Rheine () is a city in the district of

Steinfurt Steinfurt (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Steinfurt. From –1806, it was the capital of the County of Steinfurt. Geography Steinfurt is situated north-west of Münster, North Rhine-Westp ...

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 ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It is the largest city in the district and the location of Rheine Air Base.

Geography

Rheine is on the river Ems, about north of

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, 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 ...

, west of

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; ; archaic English: ''Osnaburg'') is a city in Lower Saxony in western Germany. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population of 168 ...

and east of

Hengelo Hengelo (; Tweants dialect, Tweants: ) is a city in the eastern part of the Netherlands, in the Twente region, in the province of Overijssel. It is part of a larger urban area that also includes Enschede, Borne, Overijssel, Borne, Almelo and Ol ...

(

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

History

Early history

Although the region around the city has been populated since prehistoric times, Rheine was first mentioned in a document signed by

Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (; ; ; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor, co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aquitaine from 781. As the only ...

in 838. On 15 August 1327, it received its town charter from Louis II, Bishop of Münster. The settlement was near to the crossing of two old merchant roads and a ford over the river Ems. Frankish soldiers initially secured this strategic point with a barrack yard. Later a church and more buildings were added to this outpost.

17th – 19th centuries

At the end of the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

the city was burned down almost completely. Swedish and Hessian troops besieged imperial soldiers who had entrenched themselves in Rheine. On 20/21 September and 19 October 1647 glowing cannonballs set fire to the city and 365 houses were destroyed. In 1803 the city became the capital of the Sovereign Principality of Rheina-Wolbeck (556 square kilometers) of the House of Looz-Corswarem, later annexed by the

Grand Duchy of Berg The Grand Duchy of Berg (), also known as the Grand Duchy of Berg and Cleves, was a territorial grand duchy established in 1806 by Napoleon after his victory at the Battle of Austerlitz (1805) on territories between the French Empire at the Rhi ...

and the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

. During the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

the textile industry prospered. It remained an important economic factor until the second half of the 20th century. Today engineering industries and services form the largest part of economy in Rheine.

20th and 21st centuries

On 1 April 1927 about 10,000 inhabitants of the Office Rheine (Bentlage, Wadelheim, Dutum, etc.) were incorporated into the city, the population increased to 29,598, the city area was thus tripled. During Nazi rule of Germany, Jewish citizens were deported from Rheine, as elsewhere in Germany. In the Second World War, Allied forces bombarded the city repeatedly, especially the railway line and the Dortmund-Ems Canal, which represented tactical goals. Large-scale bombing raids occurred on 5 October 1944 and 21 March 1945, each leaving more than 200 dead and causing extensive damage to the city area. The conquest of Rheine took place on 2 April 1945 after some fierce fighting by units of the 157th British Infantry Brigade (5th Battalion of the King's Own Scottish Borderers Regiment, 7th Battalion of the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) Regiment). After 1945, Rheine was in the British occupation zone and 1946 was politically assigned to the newly founded ''Land'' (state) of

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 ...

. In 1949 it joined with the other states in the Western Zone to form the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

. On 10 February 1946 Rheine was affected by the highest ever Emshochwasser. Large parts of the city were flooded. On 15 August 2002 the city celebrated the 675th anniversary of the granting of municipal law.

Division of the city

There is no standard division of the city, different divisions are used for different purposes. The districts do not form administrative units. A detailed breakdown includes 21 districts. * Altenrheine * Baarentelgen * Bentlage * Catenhorn * Dorenkamp * Dutum * Elte * Eschendorf * Gellendorf * Hauenhorst * Hörstkamp * Innenstadt (city centre) * Kanalhafen * Mesum * Rodde * Schleupe * Schotthock * Stadtberg * Südesch * Wadelheim * Wietesch The city of Rheine has eleven district advisory councils. For statistical purposes, there is a division into 18 statistical districts. The city is divided into 22 electoral districts. Eschendorf, Dorenkamp, and Schotthock are the biggest districts by population, and Catenhorn is the smallest.

Politics

Peter Lüttmann of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has been the mayor of Rheine since 2015. The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020. Lüttmann was the sole candidate and was re-elected with 90.6% of votes in favour and 9.4% against, on a turnout of 48.5%.

