Vlotho () is a town in the district of

Herford Herford (; ) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the hill chains of the Wiehen Hills and the Teutoburg Forest. It is situated in the cultural region of Ostwestfalen-Lippe (OWL) and the Detmold (administrat ...

, 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 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 ...

Geography

Vlotho is located along 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 ...

river, south of the

Wiehengebirge 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 ...

, bordering on the Ravensberger Hügelland in the west,

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. ...

rland in the south, and the

Weserbergland 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 t ...

in the east. The

river runs through the city east to north and thus separates the northeast part of the town, Uffeln, from the rest of the city. The highest point is the ''Bonstapel'' at 342 m in the south-east.

Neighbouring municipalities

Vlotho borders on

and

Löhne Löhne (; , ) is a town in the district of Herford, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Löhne is situated on the river Werre, approx. 8 km north of Herford and 20 km south-west of Minden Minden () is a middle-sized to ...

in the west,

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 ...

and

Porta Westfalica Porta Westfalica () is a town in the district of Minden-Lübbecke, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The name "''Porta Westfalica''" is Latin and means "gate to Westphalia". Coming from the north, the gorge is the entry to the region of West ...

(both

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 ...

district) in the north,

Kalletal Kalletal is a municipality in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, 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 ...

in the east, and

Lemgo Lemgo (; ) is a university and old Hanseatic League, Hanseatic town in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated between the Teutoburg Forest and the Weser Uplands, 25 km east of Bielefeld and 70 km west of H ...

and

Bad Salzuflen Bad Salzuflen () is a town and thermal spa resort in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. At the end of 2013, it had 52,121 inhabitants. Geography Bad Salzuflen lies on the eastern edge of the Ravensberg Basin, at the confluenc ...

(both

district) in the south.

Division of the town

* Exter * Uffeln * Valdorf * Vlotho

History

The earliest historical records of Vlotho date back to the year 1185. In 1248, Vlotho gained the official status of a city, but this was subsequently lost due to depopulation resulting from pestilence and war. In the 17th century, Vlotho recovered as a location for industry, most notably paper. During 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 European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine, or disease, whil ...

, on 17 October 1638 Vlotho was the site of a battle, which resulted in a victory for an Imperial army under the command of Field Marshal Melchior, Count of Hatzfeldt over a Palatinate-Swedish army under the command of Charles Louis of Palatine. In 1650, Vlotho regained the right to hold a market, and in 1719, became an independent city. A harbour was built and Vlotho became the location of cigar, machine, and textile industry. In 1875, Vlotho station was constructed, and in 1928, a bridge replaced the ferry across the Weser river. In 1969, the old city of Vlotho was unified with the communities of Exter and Valdorf. In 1973, Uffeln (formerly part of the district of

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 ...

) joined Vlotho.

Economy

A major part of the local economy is the emerging tourist industry. There is still some machine industry.

Sightseeing

* '' Vlotho castle'' from the 13th century

Notable people

Ursula Haverbeck Ursula Hedwig Meta Haverbeck-Wetzel ( Wetzel; 8 November 1928 – 20 November 2024) was a German neo-Nazi activist from Vlotho. Since 2004, she had been the subject of multiple lawsuits and convictions for Holocaust denial, which is a criminal ...

(1928–2024), Holocaust denier * Helmut Rethemeier (born 1939), versatility rider, Olympian participant in 1976 (silver medal winner) *

Heinrich Adolf Rinne Heinrich Adolf Rinne (January 24, 1819 – July 26, 1868) was a German otologist born in Vlotho an der Weser. He received his doctorate from the University of Göttingen and practiced medicine in the city of Göttingen. Later he was a physician ...

(1809–1868), doctor *

Axel Downard-Wilke Axel Peter Carl Downard-Wilke ( Wilke; born 1966) is a New Zealand transport planner and engineer known for his advocacy for cyclists in cities. Born in Germany, he moved to New Zealand for his education, and from 1997 to 2005 he worked for the ...

(born 1966), transport planner and Wikipedian

Notes

References

External links

Webcam overlooking the town centre

Homepage of the yearly festival

History of Vlotho and its surroundings

Mendel-Grundmann-Gesellschaft e.V. Vlotho
{{Authority control Herford (district)