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Lemgo (; ) is a university and old
Hanseatic The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...
town in 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. ...
district of
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. It is situated between the
Teutoburg Forest The Teutoburg Forest ( ; ) 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 the ''Teutoburg Forest'' ...
and the
Weser Uplands 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 ...
, 25 km east of
Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region () of Detmold (region), Detmold and the L ...
and 70 km west of
Hannover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...
. Lemgo is the oldest town in the former principality of Lippe and has a population of c. 45,000 and belongs to the
OWL Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...
region, which is one of the most important cluster regions for
mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...
and industrial
electronics Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...
in Germany. In 2017 the German Internet portal reisereporter.de placed Lemgo among the most beautiful ten
half-timbered Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...
towns in Germany.


History

It was founded 1190 by Bernard II, Lord of Lippe at the crossroad of two merchant routes. Therefore it is the oldest town in 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. ...
district. Lemgo was a member of the
Hanseatic League The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...
, a medieval trading association of free or autonomous cities in several northern European countries such as the Netherlands, Germany and Poland. During the
Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...
the city of Lemgo adopted
Lutheranism Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
in 1522, whereas otherwise in
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. ...
, its spread was hampered until 1533 by the opposition of the then Catholic ruling Counts of Lippe. In 1605
Simon VI, Count of Lippe Count Simon VI of Lippe (15 April 1554 in Detmold – 7 December 1613 in Brake (now part of Lemgo)) was an imperial count and ruler of the County of Lippe from 1563 until his death. Life Simon was the son of Count Bernhard VIII of Lippe (1 ...
adopted Calvinism and demanded the conversion of Lemgo's citizens too using his monarchic privilege of
cuius regio, eius religio () is a Latin phrase which literally means "whose realm, his religion" – meaning that the religion of the ruler was to dictate the religion of those ruled. This legal principle marked a major development in the collective (if not individual) ...
. This led to a dispute with Lemgo. The city defied the edict to convert to Calvinism, leading to the ''Revolt of Lemgo''. This religious dispute was resolved by the Peace of Röhrentrup in 1617, granting Lemgo the right to determine its faith independently. During the 30 Years War, on 15 October 1638, it was put under siege by a combined army of Palatine and Swedish troops, but it was soon lifted upon the approach of a hostile army. Two days later, the
Battle of Vlotho The Battle of Vlotho was fought on 17 October 1638. It was a victory for the Imperial Army under the command of Field Marshal Melchior von Hatzfeldt, and ended the attempt by Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine, to recapture the Electoral Palati ...
occurred, about 11 miles from Lemgo. Lippe's Lutheran minority, mostly domiciled in Lemgo, only joined the else
Reformed Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine Places * Reform, Al ...
Church of Lippe in 1882, however, retaining its
Confession of Augsburg The Augsburg Confession (), also known as the Augustan Confession or the Augustana from its Latin name, ''Confessio Augustana'', is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of the Protestant ...
with the Lutheran congregations forming a separate classis within the Lippe church since 1888.


British Army

From 1947 until 1993, Lemgo hosted successive infantry battalions of the British Army, the last one being the Royal Irish Regiment. The battalions were based in Stornoway Barracks, known to the locals as Spiegelberg Kaserne. The base was previously the location of a
displaced persons camp A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displace ...
and before that a
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
artillery unit. At the end of World War II, Canadian Section GHQ, 2nd Echelon, HQ 21 Army Group, occupied Spiegelberg Kaserne. After this headquarters moved to Oldenburg the site was taken over by the British Army.


Research and education

Lemgo is the location of the TH OWL and the Fraunhofer Institute IOSB-INA. Together with the buiness partners of the Centrum Industrial IT, the CIIT, a science-to-business center for Industrial Automation Technologies, and the Industry 4.0 Living Lab SmartFactoryOWL the campus site in Lemgo forms a cluster for Intelligent Systems Technologies in the OWL region. The Innovation Campus Lemgo is a district for the digital economy, which connects existing and new actors throughout the innovation chain education – research – business. The campus forms one of the three regional centers in the technology cluster Intelligent Technical Systems Ostwestfalen-Lippe (it's OWL). There are more than 8,500 people on the innovation campus on weekdays, including around 3,600 students, 4,100 pupils, 500 academic and 250 other employees.


Digital transformation

Beginning of 2018,
Fraunhofer Institute The Fraunhofer Society () is a German publicly-owned research organization with 76institutes spread throughout Germany, each focusing on different fields of applied science (as opposed to the Max Planck Society, which works primarily on basic sc ...
in Lemgo and partners started the IoT
Living Lab The concept of the living lab has been defined in multiple ways. A definition from the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL) is used most widely, describing them as "user-centred open innovation ecosystems” that integrate research and innovati ...
LemGO Digital as a reference platform for the
digital transformation Digital transformation (DT) is the process of adoption and implementation of digital technology by an organization in order to create new or modify existing products, services and operations by the means of translating business processes into a d ...
of small and medium sized
town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
s.


