Oerlinghausen

Oerlinghausen
Town
A view of Oerlinghausen
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Oerlinghausen within Lippe district
Oerlinghausen Oerlinghausen
Coordinates: 51°58′00″N 08°40′00″E
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Detmold
District	Lippe
Government
• Mayor (2020–25)	Dirk Becker (SPD)
Area
• Total	32.69 km2 (12.62 sq mi)
Elevation	214 m (702 ft)
Population  (2023-12-31)
• Total	17,287
• Density	530/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	33813
Dialling codes	05202
Vehicle registration	LIP
Website	oerlinghausen.de

Aerial view of Oerlinghausen

Oerlinghausen (German pronunciation: [ˈœʁlɪŋhaʊzən] ; Low German: Ankhiusen) is a city in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany located between Bielefeld and Detmold in the Teutoburg Forest. At the end of February 2023, it had 17,314 inhabitants.

Geography

Geographically, Oerlinghausen is situated on top of the Teutoburger Forest hills. Oerlinghausen's highest point is the Tönsberg with 334 meters. The flatlands of northern Germany start some 40 km north of Oerlinghausen. There are hiking routes along the hill chain which stretches 80 km in east-west direction. To the south of the hills are large sand areas originating from melting glaciers during past ice ages. Although not high, the hills are steep in many places and almost completely covered by forest.

Hünenkapelle, old church in Oerlinghausen.

History and culture

First mentioned in documents in 1036, the town became a city in 1926 by authority of the Land of Lippe. In 1969 the city was expanded with the addition of Helpup, Währentrup and Lipperreihe as part of the "Gebietsreform" movement.

Oerlinghausen is home to an airfield which is one of Europe's largest gliding centres as well as the well known Archäologisches Freilichtmuseum Oerlinghausen (archaeological open-air museum) featuring reconstructions of a variety of dwellings spanning from 10,000 BC to 1000 AD.

The city has also been home to an unusual number of well-known sociologists. Marianne Weber (born Schnitger), who was born in Oerlinghausen and married Max Weber here in 1893, was a well-respected author herself. Niklas Luhmann and Richard Grathoff, two of the key sociologists who made the Bielefeld University one of the premier institutions for sociology in Europe, have also lived in Oerlinghausen for extended time periods.

Hanning Elektro-Werke is headquartered in Oerlinghausen.

Number of inhabitants

Main street

Town hall

Year	Inhabitants
1968	12.839
1970	13.276
1974	14.292
1975	14.474
1980	14.751
1985	14.738
1987	14.757
1990	15.689
1995	17.165
2000	17.465
2005	17.305
2007	16.988
2012	16.654

Mayors

Alexander Church

Mayors of Oerlinghausen

Time of office	Name	Party
1926–1933	August Reuter
1933–1945	Friedrich Möller	NSDAP
1945–1946	August Reuter
1946–1965	Heinrich Kramer	SPD
1965–1969	Heinrich Schildmann	SPD
1969–1975	Konrad Dreckshage	FDP
1975–1984	Erich Diekhof	SPD
1984–1989	Horst Steinkühler	SPD
1989–1999	Martin Weber	SPD
1999–2015	Ursula Herbort	independent
since 2015	Dirk Becker	SPD

Marianne Weber, 1896

Sons and daughters of the town

• Marianne Weber (born Schnitger) (1870–1954), lawyer, sociologist and legal historian
• Friedrich Bödeker (1867–1937), craftsman and cacti explorer
• Berthold Müller-Oerlinghausen (1893–1979), sculptor
• Andreas Ortmann (born 1953), economist

External links

• Official website (in German)
• Freilichtmuseum website (in German)
• Glider Airfield Website (in German)