Westerberg (Osnabrück)

Westerberg
district of Osnabrück

Map:

Basic data

Area :

4.93 km²

Residents :

10,201 December 31, 2019

Population density :

2,065 inhabitants / km²

Postal code :

49076

Primaries :

0541

structure

District number:

03

Westerberg is a district of Osnabrück in Lower Saxony with 10,183 inhabitants (12/2018) spread over an area of 4.93 km². It is located in the west of the city between Lotter Strasse and Pagenstecherstrasse . Neighboring districts are (clockwise) Eversburg , harbor , sunny hill , downtown , West Town , Hellern and Atter .

description

The Westerberg district is named after a 100 meter high hill west of Osnabrück city center . The hill itself is green and serves as a local recreation area for the population. What is unusual for a large city is that “in the middle of the city” there is still an active farm, Gut Muesenburg, which cultivates the agricultural land on the hill. Around this area there are residential areas in the north, east and south. In the west of the district, the open spaces become more extensive, here are the Heger Holz forest and the Rubbenbruchsee . The Osnabrück Clinic is located on the Finkenhügel, which is also largely green, to the south of it . Another hospital is the Paracelsus Clinic Osnabrück on Sedanstrasse, which has been part of the Niels Stensen Clinics since 2019 .

Large parts of the district are among the preferred residential areas with the highest property prices in Osnabrück. In local political discussions, the accusation is often raised that the Westerberg is generally treated financially preferentially. Residents of the Westerberg counter that, according to statistics, the city is investing much more money in other parts of the city.

The Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences is based on the Westerberg Campus , which it operates together with the Osnabrück University . The campus on the north slope of the Westerberg, on which the natural science areas of the two universities are located, is a former barracks area. It was used in the First and Second World War by the German armed forces, in the post-war period partly by the British Army on the Rhine and partly by the Bundeswehr . After the end of the military period of use in 2009, the barracks buildings from the imperial era were connected to the existing university buildings and supplemented by modern new buildings in the following years. Another campus of the Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences is located on the southern slope on Caprivistraße. The site is also a former barracks from the imperial era, which was used in the post-war period by British troops and from 1989 to 1995 as a border transit camp for emigrants . The Osnabrück Science Park (WPO) commercial and residential area was developed on the site of a third British barracks on Sedanstrasse in 2011 . Due to the British bases of the Osnabrück garrison , the proportion of British families in the Westerberg district was at times quite high.

In the east of the district, near the city center, are the Stüvehaus and the Stadthaus . Both are former locations of the city clinic. While the Stüvehaus is now home to the Osnabrück Adult Education Center, the city administration is located in the town hall.

Ecclesiastical institutions are the evangelical-reformed mountain church built in Art Nouveau architecture . Furthermore, the ev.-luth. Markuskirche, the cath. St. Barbara Church and the independent ev.-luth. Church. The Osnabrück Benedictine Monastery is located north of the city center on the Hase . Other educational institutions in addition to the universities are the municipal primary school Heinrich-Schüren-Schule on Sedanstrasse and a vocational school center on Natruper Strasse. The Osnabrück professional fire brigade located on Nobbenburger Strasse provides defensive fire protection and general help throughout the city.

The memorial on Straßburger Platz commemorates the fallen soldiers from Osnabrück in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/1871. It was built on Neumarkt in 1880 and moved to the Westerberg district in 1928. For this purpose, students from the Osnabrück Ratsgymnasium designed the sculpture “The protective torsion”, which symbolizes German-French friendship.

Between 1860 and 1987 the nationally valued beer of the Osnabrücker Aktien-Brauerei (approx. 220 employees) was brewed on the Westerberg . Today there is a retirement home on the former brewery site on Bergstrasse. A special attraction is the university's botanical garden , located in a former quarry .

Population development

The population development of the Westerberg district:

date	Residents
December 31, 2003	8903
December 31, 2004	8731
December 31, 2005	8585
December 31, 2006	8534
December 31, 2007	8513

date	Residents
December 31, 2008	8558
December 31, 2009	8739
December 31, 2010	8999
December 31, 2011	9002
December 31, 2012	9092

date	Residents
December 31 2013	9072
December 31, 2014	9111
December 31, 2015	9586
December 31, 2016	9925
December 31, 2017	10,108

date	Residents
December 31, 2018	10.183
December 31, 2019	10,201

traffic

Most of the district is located in an environmental zone .

Western bypass

On May 25, 2014, at the same time as the European elections in Osnabrück, a citizens' survey on the western bypass, also known as the West Relief Road, was held. The western bypass should mostly run in the western part of the Westerberg district and connect the Rheiner Landstrasse to the Pagenstecherstrasse . In the citizen survey, 51.7% voted against and 48.3% in favor of the western bypass. Due to the vote, the plans to build the bypass were abandoned.

Transportation

There used to be a connection to tram line 1, which went from the Heger Friedhof via Lotter Straße, Heger Tor, Rißmüllerplatz, Rathaus, Nikolaiort, Hauptpost to the main station. Today the district is served by city buses at frequent intervals . Bus lines 11, 12, 13, 21, 22, 31, R31, 32 and 33 go to Westerberg.