Rheine

Rheine
Rheine
Town
	Flag Coat of arms
	Location of Rheine within Steinfurt district
	Rheine Rheine
	Coordinates: 52°17′N 7°26′E / 52.283°N 7.433°E
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Münster
District	Steinfurt
Government
• Mayor (2020–25)	Peter Lüttmann (CDU)
Area
• Total	145 km2 (56 sq mi)
Elevation	35 m (115 ft)
Population (2023-12-31)
• Total	78,220
• Density	540/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	48429-48432
Dialling codes	05971, 05975, 05459
Vehicle registration	ST, BF, TE
Website	www.rheine.de

Rheine (German: [ˈʁaɪnə] ^ⓘ) is a city in the district of Steinfurt in Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest city in the district and the location of Rheine Air Base.

Geography

Rheine is on the river Ems, about 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of Münster, 45 kilometres (28 mi) west of Osnabrück and 45 kilometres (28 mi) east of Hengelo (Netherlands).

History

Although the region around the city has been populated since prehistoric times, Rheine was first mentioned in a document signed by Louis the Pious in 838. On 15 August 1327, it received its town charter from Louis II, Bishop of Münster.

The settlement was near to the crossing of two old merchant roads and a ford over the river Ems. Frankish soldiers initially secured this strategic point with a barrack yard. Later a church and more buildings were added to this outpost.

At the end of the Thirty Years' War the city was burned down almost completely. Swedish and Hessian troops besieged imperial soldiers who had entrenched themselves in Rheine. On 20/21 September and 19 October 1647 glowing cannonballs set fire to the city and 365 houses were destroyed. In 1803 the city became the capital of the Sovereign Principality of Rheina-Wolbeck (556 square kilometers) of the House of Looz-Corswarem, later annexed by the Grand Duchy of Berg and the Kingdom of Prussia.

During the industrialization the textile industry prospered. It remained an important economic factor until the second half of the 20th century. Today engineering industries and services form the largest part of economy in Rheine.

On 1 April 1927 about 10,000 inhabitants of the Office Rheine (Bentlage, Wadelheim, Dutum, etc.) were incorporated into the city, the population increased to 29,598, the city area was thus tripled.

In Nazi Germany, Jewish citizens were also deported from Rheine. The allied war opponents bombarded the city repeatedly, especially the railway line and the Dortmund-Ems Canal, which represented tactical goals. The large-scale attacks on 5 October met in 1944, and 21 March 1945, each with more than 200 dead and Injured the city area. The conquest of Rheine took place on 2 April 1945 after some fierce fighting by units of the 157th British Infantry Brigade (5th Battalion of the King's Own Scottish Borderers Regiment, 7th Battalion of the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) Regiment).

Rheine was after the war in 1945 in the British occupation zone and 1946 was politically assigned to the newly founded Land of North Rhine-Westphalia. In 1949 it joined with the other Lander in the Western Zone to form the Federal Republic of Germany.

On 10 February 1946 Rheine was affected by the highest ever Emshochwasser. Large parts of the city were flooded.

On 15 August 2002 the city celebrated the 675th anniversary of the granting of municipal law.

Division of the city

There is no standard division of the city, different divisions are used for different purposes. The districts do not form administrative units. A detailed breakdown includes 21 districts.

Altenrheine
Baarentelgen
Bentlage
Catenhorn
Dorenkamp
Dutum
Elte
Eschendorf
Gellendorf
Hauenhorst
Hörstkamp
Innenstadt (city centre)
Kanalhafen
Mesum
Rodde
Schleupe
Schotthock
Stadtberg
Südesch
Wadelheim
Wietesch

The city of Rheine has eleven district advisory councils. For statistical purposes, there is a division into 18 statistical districts. The city is divided into 22 electoral districts.

Eschendorf, Dorenkamp, and Schotthock are the biggest districts by population, and Catenhorn is the smallest.

Politics

Peter Lüttmann of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has been the mayor of Rheine since 2015. The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020. Lüttmann was the sole candidate and was re-elected with 90.6% of votes in favour and 9.4% against, on a turnout of 48.5%.^[3]

List of mayors

1946–1948: Georg Pelster (1897–1963) (CDU)
1948–1954: Albert Biermann (CDU)
1954–1960: Balduin Echelmeyer (CDU)
1960–1961: Franz Rudolf Kümpers (CDU)
1961–1975: Albert Biermann (1903–1994) (CDU)
1975–1994: Ludger Meier (CDU)
1994–1999: Günter Thum (SPD)
1999–2004: Wilhelm Niemann (1949–2012) (CDU)
2004–2015: Angelika Kordfelder (born 1955) (SPD)
since 2015: Peter Lüttmann

City council

The Rheine city council governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows:


Party		Votes	%	+/-	Seats	+/-
	Christian Democratic Union (CDU)	13,885	47.2	1.3	23	2
	Social Democratic Party (SPD)	6,444	21.9	8.1	10	3
	Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)	4,196	14.3	4.5	7	3
	Free Democratic Party (FDP)	1,663	5.7	0.6	3	1
	Independent Voters' Association Rheine (UWG)	1,380	4.7	0.3	2	±0
	The Left (Die Linke)	993	3.4	0.8	2	±0
	Citizens for Rheine (BfR)	873	3.0	New	1	New
Valid votes		29,434	98.3
Invalid votes		498	1.7
Total		29,932	100.0		48	4
Electorate/voter turnout		61,695	48.5	2.1
Source: City of Rheine