Dülmen () is a town in the district of

Coesfeld Coesfeld (; Westphalian: ''Koosfeld'') is the capital of the district of Coesfeld in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. History Coesfeld received its city rights in 1197, but was first recorded earlier than that in the biography of St ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Geography

Dülmen is situated in the south part of the Münsterland area, between 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. The d ...

river to the south, the

Baumberge The Baumberge are the highest hills in the natural regions of Münsterland and Kernmünsterland with a maximum height of . They are located between Münster (Westfalen), Münster and Coesfeld, which is itself close to the southwest edge of the Ba ...

hills to the north and the Ems river to the east. South of Dülmen the

Ruhr area The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...

is located.

Neighbouring municipalities

Haltern Haltern am See (''Haltern at the lake'', before December 2001 only Haltern) is a town and a municipality in the district of Recklinghausen, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the Lippe and the Wesel–Datteln Canal, approx. nor ...

Reken Reken is a municipality in the district of Borken, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Rus ...

Billerbeck Billerbeck ( Westphalian: ''Billerbiëk'') is a municipality in the district of Coesfeld in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. Geography Neighbor towns/cities Billerbeck has boundaries to Rosendahl, Laer, Altenberge, Havixbeck, Nottuln and Coes ...

Nottuln Nottuln (; Low German: ''Notteln'') is a municipality in the district of Coesfeld in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Nottuln is situated in the Baumberge, approx. 20 km west of Münster. Neighbouring municipalities ...

Senden The town of Senden is the second-largest town of the district of Neu-Ulm in Bavaria and is located at the border to Baden-Württemberg. The town belongs to the Donau-Iller-Nahverkehrsverbund. Senden's neighbours are Neu-Ulm in the north, Weißen ...

Lüdinghausen Lüdinghausen ( Westphalian: ''Lünkhusen'' or ''Lünksel'') is a town in district of Coesfeld in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the Dortmund-Ems Canal, approx. 25 km south-west of Münster. Town parts The t ...

Divisions

After the local government reforms of 1975 Dülmen consists of the 7 subdivisions Dülmen, Kirchspiel, Buldern, Hausdülmen, Hiddingsel, Merfeld and Rorup. Merfeld was first mentioned in 890. It became a part of Dülmen in 1975. It is known for its herd of Dülmen Ponies. Rorup was first mentioned in 1050 and became a district of Dülmen in 1975.

History

The place was first mentioned as ''Dulmenni'' in 889, as a property of

Werden Abbey Werden Abbey (german: Kloster Werden) was a Benedictine monastery in Essen-Werden (Germany), situated on the Ruhr. The foundation of the abbey Near Essen Saint Ludger founded a monastery in 799 and became its first abbot. The little church w ...

. Dülmen received

town privileges 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 ...

in 1311. It joined the

Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German to ...

in 1470. It was part of the

Prince-Bishopric of Münster The Prince-Bishopric of Münster (german: Fürstbistum Münster; Bistum Münster, Hochstift Münster) was a large ecclesiastical principality in the Holy Roman Empire, located in the northern part of today's North Rhine-Westphalia and western Low ...

until it was mediatised in 1803. After a short period in the hands of the

House of Croÿ The House of Croÿ () is a family of European mediatized nobility, which held a seat in the Imperial Diet from 1486, and was elevated to the rank of Princes of the Holy Roman Empire in 1594. In 1533 they became Dukes of Arschot (in Belgium) and in ...

, it was taken by the French in 1811. After the defeat of Napoleon, it became part of the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

Province of Westphalia The Province of Westphalia () was a 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 Republic and from 1918 ...

. The Dülmen oil plant was a target of the Oil Campaign of World War II: 90% of the city was destroyed and the city was rebuilt after the war. In 1973, the population reached 20,000. In 1975, Rorup, Merfeld, Hiddingsel, Buldern, Hausdülmen and Kirchspiel Dülmen became part of Dülmen. Hiddingsel, St

Twin towns – sister cities

Dülmen is twinned with: *

Charleville-Mézières or ''Carolomacérienne'' , image flag=Flag of Charleville Mezieres.svg Charleville-Mézières () is a commune of northern France, capital of the Ardennes department, Grand Est. Charleville-Mézières is located on the banks of the river Meuse. ...

