Münster

Münster (Mönster in Low Franconian and Low German) is a 314,319 inhabitants city by Münstersche Aa river located in the northern part of North Rhine-Westphalia, considered to be the cultural center of the Westphalia region and known as the bicycle capital of Germany. It is widely seen as one of the most interesting cities between Cologne and Hamburg, with a very nice Alstadt (rebuilt after World War II). Münster has an university too, University of Münster

How do I arrive to Münster?

  Münster isn't bad connected with other major cities in North Rhine-Westphalia. 

• Plane: there are some national flights to the small Münster-Osnabrück Airport, 25 km north from the center of the city. To go from the airport to the city (Hauptbahnhof) there are buses (aprox. 40 minutes) every 30 minutes. 
• Train: there are often trains to important destinations within NRW like Dortmund (aprox. 35 minutes), Essen (aprox. 1 hour), Düsseldorf (aprox. 1 hour 15 minutes), Paderborn (aprox. 1.5 hours), Cologne (aprox. 1 hour 45 minutes). Münster has often connections with other important German cities like Osnabrück (aprox. 30 minutes), Hamburg (aprox. 2 hours 15 minutes).
• Bus: there are buses to many cities in NRW state.
• Car: if you rented a car from Münster it can be reached Dortmund (aprox. 50 minutes), Essen and Soest (aprox. 1 hour), Bielefeld (aprox. 1 hour 15 minutes), Düsseldorf and Paderborn (aprox. 1.5 hours) or Cologne (aprox. 1 hour 45 minutes). It can be reached from Osnabrück (aprox. 45 minutes) in Lower Saxony.

History

In 793 Charlemagne sent out Ludger (future St. Ludger) to evangelise Münsterland are, fouding a school (located at current Gymnasium Paulinum). Ludger was ordained as the first bishop of Münster (800) and in 850 the first cathedral was already built, making Münster an important town as a crossroads population. During Middle Ages it was leading member of the Hanseatic League. In 1534 John of Leiden, leader of the Anabaptist sect, took power in the Münster rebellion, founding a democratic proto-socialistic state based on religion. The town was recaptured in 1535 and the Anabaptists were tortured to death. In Münster it was part of the signing of the Peace of Westphalia 81648), ending the Thirty Years' War and the Eighty Years' War.The University of Münster was established in 1780 (nowadays a major European centre for arts, humanities, theology, sciences, business and law). Münster was conquered by Prussia after the Napoleonic Wars, being the capital of the Prussian province of Westphalia. In 1899 the city's harbour stated operations linked to Dortmund-Ems Canal. In the 1940s the Bishop of Münster, Cardinal Clemens August Graf von Galen, was one of the most prominent critics of the Nazi government. After WW2 Münster was part of the British occupation district, had an important migration from Latvia and in the 1950s the Old City was rebuilt to match its pre-war state.

What can I visit in Münster?

 The city's main districts are Altstadt, Aasee and Hafen (former harbour district with avant-garde buildings home of artists by Dortmund-Ems Canal). It's also very recommended to walk all over Münster Promenade (4.8 km), a public park located in the place where Münster city walls used to be. There's a card, Münster Card (30€/ 20€  2 days/ 1 day for adults; 16€/ 12€  2 days/ 1 day between age 6 and 17), that includes most of the museums in the city, guided tours free of charge, free public transportation and free bike renting.

These are Münster's main attractions:

• Münster Catholic Cathedral (6:30-19 Mon-Sat, 6:30-19:30 Sun): 13th century Dom in a transition style, combining the Romanesque westwerk, old choir and west towers with the Gothic nave, transepts, high choir and ring of chapels. In case the visitor chooses the entrance from Domplatz it will first enjoy Paradise, a narthex with profuse decoration and statues of the apostles. Once inside the cathedral it can be enjoy St. Christophorus statue (traveler's protector) and an amazing 16th century astronomical clock. Outside the building it's located Münster Dom Treasury (11-16 Tue-Sun; 3€/ free  adults/ reduced), exposition with many religious and precious objects. One of the most outstanding pieces are Pauluskopf, a reliquary with part of the skull cap of the Apostle Paul of Tartus (one of the oldest of its kind).
• Westphalian State Museum of Art and Cultural History (10-18 Tue-Sun; 9€/ 4.50€/ free  adults/ reduced/ people under 18): arts amd cultural museum with an extensive collection from late Gothic painting and sculpture (many of them were seized to Anabaptists) and works by the Cranachs. The museum specializes in paintings from the Der Blaue Reiter and Die Brücke movements, in particular works by August Macke, Conrad von Soest and Simon Hantaï. The collection is ordered depending on topics instead of chronological index.
• Pablo Picasso Art Museum (10-18; 10€/ 8€/ 4€  adults/ reduced/ people under 18): museum located in a 18th century house with temporary expositions about one of the most popular artist in the 20th century. The museums owns around 800 pieces of graphic art by Picasso, including a full serie of lithographies. 
• Überwasser Catholic Church: 14th century Gothic church, destroyed during WW2, with beautiful stained glass windows. The bishop of Münster, Clemes August Graf von Galen, delivered a famous sermon agains the Nazi regime in 1941 here.
• St. Lamberti Catholic Church (9-12 and 15-17 Mon and Wed-Fri; free): late-Gothic church from 1450, considered one of the most beautiful churches in Münster. In the top of it there are 3 cages that used to show the skeleton of Anabaptist leader John of Leiden and some of his most important followers, tortured after the defeat of Münster Rebellion.
• Münster Historic City Hall: wonderful Gothic buildings located in Prinzipalmarkt with its filigreed pitched roof. Friedenssaal (10-17 Tue-Fri, 10-16 Sat-Sun; 2€/ 1.50€  adults/ reduced) is a beautiful room with carved wooden where a treaty before the signature of Peace of Westphalia (1648) took place. Close to it, it's located Stadtweinhaus, a beautiful Renaissance style building.
• St. Clemens Church: 18th century Baroque style church by Johann Conrad Schlaun. It has an impressing fresco in the cupola.
• Erbdrostenhof Palace: 18th century late Baroque style palace designed by Johann Conrad Schlaun for the Erbdrost of Münster that has very nice frescoes and sculptures inside. Nowadays is the site of the regional administration center of Landschaftsverband Westphalia-Lippe.
• Münster City Museum (10-18 Tue-Fri, 11-18 Sat-Sun; free): museum that is a perfect introduction into Münster's history. It has some amazing mockups that show the evolution of the city since the 16th century and objects used in John of Leiden and his followers' torture.
• Museum of Lacquerware (10-18 Tue-Sun; 3€/ 2€/ free  adults/ reduced/ people under 18): museum with a globally unique collection of lacquer art from East Asia, Europe and the Islamic world with objects from the past two millennia.
• Heilig Kreuz Catholic Church (9-12 Mon-Fri, 15-18 Sat-Sun): 19th century Neo-Gothic church with an 87 m high spire. It served as a temporary cathedral during Münster Cathedral reconstruction after WW2.
• Münster Palace: 18th century Baroque style Schloss built as the residence of duk-bishop of Münster by Maximilian Friedrich von Köningsegg-Rothenfels. Since 1954 it's the seat and landmark of the University of Münster.
• Mühlenhof Freilichtmuseum (10-18; 5€/ 3.50€/ 3€  adults/ reduced/ people under 17): cool open-air museum where the visitor will walk next to historic Westphalian buildings, among them a windmill and a bakery.
• LWL-Museum of Natural History with Planetarium (9-18 Tue-Sun; 13€/ 7€/ 4€  adults/ students/ people under 18): museum with interesting expositions focused on dinosaurs and the universe, with a popular planetarium.

