PADERBORN

'Paderborn' () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader, which originates in more than 200 springs near Paderborn Cathedral, where St. Liborius is buried.

Contents

Geography

Neighbouring places

Division of the town

Population

Industry

History

Sister cities

Education

Sports

Transportation

External links

References

Geography

Paderborn is situated at the spring of the ''Pader'' river, approx. 30 kilometers east of Lippstadt and approx. 50 kilometers south of Bielefeld. The hills of the Eggegebirge are located east of the city.

Neighbouring places

★ Hövelhof ★ Bad Lippspringe ★ Altenbeken ★ Lichtenau

★ Borchen ★ Salzkotten ★ Delbrück

Division of the town

The city of Paderborn consists of the following wards

★ Paderborn (city center) ★ Schloß Neuhaus ★ Elsen ★ Benhausen ★ Wewer

★ Paderborn-Dahl ★ Neuenbeken ★ Marienloh ★ Sennelager ★ Sande

Population

Paderborn has a population of over 144,000, of which approximately 10% are students at the local university. Additionally, about 10,000 members or relatives of members of the British armed forces live in Paderborn, but are not included in the nominal population size. About half of the armed forces and families live in the Sennelager ward, the location of the largest barracks.

Industry

Paderborn is the headquarters of the former Nixdorf Computer AG, which was acquired by Siemens in the early 1990s and known as Siemens-Nixdorf for about 10 years. The company is now known as Wincor Nixdorf which is still located in Paderborn, but Siemens retains a considerable presence in the city.
Many other IT companies as well as industrial enterprises are located in Paderborn, too:

★ Benteler AG (steel/tube, automotive, trade)

★ Claas (farm machines)

★ Deutsche Bahn AG (vehicle maintenance)

★ Flextronics

★ Fujitsu Siemens Computers

★ Orga Systems GmbH

★ Siemens AG (Siemens IT Solutions and Services)

★ Wincor Nixdorf

★ Secure Computing Corporation

★ Zuken (PCB EMC Analysis and Design Software)
Paderborn is also home of the "Paderborner" brewery, which has belonged to the Warsteiner group since 1990.

History

It is believed that Charlemagne spent considerable time in the area during his reign, and evidence in the form of ruins below and around Paderborn's cathedral seem to back this up.
The tree Irminsul was supposedly located near Paderborn.
Paderborn was the seat of the Bishopric of Paderborn; today it is seat of a Roman Catholic archbishop.

St. Liborius is commemorated every year in Paderborn with the Liborifest in July, although the ensuing festivities have little to do with the saint.

Sister cities

★ Le Mans, France, officially since 1967, traditionally since 836 (oldest partnership of its kind in Europe)

★ Bolton, United Kingdom, since 1975

★ Belleville, Illinois, U.S., since 1990

★ Pamplona, Spain, since 1992

★ Przemyśl, Poland, since 1993

★ Debrecen, Hungary, since 1994

★ Qingdao, China, since 2003

Education

Paderborn was once the oldest academic site in Westphalia. In 1614, a university was founded by Jesuits but was closed in 1819. It was re-founded in 1972 as Universität-Gesamthochschule and transformed into a sole university in 2002. Today, it is attended by about 14,000 students.
Additionally, there exist several theologic and private academic institutes.
Paderborn has the biggest computer museum in the world, the Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum [1]. From 2001 to 2005 it hosted the RoboCup German Open.

Sports

Paderborn is home of the SC Paderborn 07 football club, which achieved fame in 2005 by advancing to the second Bundesliga.
Paderborn is a focal point in Germany for American sports. The local baseball team, the Paderborn Untouchables, has won many German championships, and the local American Football team, the Paderborn Dolphins, has also enjoyed considerable success. In 2006 the Paderborn Baskets, the home basketball team of the city achieved the Bundesliga.

Transportation

Paderborn is located at the Autobahn A 33, which connects Paderborn to the Autobahn A 2 in the north and the Autobahn A 44 in the south.
The main train station is a regular stop for the InterCityExpress and several local trains. Train connections can be found here.
The Paderborn Lippstadt Airport connects Paderborn to the bigger German airports and offers flights to many locations in Europe. There is a bus shuttle between the airport and the Paderborn main train station.
In Paderborn there is a bus system served by the Padersprinter for local buses and the VPH for regional buses.

External links

★ Official site of the city

★ Site of the Paderborn region

★ Tourist attractions in Paderborn

★ Ordinances of the "Fürstbistum Paderborn" online

★ Homepage of the annual RoboCup competition

★ University of Paderborn

References

1. Population data