Münster

Münster grew from a hamlet called Mimigernaford on the River Aa. In 793 Charlemagne sent the missionary Ludger to convert the Münsterland, and Ludger, ordained the first bishop of Münster, founded a monastery here — the Latin monasterium that gave the city its name. The town received its charter in 1170. In the Middle Ages the Prince-Bishopric of Münster was a leading member of the Hanseatic League, and the merchants' gabled houses on the Prinzipalmarkt faced the cathedral, built between 1225 and 1264.

In 1534 an apocalyptic Anabaptist sect led by John of Leiden took power in the city and proclaimed its own kingdom. The bishop's forces retook Münster in 1535, and the leaders were tortured and executed; their bodies were displayed in iron cages that still hang from the tower of St Lambert's Church. In 1648 part of the Peace of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years' War, was signed in the town hall, and the treaty guaranteed the prince-bishops and a Catholic diocese. The last prince-bishops built the baroque Schloss in 1767–87, and the university followed in 1780. From 1815 to 1946 Münster was capital of the Prussian province of Westphalia, and it passed 100,000 inhabitants in 1915.

During the Second World War Bishop Clemens August von Galen became one of the most prominent critics of the Nazi regime, preaching against it in the Überwasserkirche in 1941. Allied air raids destroyed about 63 per cent of the city and 91 per cent of the old town. The Prinzipalmarkt and the city hall were rebuilt true to their old form between 1947 and 1958, and the city has grown steadily since, passing 300,000 inhabitants in 2014.

Münster is known as Germany's bicycle capital, and it is said to have more bikes than people. Cycling shapes the look of the city — racks overflowing at the station, paths separated from traffic, and the Promenade, a car-free ring about 4.5 km long laid out on the old fortifications, with a cycle lane down the middle between two footpaths. In 2004 the city won a LivCom award as the most liveable city in the world of its size.

Art in public places is a local tradition. The Skulptur Projekte, held every ten years since 1977, brings works by invited international artists to streets, parks and the lakeside, and some pieces have stayed. The Picasso Museum, devoted exclusively to his graphic work, and the Westphalian state museum of art and cultural history anchor the museums. The Send, a funfair held three times a year on the Schlossplatz, draws more than a million visitors a year, and the Docklands Festival has been held in summer since 2010.

The city's Catholic past is visible in its churches and in the memory of Bishop von Galen. Preußen Münster play football at the Preußenstadion, and the city is familiar to German television viewers as a setting of the crime series Tatort and Wilsberg.

About 321,000 people lived in Münster at the end of 2025, the first fall in ten years after a long period of growth. Nearly half the city's area is farmland, so the overall density is low, though the centre is densely built. The University of Münster, known until 2023 as the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, and the city's other colleges make it one of Germany's ten largest university cities, with around 65,000 students counted in 2018.

Münster is the seat of a state administrative district and lives largely from administration, education, insurance and services; the high-rise of the LVM insurance group stands near the Aasee. The old inland harbour on the Dortmund-Ems Canal is still industrial on its south side, while its north bank has been turned over to offices, restaurants and bars.

Daily life runs on two wheels. Students and commuters cycle between the old town, the university buildings and the outer districts, and on Saturdays the old town fills with shoppers and the weekly market on the Domplatz. In summer, life moves outdoors to the Aasee and the Promenade. Tilman Fuchs of the Greens won the mayoral run-off in September 2025.

Münster's cooking is Westphalian: dark, hearty and based on pork, rye and potatoes. Westphalian ham is dry-cured and smoked over beechwood and juniper; Pumpernickel is a dense rye bread baked in steam for at least 16 hours; and Töttchen, a sweet-and-sour ragout now usually made with veal, is a Münsterland speciality served in many of the region's restaurants.

Pinkus Müller is the city's own brewery. Its story begins in 1816, when Johannes Müller arrived in Münster from Hildebrandshausen and, with his wife Friederika Cramer, opened a bakery and a brewery. It is the only one left of the city's more than 150 former breweries.

The weekly market on the Domplatz, in front of the cathedral, is very popular with residents and visitors alike. The student city keeps cafés and pubs inexpensive, especially around the university and the Kuhviertel, and the harbour on the canal has become the centre of evening drinking, with a large share of the city's bars.