Porta Westfalica (Durchbruchstal)
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Porta Westfalica () is a town in the district of
Minden-Lübbecke Minden-Lübbecke is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the northeastern part of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Diepholz (district), Diepholz, Nienburg (district), Nienburg, Schaumburg, Lippe, Herford (district), Herford, Osnabr ...
, in
North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...
, Germany. The name "''Porta Westfalica''" is
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
and means "gate to
Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) 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 region is almost identical with the h ...
". Coming from the north, the gorge is the entry to the region of Westphalia. The name was coined by scholars of the 19th century.


History

The town Porta Westfalica was established in 1973 by merging fifteen villages surrounding the gorge. The centre of the modern town is the former village of Hausberge, which was first mentioned in 1096. The Emperor William Monument was erected near the town by the then
Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
n
Province of Westphalia The Province of Westphalia () was a Provinces of Prussia, province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946. In turn, Prussia was the largest component state of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918, of the Weimar ...
between 1892 and 1896Information board with the titl
''Emperor William Monument''
at the northern approach to the monument at commons.wikimedia.org
The monument, which is around 88 metres high, is classified as one of Germany's
national monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...
s. From 18 March 1944 until 1 April 1945 a
concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...
was established in the Barkhausen quarter. From 1 February 1945 until 1 April 1945 a camp was used in the Hausberge quarter. In the Lerbeck quarter also was a concentration camp in use from 1 October 1944 until 1 April 1945. In the Neesen quarter was a location for the
forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, or violence, including death or other forms of ...
for some of the inmates. All of these camps were subcamps of the
Neuengamme concentration camp Neuengamme was a network of Nazi concentration camps in northern Germany that consisted of the main camp, Neuengamme, and List of subcamps of Neuengamme, more than 85 satellite camps. Established in 1938 near the village of Neuengamme, Hamburg, N ...
. On 10 January 2015, Belgian footballer Junior Malanda died in a car accident near the town, aged 20.


Geography

Porta Westfalica is situated on the right bank of the
Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...
(except for the Barkhausen quarter), near the Porta Westfalica gorge, where the river runs through the passage between the mountain chains of the
Wiehen Hills The Wiehen HillsElkins, T.H. (1972). ''Germany'' (3rd ed.). London: Chatto & Windus, 1972. . (, , also locally, just ''Wiehen'') are a hill range in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony in Germany. The hills run from west to east like a long f ...
in the west and the
Weser Uplands The Weser Uplands (German: ''Weserbergland'', ) is a hill region in Germany, between Hannoversch Münden and Porta Westfalica, along the river Weser. The area reaches into three states, Lower Saxony, Hesse, and North Rhine-Westphalia. Important ...
in the east. The gorge appears like a gate to the region Westphalia, which lies to the south of it. It is overlooked by the
Jakobsberg Jakobsberg is a suburban area (pop. ca 32 643 in the year 2022) within Stockholm urban area, and the seat of Järfälla Municipality, Stockholm County in Sweden. Jakobsberg, Järfälla's commercial and administrative centre, grew up around ...
and
Wittekindsberg The Wittekindsberg is a hill, , which forms the easternmost peak of the Wiehen Hills () and is also the western guardian of the Weser gorge, the Porta Westfalica (gorge), Porta Westfalica, in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany). The hill is well-kno ...
hills.


Neighbouring places

*
Bad Oeynhausen Bad Oeynhausen () is a spa town on the southern edge of the Wiehengebirge in the district of Minden-Lübbecke in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe, East-Westphalia-Lippe region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The closest larger towns are Bielefeld (39 ki ...
*
Bückeburg Bückeburg (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Bückeborg'') is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, on the border with North Rhine Westphalia. It is located in the district of Schaumburg close to the northern slopes of the Weserbergland ridge. Bückeburg ha ...
*
Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the largest town in population between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district () of Minden-Lübbecke, situated in the cultural region ...
*
Rinteln Rinteln () is a small town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located on the banks of the Weser river north of the Porta Westfalica. The town of Rinteln is in the broad valley between the hills of the Weserbergland and the North Lippe Bergland. In ...
*
Vlotho Vlotho () is a town in the district of Herford, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Vlotho is located along the Weser river, south of the Wiehengebirge, bordering on the Ravensberger Hügelland in the west, Lipperland in the south, ...


Division of the town

The town of Porta Westfalica consists of 15 districts: * Hausberge (5,064 inhabitants) * Lohfeld (1,350 inhabitants) * Barkhausen (4,253 inhabitants) * Neesen (2,319 inhabitants) * Lerbeck (3,727 inhabitants) * Nammen (2,208 inhabitants) * Wülpke (606 inhabitants) * Kleinenbremen (2,245 inhabitants) * Eisbergen (3,401 inhabitants) * Veltheim (2,539 inhabitants) * Möllbergen (1,643 inhabitants) * Holtrup (1,048 inhabitants) * Vennebeck (983 inhabitants) * Costedt (508 inhabitants) * Holzhausen (4,284 inhabitants)


Buildings and structures

*
Jakobsberg Telecommunication Tower Jakobsberg Telecommunication Tower is a 142-metre-tall TV tower built of reinforced concrete on the 238-metre-high elevated Jakobsberg near Porta Westfalica. Jakobsberg Telecommunication Tower was built May 1, 1974 and September 28, 1978 as replac ...
, a TV tower with an observation deck * Monument to Kaiser Wilhelm I, above the gorge, near the village ''Barkhausen'' * Wittekindsburg, remains of an Iron Age "oppidum" (3rd – 1st century BC) and Saxon-Frankish fort (8th/9th century AD), in the
Wiehen Hills The Wiehen HillsElkins, T.H. (1972). ''Germany'' (3rd ed.). London: Chatto & Windus, 1972. . (, , also locally, just ''Wiehen'') are a hill range in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony in Germany. The hills run from west to east like a long f ...
near ''Barkhausen''


Twin towns – sister cities

Porta Westfalica is twinned with: * Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg (Berlin), Germany *
Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia * Waterloo, New South Wale ...
, United States


See also

*
List of subcamps of Neuengamme Below is an incomplete list of SS subcamps of Neuengamme camp system operating from 1938 until 1945. The Neuengamme concentration camp established by the SS in Hamburg, Germany, became a massive Nazi concentration camp complex using prisoner for ...


References


External links

*
Official German list of concentration camps
{{Authority control Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia Neuengamme concentration camp Minden-Lübbecke Wiehen Hills