Oerlinghausen ( Low German ''Ankhiusen'') is a city 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. The ...

district of

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 ...

located between

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 (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Detmold and the ...

and

Detmold Detmold () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of . It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947. Today it is the administrative center of t ...

in the

Teutoburger Wald 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 ...

. It has c. 16,700 inhabitants (2013).

Geography

Geographically, Oerlinghausen is situated on top of the

hills. Oerlinghausen's highest point is the Tönsberg with 334 meters. The flatlands of northern Germany start some 40 km north of Oerlinghausen. There are hiking routes along the hill chain which stretches 80 km in east-west direction. To the south of the hills are large sand areas originating from melting glaciers during past ice ages. Although not high, the hills are steep in many places and almost completely covered by forest.

History and culture

First mentioned in documents in 1036, the town became a city in 1926 by authority of the

Land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various isla ...

of Lippe. In 1969 the city was expanded with the addition of Helpup, Währentrup and Lipperreihe as part of the "Gebietsreform" movement. Oerlinghausen is home to an

airfield An aerodrome ( Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for pub ...

which is one of Europe's largest gliding centres as well as the well known ''Archäologisches Freilichtmuseum Oerlinghausen'' (

archaeological open-air museum An archaeological open-air museum is a non-profit permanent institution with outdoor true-to-scale architectural reconstructions primarily based on archaeological sources. It holds collections of intangible heritage resources and provides an int ...

) featuring reconstructions of a variety of dwellings spanning from 10,000 BC to 1000 AD. The city has also been home to an unusual number of well-known sociologists. Marianne Weber (born Schnitger), who was born in Oerlinghausen and married Max Weber here in 1893, was a well-respected author herself.

Niklas Luhmann Niklas Luhmann (; ; December 8, 1927 – November 6, 1998) was a German sociologist, philosopher of social science, and a prominent thinker in systems theory. Biography Luhmann was born in Lüneburg, Free State of Prussia, where his father's fa ...

and

Richard Grathoff Richard Helmut Grathoff (1934–2013) was a Phenomenology (psychology), phenomenologist and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Sociology at Bielefeld University, Germany. Born on August 30, 1934, in Unna, Westphalia, Germany, he received his P ...

, two of the key sociologists who made the

University one of the premier institutions for sociology in Europe, have also lived in Oerlinghausen for extended time periods. The Altstadt (old town) has some old buildings with a number of restaurants. Oerlinghausen Hauptstr01

Number of inhabitants

Mayors

Sons and daughters of the town

* Marianne Weber (born Schnitger) (1870-1954), lawyer, sociologist and legal historian. *

Friedrich Bödeker Friedrich Bödeker (11 September 1867 in Währentrup – 9 April 1937 in Cologne) was a German botanist who specialized in cacti studies. He was the taxonomic author of the cacti genera ''Aztekium'' and '' Porfiria'' as well as of numerous spec ...

(1867-1937), craftsman and cacti explorer *

Berthold Müller-Oerlinghausen Berthold Müller-Oerlinghausen (10 February 1893 in Oerlinghausen as Berthold Müller – 22 June 1979 in Kressbronn) was a German sculptor. Life and work Born in Oerlinghausen near Bielefeld in 1893, Berthold Müller – he himself added Oer ...

(1893-1979), sculptor *

Andreas Ortmann Andreas Ortmann (born 28 January 1953 in Oerlinghausen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) is a German-born economist and Professor of Experimental and Behavioural Economics at the UNSW Business School.

(1953- ), economist

References

External links

Official website

Freilichtmuseum website

Glider Airfield Website
{{Authority control Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia Lippe Principality of Lippe