Bad Münstereifel () is a historical
spa town
A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits.
Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath, Somerset, Ba ...
in the district of
Euskirchen
Euskirchen (; Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Öskerche'') is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Euskirchen (district), district Euskirchen. While Euskirchen resembles a modern shopping town, it also has a history dating ba ...
, Germany, with about 17,000 inhabitants, situated in the far southwest of the German state 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 ...
. The little town is one of only a few historical towns in the southwest of North Rhine-Westphalia, and because of this is often overcrowded by tourists throughout spring and summer.
Geography
Location

Bad Münstereifel lies about southwest of
Bonn
Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...
and around ten (both
as the crow flies
The expression ''as the crow flies'' is an idiom for the most direct path between two points.
Etymology
The meaning of the expression is attested from the early 19th century, and appeared in the Charles Dickens novel ''Oliver Twist'' (1838):
...
) south of the county town of
Euskirchen
Euskirchen (; Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Öskerche'') is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Euskirchen (district), district Euskirchen. While Euskirchen resembles a modern shopping town, it also has a history dating ba ...
in the
Münstereifel Forest
Münstereifel Forest () is a densely wooded region in the northern part of the Eifel mountains in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. In the south, it borders the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It has an area of 237 km² and an elevation between ...
, a part of the
Eifel
The Eifel (; , ) is a low mountain range in western Germany, eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia, northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate and the southern area of the German-speaking Com ...
mountains. The river
Erft
The Erft () is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It flows through the foothills of the Eifel, and joins the Lower Rhine (left tributary). Its origin is near Nettersheim, and its mouth in Neuss-Grimlinghausen south of the Josef Cardina ...
flows through the town. It has a borough of around in area at heights of above sea level.
The latter is the height of the
Michelsberg, which is the highest point in the borough and rises in the northwestern part of the
Ahr Hills
The Ahr HillsElkins, T.H. (1972). ''Germany'' (3rd ed.). London: Chatto & Windus, 1972. . ( or ''Ahreifel'' ) are a range of low mountains and hills up to and long in the Eifel region of Germany, which lie roughly southwest of Bonn on the borde ...
(another region of the Eifel).
The borough is around 60 percent forested, several woods are designated as so-called
ancient forest (''Urwald''). Over of trails enable access to the low mountain uplands, which are about from the
Eifel National Park
The Eifel National Park () is the 14th national park in Germany and the first in North Rhine-Westphalia. The park was founded in 2004, and is classified as a "national park in development".
Eifel National Park is part of the much larger High ...
.
Subdivisions
Arloff
Arloff is a village in the borough of Bad Münstereifel in the district of Euskirchen in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Arloff Castle is a well preserved fortified building from the early Gothic period.
Location
Arloff lies in the ...
, Bergrath, Berresheim, Effelsberg, Eichen, Eicherscheid, Ellesheim, Esch, Eschweiler, Gilsdorf, Hilterscheid, Hohn, Holzem, Honerath,
Houverath, Hummerzheim, Hünkhoven, Iversheim, Kalkar, Bad Münstereifel, Kirspenich, Kolvenbach, Kop Nück, Langscheid, Lanzerath, Lethert, Limbach, Lingscheiderhof, Mahlberg, Maulbach, Mutscheid, Neichen, Nitterscheid, Nöthen, Odesheim, Ohlerath, Reckerscheid, Rodert, Rupperath, Sasserath, Scheuerheck, Scheuren, Schönau, Soller, Vollmert, Wald, Willerscheid, Witscheiderhof
Education
Bad Münstereifel is the seat of SIGNO innovation society Eifel Association, Association of the greatest inventors in Germany. Signo is a project of the Federal Ministry of Economics and
Technology
Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...
. Joined the Association is a youth and children's department, may acquire in the children and young people in a club's workshop, the basic knowledge of
technology
Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...
.
Bad Münstereifel has four elementary
school
A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...
s in the main town as well as the subdistricts of
Arloff
Arloff is a village in the borough of Bad Münstereifel in the district of Euskirchen in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Arloff Castle is a well preserved fortified building from the early Gothic period.
