Ibbenbüren

For the Ibbenbüren meteorite of 1870, seemeteorite falls.

Ibbenbüren (Westphalian:Ippenbürn) is a town in the district ofSteinfurt, inNorth Rhine-Westphalia,Germany.

Ibbenbüren Ippenbürn (Low German)
Town
Christ Church, Ibbenbüren
Coat of arms
Location of Ibbenbüren within Steinfurt district
Ibbenbüren Show map of Germany Ibbenbüren Show map of North Rhine-Westphalia
Coordinates:52°16′40″N7°43′00″E / 52.27778°N 7.71667°E /52.27778; 7.71667
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Münster
District	Steinfurt
Subdivisions	9
Government
• Mayor(2020–25)	Marc Schrameyer^[1] (SPD)
Area
• Total	108.85 km² (42.03 sq mi)
Elevation	64 m (210 ft)
Population (2023-12-31)^[2]
• Total	51,807
• Density	480/km² (1,200/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	49477, 49479
Dialling codes	05451, 05459 (Uffeln), 05455 (Dörenthe)
Vehicle registration	ST, TE, BF
Website	www.ibbenbueren.de

Geography

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Ibbenbüren is on theIbbenbürener Aa river at the northwest end of theTeutoburger forest, between the two citiesRheine in the west andOsnabrück in the east, both approximately 20 km away.

History

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Ibbenbüren is mentioned in documentary evidence for the first time in 1146 when thebishop of Osnabrück at that time,Philipp of Katzenelnbogen, donated a tenth of his possessions in Ibbenbüren to the Getrudenkloster of Osnabrück. Although Ibbenbüren was already much older and a document of the year 1348 mentions the establishment of a church in the year 799, though the year 1146 is officially considered as the year of the foundation of Ibbenbüren.

In the years 1219 and/or 1234 it appears as a church village. In the transition from theHigh Middle Ages to theLate Middle Ages the noble gentlemen of Ibbenbüren, that is the abbot ofHerford and the counts ofTecklenburg, possessed basic rule of the place. At this time Ibbenbüren belonged to theDiocese of Osnabrück. During this time the castle of Ibbenbüren was built by the noble gentlemen of Ibbenbüren starting from 1150. The last remains of this castle are the remnants of the heath tower in the proximity of theAasee.

After the noble gentleman of Ibbenbüren died out, Ibbenbüren came under the exclusive rule of the counts of Tecklenburg. This rule lasted until the end of the 15th or beginning of the 16th century, when Ibbenbüren finally fell into the possession ofCharles V in 1548 by awkward and luckless tactics used by the counts of Tecklenburg. Karl donated it to his sisterMary of Habsburg, governor of the Netherlands. Ibbenbüren was assigned to theCounty of Lingen [de]. Into this period also falls the beginning of coal mining.

After Ibbenbüren repeatedly fell under control of the Netherlands and Spain in theDutch Revolt, it was assigned to theHouse of Orange-Nassau after thePeace of Westphalia in 1648. Around this time was the beginning of iron ore mining in and around Ibbenbüren, which ended in the first half of the 19th century. By succession it came underPrussian rule in 1702. On 1 February 1724 Ibbenbüren attained municipal rights, which stood among other things in connection with the introduction ofexcise duty. In 1743 the first magistrate and mayor were appointed.

During the rule ofNapoleon Bonaparte at the beginning of the 19th century, Ibbenbüren belonged to theFirst French Empire, until it was freed by Prussian andRussian troops in 1815. It came back under Prussian rule on 1 January 1816, and was assigned to thedistrict of Tecklenburg [de]. After the end ofWorld War II the city Ibbenbüren and the municipality Ibbenbüren Land were formed on 31 December 1974, into the department federation Ibbenbüren, resulting in today's city of Ibbenbüren. With the simultaneous dissolution of the district of Tecklenburg and fusion with the old district of Burgsteinfurt, Ibbenbüren was assigned to the newdistrict of Steinfurt.

On 16 May 2015, a passenger traincollided with a vehicle on a level crossing at Ibbenbüren. Two people were killed and 20 were injured, three seriously.^[3]

Panorama shot of the city centre of Ibbenbüren and the mountain "Dörenther Berg". In the background on the "Schafberg" one can recognize the mine plants as well as the Ibbenbüren power station.

Coat of arms

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Coat of arms displays an upright golden anchor on a blue shield. The colours blue and gold represent the city colours. The origin of the anchor is not known, but the anchor is also on the coat of arms of the neighbouring earldom of Lingen, which has a harbour. The anchor could depict the port customs office, which was owned by the earl.