Transport

The next international airports are
Paderborn Lippstadt Airport Paderborn Lippstadt Airport (German: ''Flughafen Paderborn Lippstadt'') is a minor international airport in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe area in the Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Despite its name, the airport is actually located nea ...
50 km to the south, Hannover Airport 70 km to the northeast, Münster/Osnabrück 85 km to the west and Dortmund Airport 105 km to the southwest. A railway connection is served every hour by the RB 73 The Lipperländer to
Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region () of Detmold (region), Detmold and the L ...
main station. With Lemgo-Lüttfeld railway station the Innovation Campus Lemgo has its own station. The next motor highway is the
Bundesautobahn 2 is an autobahn in Germany that connects the Ruhr area in the west to Berlin in the east. The A 2 starts at the junction with the Bundesautobahn 3, A3 near the western city of Oberhausen, passes through the north of the Ruhr valley, through ...
(A2), which runs only 9 kilometers west of Lemgo and can be used via the exit Ostwestfalen-Lippe/Lemgo.


Culture

Lemgo's historic centre survived the Second World War completely undestroyed. Thus, the overall urban character with the testimonies from the time of the Renaissance was preserved.


Museum

Until a few years ago, the Museum Hexenbürgermeisterhaus displayed replicas of some torture instruments from the time of the witch hunt. An exhibition about the life and work of the artist Karl Junker can be seen in the Museum Junkerhaus. The "Junkerhaus" is a work of the artist from the year 1891, provided with numerous ornate carvings. The Städtische Galerie Haus Eichenmüller exhibits temporary exhibitions of works by contemporary artists. The oil mill is a functioning watermill with an attached mill museum. The Weser Renaissance Museum Schloss Brake shows examples of art, culture and life at the time of the Weser Renaissance. The documentation and meeting place Frenkelhaus shows a permanent exhibition on the history of the Jews in Lemgo. Lemgo - Schloss Brake 13. Jh. mit Steinbrücke.jpg, Brake Palace Lemgo Brake Ölmühle.jpg, Oil Mill Lemgo Museum Junkerhaus.jpg, Museum Junkerhaus


Historical buildings


Hexenbürgermeisterhaus

The most famous house in Lemgo is the so-called Hexenbürgermeisterhaus from 1571 with a facade in the style of
Weser Renaissance Weser Renaissance is a form of Northern Renaissance architectural style that is found in the area around the River Weser in central Germany and which has been well preserved in the towns and cities of the region. Background Between the star ...
. Its unusual name comes from its mayor Cothmann, who officiated in the 17th century, who, out of lust for power, used the antagonism against witchcraft - an integral part of the Christian faith - to clear his political opponents out of the field. To make this clear, he had several dozen other citizens killed, both women and men. On the façade below there is a wide, richly-perforated zone of stems called 'Utluchten', a term also rarely used in specialist literature. The most typical examples were Renaissance stone buildings and half-timbered building from the 17th and 18th centuries. On the right part of the facade is a bay window on consoles. The facade above is divided by half-columns and cornices.


Town hall

The town hall in the style of the Weser Renaissance, which was included in the
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
list of works of European renown, consists of parts built at different times. Such a genesis is not uncommon for large secular buildings such as town halls, because of the growing number of inhabitants and the increasing administrative activity of the cities, more and more premises were needed. Instead of new buildings, the neighboring houses were bought and extended the town hall. The oldest part is an elongated hall building dating back to the 13th century. The middle part of the building is built in Gothic othicstyle and dates from around 1480 to 1490. It houses the Council Chamber, including the Court Arbor. Such open ground floors belong mostly to medieval town halls, because there took place the public court hearings. Such open ground floors belong mostly to medieval town halls, because there took place the public court hearings. The most recent members of the Weser Renaissance are from the 15th and 16th centuries. The Apothecary's Corner is a showpiece with equally strict and playful language of form. Similarly in the execution is the council foliage with the Kornherrenstube upstairs on the north side of the town hall. The construction of the Neue Ratsstube is simpler and sums up the market façade of the building symmetrically with the Apothekererker.


