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Detmold

Author: Leandro Alegsa

06-09-2021

The title of this article is ambiguous. For other meanings, see Detmold (disambiguation).

Detmold [ˈdɛtʰmɔlt] (Low German Deppelt, Deppeln, also [in phonetic transcription] Deppəl) is a city in the region of East Westphalia-Lippe in North Rhine-Westphalia. With about 75,000 inhabitants, Detmold is the largest city in the Lippe district. It is a university town and a town of public authorities: On the one hand, due to the resident University of Music and the Technical University of East Westphalia-Lippe, on the other hand, due to the district administration and the district government of the administrative district of Detmold.

As a special tourist attraction, Germany's highest statue, the Hermann Monument, can be found in Detmold-Hiddesen. Other important cultural institutions are the largest German open-air museum and the Detmold State Theatre. The head office of the German Youth Hostel Association is located in Detmold.

From 1468 to 1918 Detmold was the residence town of the lords, counts and princes of Lippe, then until 1947 the capital of the Free State of Lippe or the state of Lippe, which was then incorporated into the new federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. From 1932 to 1972 Detmold was the seat of the district of Detmold. Since 1973 Detmold has been the seat of the district of Lippe, which consists of the merged districts of Detmold and Lemgo.

Detmold, Martin Luther Church in the street scene

Geography

Geographical location

Detmold is located in the East Westphalia-Lippe region in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia on the edge of the Teutoburg Forest/Eggegebirge nature park. The south of the city area is covered by the Teutoburg Forest, the actual city lies north of it, about 30 kilometres east of Bielefeld and about 100 kilometres southwest of Hanover.

The town area is drained by the Werre, into which the Knochenbach and the Heidenbach flow in the town. The Knochenbach originates from the union of the Wiembecke and the Berlebecke in the district of Heiligenkirchen. Larger standing waters are the Meschesee in Heidenoldendorf and the Donoperteich in Hiddesen.

Geology

The city area, like the entire Lippe region, has a great geological diversity. South of Detmold's city centre runs the ridge of the Osning, which together with the Eggegebirge forms the elongated Teutoburg Forest. The Osning is built up of calcareous sandstones of the Triassic, with many fractures and folds. This fissuring is one reason why there are so many health resorts and mineral water springs in the area. The district of Hiddesen is such a health resort with a gentle climate.

The soils are of medium to very good quality. Towards the end of the last cold period, marl dust was deposited along the northern slope of the Teutoburg Forest and formed loess soils. The glaciers had advanced as far as there. The predominant subsoil is sandstone and mudstone from the Mesozoic. On it are predominantly Podsol brown earths and Pseudogley brown earths. In the northwestern part of the city, the Keuper hills of the Lipperland dominate. Along the Werre river, alluvial soils run through the urban area from the southeast to the northwest. In the higher areas of the Osning ridge, the upper layer consists of the shell limestone, in which fossils can often be found.

A well-known geologist who explored the sandstones of the Teutoburg Forest was the grammar school professor Otto Weerth.

Exhibits on the geology of Detmold are on display in the Lippisches Landesmuseum or can be found there in the collection.

The suitability of the urban area of Detmold for the use of geothermal heat sources by means of geothermal probes and heat recovery by heat pump heating systems varies greatly depending on the location. There are locations with low suitability, but also those with very good suitability (cf. the adjacent map).

Extent and use of the urban area

The town, classified as a "large medium-sized town", covers an area of 129.39 square kilometres. The municipal area has a maximum extension both in east-west direction and in north-south direction of about 15.5 kilometers.

Area by type of use	Agricultural land	Forest area	Building, open space and operating area	Traffic area	Water surface	Sports and green area	otheruse
Area in km²	52,11	42,50	20,97	8,41	0,82	4,14	0,44
Percentage of total area	40,27 %	32,85 %	16,21 %	6,50 %	0,63 %	3,20 %	0,34 %

Neighboring communities

Detmold is surrounded only by towns and municipalities of the district Lippe, these are (clockwise starting in the north) Lemgo, Blomberg, Horn-Bad Meinberg, Schlangen, Augustdorf and Lage.

