Bielefeld

History

Founded in 1214 by Count Hermann IV of Ravensberg to guard a pass crossing the Teutoburg Forest, Bielefeld was the "city of linen" as a minor member of the Hanseatic League, known for bleachfields into the 19th century. The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 turned Ravensberg, from 1719 Minden-Ravensberg, into a part of Brandenburg–Prussia. When Prussia lost its western territories to French control in 1807, Bielefeld became part of the Kingdom of Westphalia. In 1813 the region reverted back to the Kingdom of Prussia, and following the defeat of France and the Congress of Vienna in 1815 Bielefeld was incorporated into the newly formed Province of Westphalia.

After the Cologne-Minden railway opened in 1849, the Bozi brothers constructed the first large mechanised spinning mill in 1851. The Ravensberg Spinning Mill was built from 1854 to 1857, and metal works began to open in the 1860s.

Founded in 1867 as a Bielefeld sewing machine repair company, Dürkoppwerke AG employed 1,665 people in 1892; it used Waffenamt code "WaA547" from 1938 to 1939 as the Dürkopp-Werke, and merged with other Bielefeld companies to form Dürkopp Adler AG in 1990.

Between 1904 and 1930, Bielefeld grew, opening a rebuilt railway station, a municipal theatre, and finally, the Rudolf-Oetker-Halle concert hall, renowned for its excellent acoustics. The Dürkopp car was produced from 1898 to 1927. After printing emergency money (German: Notgeld) in 1923 during the inflation in the Weimar Republic, Bielefeld was one of several towns that printed very attractive and highly collectable banknotes with designs on silk, linen and velvet. These pieces were issued by the Bielefeld Stadtsparkasse (town's savings bank) and were sent all around the world in the early 1920s. These pieces are known as Stoffgeld – that is, money made from fabric.

The town's synagogue was burned in 1938 during the Kristallnacht pogrom carried out against Jewish population. In 1944, Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses of the USAAF bombed the gas works at Bielefeld on 20 September and the marshaling yard on 30 September; Bielefeld was bombed again on 7 October and the RAF bombed the town on the night of 4/5 December. On 17 January 1945, B-17s bombed the nearby Paderborn marshalling yard, and the railway viaduct in the suburb of Schildesche. On 14 March the RAF bombed the viaduct again, wrecking it. This was the first use of the RAF's 10 tonne Grand Slam bomb. American troops entered the city in April 1945.

Subdivisions

Bielefeld is subdivided into the following ten (10) districts:

Bielefeld-Mitte (central district)

Brackwede

Dornberg

Gadderbaum

Heepen

Jöllenbeck

Schildesche

Senne

Sennestadt

Stieghorst

Climate

Bielefeld has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb; Trewartha: Dobk). The average annual high temperature is 14.6 °C (58.3 °F), the annual low temperature is 5.4 °C (41.7 °F), and the annual precipitation is 866.4 millimetres (34.11 inches).

The Alzey weather station has recorded the following extreme values:

Its highest temperature was 39.0 °C (102.2 °F) on 25 July 2019.

Its lowest temperature was −21.3 °C (−6.3 °F) on 13 February 2021.

Its greatest annual precipitation was 1,466.2 mm (57.72 in) in 2023.

Its least annual precipitation was 652.6 mm (25.69 in) in 2018.

The longest annual sunshine was 1,918.3 hours in 2022.

The shortest annual sunshine was 1,418.4 hours in 2013.

Industry and education

Bielefeld was a linen-producing town, and in the early 1920s the Town's Savings Bank (Stadtsparkasse) issued money made of linen, silk and velvet. These items were known as 'stoffgeld'.

In addition to the manufacture of home appliances and various heavy industries, Bielefeld companies include Dr. Oetker (food manufacturing), Möller Group (leather products and plastics), Seidensticker (clothing and textiles) and Bethel Institution with 17.000 employees.

