Tecklenburg () is a town in the district of Steinfurt, 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 state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...

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 ...

. Its name comes from the ruined castle around which it was built. The town is situated on the Hermannsweg hiking trail. The coat of arms shows an anchor and three

seeblatt (, German for 'lake leaf', plural '; da, søblad; fy, pompeblêd; East Frisian: Pupkeblad) is the term for the stylized leaf of a water lily, used as a charge in heraldry. Background This charge is used in the heraldry of Germany, the Nether ...

Geography

It is located in the foothills of the

Teutoburg Forest The Teutoburg Forest ( ; german: Teutoburger Wald ) is a range of low, forested hills in the German states of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. Until the 17th century, the official name of the hill ridge was Osning. It was first renamed th ...

, southwest of

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. 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 ...

Division of the town

Tecklenburg consists of 4 districts (with farming communities):

Neighbouring municipalities

* Ibbenbüren *

Westerkappeln Westerkappeln is a municipality in the district of Steinfurt, 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 ...

* Lotte * Hagen * Lengerich *

Ladbergen Ladbergen is a municipality in the district of Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated near the Dortmund-Ems Canal, approximately 25 km south-west of Osnabrück and 20 km north-east of Münster. Geography The ...

Saerbeck Saerbeck is a municipality in the district of Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately 30 km west of Osnabrück and 25 km north of Münster. Twin city * Rietavas, Lithuania * Ferrières-en-Gâtinai ...

History

In the 12th century the

county of Tecklenburg The County of Tecklenburg (german: Grafschaft Tecklenburg) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the present German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony. History In the 12th century the county of Tecklenburg emerged in th ...

emerged in the region that is now called the "Tecklenburger Land" in the western foothills of the

. From 1263, when the county of Tecklenburg was merged with the neighbouring

county of Bentheim The County of Bentheim (''Grafschaft Bentheim'', Low German ''Benthem'') was a state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the south-west corner of today's Lower Saxony, Germany. The county's borders corresponded largely to those of the modern adm ...

, Tecklenburg was ruled by the counts of Bentheim-Tecklenburg. In 1701, Tecklenburg was conquered by the Kingdom of

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 ...

and subsequently incorporated.

Sights

Today, the town of Tecklenburg is a tourist destination, because of its largely intact medieval townscape. Main sites include the ruined castle (now serving as open-air theatre during the summer) and the ''Stadtkirche'' (the main, old church) including tombs of the counts and princes of Tecklenburg-Bentheim, as well as others prominent in the history of the county and city.

Tecklenburg Castle

Tecklenburg Castle is a ruined

fortification A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere' ...

in Tecklenburg, used today as an outdoor theatre. The castle was built around 1250.

Anna von Tecklenburg-Schwerin Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 12 ...

made a lot of structural changes. Around 1700, the castle was dilapidated and its brick and stone was used for other buildings in Tecklenburg, leaving nothing but a ruin.Edgar Warnecke, ''Das große Buch der Burgen und Schlösser im Land von Hase und Ems''. Verlag H. Th. Wenner,

International relations

Tecklenburg is twinned with: *

Chalonnes-sur-Loire Chalonnes-sur-Loire is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. It is located on the left bank of the river Loire in the Loire Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site area. Geography The town is in the heart of the Anjou, a hist ...

(

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

) since 1982

Notable people

Adolf von Tecklenburg Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name used in German-speaking countries, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Flanders, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and to a lesser extent in var ...

(c. 1185–1224), Bishop of Osnabrück *

Friedrich Adolf Krummacher Friedrich Adolf Krummacher (July 13, 1767 – April 14, 1845) was a German Reformed theologian and a writer of devotional poetry and prose. Biography He was born in Tecklenburg, Westphalia. Having studied theology at Lingen and Halle, he became ...

(1767–1845), theologian *

Friedrich von Bodelschwingh, Senior Friedrich Christian Carl von Bodelschwingh (* 6 March 1831 in Tecklenburg; † 2 April 1910 in Bielefeld-Bethel), better known as Friedrich von Bodelschwingh the Elder, was a German theologian and politician. He is remembered as the founder of th ...

(1831–1910), theologian *

Hermann Beitzke Hermann Beitzke (21 June 1875 – 8 June 1953) was a German pathologist born in Tecklenburg, Westphalia. Beitzke studied medicine at several universities, earning his doctorate in 1899 from the University of Kiel. In 1900-01 he was an assistant a ...

(1875–1953), physician and tuberculosis researcher *

Erwin Vierow __NOTOC__ General Erwin Vierow (15 May 1890 – 1 February 1982) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. Between the wars he served on the General Staff of the Reichswehr and in the infantry and by the outbreak of Worl ...

(1890–1982), General of the Infantry

References

External links

*
Corpus juris of the province Tecklenburg/Lingen online

*
Pages about the Tecklenburg Open-Air Games

(pdf; 4.4 MB) {{Authority control 1808 disestablishments States and territories established in the 11th century Steinfurt (district)