Minden-Ravensberg

Minden-Ravensberg was a Prussian administrative unit consisting of the Principality of Minden and the County of Ravensberg from 1719–1807. The capital was Minden. In 1807 the region became part of the Kingdom of Westphalia, a client state of Napoleonic France. The territory was restored to Prussia after the Napoleonic Wars and became part of the new Prussian Province of Westphalia in 1815.

Geography

The province consisted of what is now the Ravensberg Land, between the Teutoburg Forest and the Wiehen Hills, and the Minden Land, north of the Wiehengebirge to the North German lowlands. Minden-Ravensberg was bounded to the east by the Weser, while other important rivers were the Westphalian Aa and the Else.

Minden was the regional capital, while other important cities were Bielefeld as an economic center and Herford. Minden-Ravensberg had a population of 160,301 in 1800 and an area of 2,113 km² in 1806.^[1]

Present-day

The territory of Minden-Ravensberg is now within northeastern North Rhine-Westphalia and part of Ostwestfalen-Lippe. It roughly encompasses the districts of Minden-Lübbecke, Herford, northern Gütersloh, and the city of Bielefeld. Because it belonged to Brandenburg-Prussia for centuries, Minden-Ravensberg is today regarded as a cultural region differing from its neighbors by its Lutheranism and special economic development.

References

1. ^ Alwin Hanschmidt: Das 18. Jahrhundert (1702–1803). In: Wilhelm Kohl (Hrsg.), Geschichte Westfalens, Bd.1., S. 605–686, Monika Lahrkamp: Die französische Zeit. In: Wilhelm Kohl (ed.), Geschichte Westfalens, Bd.2, S. 1–44.

This article incorporates information from the revision as of 25 November 2007 of the equivalent article on the German Wikipedia.

Coordinates: 52°10′14.03″N 8°40′05.57″E / 52.1705639°N 8.6682139°E / 52.1705639; 8.6682139