Covering an area of 6,500 square kilometres, the region known as “Ostwestfalen-Lippe” in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia covers about a fifth of the surface area of this Federal Land. More than 2 million inhabitants live in the six districts of Gütersloh, Herford, Höxter, Lippe, Minden-Lübbecke and Paderborn along with the town of Bielefeld. Bielefeld, with 320,000 inhabitants, is the largest town, followed by the diocesan town of Paderborn with just over 140,000 inhabitants. Five further towns have more than 50,000 inhabitants (including Detmold as the seat of regional administration, which has a population of approximately 74,000).
The regional landscape is dominated by mountainous terrain such as the Teutoburger Wald (Teutoburger Forest) and the Wiehengebirge and Eggegebirge (Wiehen and Egge mountains) as well as the valleys of the Weser, Ems and Lippe rivers. These, the historical towns and a range of further sights invite visitors, including those from neighbouring regions, to come and explore the area.
For many years the region was characterised by small and large principalities. It was absorbed by Prussia in the 19th century at the latest, however, with the exception of Lippe principality, which retained its independence as a state until 1918.
Ostwestfalen-Lippe is one of the strongest economic locations in Germany. Well-known companies from the area, among them a noticeably high number of traditional family-run firms, include Bertelsmann, Melitta, Miele, Dr. Oetker, Claas, Gerry Weber and Wincor Nixdorf.
Apart from a strong economy, a location’s potential for future sustainability depends to a large extent on the quality of life there. Alongside a strong infrastructure and good opportunities for education and further training, an attractive cultural offer is an important factor.
The REGIONALE 2000 in Ostwestfalen-Lippe was the first practical implementation of the North Rhine-Westphalian government’s offer to foster an integrated overall concept based on cultural and natural areas and to support its realisation. For this, 54 projects from the areas of technology, health and culture were co-ordinated and grouped. These were selected on the basis of their forward-looking and innovative nature and were realised by independent groups.
Garten_Landschaft OstWestfalenLippe developed from one of these projects and has become the new cultural trademark of the region. Castles and monasteries here are still surrounded by historical gardens with precious trees and plants, Baroque complexes and English landscape parks designed by important landscape gardeners of the 18th and 19th centuries. In addition, the parks of five spas and the complexes of three Landesgartenschauen (regional garden exhibitions) enhance the region.
The Garten_Landschaft OstWestfalenLippe programme which has been developed in Ostwestfalen-Lippe does justice to the legacy of garden culture and simultaneously uses the gardens and parks as settings for literature, music and visual art. It is one of the first programmes of its kind.
