Rahden


Rahden is a town in the far north of North Rhine-Westphalia between Bielefeld and Bremen and between Hanover and Osnabrück. Rahden is part of the Minden-Lübbecke District in East Westphalia-Lippe.
Rahden was first mentioned in 1033, and from 1816 to 1831 was county town of the district Rahden.

Geography

Rahden is situated approximately north of Lübbecke and north-west of Minden. It is the northernmost town of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Town subdivisions

The town of Rahden consists of 7 districts:
  • Rahden
  • Kleinendorf
  • Varl
  • Sielhorst
  • Preußisch Ströhen
  • Wehe
  • Tonnenheide

    Mayors

Bert Honsel was elected mayor in September 2015 with 61.1% of the votes.
Term of officeMayor
1973–1985Reinhold Spönemann
1985–1999Wilhelm Möhring
1999–2015Bernd Hachmann
since 2015Bert Honsel

International relations

Rahden is twinned with:
The only honorary citizen of Rahden is Professor . He was born in 1867 in the Great Village and was a prominent portrait painter, poet and the composer of the "New Westphalia March." A street in downtown Rahden is named after him.

Sons and daughters of the town

The individuals listed here come from the city Rahden and have both regional, national or even international importance. Here, the list is not exhaustive.
Namebornindiedinnote
1533Rahden1603BreitenburgWife of Heinrich Rantzau
Robert Portner1837Rahden1906Manassas, VA, USABrewer and inventor
Carl Langhorst1867Rahden1950Painter and composer
1878Rahden1948LübbeckeMember of the Landtag NRW, County Council Member for Westphalia
Friedhelm Ortgies1950RahdenMember of the NRW state parliament
1954RahdenMember of the Bundestag
Andreas Brandhorst1956RahdenFantasy- and Science-Fiction-author and translator
Heinrich Bretthorst1883Rahden1962Leipzigpolitician
1957RahdenRadio and television presenter and singer
Kurt Bock1958RahdenChairman of BASF
Achim Post1959RahdenDeputy federal secretary of the SPD, a member of the Bundestag
1961RahdenMayor of Minden
Dietmar Kolbus1966Rahdenchess players
1972RahdenDirector of Office Unterspreewald, Brandenburg
1972RahdenWas a member of the NRW state parliament
1949RahdenWas a member of the NRW state parliament
Tine Wittler1973RahdenWriter and television presenter
Lars Windhorst1976RahdenEntrepreneurial wunderkind of the 90
Stefan Wessels1979RahdenKeeper, played from 1998 till 2003 at FC Bayern München