More recently Osnabrück has become well known for its industry. Numerous companies in the automobile, paper, steel and grocery sectors are located in the city and its surrounding area.[4] In spite of the massive destruction inflicted on the city duringWorld War II, theAltstadt (old town) was eventually reconstructed extensively with designs loyal to the originalmedieval architecture there. Osnabrück was also the home of the largest British garrison outside theUnited Kingdom.[5] Osnabrück's modern, urban image is enhanced by the presence of more than 22,000 students studying at theUniversity and theUniversity of Applied Sciences.[6] Although part of the state of Lower Saxony, historically, culturally and linguistically Osnabrück is considered part of the region ofWestphalia.
The origin of the name Osnabrück is disputed. The suffix-brück suggests a bridge over or to something (from GermanBrücke = bridge) but the prefixOsna- is explained in at least two different ways: the traditional explanation is that today's name is a corruption[clarification needed] ofOssenbrügge (westphalian meaning "oxen bridge"), which is etymologically and historically impossible, because the town is older than this corruption of consonants (documented in 13th century, Osnabrück was founded in 8th century), but others state that it is derived from the name of theHase River which is arguably derived fromAsen (Æsir), thus giving Osnabrück the meaning "bridge to the gods",[7] and previously Tacitus named people living near the grey river (Hase)Chasuarii. It may also be noted that Osnabrück is situated on the northern end of theTeutoburg Forest, which until the 19th century was known as the Osning.[citation needed]The city gave its name to the textile fabric ofosnaburg.
Osnabrück initially developed as a marketplace next to the bishopric founded byCharlemagne, King of theFranks, in 780. Some time prior to 803, the city became the seat of thePrince-Bishopric of Osnabrück. Although the precise date is uncertain, it is likely that Osnabrück is the oldest bishopric in Lower Saxony.
In the year 804 Charlemagne was said to have founded theGymnasium Carolinum in Osnabrück. This would make it the oldest GermanGymnasium school, but the charter date is disputed by historians, some of whom believe it could be a forgery.
In 889 the town was given merchant, customs, and coinage privileges by KingArnulf of Carinthia. Osnabrück was first referred to in records as a "city" in 1147. A decade later, EmperorFrederick Barbarossa granted the cityfortification privileges (Befestigungsrecht). Most of the towers which were part of the original fortifications are still visible in the city. Osnabrück became a member of theHanseatic League in the 12th century, as well as a member of theWestphalian Federation of Cities.
The history of the town in the later Middle Ages was recorded in a chronicle byAlbert Suho, one of Osnabrück's most important clerics in the 15th century.
From 1561 to 1639 there was a considerable amount of social unrest and tension in Osnabrück due to theProtestant Reformation, theThirty Years' War and also witch hunting. In 1582, during the rule of Mayor Hammacher (1565–1588), 163 women were executed as alleged witches; most of them were burned alive. In total, 276 women were executed, along with 2 men who had been charged with wizardry.
The firstLutheran services were held in Osnabrück in 1543. Over the next century, Lutheranism expanded in the city and several Protestant bishops were elected. However, the Catholic churches continued to operate, and the city never became completely Lutheran. After the Thirty Years' War broke out, a Catholic bishop was elected in 1623, and the city was occupied by troops of the Catholic League in 1628.[8] TheGymnasium Carolinum was upgraded to aJesuit university in 1632, but the university was closed a year later when the city wastaken by Swedish troops and restored to Protestant control.
The Prince-Bishop's Palace, 1777
Peace negotiations took place in Osnabrück and the nearby city ofMünster from 1643 to 1648. The twin Treaties of Osnabrück and Münster, collectively known as thePeace of Westphalia, ended the Thirty Years' War. Osnabrück was officially recognized as bi-confessional Catholic and Lutheran. Theprince-bishopric would be held alternately by a Catholic bishop and a Lutheran bishop. The Protestant bishop would be selected from the descendants of theDukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg, with priority given to thecadets of what became theHouse of Hanover. From 1667, prince-bishopErnest Augustus, Duke ofBrunswick-Lüneburg, built the new baroque palace. His son,George I of Great Britain, died in the palace, at the time residence of his younger brother, prince-bishopErnest Augustus, Duke of York and Albany, on a travel on 11 June 1727.