Location
Arloff lies in the ...
, Mutscheid, and Houverath. A
Hauptschule
A ''Hauptschule'' (, "general school") is a secondary school in Germany, starting after four years of elementary schooling (''Grundschule''), which offers Lower Secondary Education (Level 2) according to the International Standard Classification ...
and
Realschule
Real school (, ) is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), F ...
share facilities, while the city has two
Gymnasium: the public St. Michael-Gymnasium and the diocesan-run St.-Angela-Gymnasium. Furthermore, the
Apostolic school of the
Legionaries of Christ
The Legionaries of Christ (in , abbreviated L.C.) is a Roman Catholic religious congregation of pontifical right founded on January 3, 1941, by the Mexican Catholic priest Marcial Maciel. It belongs constitutively to the spiritual family of Regn ...
has its seat in the city.
Since 1976, the city is also home to the University of Applied Sciences for the Administration of Justice of North Rhine-Westphalia. There are also several private training facilities in the city, including the Kurt-Schumacher-Academy of the
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
The Friedrich Ebert Foundation (''German: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung e.V.; Abbreviation: FES'') is a German political party foundation associated with, but independent from, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Established in 1925 as t ...
and the House of Labor Security of the Trade Association for Electrical and Precision Engineering. There is also a house of the Youth
Red Cross
The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...
as an educational facility for the National Association (North Division).
Bad Münstereifel has a public library with a stock of 16,000 media.
Local council
The local council has 32 seats, the elections were held in May 2014.
* CDU: 12 seats
* SPD: 8 seats
* FDP: 4 seats
* UWV: 4 seats
* Alliance 90/The Greens: 3 seats
* The Left: 1 seat
Notable people and gatherings
*
Heino
Heinz Georg Kramm (born 13 December 1938), known professionally as Heino, is a German singer of Schlager and traditional Volksmusik. Having sold a total of over 50 million records, he is one of the most successful German musicians of all time ...
(born 1938), the folk-singer has lived in the town. From 1996 to 2012 he operated a cafe there.
*
Friedrich Joseph Haass, (1780–1853), the "holy doctor of
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
", was born in Bad Münstereifel.
*
Wilhelm Mohr (1838-1888), German journalist
*
Christopher Becker (born 1980), German film director, screenwriter and film producer
The Portuguese
Socialist Party
Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...
, one of the two main Portuguese parties, was founded here in 1973 with the guidance of the
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...
, who wanted to create a political force capable of keeping Portugal a member of
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
.
SONER ÇAĞAPTAY – Portuguese Lessons for Turkey’s Role in the Arab Spring
/ref>
Other personalities associated with the town
* Otto Graf Lambsdorff
Otto Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von der Wenge Graf Lambsdorff, known as Otto Graf Lambsdorff (20 December 1926 – 5 December 2009), was a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP). He was the German Federal Minister of Econom ...
(1926–2009), politician, former Bundesminister für Wirtschaft (Minister of Economic Affairs) and chairman of the FDP, lived in the district of Eschweiler.
International relations
Bad Münstereifel is twinned with:
* Ashford, United Kingdom
* Fougères
Fougères (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Foujerr'') is a Communes of France, commune and a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Ille-et-Vilaine Departments of France, department, located in Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, no ...
, France.
See also
* Alte Burg (Bad Münstereifel)
The Alte Burg (also ''Alte Burg im Quecken'' or ''Alte Burg "am Quecken"'') in Bad Münstereifel, Germany, is a circular rampart that is the remains of a fortification from the Carolingian period. The refuge castle acted as a place of retreat f ...
– the site of an old refuge castle
* Effelsberg 100-m Radio Telescope
The Effelsberg 100-m Radio Telescope is a radio telescope in the Ahr Hills (part of the Eifel) in Bad Münstereifel, Germany. Inaugurated in 1972, for 29 years the Effelsberg Radio Telescope was the largest fully steerable radio telescope on Ea ...
References
External links
www.badmuenstereifel.de the official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bad Munstereifel
Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia
Spa towns in Germany
Euskirchen (district)