Villa Hügel in Essen

3 August 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Museums, Exhibitions, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks Reading Time:  5 minutes

© Sir James

© Sir James

The Villa Hügel is a mansion in Bredeney (part of the modern city of Essen) in Germany. It belonged to the Krupp family of industrialists and was built by Alfred Krupp in 1873 as a residence. More recently, the Villa Hügel has housed the offices of the Kulturstiftung Ruhr (Ruhr Cultural Foundation) as well as an art gallery and the historical archive of the Krupp family and company.   read more…

Meerbusch on the Lower Rhine

2 July 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Pesch Mansion © Tetris L/cc-by-sa-3.0

Pesch Mansion © Tetris L/cc-by-sa-3.0

Meerbusch, a town in Rhein-Kreis Neuss, has been an incorporated city since 1970. Meerbusch is the municipality with the second most income millionaires in North Rhine-Westphalia. Meerbusch is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany. It is located between Krefeld and Düsseldorf near Düsseldorf International Airport and Messe Düsseldorf.   read more…

Dülmen in the Münsterland

11 June 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Town Hall on Market Square © Stahlkocher/cc-by-sa-3.0

Town Hall on Market Square © Stahlkocher/cc-by-sa-3.0

Dülmen is a municipality in the district of Coesfeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. Dülmen is situated in the south part of the Münsterland area, between the Lippe river to the south, the Baumberge hills to the north and the Ems river to the east. South of Dülmen the Ruhr area is located. After the local government reforms of 1975 Dülmen consists of the 7 subdivisions Dülmen, Kirchspiel, Buldern, Hausdülmen, Hiddingsel, Merfeld and Rorup. Merfeld was first mentioned in 890. It became a part of Dülmen in 1975. It is known for its herd of Dülmen Ponies. Rorup was first mentioned in 1050 and became a district of Dülmen in 1975.   read more…

Osnabrück, the City of Peace

12 March 2013 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Heger Gate © Quasitim/cc-by-sa-3.0

Heger Gate © Quasitim/cc-by-sa-3.0

Osnabrück is a city in Lower Saxony, some 80 km NNE of Dortmund, 45 km NE of Münster, and some 100 km due west of Hanover. It lies in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. Its population is at 165,000, making it the third-largest city in Lower Saxony, after Hanover and Brunswick.   read more…

Xanten on the Lower Rhine

31 October 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Mitteltor (Middle Gate) © Frank Vincentz

Mitteltor (Middle Gate) © Frank Vincentz

Xanten is a historic town in North Rhine-Westphalia, located in the district of Wesel. Xanten is the only German town whose name begins with X.   read more…

Krefeld in North Rhine-Westphalia

27 August 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  6 minutes

Brewery Gleumes © DER UNFASSBARE

Brewery Gleumes © DER UNFASSBARE

Krefeld, also known as Crefeld until 1929, is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its centre lying just a few kilometres to the west of the River Rhine; the borough of Uerdingen is situated directly on the Rhine. Krefeld is also called the “Velvet and Silk City” and belong to the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.   read more…

Ibbenbüren in Tecklenburger Land

10 August 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

City Center (Oberer Markt) © J.-H. Janßen

City Center (Oberer Markt) © J.-H. Janßen

Ibbenbüren or Ibbenbueren is a medium-sized town in the district of Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is on position 185 of the largest cities in Germany and the largest city in Tecklenburger Land. Ibbenbüren (Ibbenbueren) is situated on the Ibbenbürener Aa river, at the northwest end of the Teutoburger forest and rather exactly in the center of the two cities Rheine in the west and Osnabrück in the east, both approximately 20 km away. In the years 1219 and/or 1234 it appears as church village. In this transition of the High Middle Ages to the Late Middle Ages the noble gentlemen of Ibbenbüren, that is the abbot of Herford and the counts of Tecklenburg, possessed basic rule in the place. To this time Ibbenbüren belonged to the Diocese of Osnabrück. During this time the castle of Ibbenbüren was built by the noble gentlemen of Ibbenbüren starting from 1150. Last remainder of this castle are the remnants of the heath tower in the proximity of the Aasee.   read more…

Bielefeld in the Teutoburg Forest

3 July 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  9 minutes

Old Market Square © Hullie

Old Market Square © Hullie

Bielefeld is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 323,000, it is also the most populous city in the county of Detmold. Its current mayor is Pit Clausen. The satirical Bielefeld Conspiracy gave the city some international attention.   read more…

Bonn on the Rhine

4 June 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  7 minutes

Sunrise on a Winter day © Matthias Zepper

Sunrise on a Winter day © Matthias Zepper

Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999. Starting in 1998, many national government institutions were moved from Bonn to Berlin. Both houses of the German national parliament, the Bundestag and the Bundesrat, were moved along with the Chancellery and the residence of the President of Germany.   read more…

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