, France

Transportation

Dülmen can accessed by the A43.

Dülmen station Dülmen station is one of two operating tower stations (of six that formerly operated) in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located in Dülmen in western Münsterland. It is at the crossing of the Wanne-Eickel–Hamburg and the ...

is on the Essen–Wanne Eickel–Münster line, which was built by the

Cologne-Minden Railway Company The Cologne-Minden Railway Company (German, old spelling: ''Cöln-Mindener Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft'', ''CME'') was along with the Bergisch-Märkische Railway Company and the Rhenish Railway Company one of the railway companies that in the mid-19th ...

, and the Dortmund–Enschede railway, which was built by the ''Dortmund-Gronau-Enschede Railway Company '' and links

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

and Gronau. The nearest airports are the Münster-Osnabrück Airport in

Greven Greven (; Westphalian: ''Graiwen'') is a medium-sized town in the district of Steinfurt, in Germany's most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia and close to the city of Münster. Geography Greven is situated on the river Ems, approx. 25&n ...

and the

Düsseldorf Airport Düsseldorf Airport (german: link=no, Flughafen Düsseldorf, ; until March 2013 ''Düsseldorf International Airport''; ) is the international airport of Düsseldorf, the capital of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is about north ...

Notable people

Anne Catherine Emmerich Anne Catherine Emmerich (also ''Anna Katharina Emmerick''; 8 September 1774 – 9 February 1824) was a Roman Catholic Augustinian Canoness Regular of Windesheim, mystic, Marian visionary, ecstatic and stigmatist. She was born in Flamschen, a ...

(1774–1824), canoness and mystic, lived and died here *

Clemens Brentano Clemens Wenzeslaus Brentano (also Klemens; pseudonym: Clemens Maria Brentano ; ; 9 September 1778 – 28 July 1842) was a German poet and novelist, and a major figure of German Romanticism. He was the uncle, via his brother Christian, of Franz a ...

(1778–1842), writer, lived here from 1819 to 1824 *

Franz von Papen Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen, Erbsälzer zu Werl und Neuwerk (; 29 October 18792 May 1969) was a German conservative politician, diplomat, Prussian nobleman and General Staff officer. He served as the chancellor of Germany i ...

(1879–1969), politician, lived in Dülmen from 1918 to 1930 *

Fritz Pütter ''Leutnant'' Fritz Pütter (14 January 1895 – 10 August 1918) ''Pour le Mérite'', Iron Cross, was a German World War I ace fighter pilot credited with victories over eight enemy observation balloons and 17 airplanes.The Aerodrome website page ...

(1895–1918), fighter pilot *

Marianne Werner Marianne Werner (; Schulze-Entrup, later Ader, born 4 January 1924), is a retired West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its ...

(born 1924), athlete *

Jürgen Drews Jürgen Ludwig Drews (born 2 April 1945) is a German Schlager singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Life Drews was born in Nauen near Berlin, and brought up in Schleswig. After finishing school, he went on to study medicine at the Univer ...

(born 1945), entertainer, lives here *

Hartmut Surmann Hartmut Surmann (born 1963 in Dülmen, West Germany) is a Roboticist, Professor for Autonomous Systems at Applied University of Gelsenkirchen and Researcher at the Fraunhofer Society's Institut Intelligente Analyse- und Informationssystem (IAIS) ...

(born 1963), robotics researcher *

Franka Potente Franka Potente (; born 22 July 1974) is a German actress. She first appeared in the comedy film ''After Five in the Forest Primeval'' (1995), for which she won a Bavarian Film Award for Best Young Actress. Her breakthrough came in 1998, when she ...

(born 1974), actress, lived here in childhood

References

External links

*
Sommer in Dülmen

Winter in Dülmen

Heimatverein Dülmen e.V.

Local radiostation

Local merchant community
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dulmen Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia Coesfeld (district) Members of the Hanseatic League