Bielefeld

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File:Logo Stadt Bielefeld.svg
Logo of the City of Bielefeld

Bielefeld (Script error: No such module "IPA".) is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 342,952,[1] it is also the most populous city in the administrative region (Script error: No such module "Lang".) 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 the length of the Teutoburg Forest.[2]

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 (Script error: No such module "Lang".). Bielefeld is also known for the Bethel Institution.

History

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Historical Affiliations

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–

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File:Bielefeld Innenstadt.jpg
Old Town Hall in Bielefeld (1904)
File:Bielefeld Niederwall Wasserspiel über Stadtbahntunnel.jpg
Bielefeld City

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Founded in 1214 by Count Hermann IV of Ravensberg to guard 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.[3] Bielefeld was part of the Kingdom of Westphalia when it was created in 1807.[4] In 1815 it was incorporated into the Kingdom of Prussia following the defeat of France and the Congress of Vienna.[5]

After the Cologne-Minden railway opened in 1849, 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.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

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.[6]

Between 1904 and 1930, Bielefeld grew, opening a rebuilt railway station, a municipal theatre, and finally, the Rudolf-Oetker-Halle concert hall, renowned for its excellent acoustics.[7] The Dürkopp car was produced from 1898 to 1927. After printing emergency money (Template:Langx) 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 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.[8]

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[9] and the marshaling yard on 30 September;[10] Bielefeld was bombed again on 7 October[11] and the RAF bombed the town on the night of 4/5 December.[12] On 17 January 1945, B-17s bombed the nearby Paderborn marshalling yard, and the railway viaduct in the suburb of Schildesche.[13] 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 the city in April 1945.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

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 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, with the final departure in 2020.[14]Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

In 1973 the first villages on the south side of the Teutoburg Forest were incorporated.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Starting in 1994, the city has been the subject of the humorous Bielefeld conspiracy, which satirises conspiracy theories by claiming that the city does not exist.[15][16]

Subdivisions

Bielefeld is subdivided into the following ten (10) districts:

  • Bielefeld-Mitte (downtown)
  • Brackwede
  • Dornberg
  • Gadderbaum
  • Heepen
  • Jöllenbeck
  • Schildesche
  • Senne
  • Sennestadt
  • Stieghorst

Climate

Bielefeld has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb; Trewartha: Dobk). The average annual high temperature is Script error: No such module "convert"., the annual low temperature is Script error: No such module "convert"., and the annual precipitation is Script error: No such module "convert"..

The Alzey weather station has recorded the following extreme values:[17]

  • Its highest temperature was Script error: No such module "convert". on 25 July 2019.
  • Its lowest temperature was Script error: No such module "convert". on 13 February 2021.
  • Its greatest annual precipitation was Script error: No such module "convert". in 2023.
  • Its least annual precipitation was Script error: No such module "convert". in 2018.
  • The longest annual sunshine was 1,918.3 hours in 2022.
  • The shortest annual sunshine was 1,418.4 hours in 2013.

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Industry and education

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 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 the Theological Seminary Bethel (Kirchliche Hochschule Bethel) and the Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences (Template:Langx), which offers 21 courses in 8 different departments (agriculture and engineering are in Minden) and has been internationally recognized for its photography school.[18] Bielefeld has several vocational schools like Berufskolleg Senne.[19] and Berufskolleg Bethel.[20] These schools focus on hands-on training in various fields, including business, healthcare, and technical disciplines.

Demographics

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Largest groups of foreign residents (excluding persons with dual citizenship)[21]
Nationality Population (August 2025)
Turkey 11,096
Iraq 6,196
Ukraine 5,410
Syria 4,113
Greece 3,766
Poland 3,461
File:Einwohnerentwicklung von Bielefeld - ab 1871.svg
Population development since 1871

Politics

Mayor

File:2020 Bielefeld mayoral election (2nd round).svg
Results of the second round of the 2020 mayoral election

The current mayor (Oberbürgermeister) of Bielefeld is Christiana Bauer of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), who was elected in 2025.

Script error: No such module "Unsubst". The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, with a runoff held on 27 September, and the results were as follows:

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Candidate Party First round Second round
Votes % Votes %
bgcolor=Template:Party color| Pit Clausen Social Democratic Party 53,836 39.7 57,803 56.1
bgcolor=Template:Party color| Ralf Nettelstroth Christian Democratic Union 39,782 29.3 45,246 43.9
bgcolor=Template:Party color| Kerstin Haarmann Alliance 90/The Greens 16,903 12.5
bgcolor=Template:Party color| Jan Maik Schlifter Free Democratic Party 6,984 5.1
bgcolor=Template:Party color| Onur Ocak The Left 5,503 4.1
bgcolor=Template:Party color| Florian Sander Alternative for Germany 4,708 3.5
bgcolor=Template:Party color| Lena Oberbäumer Die PARTEI 2,799 2.1
Rainer Ludwig League of Free Citizens 1,612 1.2
bgcolor=Template:Party color| Gordana Rammert Pirate Party Germany 1,206 0.9
Sami Elias Alliance for Innovation and Justice 1,204 0.9
Michael Gugat Local Democracy in Bielefeld 958 0.7
Valid votes 135,765 99.4 103,049 99.4
Invalid votes 812 0.6 612 0.6
Total 136,577 100.0 103,661 100.0
Electorate/voter turnout 254,778 53.6 254,757 40.7
Source: State Returning Officer

