Ostwestfalen-Lippe (, literally ''East(ern) Westphalia-Lippe'', abbreviation OWL) is the eastern region of the German state 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 ...

, congruent with the

administrative region Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

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 ...

and containing the eastern part of

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 ...

, joined with the

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. ...

region. The region has a population of about two million inhabitants. The major cities are Bielefeld,

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...

, Gütersloh, Minden,

, and Herford. The highest hill of Ostwestfalen-Lippe is the

Totenkopf ''Totenkopf'' (, i.e. ''skull'', literally "dead person's head") is the German word for the skull and crossbones symbol. The "skull and crossbones" symbol is an old international symbol for death, the defiance of death, danger, or the dead, as ...

(498 m). Some major globally operating companies are headquartered in the region, for example

Bertelsmann Bertelsmann SE & Co. KGaA () is a German private multinational conglomerate corporation based in Gütersloh, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is one of the world's largest media conglomerates, and is also active in the service sector and ...

, Miele,

Dr. Oetker Dr. Oetker () is a German multinational company that produces baking powder, cake mixes, frozen pizza, pudding, cake decoration, cornflakes, party candles, and various other products. The company is a wholly owned branch of the Oetker Group ...

Melitta Melitta () is a German company selling coffee, paper coffee filters, and coffee makers, part of the Melitta Group, which has branches in other countries. The company is headquartered in Minden, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is named after Me ...

Gerry Weber Gerry Weber International AG is a German fashion manufacturer and retailer based in Halle (Westf.), North Rhine-Westphalia. The business which was established in 1973 as Hatex KG by Udo Hardieck and Gerhard Weber is primarily known for its ladi ...

, DMG Mori Aktiengesellschaft, Hörmann, Schüco, Wincor Nixdorf, Phoenix Contact, HEGLA and

Claas } CLAAS is an agricultural machinery manufacturer based in Harsewinkel, Germany, in the federal state of North Rhine Westphalia. Founded in 1913 by August Claas, CLAAS is a family business and one of the market and technology leaders in harv ...

. In 2012 OWL became Germans BMBF Leading Edge Technology Cluster for intelligent Technical Systems (it's OWL Web site of Leading Edge Technology cluster it's OWL
Access: 5. May 2014)), which is currently the largest public funded project in the context of the government initiative "Industry 4.0". Universities are located in Bielefeld, Paderborn and Lemgo. The

Fraunhofer Society The Fraunhofer Society (german: Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der angewandten Forschung e.V., lit=Fraunhofer Society for the Advancement of Applied Research) is a German research organization with 76institutes spread throughout Germany ...

is engaged in OWL in Lemgo and Paderborn. The Teutoburg Forest stretches across the region. It is the supposed site of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in the year 9 AD, where an alliance of Germanic tribes defeated a Roman army. In 1875, a statue was unveiled of the commander Arminius, who led the Germanics to victory at the battle. This statue, the Hermannsdenkmal, is one of the best-known sights in Ostwestfalen-Lippe.

References

External links

XING Ostwestfalen Lippe - official XING regional community
Geography of North Rhine-Westphalia Regions of North Rhine-Westphalia Westphalia {{NorthRhineWestphalia-geo-stub