Ibbenbüren

Ibbenbüren

Christ Church, Ibbenbüren

Coat of arms
Ibbenbüren

Coordinates: 52°16′40″N 7°43′00″E / 52.27778°N 7.71667°ECoordinates: 52°16′40″N 7°43′00″E / 52.27778°N 7.71667°E
Country Germany
State North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region Münster
District Steinfurt
Government
 • Mayor Heinz Steingröver (SPD)
Area
 • Total 108.85 km2 (42.03 sq mi)
Population (2013-12-31)[1]
 • Total 50,438
 • Density 460/km2 (1,200/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 49477, 49479
Dialling codes 05451, 05459 (Uffeln), 05455 (Dörenthe)
Vehicle registration ST (until 1975: TE)
Website www.ibbenbueren.de

Ibbenbüren or Ibbenbueren is a medium-sized town in the district of Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is on position 185 of the largest cities in Germany and the largest city in Tecklenburger Land.

Geography

Ibbenbüren (Ibbenbueren) is situated on the Ibbenbürener Aa river, at the northwest end of the Teutoburger forest and rather exactly in the center of the two cities Rheine in the west and Osnabrück in the east, both approximately 20 km away.

History

Ibbenbüren is mentioned in documentary evidence for the first time in 1146, when the bishop of Osnabrück at that time, Philipp of Katzenelnbogen, donated a tenth of his possessions in Ibbenbüren to the Getrudenkloster of Osnabrück. Although Ibbenbüren is already much older and a document of the year 1348 already occupies the establishment of a church in the year 799, the year 1146 is officially considered as the year of the foundation of Ibbenbüren.

In the years 1219 and/or 1234 it appears as a church village. In this transition of the High Middle Ages to the Late Middle Ages the noble gentlemen of Ibbenbüren, that is the abbot of Herford and the counts of Tecklenburg, possessed basic rule in the place. To this time Ibbenbüren belonged to the Diocese of Osnabrück. During this time the castle of Ibbenbüren was built by the noble gentlemen of Ibbenbüren starting from 1150. The last remains of this castle are the remnants of the heath tower in the proximity of the Aasee.

After the noble gentleman of Ibbenbüren died out, Ibbenbüren came under the exclusive rule of the counts of Tecklenburg. This rule lasted until the end of the 15th or beginning of the 16th century, when Ibbenbüren finally fell into the possession of Charles V in 1548 by awkward and luckless tactics used by the counts of Tecklenburg. Karl donated it to his sister Mary of Habsburg, governor of the Netherlands. Ibbenbüren was assigned to the office of Lingen. Into this period also falls the beginning of coal mining.

After Ibbenbüren repeatedly fell under control of the Netherlands and Spain in the Dutch Revolt, it was assigned to the House of Orange-Nassau after the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. Around this time was the beginning of iron ore mining in and around Ibbenbüren, which ended in the first half of the 19th century. By succession it came under Prussian rule in 1702. On February 1, 1724, Ibbenbüren attained municipal rights, which stood among other things in connection with the introduction of excise duty. In 1743 the first magistrate and mayor were appointed.

During the rule of Napoleon Bonaparte at the beginning of the 19th century, Ibbenbüren belonged to the first French Empire, until it was freed by Prussian and Russian troops in 1815. It came back under Prussian rule on January 1, 1816, and was assigned to the district of Tecklenburg. After the end of World War II the city Ibbenbüren and the municipality Ibbenbüren Land were formed on December 31, 1974, into the department federation Ibbenbüren, resulting in today's city of Ibbenbüren. With the simultaneous dissolution of the district of Tecklenburg and fusion with the old district of Burgsteinfurt, Ibbenbüren was assigned to the new district of Steinfurt.

Panorama shot of the city centre of Ibbenbüren and the mountain "Dörenther Berg". In the background on the "Schafberg" one can recognize the mine plants as well as the Ibbenbüren power station.

Coats of arms

Coats of arms shows a golden anchor on blue reason. City colors are blue and gold. The origin of the anchor is not free of doubts clarified yet. Such is in addition, in the coats of arms of some neighboring places.

References

  1. ↑ "Amtliche Bevölkerungszahlen". Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW (in German). 4 September 2014.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ibbenbüren.