Herford

Ads

10 Hotels in Herford www.booking.com/Herford-Hotels Lowest price guarantee! Book your Hotel in Herford online

Dictionary.com's Mobile Apps www.dictionary.com/mobile Ad-Free, Offline Content, Audio Pronunciation and More! Take Millions of Words With You Everywhere. Download Now!

Herford

Herford, city (1994 pop. 65,680), North Rhine-Westphalia, NW Germany, on the Werre River. Its manufactures include cigars, textiles, chocolate, carpets, machinery, and metal products. The city is also a major producer of furniture in Germany. Herford developed around a 13th-century church (still standing) that formerly had been a Benedictine convent (founded in the 9th cent.). It was a member of the Hanseatic League and passed to Brandenburg in 1647. The contemporary art museum (2005) was designed by Frank Gehry.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia Copyright © 2004.
Licensed from Columbia University Press

Herford

Herford (ˈhɛɐ̯fɔɐ̯t) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the mountain chains of the Wiehengebirge and the Teutoburg Forest. It is the capital of the district of Herford.

Geography

Geographic location

The previously Hanseatic city of Herford is situated in the mountain chains south of the Wiehengebirge (Ravensberger Hügelland). The highest place is the Dornmountain (240 m) in the Schwarzenmoor district; the lowest point (56 m) is located in the Werretal in the Falkendiek district. The River Aa joins the river Werre in the center of the city. The Stuckenberg is located east of the city.

Neighbouring cities

West: Enger, Hiddenhausen
North: Löhne
North-East: Vlotho
South-East: Bad Salzuflen (Lippe district)
South-West: Bielefeld.

Districts

Altstädter Feldmark
Neustädter Feldmark
Radewiger Feldmark

Diebrock¹
Eickum¹
Elverdissen¹
Falkendiek¹

Herringhausen¹
Laar¹
Schwarzenmoor¹
Stedefreund¹

Culture and sights

Museums

The MARTa Herford, a museum for contemporary art and design directed by Jan Hoet and designed by Frank Gehry, has been open to the public since May 2005. Its exhibits change regularly.

The Daniel-Pöppelmann-Haus in Herford explores the history of the city, and the Memorial and Meeting Place Cell Block, in the basement of the city hall, documents the persecution and the obliteration of minorities. Moreover, the municipal administration intends to construct a museum of city history next to the city hall and the Münster church.

Music and theatre

The Stadttheater (Municipal theatre) provides seats for 706 viewers and it is served by visiting groups. Several halls and rooms are available at StadtPark/Schützenhof.

Events at regular intervals

Easter Fair around Easter (Oster-Kirmes)
Jazz Festival May - Performances of different jazz artists in a couple of bars
Organ Summer
Vision's Fair June
Summer Stage Summer (Sommerbühne) - Concerts at the square between city hall and market hall
Hoekerfest August - Municipal festival with plenty of events in the city centre
City Fair October - In the city centre
Herbstzeitlos (Autumnally timeless) Autumn - Exhibition at the former depot site
Wine Festival Autumn - At Gänsemarkt
Christmas Lights December - Municipal Christmas fair (Weihnachtsmarkt)

Sights

The Münsterkirche (Herford Munster) is a late Romanesque hall church, built about 1220-1250 for the Fürstabtei Herford (Herford monastery). It is one of the earliest hall churches in Germany
The Jakobikirche (Radewiger Kirche) is a late Gothic hall church
St. Johannis (Neustädter Kirche) is a late Gothic hall church
St. Marien auf dem Berge (Herforder Marienkirche) is also a late Gothic hall church It was completed about 1325/50 and part of a monastery
Town hall, built 1913-16 by Paul Kanold in Neo-Baroque forms
Neustädter Rathaus (former town hall), built 1600, later destroyed, 1988/89 reconstructed
Remensnider-Haus, Brüderstraße 26, a late Gothic timber framed building from 1521
Kantorhaus, Elisabethstraße 2, a timber framed building, about 1484/1494
Holland 21, timber framed building, 1554
Holland 39, timber framed building, 1559
Bürgermeisterhaus, Höckerstraße 4, a late Gothic stone building from 1538 with a stepped gable similar to houses in Münster and Bielefeld
Frühherrenstraße 11, a Renaissance building, 1591
Wulfert-Haus, Neuer Markt 2 with a brick-built Renaissance gable, 1560

History

The town was founded in 789 by Charlemagne in order to guard a ford crossing the narrow Werre river. A century later, Matilda, daughter of Theudebert, duke of Saxony, grew up in the abbey of Herford; she was a descendant of the Saxon leader Widukind. In Herford she met Henry the Fowler, who later became king of Germany.

In late medieval times Herford was a member of the Hanseatic League. It was a Free Imperial City, i.e. it was directly subordinated to the emperor. This status was lost after the Peace of Westphalia (1648), when Herford was annexed by Brandenburg-Prussia. It was administered within the Province of Westphalia following the Napoleonic Wars, and made part of the new state North Rhine-Westphalia after World War II.

Military

Herford is the location of the 1st Armoured Division and the headquarters of the British Forces Germany. There is also a telecommunications office in the town. Currently there are 870 soldiers serving at the three camps. Including the civil staff and the families, 2200 British people live in Herford.

The Wentworth barracks are the German station of the British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS).