Lippstadt

Lippstadt is situated in the Lippe valley, roughly 70 kilometres east of Dortmund and roughly 30 kilometres west of Paderborn. The historic town centre is situated between several branches of the river Lippe.

Lippstadt was founded in 1168[3] by Bernhard II zur Lippe. In the early 13th century Lippstadt, with a population of 2700, had four parish churches. There was an Augustinian abbey which had existed since 1281.

Lippe and Lippstadt

From 1400, the enclave and town of Lippstadt were to be a condominium shared by the county of Lippe and the counts of Cleves-Mark, who were succeeded by the Hohenzollerns (Brandenburg/Prussia), a situation that endured until the middle of the 19th. century.[4]

Heinrich von Ahaus founded one of his communities for women of the Brethren of the Common Life there.

In 1523 it formed a defensive alliance together with the neighbouring cities of Osnabrück, Dortmund, Soest and Münster.

Augustinians studying at the University of Wittenberg brought Martin Luther's doctrine home with them. Thus in 1524 Lutheran doctrines were preached at Lippstadt by their prior Westermann, and the town was one of the first to embrace Lutheranism officially, though it resisted the rise of Calvinism in rural areas of Westphalia.

Lippstadt in the 16th century

Colonel Edward Morgan, (c. 1616 – after 1665), a Royalist during English Civil War 1642–1649, was Captain General of the Kings (Charles I) forces in South Wales. After the King's arrest and execution, he fled to the continent, and married Anna Petronilla the daughter of Baron von Pöllnitz from Westphalia, Governor of Lippstadt. They had six children, two sons, and four daughters. He was later appointed Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica 1664–65. His nephew Henry Morgan left his Jamaican property to his godsons Charles Byndloss (b.1668) and Henry Archbold on condition they adopted the surname of Morgan. These were the children of his two cousins Anna Petronilla Byndloss (née Morgan), and Johanna Archbold (née Morgan).

In 1821 the Papal Bull "De salute animarum", made over to the Bishopric of Paderborn the Lippian parishes of Cappel, Lipperode and Lippstadt, which had previously belonged to the Archbishopric of Cologne without producing any ensuing agreement with the state of Lippe.

In 1851 the whole of Lippstadt, which up to then had been divided between the Kingdom of Prussia and Lippe, was added to the Prussian royal province of Westphalia.

In 1944 a women's subcamp of Buchenwald was founded in Lippstadt. It was also the site of a displaced persons camp in the years following World War II. On 1 April 1945 the US 2nd Armored Division made contact with the 3rd Armored Division at Lippstadt, effecting junction of the US Ninth Army with the US First Army, and seized the city from scattered resistance.[5]

Lippstadt serves as headquarters of international automotive supplier's Hella and HBPO Group. It is also home to a factory of large-diameter antifriction bearings, seamless-rolled rings manufacturer Rothe Erde.

Lippstadt is twinned with:[9]

• Uden, Netherlands (1971)

• David Gans (1541–1613), Jewish mathematician, historian, astronomer and astrologer
• Kaspar Ulenberg (1549–1617), Catholic convert, theological writer and translator of the Bible
• Anton Praetorius (1560–1613), theologian, fighter against witchcraft trials and torture
• Burghard Freiherr von Schorlemer-Alst (1825–1895), politician
• Anthony Eickhoff (1827–1901), German-American author and politician
• Rudolph Blankenburg (1843–1918), American businessman, manufacturer and mayor of Philadelphia, studied in Lippstadt
• Otto Steinbrinck (1888–1949), industrialist and WW1 U-boat commander
• Martin Niemöller (1892–1984), theologian
• Conrad Hansen (1906–2002), classical pianist
• Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (born 1955), footballer

• Media related to Lippstadt at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website (in German)
• Touristic information
• Rail transport information
• Rail ticket information