Melle, Germany


Melle is a city in the district of Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, Germany. The city corresponds to what used to be the district of Melle until regional territorial reform in 1972. Since then, Melle is the third largest city in Lower Saxony in terms of surface area.
WWW Official Site

History

Melle was first mentioned in a document from 1169. In 1443 Heinrich von Moers, Bishop of Osnabrück, gave Melle the privilege of a Wigbold. Osnabrück looked after Melle's interests in the Westphalian Hanseatic League. Melle belonged to the Kingdom of Hanover until 1866 when it became part of Prussia. In 1885 Amt Grönenberg and the municipality Melle formed the prussian district Kreis Melle. The district Melle later on became the municipality Melle. In 1972 the former district with its 56 municipalities were united to the city Melle which since then is part of Osnabrück (district).

Geography

Geographical position

Melle is situated in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills in the North and the Teutoburg Forest in the South. The cities of Osnabrück and Bielefeld are some away each. The Münster [Osnabrück Airport] is located about to the southwest.

Neighbouring towns

Neighbouring towns are Preußisch Oldendorf in the North Rhine-Westphalian Minden-Lübbecke district, Rödinghausen, Bünde and Spenge in the North Rhine-Westphalian Herford district, Werther and Borgholzhausen in the North Rhine-Westphalian Gütersloh district, as well as Dissen, Hilter, Bissendorf, and Bad Essen in the Osnabrück district.

Municipalities

The city consists of the eight municipalities of Melle-Mitte, Buer, Bruchmühlen, Gesmold, Neuenkirchen, Oldendorf, Riemsloh and Wellingholzhausen.

Religion

Last updated: 31 December 2007

Politics

Mayor

Jutta Dettmann is mayor of Melle, elected in 2021.

City council

The city council is composed of 40 members. Additionally the city mayor is eligible to vote.

Twin towns – sister cities

Melle is twinned with:
Melle also has friendly relations with New Melle, Missouri, United States.

Economy

A substantial economic factor for Melle is the wood processing industry. Further important branches are metal, food, and plastics processing. Tetra (company) was founded in Melle. In recent years Melle has more and more become a logistics site along the A 30 motorway.

Culture and sights

There are two astronomical observatories in the surrounding of Melle providing guided tours for the public. The EXPO 2000 observatory in Melle-Oberholsten runs the largest Newtonian telescope used for public observation.

Notable people