City council

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File:2020 Bielefeld City Council election.svg
Results of the 2020 city council election

The Bielefeld city council governs the city alongside the mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020. The SPD, the Greens, and the Left made a coalition[22] with 35 of the 66 seats in the council. The full results were as follows:

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Party Votes % +/- Seats +/-
bgcolor=Template:Party color| Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 37,503 27.7 Decrease 2.5 18 Decrease 2
bgcolor=Template:Party color| Social Democratic Party (SPD) 33,716 24.9 Decrease 5.9 16 Decrease 4
bgcolor=Template:Party color| Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) 30,166 22.3 Increase 6.4 15 Increase 4
bgcolor=Template:Party color| Free Democratic Party (FDP) 9,529 7.0 Increase 4.1 5 Increase 3
bgcolor=Template:Party color| The Left (Die Linke) 8,278 6.1 Decrease 1.2 4 Decrease 1
bgcolor=Template:Party color| Alternative for Germany (AfD) 4,630 3.4 New 2 New
bgcolor=Template:Party color| Die PARTEI (PARTEI) 3,936 2.9 New 2 New
League of Free Citizens (BfB) 2,161 1.6 Decrease 6.9 1 Decrease 5
Close to the Citizens (Bürgernähe) 1,662 1.2 Increase 0.3 1 ±0
Alliance for Innovation and Justice (BIG) 1,339 1.0 New 1 New
Local Democracy in Bielefeld (LiB) 1,284 0.9 New 1 New
Independent Citizens' Forum (UBF) 505 0.4 New 0 New
Citizens' Movement for Civil Courage (BBZ) 444 0.3 New 0 New
Independent Jürgen Zilke 13 0.0 New 0 New
Valid votes 135,166 99.0
Invalid votes 1,319 1.0
Total 136,485 100.0 66 ±0
Electorate/voter turnout 254,778 53.6 Increase 2.6
Source: State Returning Officer

Transport

Two major autobahns, 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.[23]

Bielefeld has a small airstrip, Flugplatz Bielefeld,[24] 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[25] (formerly Stadtwerke Bielefeld – Verkehrsbetriebe) and "BVO".[26] The Bielefeld Stadtbahn has four major lines and regional trains connect different parts of the city with nearby counties. Buses also run throughout the area.

Main sights

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File:Sparrenburg innovative sights.JPG
Sparrenburg Castle
File:Alter-Markt-Bielefeld.JPG
Old Market Place (Alter Markt)
File:Bielefeld Kesselbrink.jpg
The Kesselbrink outside the Old Town

Sparrenburg Castle is Bielefeld's characteristic landmark. It was built between 1240 and 1250 by Count Ludwig von Ravensberg. The Script error: No such module "convert". 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 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.[27]

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 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 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 Script error: No such module "convert".. It was founded in 1236 by the Bishop of Paderborn, and enlarged at 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 Script error: No such module "convert". tall and has a length of Script error: No such module "convert".. 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 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, 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, the city's municipal botanical garden (Botanischer Garten Bielefeld) and the Olderdissen Heimat-Zoo,[28] a zoological garden based on German wildlife. 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 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 Script error: No such module "convert". radio tower.

Sport

File:2019-05-25 Radrennbahn Bielefeld.jpg
Radrennbahn Bielefeld (2019)

Bielefeld is home to the professional football team DSC Arminia Bielefeld. Currently a member of the 2. Liga in the 2025–26 season,[29] the club plays at the SchücoArena stadium in the west of the town centre.[30]

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Notable people

Born before 1900

File:Christian Friedrich Nasse.jpg
Christian Friedrich Nasse
File:Stenner Hermann Museumsberg Flensburg Hans-Christansen-Haus.JPG
Self-portrait Hermann Stenner 1911

Born 1900–1950

File:Friedrich von Bodelschwingh.jpg
Friedrich von Bodelschwingh

Born 1951–2000

Born 2001 and later

Twin towns – sister cities

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Bielefeld is twinned with:[31]

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References

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  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ Hamburgh Mail, The Times 14 December 1816
  4. ↑ The Times, 9 November 1809; Letters to the Editor
  5. ↑ The Times, 26 August 1815; News
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Many examples can be found on the Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". website, where a new catalogue listing all the variants of different coloured borders and edges made on the 100m piece is being compiled.
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".September 1944
  11. ↑ McKillop, October 1944
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ McKillop, January 1945
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ Cite error: Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".Script error: No such module "Namespace detect".
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  20. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  21. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  22. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  23. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  24. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  25. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  26. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  27. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  28. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  29. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  30. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  31. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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Further reading

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External links

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