Delmenhorst (;

Northern Low Saxon Northern Low Saxon (in Standard German, Standard High German: ', also ', lit. ''North(ern) Low Saxon/German''; in Dutch language, Standard Dutch: ') is a subgroup of Low Saxon dialects of Low German. As such, it covers a great part of the West ...

: ''Demost'') is an urban district ('' Kreisfreie Stadt'') in

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It has a population of 74,500 and is located west of downtown

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

with which it forms a contiguous urban area, whereas the city of Oldenburg is to the northwest. The city has a total area of ; and a

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

of approx. 1200 inhabitants per km². Since 2021 the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

has been Petra Gerlach ( CDU).

History

Delmenhorst was first mentioned in a charter in 1254, after the Count of Oldenburg, Otto I, bought the place near the river Delme in 1234. A castle to protect the newly founded settlement was established in about 1247. The following count, Otto II, made the castle his residency; Delmenhorst was declared an independent town on 15 July 1371 under Bremen's law. After a short period under the governance of the bishop of Bremen from 1421 to 1436 Delmenhorst returned under the custody of Oldenburg. Delmenhorst later was infamous for its robber-baronship under the count Gerhard VI of Oldenburg. Its reign ended in 1482 thanks to a siege laid to the castle under the leadership of the bishop of Münster. Therefore, the town now was under Münster authority until finally count Anton I won back the town as well as the castle in 1547. When the last heir of Anton, Christian, died in 1647, Delmenhorst again fell under Oldenburg custody. As Oldenburg belonged to Danish kings and the Oldenburg regent of that time was a relative of the Danish king, Delmenhorst was thereafter under Danish control. Delmenhorst-Kupferstich-Merian

In 1767 Delmenhorst was bought by Tsarina

Catherine II Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter III ...

, but was given up to new Oldenburg in 1773. In 1777 Delmenhorst was declared a dukedom of Oldenburg. In 1806 a French and Dutch army occupied the territory; Delmenhorst was a part of the French empire under

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

from 1811 to 1813. In the

industrial age The Industrial Age is a period of history that encompasses the changes in economic and social organization that began around 1760 in Great Britain and later in other countries, characterized chiefly by the replacement of hand tools with power-d ...

Delmenhorst experienced great economic growth, thanks to Bremen. Since Bremen was in a different duty zone, merchants who wanted to

export An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is a ...

manufactured goods Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...

outside of Bremen had to pay high customs duties. They therefore only exported the resources and produced their commodities in the surrounding villages. The industries arising were the ''

Jute Jute ( ) is a long, rough, shiny bast fibre that can be Spinning (textiles), spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', of the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is ...

'' - a spinning works and weavery in 1871, the ''Delmenhorster Linoleumfabrik'' - a

linoleum Linoleum is a floor covering made from materials such as solidified linseed oil (linoxyn), Pine Resin, pine resin, ground Cork (material), cork dust, sawdust, and mineral fillers such as calcium carbonate, most commonly on a Hessian fabric, hes ...

factory, in 1882, the ''Norddeutsche Wollkämmerei und Kammgarnspinnerei'' or ''Nordwolle'' - another, bigger spinning works, and several others. The number of inhabitants quadrupled in these years. In 1903 Delmenhorst was declared ''kreisfrei'', meaning it was under its own regentship, not having to obey any other county. In the 1930s

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

the ''Nordwolle'' went bankrupt - nevertheless the town grew bigger, incorporating several smaller villages around it. On

Kristallnacht ( ) or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from the Hitler Youth and German civilia ...

in November 1938 the

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

was burnt down by the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

, who had come to power in Germany in 1933. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Delmenhorst was in the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

zone of occupation and had to deal with thousands of refugees from Eastern Germany, which now was occupied by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. The British-appointed mayor during the British Occupation was Major Jack Wolfe, an inspector of the British Constabulary. In 1950, more than 57,000 people lived in Delmenhorst. Since the 1960s there has been a steady decrease in employment, leaving more than 13% of the town's inhabitants unemployed and nearly 7% living on social welfare. In the year 2000 Delmenhorst was an outpost of the

Hanover 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 ...

-based

Expo 2000 Expo 2000 was a World Expo held in Hanover, Germany from 1 June to 31 October 2000. It was located on the Hanover Fairground (Messegelände Hannover), which is the largest exhibition ground in the world. Initially, some 40 million people were ...

. The Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg (HWK) Institute for Advanced Study is located at Delmenhorst, in the neighborhood of Deichhorst. The HWK promotes collaboration between and among international research scientists and artists, many of whom are housed on the HWK grounds. The public is engaged through a public lecture series. The research areas of focus are energy, earth, brain, and society.

