagen travel guide 42 km
• Osnabruck travel guide 43 km
• Munster travel guide 62 km
• Dortmund travel guide 91 km
• Hanover travel guide 93 km
• Hamm travel guide 99 km
• Hildesheim travel guide 99 km
• Recklinghausen travel guide 100 km
• Kassel travel guide 100 km

Near webcams to Bielefeld

• Gütersloh - Berliner Platz webcam 16 km
• Minden - Marktplatz webcam 40 km
• Osnabruck - Marktplatz webcam 42 km
• Osnabruck - City Cam webcam 42 km
• Dümmer-See webcam 55 km
• Munster Osnabruck - airport webcam 58 km
• Munster webcam 61 km
• Brocken 1.142 m webcam 84 km
• Dortmund - Hohe Strasse webcam 92 km
• Dortmund webcam 92 km

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Bielefeld travel services

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