Bielefeld

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Bielefeld

Bielefeld (German pronunciation: [ˈbiːləfɛlt]) is an independent city that is the largest city of the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region. The city is situated below a pass separating the Northern and Southern Teutoburg Forest. The centre of Bielefeld is situated on the eastern side of the Teutoburg Forest, but the modern city incorporates boroughs on the opposite side and on the hilltops.

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.

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.

Between 1904 and 1930, Bielefeld grew, opening a railway station, a municipal theatre, and finally, the Rudolf-Oetker-Halle concert hall, famous for its excellent acoustics. The Dürkopp car was produced 1898-1927. 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 saving's bank) and were sent all around the world in the early 1920s. These pieces are known as 'stoffgeld' - that is, money made from material. Many examples can be found on the http://www.notgeld.com website, where a new catalogue listing all the variants of different coloured borders and edges made on the 100m piece is being compiled.

Bielefeld was a linen producing town and the Town's Savings Bank (Stadtsparkasse), in the early 1920s issued money made of material, known as 'stoffgeld'. These were pieces of money produced on linen, silk & velvet. Examples can be found at www.notgeld.com/bielefeld-intro

In addition to home appliance manufacture and various heavy industries, Bielefeld companies include Dr. Oetker (food manufacturing), Möller Group (leather products and plastics) and Seidensticker (clothing and textiles).

Bielefeld University was founded in 1969. Among its first professors was notable contemporary 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: Fachhochschule Bielefeld), which offers 21 courses in 8 different departments (agriculture and engineering are in Minden) and has been internationally recognized for its photography school.

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