Telgte


Telgte is a town in the Warendorf district, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the river Ems, 10 km east of Münster, and 15 km west of Warendorf.

History

Telgte received town privileges in 1238. It developed at a fork of larger trade routes to the North Sea and Baltic Sea, at a ford across the river Ems. 1469 Telgte is mentioned as a member of the Hanseatic League.
Prince-Bishop Franz von Waldeck of Münster was granted asylum in Telgte during the Münster Rebellion of the Anabaptists in the 1530s.

Culture

Telgte is famous for the annual Telgte Pilgrimage, the second largest pilgrimage in Germany. Dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and beginning in Osnabrück, the summertime pilgrimage regularly consists of 8,000 pilgrims. Approximately 150,000 pilgrims visit Telgte annually. Telgte is also known for its Nativity Museum and its fair.
Nobel-winner Günter Grass's novel The Meeting at Telgte is set in Telgte during the negotiations of the Peace of Westphalia which ended the Thirty Years' War.

Politics

The city of Telgte consists of three quarters: Telgte, Westbevern and Westbevern Vadrup. Until the 1970s Westbevern was an independently administered village that consisted of Vadrup and Brock. Through Westbevern flows the river Bever, a tributary of the Ems. An attractive tourist destination is Haus Langen, with a former double mill at the Bever.

International relations

Telgte is twinned with:=

Population trend

¹ Correction of the updating numbers by the census 1970

Sons and daughters of the town