Münster | History, Culture & University City

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They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Munster-Germany/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button d-none d-sm-block js-sections-inline-button module-spacing btn d-lg-none"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="d-flex d-sm-none flex-row"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button js-sections-inline-button module-spacing"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <button class="ai-ask-button btn border-2 ai-ask-button btn border-2 module-spacing btn-sm js-inline-ai-ask-button btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 p-10 ml-5"> Ask the Chatbot a Question </button> </div> <span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref1"><span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong><span id="ref202732"></span>Münster</strong>, city, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/North-Rhine-Westphalia" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">North Rhine–Westphalia</a> <em>Land</em> (state), western <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Germany" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Germany</a>. It lies on the small Münster-Aa River and the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Dortmund-Ems-Canal" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Dortmund-Ems Canal</a>, northeast of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Essen" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Essen</a>.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="community" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/community" data-type="MW">community</a> was first mentioned as Mimigernaford (“Ford over the Aa”) when Liudger (Ludger), a missionary sent by <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charlemagne" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Charlemagne</a>, founded a bishopric there in 804. It was renamed Münster in 1068 and was chartered in 1137. Münster’s favourable position at the intersection of long-distance trade routes and its wool trade with <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/England" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">England</a> gave it early economic importance and contributed to its influential position in the <span id="ref202733"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hanseatic-League" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Hanseatic League</a> in the 13th and 14th centuries. The <span id="ref202734"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Anabaptists" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Anabaptists</a>, who <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="constituted" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constituted" data-type="MW">constituted</a> the radical wing of the Protestant <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Reformation" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Reformation</a>, proclaimed their “kingdom of a thousand years” there in 1534. In 1535 Münster was captured by an army of Catholics and Protestants, and in 1536 the Anabaptists’ “king,” <span id="ref202735"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-of-Leiden" class="md-crosslink ">John of Leiden</a> (Jan Beuckelson), was executed with two of his accomplices; the iron cages in which their bodies were publicly exhibited still hang in the Gothic tower of St. Lambert’s Church. A neutralized Münster was the scene of the peace congress (1645–48) that resulted in the <span id="ref202736"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Peace-of-Westphalia" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Peace of Westphalia</a>. In 1815 Münster became the capital of Prussian <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Westphalia" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Westphalia</a>.</p><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Industries in Münster include the manufacture of machinery and textiles. It is also the centre of the Westphalian cattle-breeding market. Although the city suffered <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="widespread" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/widespread" data-type="EB">widespread</a> destruction during <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/World-War-II" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">World War II</a>, most of the historic buildings damaged have been restored or rebuilt, including the gabled houses and arcades of the Prinzipalmarkt, the Gothic town hall (1335) with its Friedenssaal (“Peace Hall”), the cathedral (1225–65), and several churches—St. Ludger’s, St. Lambert’s, the Church of Our Lady, St. Martin’s, and St. Maurice’s (all 13th–15th century). The work of Johann Conrad Schlaun, a Westphalian architect of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Baroque-art-and-architecture" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Baroque period</a>, is evident in the <span id="ref202737"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Westphalian-Wilhelm-University-of-Munster" class="md-crosslink ">Westphalian Wilhelm University of Münster</a> (founded 1780, a full university from 1902; in the 18th century an episcopal palace), the bailiff’s high court, and several churches. Notable modern structures include the state Chamber of Commerce building, municipal administrative offices, the theatre, the railway station (1956), and the Münsterland Hall. The centre of Westphalian <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="culture" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/culture" data-type="MW">culture</a>, Münster has several cultural and scientific museums, including the Westphalian State Museum for Art and Cultural History and the Westphalian State Museum of Natural History, as well as technical and research institutes (including the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine) and schools for the arts. Münster is ringed by parks where the city walls once stood, and it has a municipal zoo. Pop. 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