Enger () is a town in the Herford district, in

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

Enger is situated between the Teutoburg Forest and the

Wiehen Hills The Wiehen Hills (german: Wiehengebirge, , 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 finger away from the main upland area of the Lower Saxon ...

, approx. 6 km west of the town of Herford, the capital of the district.

Neighbouring places

Spenge Spenge is a town in the district of Herford, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Geography Spenge is situated north of Bielefeld and west of Herford. It borders Lower Saxony in the west. Subdivisions Spenge consists of 5 subdivisions (population ...

Bünde Bünde (Low German ''Buine'') is a town in the Herford district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Bünde is situated between Osnabrück (west), Hannover (east) and Bielefeld (south). Waterways The town is crossed from west to east ...

Hiddenhausen Hiddenhausen is a municipality in the district of Herford, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The municipality was formed in 1969 in a reform of Herford (district) by combining the villages of Lippinghausen, Eilshausen, Schweicheln-Bermbeck, Hid ...

* Herford * Bielefeld

Town divisions

Enger consists of the following districts (population as of December 31, 2005): * Belke-Steinbeck (2,471 inhabitants) * Besenkamp (1,849 inhabitants) * Dreyen (1,404 inhabitants) * Enger (7,809 inhabitants) * Herringhausen (West) (430 inhabitants) * Oldinghausen (773 inhabitants) * Pödinghausen (2,181 inhabitants) * Siele (122 inhabitants) * Westerenger (3,797 inhabitants)

History

The town, first mentioned in 948, calls itself "Widukind's town." The

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

leader Widukind died about 808. However, there is no evidence that Enger existed in his lifetime. A legend tells that Widukind founded a church in Enger after his baptism, and that he lived at the place until his death. He was buried in the church of Enger, and his monumental tomb is still there. Despite this, it remains doubtful that the remains of Widukind are actually in the tomb. Analysis shows that the memorial slab dates to the time around the year 1100. The main current attractions of Enger are Widukind's tomb, the Widukind museum, the Widukind festival ("Timpkenfest"), held annually on January 6 and the "Kirschblütenfest".

Notable people

Wolfgang Aßbrock Wolfgang Assbrock (german: Aßbrock) (10 September 1952 – 6 December 2007) was a German politician. He was a member of the CDU, and sat in the Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. Assbrock was born in Herford, and earned a ''Fachhochschule'' ...

(1952–2007), politician and member of the North Rhine-Westphalian Parliament (2005–2007) * Wilhelm Müller (1875–1957), politician *

Heinrich Vedder Hermann Heinrich Vedder (born 3 July 1876 in , Westphalia, Germany; died 26 April 1972 in Okahandja, South-West Africa) was a German missionary, linguist, ethnologist and historian. Originally a silk weaver, he received missionary training by the ...

(1876–1972), missionary

References

External links

Official site
Herford (district) {{Herford-geo-stub