Rheine

Rheine
Coat of arms
Rheine Location of Rheine within Steinfurt district
Coordinates: 52°17′N 7°26′E
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Münster
District	Steinfurt
Government
• Mayor	Angelika Kordfelder (SPD)
Area
• Total	145 km2 (56 sq mi)
Elevation	35 m (115 ft)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	74,852
• Density	520/km2 (1,300/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	48429-48432
Dialling codes	05971, 05975, 05459
Vehicle registration	ST, BF, TE
Website	www.rheine.de

Rheine is a town in the district of Steinfurt in Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest town in the district and the location of Rheine Air Base.

Geography

Rheine is on the river Ems, approx. 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of Münster, approx. 45 kilometres (28 mi) west of Osnabrück and 45 kilometres (28 mi) east of Enschede (Netherlands).

Division of the town

Rheine consists of 15 districts:

Altenrheine Bentlage Catenhorn Dorenkamp Dutum

Elte Eschendorf (Kiebitzheide) Gellendorf Hauenhorst Rheine (city centre)

Mesum Rodde Schleupe Schotthock Wadelheim

Rheine, church: Basilika katholische Pfarrkirche Sankt Antonius

Hauenhorst, church: katholische Pfarrkirche Sankt Mariä Heimsuchung

Transport

• Rheine railway station
• Rheine-Mesum

Neighbouring municipalities

• Salzbergen
• Spelle
• Hörstel
• Emsdetten
• Neuenkirchen

History

Although the region around the city has been populated since prehistoric times, Rheine was first mentioned in a document signed by Louis the Pious in 838. On 15 August 1327 it received its town charter from Louis II, Bishop of Münster.

The settlement was near to the crossing of two old merchant roads and a ford over the river Ems. Frankish soldiers initially secured this strategic point by a barrack yard. Later a church and more buildings were added to this outpost.

At the end of the Thirty Years' War the city was burned down almost completely. Swedish and Hessian troops besieged imperial soldiers who had entrenched themselves in Rheine. On 20/21 September and 19 October 1647 glowing cannonballs set fire to the city and 365 houses were destroyed.

During the industrialization the textile industry prospered. It remained an important economic factor until the second half of the 20th century. Today engineering industries and services form the largest part of economy in Rheine.

Mayors

• 1946–1948: Georg Pelster (1897-1963) (CDU)
• 1948–1954: Albert Biermann (CDU)
• 1954–1960: Balduin Echelmeyer (CDU)
• 1960–1961: Franz Rudolf Kümpers (CDU)
• 1961–1975: Albert Biermann (1903-1994) (CDU)
• 1975–1994: Ludger Meier (CDU)
• 1994–1999: Günter Thum (SPD)
• 1999–2004: Wilhelm Niemann (1949-2012) (CDU)
• 2004–2015: Angelika Kordfelder (born 1955) (SPD)
• since 2015: Peter Lüttmann

International relations

Main article: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Rheine is twinned with:

• Borne, Netherlands, since 1983
• Bernburg (Saale), Germany, since 1990
• Leiria, Portugal, since 1996
• Trakai, Lithuania, since 1996

Birthplace

Moritz Julius Dobschütz

• Moritz Dobschütz (1831 – 1913), German-American merchant
• Josef Winckler (1881 – 1966), German author
• Carlo Mense (1886 – 1965), German painter
• Gustav Niemann (1899 – 1982), German mechanical engineering scholar
• Josef Pieper (1904 – 1997), German philosopher
• Peter Funke (* 1950), German historian
• Oliver Krüger (* 1973), German professor of religious studies
• Jonas Reckermann (* 1979), German beach volleyball player

In popular culture

In Harry Turtledove's alternate history novel trilogy The Hot War, Rheine is the site of a 1951 battle between NATO and Soviet armies during World War III.

External links

• Official site
• Association for Rheine's twin towns