Bielefeld University was founded in 1969. The first professors included the well-known German sociologist Niklas Luhmann. Other institutions of higher education include the Theological Seminary Bethel (Kirchliche Hochschule Bethel) and the Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences (German: Hochschule Bielefeld), which offers 21 courses in 8 different departments (agriculture and engineering are in Minden) and has been internationally recognized for its photography school. Bielefeld has several vocational schools like Berufskolleg Senne. and Berufskolleg Bethel. These schools focus on hands-on training in various fields, including business, healthcare, and technical disciplines.

Politics

Mayor

The current mayor (Oberbürgermeister) of Bielefeld is Christiana Bauer of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), who was elected in 2025.

The most recent mayoral election was held on 14 September 2025, with a runoff held on 28 September, and the results were as follows:

City council

The Bielefeld city council governs the city alongside the mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 14 September 2025. The SPD and the CDU formed a coalition with 40 of the 78 seats in the council. The full results were as follows:

Transport

Two major autobahns, the A 2 and A 33, intersect in the south east of Bielefeld. The Ostwestfalendamm expressway connects the two parts of the city, naturally divided by the Teutoburg Forest. Bielefeld Hauptbahnhof, the main railway station of Bielefeld, is on the Hamm–Minden railway and is part of the German ICE high-speed railroad system. The main station for intercity bus services is Brackwede station.

Bielefeld has a small airstrip, Flugplatz Bielefeld, in the Senne district but is mainly served by the three larger airports nearby, Paderborn Lippstadt Airport, Münster Osnabrück Airport and Hannover Airport.

Bielefeld boasts a well-developed public transport system, served mainly by the companies moBiel (formerly Stadtwerke Bielefeld – Verkehrsbetriebe) and "BVO". The Bielefeld Stadtbahn has four major lines and regional trains connect different parts of the city with nearby counties. Buses also run throughout the area.

Main sights

Sparrenburg Castle is Bielefeld's characteristic landmark. It was built between 1240 and 1250 by Count Ludwig von Ravensberg. The 37-metre-high (121 ft) tower and the catacombs of the castle are open to the public.

The Linen Weavers' Monument, with the German name Leineweber-Denkmal, created by the Tyrolean sculptor Perathoner, has been one of Bielefeld's most recognisable symbols for over 100 years. It stands as a reminder of the time when the city gained importance through the production of linen, with the traditional crafts of spinning and weaving, and its high-quality linen became known worldwide, characterised by its own seal of quality.

The Old City Hall (Altes Rathaus) was built in 1904 and still serves the same function. Its façade reflects the so-called Weserrenaissance and features elements of various architectural styles, including Gothic and Renaissance. Though the mayor still holds office in the Old City Hall, most of the city's administration is housed in the adjacent New City Hall (Neues Rathaus).

The City Theatre (Stadttheater) is part of the same architectural ensemble as the Old City Hall, also built in 1904. It has a notable Jugendstil façade, is Bielefeld's largest theatre and home of the Bielefeld Opera. Another theatre (Theater am Alten Markt) resides in the former town hall building on the Old Market Square (Alter Markt), which also contains a row of restored 16th and 17th-century townhouses with noteworthy late Gothic and Weser Renaissance style façades (Bürgerhäuser am Alten Markt).

The oldest city church is Altstädter Nicolaikirche. It is a Gothic hall church with a height of 81.5 m (267 ft). It was founded in 1236 by the Bishop of Paderborn, and enlarged at the beginning of the 14th century. The church was damaged in World War II and later rebuilt. Three times a day, a carillon can be heard. The most valuable treasure of this church is a carved altar from Antwerp, decorated with 250 figures. A small museum housed within illustrates the history of the church up to World War II.

The largest church is the Neustädter Marienkirche, a Gothic hall church dating back to 1293, completed 1512. It stands 78 m (256 ft) tall and has a length of 52 m (171 ft). Historically speaking, this building is considered to be the most precious possession of the town. It was the starting point of the Protestant Reformation in Bielefeld in 1553. A valuable wing-altar with 13 pictures, known as the Marienaltar is also kept inside. The baroque spires were destroyed in World War II and later replaced by two unusually-shaped "Gothic" clocktowers. The altarpiece of the Bielefeld church Neustädter Marienkirche from around 1400 is among the most prominent masterpieces of artwork of the German Middle Ages. Two of the altarpieces, The Flagellation and The Crucifixion are now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Sport

Bielefeld is home to the professional football team DSC Arminia Bielefeld. Currently a member of the 2. Liga in the 2025–26 season, the club plays at the SchücoArena stadium in the west of the town centre.

