The territory of the region is almost identical with the historicProvince of Westphalia, which was a part of theKingdom of Prussia from 1815 to 1918[6] and theFree State of Prussia from 1918 to 1946. In 1946, Westphalia merged withNorth Rhine, another former part of Prussia, to form the newly created state of North Rhine-Westphalia. In 1947, the state with its two historic parts was joined by a third one: Lippe, a formerprincipality andfree state.[7]
Being a part of theNorth German Plain, most of Westphalia's north is flat. In the south the GermanCentral Uplands emerge. Westphalia is divided into the following landscapes.[8]
Westphalia is roughly the region in between the riversRhine andWeser, located both north and south of theRuhr River. Other important rivers are theEms and theLippe.[10]
TheLangenberg (843 m or 2,766 ft) and theKahler Asten (842 m or 2,762 ft) in the Sauerland part of theRothaar Mountains are Westphalia's and also North Rhine-Westphalia's highest mountains.
The term "Westphalia" contrasts with the much less used term "Eastphalia", which roughly covers the southeastern part of the present-day state ofLower Saxony, westernSaxony-Anhalt and northernThuringia.[3][11]
The traditional symbol of Westphalia is the Westphalian Steed: a white horse on a red field. It is derived from theSaxon Steed in the coat of arms of the medievalDuchy of Saxony which most of today's Westphalia was part of. In official contexts the coat of arms of Westphalia is being used by the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association,[12] which represents these two historic parts of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Thecoat of arms of North Rhine-Westphalia uses the Westphalian Steed to represent Westphalia as one of its parts alongside the Lippish Rose representing Lippe and theRhine River representing the Northern Rhineland.[13]
The colours of Westphalia are white and red. The flag of the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association uses these colours with the Westphalian coat of arms in its centre.[12]
Dialects in North Rhine-Westphalia:Central Franconian andLow Franconian dialects in red,Low German dialects in blue.Westphalian (German) ladies peasant costume – illustration by Percy Anderson for Costume Fanciful, Historical and Theatrical, 1906.
In addition to these historic, lingual and religious aspects, there are some regional differences in culture and mentality. That is why many of the citizens of North Rhine-Westphalia rather see themselves either as "Rhinelanders", "Westphalians" or "Lippers" rather than as "North Rhine-Westphalians".
Around AD 1 there were numerous incursions through Westphalia and perhaps even some permanentRoman or Romanized settlements. TheBattle of the Teutoburg Forest took place near Osnabrück, which at this time was a place of settlement of the Westphalians, who were a part of the Germanic tribe of theSaxons. Some of the tribes who fought at this battle came from the area of Westphalia.[16][17]
Charlemagne is thought to have spent considerable time inPaderborn and nearby parts. HisSaxon Wars also partly took place in what is thought of as Westphalia today. Popular legends link his adversaryWidukind to places near Detmold, Bielefeld, Lemgo, Osnabrück and other places in Westphalia. Widukind was buried inEnger, which is also a subject of a legend.[3]
Along withEastphalia,Angria andNordalbingia, Westphalia(Westfalahi) was originally a district of theDuchy of Saxony. At the time, large portions of its territory in the north lay in what today isLower Saxony. Following the deposition of the Saxon dukeHenry the Lion in 1180 and the subsequent belittlement of the duchy, Westphalia was elevated to a duchy in its own right by EmperorBarbarossa. TheDuchy of Westphalia comprised only a small area south of theLippe River.[3]
As a result of theProtestant Reformation, there was no dominant religion in Westphalia.Roman Catholicism andLutheranism were on a relatively equal footing. Lutheranism was strong in the eastern and northern parts with numerous free churches. Münster and especially Paderborn were considered to be Catholic. Osnabrück was divided almost equally between Catholicism and Protestantism.[18]
Parts of Westphalia came underBrandenburg-Prussian control during the 17th and 18th centuries, but most of it remained divided by duchies and other areas of feudal power. ThePeace of Westphalia of 1648, signed in Münster and Osnabrück, ended theThirty Years' War. The concept of nation-state sovereignty resulting from the treaty became known as "Westphalian sovereignty".[18]
Prussian Westphalia edged in red, the Kingdom of Westphalia edged in green with the territorial overlap of formerMinden-Ravensberg, pasted over today's borders with North Rhine-Westphalia in dark grey.Westphalia (red), within theKingdom of Prussia, within theGerman Empire
After the defeat of thePrussian Army by the French at theBattle of Jena–Auerstedt, theTreaty of Tilsit in 1807 made the easternmost portion of today's Westphalia part of theFrenchclientKingdom of Westphalia until 1813, when the kingdom was dissolved by the Russians. While this state shared its name with the historical region, it only contained a relatively small part of Westphalia, rather consisting of mostlyHessian andEastphalian regions.[19]
AfterWorld War II in 1946, the present state ofNorth Rhine-Westphalia was created by theBritish military government from the former Prussian Province of Westphalia and the northern half of the former PrussianRhine Province. The old governmental districts of 1816 stayed in place. When in 1947 the formerFree State of Lippe with its capital Detmold joined North Rhine-Westphalia, the "Governmental District of Minden" was enlarged by this territory and renamed "Governmental District of Detmold". In total, North Rhine-Westphalia is subdivided into five governmental districts(Regierungsbezirke). Westphalia today consists of the old governmental districts ofArnsberg andMünster and ofDetmold (including theDistrict of Lippe, which is a separate historical region). Inhabitants of the region call themselves Westphalians and their home region Westphalia even though there is no administrative division by that name.[4]
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