Brake Castle

The Brake Castle is an important architectural monument, whose architectural history reaches from the 12th to the 19th century. The present state of the castle is the result of renovations and extensions. After 1190, Lord Bernhard II of Lippe had built a stone castle. Their dimensions were similar to those of today's castle. In 1306 "castrum brac" was first mentioned. It was the preferred seat of the noble lords (from 1528 counts) of Lippe. In 1587 it was extended as a residence of the counts of Lippe in the style of the renaissance. It is surrounded by a moat and stands on the foundation walls of one of the largest medieval castles in Northern Germany. The striking tower makes it the widely visible landmark of the old Hanseatic town Lemgo. The buildings in the immediate vicinity of the castle still convey an impressive picture of an early-modern residence, which includes the domain, three historic mills and a wash house.


Other historical town houses

In the historic city center a number of merchants' houses from late gothic and renaissance have survived. Here you will find half-timbered and stone houses with ornate gables, for example the "Neustädter Twins" and the former Adlerhof. Architectural research has shown that the houses Mittelstraße 54 and 56 (near the market square) have even more parts of the building from the 13th century on their back fronts and thus the rare case from the early Gothic period (Mittelstraße 54, dated to the second Half of the 13th century) or the late
Romanesque art Romanesque art is the art of Europe from approximately 1000 AD to the rise of the Gothic Art, Gothic style in the 12th century, or later depending on region. The preceding period is known as the Pre-Romanesque period. The term was invented by 1 ...
(house Mittelstraße 56, based on the arched windows dated to the first half of the 13th century) originate from prof cultivation. In Mittelstraße, which is the
pedestrian zone Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town restricted to use by people on foot or ...
designated shopping street in the historical city center, are the most important town houses of the city. In addition, there are hundreds of smaller half-timbered houses from the 15th to the 19th century, especially in the old town.


Sport

TBV Lemgo TBV Lemgo is a handball club from Lemgo, Germany, and is competing in the Handball-Bundesliga. History The ascent to one of the best German handball clubs was slow but steady. In the year the Bundesliga was founded, the club was still in the O ...
is one the country's best
handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...
clubs, and multiple previous league,
Cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...
and Supercup champions as well as winning the European Cup Winner's Cup in 1996 and the
European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...
in 2006.


Twin towns – sister cities

Lemgo is twinned with: *
Beverley Beverley is a market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is located north-west of Hull city centre. At the 2021 census the built-up area of the town had a population of 30,930, and the smaller civil parish had ...
, England, United Kingdom *
Stendal The Hanseatic City of Stendal () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of the Stendal District and the unofficial capital of the Altmark region. Geography Situated west of the Elbe valley, the Stendal town centre is located ...
, Germany *
Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy (, literally ''Vandœuvre Lès, near Nancy, France, Nancy'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle Departments of France, department in north-eastern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Vandopériens'' ...
, France Hörstmar County Primary School in Lemgo has a twin school in Holme on Spalding Moor since 1989.


Notable people

*
Simon VII, Count of Lippe Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...
(1587–1625), Count of Lippe * Johann Cothmann (1588–1661), diplomat and jurist * Philip I, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe (1601–1681), Count of Schaumburg-Lippe * Simon Peter Tilemann (1601–1668), painter *
Engelbert Kaempfer Engelbert Kaempfer (16 September 16512 November 1716) was a German natural history, naturalist, physician, exploration, explorer, and writer known for his tour of Russia, Iran, Persia, India, Southeast Asia, and Japan between 1683 and 1693. He ...
(1651–1716), naturalist, physician and explorer * Christian Wilhelm von Dohm (1751–1820), historian and writer * Wilhelm Engelmann (1808–1878), publisher and bookseller * Heinrich Schacht (1840–1912), pedagogue and
ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...
*
Fred Fred or FRED may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Fred ...
(1876–1932) and
August Duesenberg August Samuel Duesenberg (December 12, 1879 – January 18, 1955) was a German-born American automobile and engine manufacturer who built American racing and racing engines that set speed records at Daytona Beach, Florida, in 1920; won the 1 ...
(1879–1955),
Duesenberg Duesenberg Automobile & Motors Company, Inc. was an American race car, racing and luxury car, luxury automobile manufacturer founded in Indianapolis, Indiana, by brothers Fred Duesenberg, Fred and August Duesenberg in 1920. The company is kn ...
car builders, born in Kirchheide district * Heinrich Drake (1881–1970), politician (SPD) * Anatol Ugorski (1942-2023), Russian-born German classical pianist *
Axel Haverich Axel Haverich (born March 9, 1953) is a German cardiac surgery, cardiac surgeon. Biography Born in Lemgo, Haverich completed his Abitur at the Barntrup Gymnasium in 1972. He studied medicine at the Medizinische Hochschule Hannover (MHH) and grad ...
(born 1953), surgeon * Pinar Atalay (born 1978), journalist * Dominic Klemme (born 1986), road bicycle racer * Matthias Blübaum (born 1997), chess grandmaster


References


External links


Official city homepage
{{Authority control Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia Free imperial cities Lippe Principality of Lippe