Vreden () is a small town 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 ...

near the Dutch border. The town is located near the river Berkel. The first mentioning of the town is proven for the year 839. In 1252 Vreden obtained

city rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

Demographics

Religion

* 90%

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

* 10% other

Culture and sights

Museums

* Hamaland-Museum ** Farmer-Museum * Silhouette Museum * Miniature Shoe Museum * Skulpturenpark Erning * Heimathaus Noldes * Berkelkraftwerk * Biologische Station Zwillbrock

Buildings

* Former castle * Old townhall * Foundations of seven older churches under the current day St. Georg church * Baroque church in Zwillbrock * Stiftskirche (collegiate church of the former noble convent of Vreden)

Parks

*The "Zwillbrocker Venn": The Zwillbrocker Venn, approximately 10 km west of the city centre is part of a large nature reserve with numerous water areas. The Venn is home of Europe's largest

black-headed gull The black-headed gull (''Chroicocephalus ridibundus'') is a small gull that breeds in much of the Palearctic in Europe and Asia, and also locally in smaller numbers in coastal eastern Canada. Most of the population is migratory and winters fu ...

breeding area and the world's northernmost

flamingo Flamingos or flamingoes () are a type of wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae, which is the only extant family in the order Phoenicopteriformes. There are four flamingo species distributed throughout the Americas (including the Caribbe ...

breeding site. *Vreden City Park: Includes the town's Farmer Museum.

Gallery

File:Vreden, die Pfarrkirche Sankt Georg foto1 D6 2012-04-30 16.30.JPG, Vreden, church: die Pfarrkirche Sankt Georg File:Vreden, die Stifftkirche Felicitas D4 foto1 2012-04-30 16.35.jpg, Vreden, church: die Stifftkirche Felicitas File:Vreden, fontein op de Markt foto5 2015-08-22 14.04.jpg, Vreden, view to the Markt File:Vreden, beeldhouwwerk bij loopbrug over de Berkel foto10 2015-08-22 14.26.jpg, Vreden, sculpture near the Berkel

Coat of arms

In the 13th century, Vreden was enlarged to a city by the

archbishop of Cologne The Archbishop of Cologne governs the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne in western North Rhine-Westphalia. Historically, the archbishop was ''ex officio'' one of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire and ruled the Electorate of Cologne ...

and the bishop of Münster, who were the city owners of that time. The Coat-of-Arms shows Petrus (patron of

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

) and Paulus (patron 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 ...

) with a key and a sword behind the cross of Cologne and the bar of Münster.

People from Vreden

* Johannes Röring (born 1959), German politician * Stefan Decker, computer scientist

References

Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia Members of the Hanseatic League Borken (district) {{Borken-geo-stub