List of mayors

* 1946–1948: Georg Pelster (1897–1963) ( CDU) * 1948–1954: Albert Biermann (CDU) * 1954–1960: Balduin Echelmeyer (CDU) * 1960–1961: Franz Rudolf Kümpers (CDU) * 1961–1975: Albert Biermann (1903–1994) (CDU) * 1975–1994: Ludger Meier (CDU) * 1994–1999: Günter Thum ( SPD) * 1999–2004: Wilhelm Niemann (1949–2012) (CDU) * 2004–2015: Angelika Kordfelder (born 1955) ( SPD) * since 2015: Peter Lüttmann

City council

The Rheine city council governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , 13,885 , 47.2 , 1.3 , 23 , 2 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SPD) , 6,444 , 21.9 , 8.1 , 10 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (, ), often simply referred to as Greens (, ), is a Green (politics), green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of the Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (formed in East Ger ...

(Grüne) , 4,196 , 14.3 , 4.5 , 7 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP) , 1,663 , 5.7 , 0.6 , 3 , 1 , - , , align=left, Independent Voters' Association Rheine (UWG) , 1,380 , 4.7 , 0.3 , 2 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 993 , 3.4 , 0.8 , 2 , ±0 , - , , align=left, Citizens for Rheine (BfR) , 873 , 3.0 , New , 1 , New , - ! colspan=2, Valid votes ! 29,434 ! 98.3 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Invalid votes ! 498 ! 1.7 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 29,932 ! 100.0 ! ! 48 ! 4 , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 61,695 ! 48.5 ! 2.1 ! ! , - , colspan=7, Source
City of Rheine
The next city council elections will take place on September 14, 2025, with a possible runoff election scheduled for September 28, 2025

Transport

Rheine is the western terminus of the Münster-Rheine railway. * Rheine railway station * Rheine-Mesum

Twin towns – sister cities

Rheine is twinned with: * Borne, Netherlands (1983) *

Bernburg Bernburg (Saale) () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, capital of the Salzlandkreis district. The former residence of the Anhalt-Bernburg princes is known for its Renaissance castle. Geography The town centre is situated in the fertile Magdeb ...

, Germany (1990) *

Leiria Leiria () is a city and municipality in the Central Region, Portugal, Central Region of Portugal. It is the 2nd largest city in that same region, after Coimbra, with a municipality population of 128,640 (as of 2021) in an area of . It is the seat o ...

, Portugal (1996) *

Trakai Trakai (; see Trakai#Names and etymology, names section for alternative and historic names) is a city and lake resort in Lithuania. It lies west of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania or just from the administrative limits of the Lithuanian capi ...

, Lithuania (1996)

Notable people

* Heinrich Meyring (1628–1723), German sculptor * Moritz Dobschütz (1831–1913), German-American merchant * Carl Murdfield (1868–1944), painter * Josef Winckler (1881–1966), author * Carlo Mense (1886–1965), painter *

Carl-Alfred Schumacher Carl-Alfred (August) Schumacher (19 February 1896 – 22 May 1967) was a German military officer and politician. During World War II, Schumacher served in the German Luftwaffe, commanding the Jagdgeschwader 1 (World War 2), ''Jagdgeschwader'' 1 ( ...

(1896–1967), military officer * Georg Pelster (1897–1963), politician (CDU) * Gustav Niemann (1899–1982), mechanical engineering scholar * Josef Pieper (1904–1997), philosopher * Rembert van Delden (1917–1999), politician (CDU) *

Josef Paul Kleihues Josef Paul Kleihues (11 June 1933, Rheine – 13 August 2004, Berlin) was a German architect, most notable for his decades long contributions to the " critical reconstruction" of Berlin. His design approach has been described as "poetic rationalist ...

(1933–2004), architect * Harald Ibach (born 1941), physicist * Frank Ripploh (1949–2002), actor * Peter Funke (born 1950), historian * Josef H. Neumann (born 1953), art historian and photographer * Silvia Hildegard Haneklaus (born 1959), agricultural scientist *

Bettina Hoy Bettina Hoy (born Bettina Overesch: November 7, 1962) is an Olympic-level equestrian rider who competes for Germany in Eventing competitions. Bettina competed in the 1984 Summer Olympics, 1996 Summer Olympics, and 2004 Summer Oly ...

(born 1962), equestrian * Lisa Paus (born 1968), politician * Michael Prus (born 1968), football player *

Oliver Krüger Oliver Krüger (born 1973) is a German professor in Religious studies at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland). From 1994 to 1999 he studied sociology, classical archaeology, and comparative religion at the University of Bonn. In 2003, he grad ...

(born 1973), professor of religious studies * Kerstin Stegemann (born 1977), footballer * Jonas Reckermann (born 1979), beach volleyball player * Julian Lüttmann (born 1982), football player

References

External links

Official websiteAssociation for Rheine's twin towns
{{Authority control Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia Steinfurt (district)