In the early 18th century, renowned local jurist and social theoristJustus Möser wrote a highly influential constitutional history of the town, theOsnabrücker Geschichte.[9] Following theSeven Years' War, the town's population fell below 6,000, however an economic revival linked to thelinen and tobacco industries caused it to rise again from the 1780s onwards.[10]
The town's first railway line was built in 1855, connecting it withLöhne. Further rail connections appeared over the following decades, connecting Osnabrück withEmden from 1856,Cologne from 1871 andHamburg from 1874.[12] In 1866, Osnabrück was annexed by Prussia after theAustro-Prussian War and administered as part of theProvince of Hanover. Growth of the local economy and population was fuelled by expansion in the engineering and textile industries, with the Hammersen Weaving Mill established in 1869 and theOsnabrücker Kupfer- und Drahtwerk metallurgical firm following in 1873.[11] The later 19th century also saw growth in the number of schools and the arrival of electricity and modern sanitation.[13]
By 1914, Osnabrück had over 70,000 inhabitants.[11] The outbreak of theFirst World War necessitated food rationing; the Allied blockade and a harsh winter in 1917 led to further shortages.[13] Following Germany's defeat in 1918, a council made up of workers and soldiers took control during theNovember Revolution, but were replaced by the newWeimar Republic the following year.[14] Similarly to many other German cities, Osnabrück experienced considerable inflation and unemployment in the 1920s, with over 2,000 out of work by 1923 and nearly 14,000 receiving some form of government assistance by 1928.[15]
Politically, Osnabrück in the 1920s was a stronghold of support for the Social Democrats and the CatholicCentre Party. However, in the Reichstag elections of September 1930, theNazi Party received the greatest percentage of votes in the city (nearly 28%) – a more than seven-fold increase from their electoral performance in Osnabrück two years prior.[16] During the campaigns prior to the two federal elections in 1932, bothAdolf Hitler andJoseph Goebbels made well-attended speeches in the city.[17]
Southern part of the inner city
Following the Nazis' seizure of power in January 1933, Osnabrück was subjected to the implementation of National Socialist economic, political, and social programmes. These resulted in economic growth for ethnic Germans who did not run afoul of the new regime, and the town went from having over 10,000 unemployed in early 1933 to actually having a labour shortage five years later.[18] However, dissenters, supporters of opposition parties andGerman Jews (who had experienced centuries of discrimination in the city[19]) did not share in this growth and found themselves discriminated against, imprisoned or forced to close their businesses and leave town.[20] DuringWorld War II, both Jews andRomani people were deported toconcentration camps andextermination camps en masse.[21] In October 1942, a subcamp of the 2ndSS construction brigade (forced labour camp) inBremen was established in Osnabrück.[22] 86 of the 250 prisoners died of starvation and maltreatment before the subcamp's dissolution in May 1943.[22] Osnabrück was also the location of the Oflag VI-C and Oflag 66prisoner-of-war camps for Serbian,French and Belgian officers.[23]
The war ended for Osnabrück on 4 April 1945, when theXVII Corps ofField MarshalBernard Montgomery'sSecond Army entered the city with little resistance.[24] By this time, the city had been extensively bombed and required major reconstructive programmes following the war's end. Leading Nazis fled the city and the British appointed a new mayor, Johannes Petermann. However, during theallied occupation of Germany a British military governor, Colonel Geoffrey Day was placed in charge of administering the city.[25] Relations between the occupiers and the citizens of Osnabrück were generally peaceful, though tensions existed; some minor fights broke out between British soldiers and local youths and some Osnabrückers resented the relationships that developed between the occupiers and local women.[26] Additionally, the British took over more than seventy homes for their own use by the middle of 1946.[27] Amidst shortages, the black market thrived and became one of the main focuses of police activity.[28]
After World War IIWest Germany realigned its states; Osnabrück became part of the new state ofLower Saxony in 1946. The British continued to maintainOsnabrück Garrison, a garrison near the city, which at one point was the largest Britishgarrison in the world, housing some 4,000 troops and employing around 500 local civilians.[29] It was the target of aPIRAattack in 1996.[30] Due to budget cuts, the troops were withdrawn in 2008 and the property returned to the local government.[31]
After three centuries, the city finally obtained its university when the government of Lower Saxony established theUniversity of Osnabrück in 1974.
