Minden-Ravensberg

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Situation in Germany
Location of Minden-Ravensberg in Prussia 1806
Minden-Ravensberg and neighboring territories in 1806

Minden-Ravensberg was a Prussian administrative unit in northeast Westphalia that existed from 1719 to 1807 . It summarized the imperial territories of the Principality of Minden and the County of Ravensberg . The administrative seat was Minden , the largest city and economic center of Bielefeld . The term was alive until the 20th century, and is still in isolated cases today, as a regional name for northern East Westphalia .

geography

geography

Within Prussia, Minden-Ravensberg formed one of the smaller territories (such as Kleve , Mark and Tecklenburg ) that were isolated in western Germany away from the heartland in the 18th century . After Prussia was able to round off these possessions in 1815, the area was in the northeast of the newly formed province of Westphalia . It is currently spread across the North Rhine-Westphalian districts of Gütersloh (northern third), Herford , Minden-Lübbecke and the city of Bielefeld. In terms of natural space, it was part of the North German lowlands ( Mindener Land ) in the north , the Ravensberger Mulde ( Ravensberger Land ) in the center and the Ems sand plain in the south .

In 1806 Minden-Ravensberg had an area of ​​2,113 km² and 1,800 160,301 inhabitants. His successor districts from 1815 (the number and layout of which were subject to changes, but which did not affect the historical boundaries of Minden-Ravensberg until 1969) totaled around 2,170 km² and in 1910 had 478,749 inhabitants, in 1969 around 927,400 inhabitants.

history

Structure around 1801 ( Herford abbey ) still independent

The imperial territories of Ravensberg (along with the city of Herford ) and Minden came to the Electors of Brandenburg in the 17th century . The Brandenburg rulers, who had been kings in Prussia since 1701, endeavored to weld together their territorial property, which was scattered between the Lower Rhine and East Prussia, into a unified state and to modernize it comprehensively. In this context, Minden-Ravensberg was formed in 1719.

In 1722 the administrative tasks of a joint government, the War and Domain Chamber of Minden, were transferred. Formally, both territories continued to exist, including their subdivision into offices and bailiffs, but the four district districts that emerged after 1722 (two for Ravensberg and Minden), each of which was headed by a district administrator, became more administratively important . The Prussian state promoted linen production and trade, so that the area quickly developed into a densely populated, proto- industrial commercial region with Bielefeld as the economic center.

In 1807 the area came under Napoleonic control and ceased to exist as an administrative unit. Until 1810 the area was completely in the Kingdom of Westphalia ( department of the Weser ), from 1811 the north of Minden-Ravensberg belonged to the French Empire ( department of the Upper Ems ). Reached Prussia again in 1813/15, it found its successor after a transition period in the civil government between the Weser and the Rhine in the administrative district of Minden , now including the south-east Westphalian areas around Paderborn . The following districts were formed in the Minden-Ravensberg area : Bielefeld , Bünde , Halle (Westphalia) , Herford , Minden (the city of Minden was its own district until 1817 ) and Rahden .

The Minden-Ravensberg area remained recognizable as a sub-region of Westphalia with its own character, the name being common. In addition to the intensive economic development, the Lutheran revival movement contributed to this , which brought about a deepened Christian attitude towards life in the region between around 1750 and 1950.

Economically and socially, Minden-Ravensberg plunged into a serious crisis around 1830, when the local linen industry , based on home working , proved to be no longer competitive due to mechanization. Large sections of the population became unemployed and suffered dire hardship, and many emigrated to America. The extensive expansion of the railway network, especially the construction of the Cologne-Minden Railway in 1847 through the middle of the area, initiated extensive, widespread industrialization , which was soon able to integrate the numerous unemployed. To this day , important sectors are the textile industry , mechanical engineering , furniture , food and , at times, the cigar industry . There was also hard coal and iron stone mining .

The influence of religion on the one hand and industrialization on the other was also evident in Minden-Ravensberg's political life. In the Reichstag elections from 1867 onwards, the Social Democrats were only able to catch up with the long-dominated Christian Conservatives shortly before the First World War . Until then, the conservative milieu was decisive, which also included anti-Semitic agitation . The farmers ' union, which represented the interests of large-scale agrarians , was also politically active and agitated against the Christian conservatives . The conservative voter potential brought the National Socialists above-average electoral success from 1930–33 . After the Second World War, the area remained the undisputed SPD domain for around 50 years.

After 1945 the term Minden-Ravensberg was increasingly out of use. Reasons are, on the one hand, the ongoing modernization, which is weakening the previous traditional and religious ties. In addition, the local regional awareness was always in competition with other identities and was therefore comparatively weak. The Minden-Ravensbergers came to (Brandenburg-) Prussia very early on and, as Protestants, could easily identify with the success story of this state, as well as with the German Empire, which was initially dominated by Prussia, since 1871 . In Catholic areas of Westphalia ( Münsterland , Paderborn ), on the other hand, the regional identity was consciously cultivated as a demarcation from the unloved Prussia.

The North Rhine-Westphalian territorial reform of 1969-74 represented a certain turning point, which significantly changed the Prussian administrative division and as a result of which the historical boundaries of Minden-Ravensberg can no longer be found completely within the district boundaries. Since around 1980 efforts have been made to create a new regional awareness with East Westphalia-Lippe within the Detmold administrative district , with which the Minden-Ravensbergers seem to have the fewest problems. Thus the term Minden-Ravensberg has practically only a historical character today.

Chamber presidents 1723–1807

Freiherr vom und zum Stein (painting by Johann Christoph Rincklage)

The Chamber Presidents of the War and Domain Chamber were:

Further use of the name

Web links

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  1. ↑ Alwin Hanschmidt : The 18th Century (1702-1803). In: Wilhelm Kohl (Hrsg.): Geschichte Westfalens, Vol. 1., pp. 605–686; Monika Lahrkamp: The French period . In: Wilhelm Kohl (ed.): Geschichte Westfalens, Vol. 2, pp. 1-44.
  2. ^ Gregor Gehrke: Mining in Minden-Ravensberg. From a report by the miner Brassert from 1862 on mining in the administrative district of Minden. Communications of the Mindener Geschichtsverein, year 62 (1990), pp. 163–170.
  3. ^ Karl Friedrich Watermann: Political Conservatism and Anti-Semitism in Minden-Ravensberg 1879–1914. Announcements of the Minden History Society, year 52 (1980), pp. 11–64.
  4. ^ Karl Friedrich Watermann: The "Bund der Landwirte" in Minden-Ravensberg 1893-1914. Announcements of the Minden History Society, year 54 (1982), pp. 7-19.
  5. ↑ ArchiveNRW: Findbuch A 200 I War and Domain Chamber Minden

Coordinates: 52 ° 10 ′  N , 8 ° 40 ′  E