Mayors

* Erich Koch-Weser: 1901–1909 *Hermann Hadenfeldt: 1909–1919 *Rudolf Königer: 1919–1933 *Wilhelm Müller: 1933–1937 *Hermann Maas: 1937–1945 *Walter Kleine: 1945–1945 *Johann Schmidt(1870-1949): 1945–1946 *Wilhelm von der Heyde: 1946–1955 *Anton Eickmeier (1912-1955): 1955–1955 *Hans Albers: 1955–1956 *Wilhelm von der Heyde (1885-1972): 1956–1968 *Ernst Eckert (1904-2004): 1968–1974 *Harald Groth (born 1943): 1974–1976 *Otto Jenzok (1928-1984): 1976–1984 *Walter Löwe: 1984–1986 *Erwin Pelka: 1986–1986 *Jürgen Thölke (born 1934): 1986–2001 *Carsten Schwettmann: 2001–2006 *Patrick de La Lanne (born 1962): 2006–2014 *Axel Jahnz: 2014-2021 *Petra Gerlach: since 2021

Main sights

The landmark of the town is the

water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...

complex with the adjacent town hall, built from 1910 to 1914 by architect Heinz Stoffregen. Wasserturm-Delmenhorst

Another interesting place is the Burginsel (Castle Island), in which the old castle existed in medieval times. The construction was torn down during the 18th century. Today a park (called the ''Graft'') occupies the grounds of the old castle. The industrial history of the town is presented by the Nordwolle Museum, an Anchor Point of ERIH, The European Route of Industrial Heritage.

Twin towns – sister cities

Delmenhorst is twinned with: * Allonnes, France * Borisoglebsk, Russia *

Eberswalde Eberswalde () is a major town and the administrative seat of the district Barnim in Brandenburg in north-eastern Germany, about northeast of Berlin. Population 42,144 (census in June 2005). The town is often called Waldstadt (forest town), beca ...

, Germany *

Kolding Kolding () is a Denmark, Danish seaport city located at the head of Kolding Fjord in the Region of Southern Denmark. It is the seat of Kolding Municipality. It is a transportation, commercial, and manufacturing centre and has numerous industria ...

, Denmark *

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

, Poland

Notable people

* August Kühnel (1645-ca. 1700), composer and

viola da gamba The viola da gamba (), or viol, or informally gamba, is a bowed and fretted string instrument that is played (i.e. "on the leg"). It is distinct from the later violin family, violin, or ; and it is any one of the earlier viol family of bow (m ...

performer (Baroque music) * Karl Friederichs (1831-1871), classical philologist and archaeologist * Hermann Rieck (ca 1837-1921), pioneer farmer in New South Wales, Australia, founded the local banana industry * Arthur Fitger (1840–1909), painter, art critic, playwright and poet. * Iwan Bloch (1872–1922), physician and sexologist * Fritz Stuckenberg (1881–1944), painter, brought up locally * Wolfgang Michels (1951–2017), musician, singer, composer and author * Volker Wieker (born 1954), retired Inspector General of the Bundeswehr * Gerd U. Auffarth (born 1964), Professor of Ophthalmology, Heidelberg University * Claudia Kemfert (born 1968), environmental economist and energy expert * Tim Fischer, (DE Wiki) (born 1973), composer and actor * Ernst-Marcus Thomas (born 1973), actor, TV host, radio DJ and writer. * Christian Dürr (born 1977), politician ( FDP) * Nils Dörgeloh (born 1979), a German actor.

Sport

* Reinhard Kuretzky (born 1947), athlete, pole vaulter * Hüseyin Eroğlu (born 1972), a Turkish-German football coach and former player; played over 300 games * Sandra Auffarth (born 1986), equestrian; gold, silver and bronze Olympic medallist * Patrick Drewes (born 1993), football goalkeeper, played over 200 games

Associated with the city

* Gerhard VI, Count of Oldenburg (1430–1500), ruler of the castle of Delmenhorst *

Henrich Focke Henrich Focke (8 October 1890 – 25 February 1979) was a German aviation pioneer from Bremen and also a co-founder of the Focke-Wulf company. He is best known as the inventor of the Focke-Wulf Fw 61, Fw 61, the first successful, practical, ...

(1890–1979), co-founder of

Focke-Wulf Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau AG () was a German manufacturer of civil and military aircraft before and during World War II. Many of the company's successful fighter aircraft designs were slight modifications of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190. It is one of the ...

, manufacturer of civil and military aircraft * Walter Többens (1909–1954), textile entrepreneur with production and trading * Hans-Joachim Hespos (1938–2022), composer, founded the concert series 11.11 new music in Delmenhorst * Sarah Connor (born 1980), singer and "honorary messenger" of the city since 2003