Largest foreign resident groups in Osnabrück as of 31 December 2017[update]:[32]
Kalkriese Museum, situated on the battlefield of theBattle of the Teutoburger Wald in the Wiehen Hills, where German tribes underArminius destroyed three Roman legions. It exhibits artefacts unearthed on the battlefield and tells the story of the battle
Old town with its small streets and medieval buildings
Osnabrück Zoo
Vitischanze – formerly a defence station in the north-west of the old city, it has the only undestroyed bridge in Europe with a defence walk below its surface. It is also the site of certain faculty of theUniversity of Applied Science. It was earlier used as a casino
Haseuferweg
Katharinenkirche (St. Catherine's Church), which dates back to 1248 and is one of the 150 tallest churches in the world, and also the tallest medieval building inLower Saxony[36]
Hyde Park, a traditional music hall established in 1976, a haven of pop music andyouth culture[37]
Leysieffer, a traditional German chocolate producer founded in Osnabrück. The main Leysieffer site is in the city centre.
There are two higher education institutions in Osnabrück,University of Osnabrück andOsnabrück University of Applied Sciences with more than 25,000 students. All of the types of German grammar schools are represented in the city, including sevenGymnasien.Gymnasium Carolinum claims to be the oldest still existing school in Germany. Another well-known Gymnasium is the Ursulaschule, a private school, located directly opposite the Carolinum. The University of Osnabrück invested heavily in infrastructure to take on more students for the following years.
Osnabrück, Germany, offers several vocational schools (Berufsbildende Schulen, or BBS) that provide practical education and training across various fields. Here are some notable institutions
Berufsbildende Schulen am Schölerberg (BBS am Schölerberg)[38]
The city of Osnabrück is connected by road to theA1, theA30 and theA33.It shares itsairport withMünster.
Osnabrück Hauptbahnhof (central railway station) is an important rail travel hub. Travellers from the Netherlands heading to eitherHamburg, Denmark, or Eastern Europe often have to change here.[citation needed]
An extensive bus network operated by the Stadtwerke Osnabrück (public utility provider) provides public transport within the city and the surrounding region.[1] The central hub is situated on Neumarkt close to the main shopping street, roughly 10 minutes' walk from the railway station.
Previously Osnabrück had made contact with the British authorities as early as 1948, hoping to find an Englishtwin town and therefore achieve greater understanding with their former enemies in the Second World War. This attempt was unsuccessful and Osnabrück did not actively consider the idea again for another quarter-century. The twinning agreement with Derby was signed on 17 February 1976.[42] Every year since then the two cities have exchanged envoys. Derby also has a square named after Osnabrück in honour of the twinning arrangement; this features an obelisk among other things.
Henry Niemann (April 27, 1838 – October 26, 1899) was a pipe organ builder, who spent most of his career inBaltimore, Maryland. His organs were respected for their bold sound, fluid mechanisms, and quality construction.
^Greengrass, Mark (2014).Christendom Destroyed: Europe 1517–1648. Penguin.ISBN9780698176256.Both cities carried the scars o the war, but Osnabrück suffered worse, subjected to the troops of the Catholic League (1628-32) and a forcible Catholicization, and then Swedish war contributions.
^Megargee, Geoffrey P.; Overmans, Rüdiger; Vogt, Wolfgang (2022).The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV. Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. pp. 222, 247.ISBN978-0-253-06089-1.
Panayi, P. (2007),Life and Death in a German Town: Osnabrück from the Weimar Republic to World War II and Beyond, New York: Tauris Academic StudiesISBN978-0-85771-440-4
Gerd Steinwascher (editor):Geschichte der Stadt Osnabrück Meinders & Elstermann, Belm 2006,ISBN3-88926-007-1
Bettina Meckel:Osnabrück und Umland. Wenner, Osnabrück, 2010. An excellent picture book includes translation to English by Nick Woods.ISBN978-3-87898-417-7
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