Bielefeld

About Bielefeld

The city derived its name from an old name Bileveld, means hilly field. Situated below a pass separating the Northern and Southern Teutoburg Forest, its centre is situated on the eastern side of the Teutoburg Forest. The modern city incorporates boroughs on the opposite side and on the hilltops.

Count Hermann IV of Ravensberg founded Bielefeld in 1214. This city was a minor member of the Hanseatic League since 14th century. It is still recognized as a city of linen. Berg inherited Bielefeld in 1346. By 1614, it was passed over to the Margraviate of Brandenburg under the Treaty of Xanten. It came under the administration of Minden-Ravensberg from 1719–1807. Sooner it became part of the Kingdom of Westphalia. This city was later restored to the Kingdom of Prussia after the Napoleonic Wars. It was administered within the Prussian province of Westphalia.

Industrialization began in Bielefeld in 1850. By then the new Cologne-Minden railway had already created a connection to the larger German and European rail network. The Bozi brothers began construction of the first large mechanised spinning mill here in 1851. Construction of additional mills, including the Ravensberg Spinning Mill, was built here from 1854 and 1857.

The dissolution and ban of democratic political parties began in Germany in 1930. Its single synagogue was burnt in 1938. Heavy bombings left the largest areas of this city to turn into rubble in 1944. American troops entered here in April 1945. Bielefeld is today home to the AG Dürkoppwerke company that began here in 1867 as a sewing machine repair company with only two employees. The company expanded rapidly. It celebrated its 25th anniversary in 1892 with its 1,665 workforce.