OSNABRüCK

'Osnabrück' () is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, some 80 km NNE of Dortmund, 45 km NE of Münster, and some 100 km due west of Hanover. It lies in a valley penned between the Wiehengebirge and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest, which is a series of parallel ridges running SE towards Bielefeld and beyond to Detmold, that makes the generally pretty area attractive to bicycle riders, amongst others. As of June 30, 2006, its population was 163,357, making it the third largest city in Lower Saxony.

Contents

History

Main sights

Famous people

Education

Transportation

Districts of Osnabrück

Name

Twin cities

External links

References

History

Osnabrück was founded in 780 by Charlemagne, king of the Franks, although the date is not entirely certain. Some time before 803, the city became seat of the Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück. Also uncertain, but it makes Osnabrück the oldest bishopric in Saxony. In 889 it was given merchant, customs, and coinage privileges by King Arnulf of Carinthia. It is first mentioned as a "city" in records in 1147. Shortly afterwards, in 1157, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa granted the city fortification privileges (''Befestigungsrecht''). Most of the towers that were part of the medieval fortification are still visible in the city. Osnabrück became a member of the Hanseatic League in the 12th century, as well as a member of the Westphalian Federation of Cities.
Still a bishopric today, the city has a fair-sized cathedral in the late romanesque style. While nothing is left of the original cathedral from the city's foundation, excavations have traced the oldest parts of today's building to the 10th century. Most of it stems from the 12th and 13th centuries though, with the choir being a later gothic addition. Curiously, the southwestern tower that was also added later in gothic style occupies four times the ground space of the older, northwestern one. The plan to re-erect the second tower was never executed, making the two towers look very much out of proportion to each other (see the external links below).
Since the citizens elected to follow the course of the Protestant reformation, this led to an ongoing conflict with the Catholic bishop that was not resolved until the 17th century. Probably the most significant event in the city's history was then the negotiations from 1643 to 1648 that led to the Peace of Westphalia that ended the Thirty Years' War. Since the Catholic and the Protestant delegations refused to negotiate in person, the Catholics were seated in Münster, while the Protestants resided in Osnabrück. The ''Friedenssaal'', where the negotiations took place, can be seen in the city's impressive Town Hall building from 1517. For the city, the Westphalian Peace led to the unique regulation that it would be governed alternately by a Roman Catholic and a Protestant bishop, with the Protestant bishops being nominated by the Dukes (later Electors) of Brunswick-Luneberg. This led to the last prince-bishop, Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (1763-1827), being elected at the age of 196 days to enable him to hold the position for as long as possible. Today, the city's population is roughly divided between the two confessions.

St. Peter's Cathedral.
In the course of the secularization that preceded the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, the Bishopric of Osnabrück was appropriated into the Kingdom of Hanover in 1803. This was confirmed by the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Not until 1858 was the diocese re-erected as a church entity, while the city continued to belong to Hanover and thus also became part of Prussia with the annexation of Hanover in 1866.
Osnabrück suffered very much from the bombings at the end of World War II, but selected parts of the historic buildings have been re-erected. Today's ''Altstadt'' thus may not be entirely original, but still delivers the impression of a medieval city.
Osnabrück remains an important British Army garrison as part of British Forces Germany (BFG). Many barracks are situated in the city; the largest base is named Imphal Barracks with the local headquarters in Quebec Barracks. As announced by the British Ministry of Defence, the 4,000 soldiers of the 4th Armoured Brigade (part of the British 1st Armoured Division) will leave Osnabrück in 2008/2009^[1].
Osnabrück was voted the place with the happiest people in Germany by the ''Stern'' magazine in 2003, resulting in the slogan "''Ich komm' zum Glück aus Osnabrück'' " (Luckily, I am from Osnabrück).

Main sights

★ Town Hall. It houses the ''Friedensall'', where the Peace of Westphalia was signed.

★ St. Peter's Cathedral, founded in the 11th century. It has two façade towers, originally of the same size: in 1502-1543 the south western tower was enlarged, supposedly to make space for new cathedral bells which had been ordered and that turned out to be too large

★ ''Heger Tor'' ("Heger Gate"), a monument to the soldiers from Osnabrück who died at the battle of Waterloo (1815).

★ ''Bucksturm'', the oldest tower in the city, and once part of the city walls. It was once used as prison for women accused of witchcraft.

★ ''Ruwe'' Fountain" (1985), created for the city's 1200th birthday.

★ ''Gladiator 2000'' (1986), a gigantic painture (45 × 6 meters) by Nicolae Covaci.

Famous people

Personalities from Osnabrück include the writer Erich Maria Remarque and the painter Felix Nussbaum, for whom the city erected a very modern museum designed by Daniel Libeskind that opened in 1998. This looks like a scaled-down version of the same architect's well-known Jewish Museum in Berlin. British King George I was born and raised here, and the poet and scholar Johann Ernst Hanxleden was born in Osnabrück, as was the current Prime Minister of Lower Saxony, Christian Wulff, and reggae musician Gentleman. Victory Records recording artists Waterdown, known for their catchy post-hardcore sound, are based in Osnabrück. Actress Birgitta Tolksdorf, who made a name for herself in American television in the 1970s, as well as Peter van Pels, love interest of famous diarist Anne Frank, and his parents Auguste van Pels and Hermann van Pels, who would later gain fame from their roles in Anne's diary, all hailed from Osnabruck.

Education

In addition to the ''Universität Osnabrück'' (University of Osnabrück) and the ''Fachhochschule Osnabrück'' (University of Applied Science), the ''Katholische Fachhochschule Norddeutschland'' (Catholic University of North Germany) has some of its faculties in the city of Osnabrück. Also the school, The Carolinum, is one of the oldest schools in Germany.

Transportation

The city of Osnabrück is connected to the A1, the A30 and the A33.
Together with the city of Münster it shares the Münster Osnabrück International Airport.
The "Hauptbahnhof" (Main Station) of Osnabrück is an important railway station. Travellers from the Netherlands heading for either Hamburg and Denmark, or Berlin and Eastern Europe, often have to change here.

Districts of Osnabrück

The city is divided into 23 districts:

★ 01 Innenstadt ★ 02 Weststadt ★ 03 Westerberg ★ 04 Eversburg ★ 05 Hafen ★ 06 Sonnenhügel ★ 07 Haste ★ 08 Dodesheide	★ 09 Gartlage ★ 10 Schinkel ★ 11 Widukindland ★ 12 Schinkel-Ost ★ 13 Fledder ★ 14 Schölerberg ★ 15 Kalkhügel ★ 16 Wüste	★ 17 Sutthausen ★ 18 Hellern ★ 19 Atter ★ 20 Pye ★ 21 Darum/Gretesch/Lüstringen ★ 22 Voxtrup ★ 23 Nahne

Name

The origin of the name Osnabrück is disputed. The suffix ''-brück'' suggests a bridge over or to something (from German ''Brücke'' = bridge) but the prefix ''Osna-'' is explained in at least two different ways: the traditional explanation is that today's name is a corruption of ''Ochsenbrücke'' (meaning ''"ox' bridge"'') but others say that it is derived from the name of the ''Hase'' River which again is argued to be derived from ''Asen'' (Æsir), giving Osnabrück the meaning ''Bridge to the Gods''.^[2] The pronunciation of the city's name can also serve as a means of telling if one is a native of Osnabrück or a visitor: most people from Osnabrück stress the last syllable while most people from elsewhere stress the first one.

Twin cities

★ Haarlem, Netherlands, since 1961

★ Angers, France, since 1964

★ Gmünd, Austria, since 1971

★ Derby, United Kingdom, since 1976

★ Greifswald, Germany, since 1988

★ Tver, Russian Federation, since 1991

★ Evansville, United States, since 1991

★ Kwangmyong, Korea, since 1997

★ Çanakkale, Turkey, since 2004

★ Vila Real, Portugal, since 2005

★ Hefei, China, since 2006

External links

★ osnabrueck.de Official website

★ Osnabrück Tourist Guide

★ City Panoramas

★ Photo of the historic Town Hall

★ Felix-Nussbaum-Haus (project description with photos on the Libeskind homepage)

★ Remarque centre

★ University of Osnabrück

References

1. British Ministry of Defence press release
2. Environmental Education at the University of Osnabrück