Detmold () is one of the five of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

, Germany, located in the north-east of the state. It is congruent with region of Ostwestfalen-Lippe (OWL, East

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

–

Lippe Lippe () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Herford, Minden-Lübbecke, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld, which forms the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe. The ...

). The Regierungsbezirk was created in 1947 when the former state of Lippe was incorporated into North Rhine-Westphalia by merging the former Regierungsbezirk Minden with the territory of

Lippe-Detmold Lippe (later Lippe-Detmold and then again Lippe) was a historical state in Germany, ruled by the House of Lippe. It was located between the Weser river and the southeast part of the Teutoburg Forest. It was founded in the 1640s under a separ ...

. The Regierungsbezirk Minden dates back to 1815, when the municipality type was created initially.

Location

The Regierungsbezirk Detmold is located in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia and therefore it forms the area where the German low mountains are divided from the

North German Plain The North German Plain or Northern Lowland (german: Norddeutsches Tiefland) is one of the major geographical regions of Germany. It is the German part of the North European Plain. The region is bounded by the coasts of the North Sea and the Balt ...

. As the Regierungsbezirk has an expanse of circa 6,500 km², it is one fifth of the area of North Rhine-Westphalia. North and east of the Regierungsbezirk is the German state of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

, south there is the state of

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...

. At the western border is the Regierungsbezirk of

Arnsberg Arnsberg (; wep, Arensperg) is a town in the Hochsauerland county, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the location of the Regierungsbezirk Arnsberg administration and one of the three local administration offices of the Hoch ...

and the Regierungsbezirk of

Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state di ...

Administration

The administration is located in

Detmold Detmold () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of . It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947. Today it is the administrative center of t ...

in the

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

Administrative divisions

The Regierungsbezirk consists of six districts with 69

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

, and of one district-free city.

History

The Regierungsbezirk Detmold has two historical roots: *the East Westphalian part (almost 80% of the area) belonged to the former Prussian Province of Westphalia and there it formed the unit of the Regierungsbezirk Minden. In 1946 the Prussian Province formed the new state of North Rhine-Westphalia along with the northern

Rhineland The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section. Term Historically, the Rhinelands ...

. *the region roughly around the today's district of Lippe was called ''Land Lippe'' until 1947 and it was a separate German State just like

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

. Until 1918 it had been a principality (Fürstentum), then a Free State () and so it has a different historical background than East Westphalia.

Economy

The gross domestic product (GDP) of the region was 77.7 billion € in 2018, accounting for 2.3% of German economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 34,700 € or 115% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 97% of the EU average.

References

External links

Official administrative website in German
Government regions of Germany Geography of North Rhine-Westphalia NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union {{NorthRhineWestphalia-geo-stub