City breakdown

According to § 3 para. 1 of its main statutes, the city of Detmold is divided into the following 27 districts:

District	Inhabitants	Area [km²]	Population density [Inhabitants/km²]
Barkhausen	00.178	05,31	0034
Bentrup	00.367	03,25	0113
Berlebeck	02.233	12,61	0177
Brokhausen	00.505	04,10	0123
Detmold-North	28.017	11,80	2374
Detmold South	28.017	11,80	2374
Diestelbruch	02.162	04,73	0457
Hakedahl/Herberhausen	02.202	03,48	0633
Heidenoldendorf	08.113	06,14	1321
Heiligenkirchen	03.143	09,99	0315
Hiddesen	07.375	11,35	0650
Hornoldendorf	00.145	03,92	0037
Jerxen-Orbke	03.252	03,01	1080
Klüt	01.672	03,01	0555
Lossbruch	00.798	01,05	0760
Mosebeck	00.433	04,21	0103
Niederschönhagen	00.076	02,60	0029
Nienhagen	00.318	03,68	0086
Niewald	00.057	01,38	0041
Oberschönhagen	00.072	04,10	0018
Oettern-Bremke	00.151	03,25	0046
Pivitsheide V. H.	03.086	03,45	0894
Pivitsheide V. L.	06.414	05,90	1087
Remmighausen	01.714	03,77	0455
Schönemark	00.211	04,50	0047
Spork Oakwood	03.162	03,20	0988
Vahlhausen	00.534	02,48	0215

See also: List of places in the district of Lippe

Climate

The Detmold city area belongs to the maritime climate region of northwest Germany. The average annual temperature is about 9 °C, the southern outskirts of the city are colder, while the more northern periphery is warmer than average. Monthly means vary regionally from about 0 °C in January to 17 °C in July/August. The annual precipitation amounts to about 900 millimetres of water column, increasing towards the Teutoburg Forest. The average annual solar radiation is 955 kilowatt hours per square meter.

For the Detmold district Hiddesen, which is situated relatively high and directly at the Teutoburg Forest, the following climate values result, which are cooler and more humid compared to the city centre:

Climate Hiddesen (180 m)

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Max. Temperature (°C)	2,5	4,0	8,0	12,5	17,0	20,0	22,0	22,0	18,0	14,0	7,5	4,5	Ø	12,7
Min. temperature (°C)	−2,0	−1,9	0,1	4,0	7,0	10,0	12,0	12,0	9,5	5,5	2,5	−0,5	Ø	4,9
Temperature (°C)	0,3	0,5	4,5	7,5	12,0	15,0	17,0	16,8	14,0	9,5	4,9	2,5	Ø	8,8

Precipitation (mm)	85	60	70	65	75	82	81	78	70	65	85	95		911

Sunshine hours (h/d)	1	2	3	5	6,2	6,2	6	5,8	5	3,5	1	0,8	Ø	3,8

Te
mperature

2,5

−2,0

4,0

−1,9

8,0

0,1

12,5

4,0

17,0

7,0

20,0

10,0

22,0

12,0

22,0

12,0

18,0

9,5

14,0

5,5

7,5

2,5

4,5

−0,5

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Precipitation	85	60	70	65	75	82	81	78	70	65	85	95
	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec

Source: City of Detmold

See also: Climate in East Westphalia-Lippe

Politics

City Council

The city council currently has 46 members. In addition, there is the mayor as chairman of the council. There was no fixed coalition. In 2020, two new factions entered the city council. The Detmold Alternative (DA) achieved less than 1% of the votes and thus lost its only seat in the council.

City Council Election 2020

Voter turnout: 49.3

33,0

26,0

18,9

4,5

4,2

3,7

2,8

2,7

2,6

1,2

Green

UPB. C

PARTEI

Otherwise.

gains and losses

compared to 2014

-2

-4

-6

-8

-10

−8,6

−1,9

+7,1

+4,5

+0,5

+0,8

−1,7

+2,7

−2,7

+1,2

Green

UPB. C

PARTEI

Otherwise.

Template:Election Chart/Maintenance/New Result not 100%

Template:Election Chart/Maintenance/Old Result Not 100%

The following table shows the election results since 1975:

	2020		2014		2009		2004		1999		1994		1989		1984		1979		1975
Party	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats	%
SPD	16	33,00	19	41,69	18	38,55	17	37,16	20	39,78	24	42,08	22	40,86	22	42,71	24	47,63	24	45,79
CDU	12	26,01	13	27,99	13	27,80	17	36,86	21	41,78	19	34,17	16	31,15	18	35,06	22	42,36	22	42,93
GREEN	09	18,99	06	11,89	05	11,88	05	10,24	04	07,53	05	10,24	04	08,27	06	12,15	- –	- –	- –	- –
FDP	02	04,23	02	03,76	04	08,60	03	05,71	02	03,89	0–	03,65	03	07,17	05	10,07	05	10,01	05	11,26
Free voters⁽¹⁾	01	02,61	02	05,34	02	05,20	03	07,59	03	07,01	03	05,58	03	06,38	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –
LEFT	01	02,87	02	04,52	02	03,80	0–	0–	- –	- –	- –	0–	0–	0–	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –
BREAKUP C	02	03,77	01	02,97	⁽⁰⁾01⁽²⁾	02,31	0–	0–	- –	- –	- –	0–	0–	0–	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –
AfD	02	04,52	0–	0–	0–	0–	0–	0–	- –	- –	- –	0–	0–	0–	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –
THE PARTY	01	02,77	0–	0–	0–	0–	0–	0–	- –	- –	- –	0–	0–	0–	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –
DA⁽³⁾	00	00,95	01	01,85	01	01,85	01	02,44	- –	- –	- –	0–	0–	0–	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –
Single. H. ⁽⁵⁾	00	00,28	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	0–	0–	0–	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –
UWG⁽⁴⁾	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	04,28	03	06,16	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –
Other	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	- –	00,02
Total⁽⁶⁾	46	100	46	100	46	100	46	100	50	100	51	100	51	100	51	100	51	100	51	100
Voter turnout	52,30 %		51,80 %		52,55 %		56,29 %		56,25 %		81,72 %		66,00 %		67,86 %		69,87 %		85,71 %