Bielefeld is home to the Radrennbahn Bielefeld bike racing track.

Notable people

Born before 1900

Kurt Blome (1894–1969), high-ranking Nazi scientist before and during World War II

Friedrich von Bodelschwingh, Senior (1831–1910), second boss of the "Evangelischen Heil- und Pflegeanstalt für Epileptische" (Protestant Sanatorium for Epileptics) (1874 renamed into "Bethel")

Friedrich von Bodelschwingh (1877–1946) (named after F. v. Bodelschwingh Senior), Protestant theologian, third boss of the von Bodelschwinghsche Anstalten (later renamed into von Bodelschwinghsche Stiftungen)

Hugo Fischer-Köppe (1890–1937), early film actor

Albert Florath (1888–1957), stage and film actor

Anne Marie Heiler (1889–1979), politician (CDU)

Johann Christoph Hoffbauer (1766–1827), philosopher

Alexander Holle (1898–1978), general lieutenant in the Luftwaffe's Condor Legion

Charlotte Houtermans (1899–1993), physicist, physical chemistry

August Junkermann (1832–1915), actor

August Krönig (1822–1879), chemist and physicist

Wilhelmine Lohmann (1872-?), German teacher, social worker, and temperance leader

Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau (1888–1931), film director

Christian Friedrich Nasse (1778–1851), psychiatrist

Helmuth Osthoff (1896–1983), musicologist and composer

Born 1900–1950

Rudolph Angermüller (1940–2021), musicologist

Aleida Assmann (born 1947), anglist, egyptologist and literary and cultural scientist

Veronica Carstens (1923–2012), medical doctor, wife of Karl Carstens

Erich Consemüller (1902–1957), Bauhaus-trained architect and photographer

Elfriede Eilers (1921–2016), politician (SPD)

Johannes Friedrich (1948–2025), Lutheran Protestant theologian

Karen Gershon (1923–1993), German-born writer and poet

Theodor Göllner (1929–2022), musicologist

Klaus Hildebrand (born 1941), historian

Friedrich Holzapfel (1900–1969), politician (CDU)

Heinz Klingenberg (1905–1959), actor

Klaus Kobusch (1941–2025), cyclist

Werner Lueg (1931–2014), athlete

Hajo Meyer (1924–2014), German-Dutch physicist and author

Reinhard Meyer zu Bentrup (1939–2024), politician (CDU)

Irmgard Möller (born 1947), member of the Red Army faction

Hermann Paul Müller (1909–1975), racing driver

Born 1951–2000

Julia Abe (born 1976), tennis player

Friederike Abt (born 1994), football goalkeeper

Mehmet Akgün (born 1986), footballer

Dirk Becker (born 1966), politician (SPD)

Anja Blacha (born 1990), endurance and extreme athlete, high-altitude mountaineer

Tom Brüntrup (born 1997), politician (CDU)

Ulrich Büscher (1958–2020), footballer

Mark Carleton-Smith (born 1964), senior British Army officer

Charalampos Chantzopoulos (born 1994), Greek football player

Michael Diekmann (born 1954), chief executive officer of Allianz SE

Hendrik Dreekmann (born 1975), tennis player

Joachim Ebmeyer (born 1985), politician (CDU)

Kevin John Edusei (born 1976), conductor

Ralf Ehrenbrink (born 1960), versatility rider

Sabine Ellerbrock (born 1975), wheelchair tennis player

Wiebke Esdar (born 1984), politician (SPD)

Anja Feldmann (born 1966), computer scientist

Nils Fischer (born 1987), footballer

Born 2001 and later

Dildar Atmaca (born 2002), footballer

Jomaine Consbruch (born 2002), footballer

Colin Kleine-Bekel (born 2003), footballer

Henrik Koch (born 2006), footballer

Twin towns – sister cities

Bielefeld is twinned with: