Yasmin Melle/Osnabrück (D)

Melle

Name origin

origin of the name disputed, possibly Osenbrugge (Nordic term for "bridge of the gods")

First documented mention

780 AD

Population

165,000

Area

119.8 km²

Federal state

Niedersachsen

Vehicle registration

OS

River

Hase

The Saunaclub FKK Zeus is located in Wallenhorst near Osnabrück.

Osnabrück lies in Niedersachsen, right on the border with Nordrhein-Westfalen, at the intersection of several motorways and railway lines, which makes the city an important transport hub.

Osnabrück shares a lot with the city of Münster, about 50 km further south, for example the railway connection of the Westfalenbahn under the zone tariff, which means that travellers with an NRW-Ticket heading for Osnabrück's main station – which, incidentally, has the exotic form of a combined tower and shunting station – don't need to buy any further ticket. Osnabrück, just like Münster, is a bishop's seat and a university city; the city shares with Münster its Westphalian past, from which Osnabrück, unlike Münster, has however distanced itself, and the airport Münster/Osnabrück (FMO).

Above all, though, Osnabrück and Münster are linked by the historically important date of 1648, when, between 15 May and 24 October 1648, the Peace of Westphalia was concluded in Münster and Osnabrück, ending the Thirty Years' War in Germany and, at the same time, the Eighty Years' War of Dutch independence. In the Friedenssaal (Hall of Peace) of Osnabrück's town hall, completed in 1512 in the late Gothic style and the city's landmark, 42 portrait paintings of the rulers and European envoys of that era still hang today.

Put simply, Münster lies in the Münsterland and Osnabrück in the Osnabrücker Land, yet the city deserves a more precise geographical description, since it is enclosed by the TERRA.vita nature and geo park, making it the only major German city that lies within a nature park. Osnabrück is situated in the Osnabrücker Hügelland, bordered to the north by the Wiehengebirge and to the south by the Teutoburger Wald, which is reflected in the cityscape through many hills. North of the Wiehengebirge, however, the North German Plain begins; the Osnabrücker Nordland there is characterised by terminal moraines and extensive moorland as well as geest.

Osnabrück developed as a market around the bishop's seat founded in 780 by Karl der Große (Charlemagne). Within the Holy Roman Empire, Osnabrück belonged until 1803 to the Hochstift (prince-bishopric) of the same name. The oldest municipal constitution, the Sate, dates from 1348. The city joined the Hanseatic League in 1412; Osnabrück was a leading town (Prinzipalstadt) within the Westphalian quarter of the Hanse and developed into a prosperous trading city.

In 1803 the city passed to the Electorate of Hannover, but shortly afterwards it was occupied by French troops. In 1806 Osnabrück briefly belonged to Prussia, in 1807 Napoleon incorporated it into the Kingdom of Westphalia, and in 1810 into the French Empire. After Napoleon Bonaparte's abdication, the city fell to the Kingdom of Hannover, created in October 1814 in the course of the Congress of Vienna, from which, after the German War of 1866, the Prussian Province of Hannover emerged.

In the age of industrialisation, the Georgs-Marien-Bergwerks- und Hüttenverein (Georgsmarienhütte) settled near Osnabrück in 1856, followed in 1868 by the Eisen- und Stahlwerk zu Osnabrück (later Klöckner-Stahlwerk), founding the city's tradition as a steel location. Today the city is in particular one of Germany's centres of paper production; the paper manufacturers and processors Felix Schoeller Gruppe, Kämmerer, Rasch Tapeten, Duni and Fislage are based here and in the surrounding area.

In Osnabrück's tranquil city centre there is much to see; besides the town hall, worth mentioning are the baroque Schloss Osnabrück, which today houses the university, the Dom St. Peter founded in 785, the Marienkirche, parts of the medieval city fortifications such as the Bucksturm, the Waterloo-Tor built in 1817 at the former Heger Tor, the Ledenhof, the Haus Tenge, the Theater am Domhof or the Akzisehaus, as well as the Felix-Nussbaum-Haus in the museum complex of the city of Osnabrück.

Due to its exposed position within the nature park, Osnabrück is, among other things, an excellent starting or finishing point for several long-distance hiking trails maintained by the Wiehengebirgsverband Weser-Ems, including the Handelsweg, the Hünenweg, the Pickerweg and the Wittekindsweg. The Rubbenbruchsee and Attersee natural oases serve as natural bathing waters.

Born in Osnabrück were Carl Krone, Erich Maria Remarque, Felix Nussbaum, Hartwig Piepenbrock, Olaf Scholz, Christian Wulff and Robin Schulz.

Melle:

Melle lies about 25 kilometres east of Osnabrück, nestled idyllically in a valley between the ridges of the Wiehengebirge and the Teutoburger Wald. The name comes from the Old Saxon menelo --> Menele, which roughly means settlement. Melle is the largest town in the Landkreis Osnabrück and has around 47,000 inhabitants. The place was first mentioned by name in 1169 and already had an urban character by the 14th century. Melle is home to several historic castle complexes such as Schloss Gesmold, Gut Ostenwalde, Diedrichsburg, Gut Bruche, Gut Sondermühlen and Schloss Königsbrück, various natural monuments and two observatories. The Automuseum Melle is also worth a visit. Melle is the source region of the Hunte and the Hase, from which, in the district of Gesmold, the Else branches off in a relatively rarely found bifurcation acting as a watershed.