Vicelinkirche (Vicelin Church)A view of the Neumünster pond in the city center, with the movie theater building ahead and the "Holsten-Gallery" mall on the leftThe central bus station at the central train stationThe "Konrad Adenauer Plaza" outside the central train stationOutside of the entrance to the Neumünster central train stationNeumünster's public outdoor swimming pool in the "Bad am Stadtwald", near the City's forestBust of German politicianHans Böckler in the "Hans Böckler Settlement", a neighborhood of Neumünster
Neumünster (German pronunciation:[nɔʏˈmʏnstɐ]ⓘ) is a city in the middle ofSchleswig-Holstein,Germany. With more than 79,000 registered inhabitants, it is the fourth-largest municipality inSchleswig-Holstein (behindKiel,Lübeck andFlensburg). TheHolstenhallen and theStadthalle make the city an important trade fair location.
The city was first formally mentioned asWippendorp im Gau Faldera in 1127. In that year, the BishopVicelinus was sent there by theArchbishop of Bremen to perform missionary work. By 1136, Vicelinus built a new monastery there (Latin:novum monasterium, Greco-Latin: Neomonasterium,German: neues Kloster orneues Münster). The name "Novum monasterium" eventually replaced the previous names of Wippendorf and Faldera and led to the current name.[2][3]
In April 1870, Neumünster receivedtown privileges.[4] Since 1903 Neumünster is a so-called "independent city" (German:Kreisfreie Stadt) as it is not part of a district (German:Kreis).[5]
Großflecken (English: Large spot), a large, centrally-located street and public space in the city, became a place for civil unrest several times. In March 1848, riots broke out at Großflecken as part of theGerman revolution and again in 1923 during a period of inflation.[6]
The city was criticized by theRural People's Movement as part of a farmers' protest movement in northern Germany from 1928 to 1933, which was the basis forHans Fallada's novelA Small Circus (Bauern, Bonzen und Bomben). The city'sHans Fallada Prize is named after him.[7]
The Schleswig-HolsteinNazi Party was founded in 1925 byHinrich Lohse. The local Nazi Party group of Neumünster met atHofbräu München, a brewery at Großflecken. In 1926,Joseph Goebbels spoke to the local members there. In 1929 there were reportedly 29 members of the local Nazi Party group, but this number increased to 400 members a year later and to over 2,000 members by 1932. Shortly after theNazi seizure of power, Großflecken was renamed to Adolf-Hitler-Platz (English: Adolf Hitler Place).[8] OnKristallnacht in 1938, all Jewish men were arrested and sent toKZ Sachsenhausen.[9]
DuringWorld War 2, Neumünster was bombed multiple times byAllied forces in 1945, partly because of its importance as a railway junction and industrial city.[10][11] The British took control of the City in May 1945.[12]
In the fall of 1946, the state of Schleswig-Holstein was founded and postwar Neumünster held its first municipal election.[13]
Neumünster used to be a hub for the textile industry, with its firstfulling mill going back to 1566. However, the industry eventually left the city due to competition from overseas and Neumünster's last cloth factory closed in the beginning of the 1990s. This, among other reasons, led to Neumünster having a relatively high rate of unemployment compared to nationwide averages.[14]
In 2012,McArthurGlen Group opened a designer outlet shopping center in the industrial section of the city, using approximately 15,000 square meters.[15]
The city is divided into nine neighborhoods: Böcklersiedlung-Bugenhagen, Brachenfeld-Rutenberg, Einfeld, Faldera, Gadeland, Gartenstadt, Stadtmitte, Tungendorf and Wittorf.[16]
Near Neumünster atEhndorf, there is a high-powermedium wave transmission facility for transmitting the programmes ofDeutschlandfunk, theEhndorf transmitter, which is often named incorrectly as "Neumünster transmitter".
The city has an airfield[17] and a hospital.[18] The utility company, "Stadtwerke Neumünster" (SWN), also manages local inter-city bus routes.[19] In 2022, SWN ended all its inter-city bus service for Sundays and holidays, instead offering an on-demand shuttle van requiring an additional "comfort surcharge" on top of regular bus fares.[20] Beginning in autumn 2023 more regular bus lines were replaced by the on-demand shuttle service. The additional fees were cancelled and the service can now be used with the normal bus tickets.
Neumünster is located at the riversSchwale andStör, near the geographical center of Schleswig-Holstein, 35 kilometres (22 mi) south ofKiel, 65 kilometres (40 mi) north ofHamburg and 72 kilometres (45 mi) west ofLübeck. TheAukrug Nature Park is close to the town.
TheMuseum Tuch + Technik shows the history of the cloth-making craft from the Iron Age to the present day as well as of the city of Neumünster. The museum, which is supported by the Foundation Museum, Art and Culture of the City of Neumünster, was reopened on October 13, 2007 with a revised exhibition in a specially constructed building.[21]
TheHerbert Gerisch Foundation is an art foundation established in 2001 by Brigitte and Herbert Gerisch and based in Neumünster-Brachenfeld. The foundation serves the care, promotion and presentation of regional as well as international contemporary art. At the same time as the foundation was established, an internationalsculpture park was continuously built up.
TheKeramikkünstlerhaus Neumünster (until 2022 Stadttöpferei Neumünster) is an artists' house in Neumünster, which has been awarding work and residency scholarships for outstanding international graduates in the field of artistic ceramics since 1987. The Keramikkünstlerhaus is located in the Fürsthof, a small street in Neumünster's historic city center. The three-story brick building was built around 1900.
The raised bogDosenmoor near Einfeld northeast of Neumünster has an area of 521 hectares and is the largest and best preserved raised bog in Schleswig-Holstein. Due to the good condition of the moor, a diverse flora and fauna can be explored here.
The nature reserve on the western shore ofEinfelder See protects the near-natural shoreline landscape with siltation zones and the open water areas in front of them.
The current mayor of Neumünster is Tobias Bergmann of theSocial Democratic Party (SPD). The most recent mayoral election was held on 9 May 2021, with a runoff held on 30 May, and the results were as follows:
The Neumünster city council governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 6 May 2018, and the results were as follows:
The 10,000 capacity Grümmi-Arena (formerly the VfR-Stadion an der Geerdtsstraße), built in 1927, is the home ground of the football team known asVfR Neumünster. The stadium once hostedmotorcycle speedway andTeam 70 Neumünster (founded in 1970) were the firstchampions of West Germany in 1973.[32]
Christine Haderthauer (born 1962), former CSU General Secretary and former Minister of State (Bavarian State Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Family and Women)
Aminata Touré (born 1992), GermanGreen Party politician, member and former Vice-President of theSchleswig-Holstein Landtag and current Minister of Social Affairs, Youth, Family, Senior Citizens, Integration and Equality of Schleswig-Holstein
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