Münster Catholic Cathedral

Westphalian Museum of Art and Cultural History

Hülshoff Castle

Münsterland, the region surrounding the city of Münster, has more than 4.500 km of cycle paths. One of the most interesting ones is 100 Schlösser Route that is a route with 100 castle. Going 14 km west from the city, in the 11,829 inhabitants town of Havixbeck (Hafkesbirk in Low German), there's Hülshoff Castle (11-18:30 from Apr to Oct; 11:30-17 Fri-Sun from Nov to Mar; 5€/ 3.50€/ free  adults/ students/ people under 18), Renaissance style red-brick castle that keeps its original decoration and is surrounded by a wonderful garden. Its construction began in the 12th century and was owned by Freiherr Droste zu Hülshoff family (from 1417 to 2012), being the birth place of one of the most important German poets, Annette von Droste-Hülshoff. There's a combined ticket for Burg Hülshoff and (8€/ 6€/ free  adults/ reduced/ people under 18). Not far from there it can be found Rüschhaus House (daily guided tours in the interior rooms; 5€/ 3.50€/ free  adults/ students/ people under 18), home during more than 20 years of Annette von Droste-Hülshoff (where she wrote here most important works) that her husband transformed from a farm into a Baroque style manor. 

Vichering Castle

A bit further (30 km south), in the municipality of Lüdinghausen (Lünkhusen in Low German), it can be found the wonderful Vichering Castle (10-18 Tue-Sun; 7.50€/ 5€/ 3.50€  adults/ students/ people under 18). This moated castle is the perfect example of what everybody thinks a medieval castle is. It's the oldest castle in Westphalia (1271), built by Bischop Gerhard von der Mark to counter the second castle built by the Von Lüdinghausen family. It became the seat of the Droste zu Vischering family. Not far from here it's located Dülmen, a nice 46,590 people large town that was very affected by WW2 bombs. Here it can be visited St. Viktor Catholic Church, church founded in the 780s although it was rebuilt in 1938; Buldern Palace (visited on appointment), manor in the 1830s that originally was a medieval castle and today it's an exclusive boarding school; Wildpark, 19th century park that consists of meadows, woodlots and ponds that is worth to be walked, or Dülmen Jewish Cemetery. One of the most famous points of Dülmen is Lüdinghauser Tor, one of the gates of old town that survived WW2.

Where can I buy and eat in Münster?

One of the most crowded streets in Münster is Königstraße, full of international brands. Some of the most interesting local shops are located in Prinzipalmarkt. Nerby there's the interesting bookshop Poertgen Herder (Salzstraße 56).
Münster is full of places to eat so there won't be problem as for that, being most of them medium-priced. It's also quite recommended trying the local beer Pinkus Müller. Some of the choices are the brewery Pinkus Müller (Kreuzstraße 4-10), the pub Holstein's Bistro (Horsteberg 1), the German restuarants Altes Gasthause Leve (Alter Steinweg 37), Drübbelken (Buddenstraße 14-15) and Cavete (Kreuzstraße 37/38) or the cafe A2 am See (Annette-Allee 3).
As every city with important universities, Münster has a wide offer of places to have a drink out like cafes Pension Schmidt (Alter Steinweg 37) and Gasolin (Aegidiistraße 45), the brewery Spatzl (Am Stadtgraben 52) or the cocktail bar Hafen Bar (Hafenweg 26). There are also jazz gigs at Hot Jazz Club (Hafenweg 26B) and cultural activities at Black Box (Achtermannstraße 12).

Posted in: Europe,Germany,North Rhine-Westphalia