⁽¹⁾ Free Voters Detmold (until March 2010 FWG Detmold)

⁽²⁾ The AUF city council member founded the party AUFBRUCH C - Christian Values for a Human Politics in March 2013.

⁽³⁾ Detmold alternative

⁽⁴⁾ Independent Voters' Association

⁽⁵⁾ Individual candidate Hennig

^{(6 )} Without taking rounding differences into account.

The distribution of seats in the Detmold City Council after the municipal election on 13 September 2020 is shown in the adjacent diagram.

Mayor

→ Main article: List of mayors of Detmold

The mayor of Detmold since 1 November 2020 is Frank Hilker (SPD). He prevailed in the 2020 election against Jörg Thelaner (CDU) and Steffen Stelzer (Die PARTEI) in the first round. The following table shows the result of the 2020 mayoral election:

Name	Party	13 September 2020
Frank Hilker	SPD	54,86 %
Jörg Thelaner	CDU	37,49 %
Steffen Stelzer	The PARTY	07,66 %
Voter turnout:		52,50 %

Parliament

Detmold belongs to the state parliamentary constituency Lippe III (99), in which Dennis Maelzer (SPD) was elected as a direct candidate in the 2017 state election. At federal level, Detmold belongs to the federal electoral district Höxter - Lippe II (136), in which Christian Haase (CDU) was elected as a direct candidate in 2017.

Coat of arms

Wappen von Detmold

Blazoning: "In red a silver five-tined continuous city wall, studded at both ends with two free-standing Latin crosses, behind the first and last embrasure each a three-storey three-tined tower with one [(heraldically) closed] black window opening per storey, in between a large archway, surmounted by a central tower with a pointed roof, with a cross of paws on the top and a ball on each of the two roof ends, covered with a large Lippian rose (red leaves with yellow slugs) without sepals on a silver round shield, below in front of the middle two battlement openings two small shields, therein in silver a Lippian rose without sepals.“

Coat of arms justification: The City of Detmold, newly formed in 1970, adopted by permission of February 23, 1970, the coat of arms granted to the former City of Detmold on November 24, 1955, based on the oldest city seal preserved in three impressions from 1305, 1350, and 1428, established by the Council in 1954. The building is the symbol of the town, the rose comes from the shield of the sovereigns.

Twinning

Detmold has five twin towns and is friends with one other town. All six cities except Verona have a similar number of inhabitants as Detmold and are about the same age.

The oldest partnership was concluded on 6 May 1976 with the Belgian city of Hasselt.
The partnership with Saint-Omer (Pas-de-Calais) in France has existed since 29 June 1969 and was concluded on the basis of the Élysée Treaty of 22 January 1963.
Another twin city is Savonlinna in Finland since 11 June 2004.

Student exchanges and meetings between cultural and sports clubs take place with all three cities.

An inner-German partnership has existed with Zeitz since August 18, 1990, which began with the cooperation of city councils and administrations and today receives a further facet with the exchange of associations.
Since 15 June 2013, there has been a town twinning with the northern Greek town of Oreokastro.
Since 20 May 2006, there has been a friendship between the cities of Verona and Italy as a result of a long-standing school project for the joint reappraisal of German-Italian history during the period of National Socialism and Fascism.

Curiosities

In December 2002, the members of the City Council decided to reduce their attendance fees and expense allowances by 10 %. In times of tight budgets, the council wanted to set an example and save money for itself. The compensation ordinance of the NRW Ministry of the Interior, however, provided for a uniform compensation for council members. An exemption was refused after several months. The case caused a national sensation.

At the beginning of 2004, the idea arose in the district of Lippe to apply as European Capital of Culture 2010. Since it was not possible for a district to apply, the city of Detmold was to apply on behalf of the region. The city council rejected the project with a large majority.