Ibbenbüren ( Westphalian: ''Ippenbürn'') is a medium-sized town in the district of

Steinfurt Steinfurt (; Westphalian: ''Stemmert'') is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Steinfurt. From roughly 1100-1806, it was the capital of the County of Steinfurt. Geography Steinfurt is situated nort ...

, in

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 Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

Geography

Ibbenbüren is situated on the Ibbenbürener Aa river, at the northwest end of the

Teutoburger forest The Teutoburg Forest ( ; german: Teutoburger Wald ) is a range of low, forested hills in the German states of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. Until the 17th century, the official name of the hill ridge was Osning. It was first renamed ...

and rather exactly in the center of the two cities

Rheine Rheine () is a city in the district of Steinfurt in Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city in the district and the location of Rheine Air Base. Geography Rheine is on the river Ems, approx. north of Münster, approx. west of Osnabrück a ...

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 A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

at that time, Philipp of Katzenelnbogen, donated a tenth of his possessions in Ibbenbüren to the Getrudenkloster of Osnabrück. Although Ibbenbüren was already much older and a document of the year 1348 mentions the establishment of a church in the year 799, though 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 the transition from the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended ...

to the

Late Middle Ages The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Europe, the Ren ...

the noble gentlemen of Ibbenbüren, that is the abbot of Herford and the counts of Tecklenburg, possessed basic rule of the place. At this time Ibbenbüren belonged to the

Diocese of Osnabrück In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

. 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

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 e ...

n 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 Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...

at the beginning of the 19th century, Ibbenbüren belonged to the

first French Empire The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental E ...

, until it was freed by Prussian and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

n 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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

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

. On 16 May 2015, a passenger train collided with a vehicle on a level crossing at Ibbenbüren. Two people were killed and 20 were injured, three seriously.

Coat of arms

Coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

displays an upright golden anchor on a blue shield. The colours blue and gold represent the city colours. The origin of the anchor is not known, but the anchor is also on the coat of arms of the neighbouring earldom of Lingen, which has a harbour. The anchor could depict the port customs office, which was owned by the earl.

Transport

The town has three stations on the Löhne-Rheine railway provides connections to Osnabrück and Bielefeld.

Twin towns – sister cities

Ibbenbüren is twinned with: * Dessau-Roßlau, Germany * Gourdon, France * Hellendoorn, Netherlands * Jastrzębie-Zdrój, Poland * Prievidza, Slovakia

Notable people

* Ignatz Wiemeler (1895–1952), bookbinder and educator * Bernhard Bergmeyer (1897–1987), politician (CDU) * Hermann Gösmann (1904–1979), lawyer and football administrator * Hermann Michel (1935–1984?), football player and coach * Ingrid Remmers (born 1965), politician (The Left) * Timo Dierkes (born 1967), actor * Anja Karliczek (born 1971), politician (CDU) *

Tino Wenzel Tino Wenzel (born 18 December 1973 in Ibbenbüren, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German sport shooter. He won a gold medal for the men's skeet shooting at the 2006 ISSF World Cup in Suhl, and bronze at the 2003 ISSF World Cup in New Delhi, Indi ...

(born 1973), sport shooter * Kerstin Garefrekes (born 1979), footballer * Christine Wenzel (née Brinker) (born 1981), skeet shooter, Olympic medalist *

Simon Rolfes Simon Rolfes (born 21 January 1982) is a German former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Club career Early career Rolfes started his career at Werder Bremen after progressing through their academy. During the 2000� ...

(born 1982), footballer * Lars Unnerstall (born 1990), footballer * Marius Bülter (born 1993), footballer * Sebastian Klaas (born 1998), footballer

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ibbenburen Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia Steinfurt (district)