Bicycling through historic surroundings
Located in the middle of the Münsterland in North Rhine-Westphalia, Münster offers next to history quite outstanding things. It is Germany’s cycling capital, since the bicycle is the most popular way of transport in the city. Münster has twice as much bicycles as it has inhabitants! There is plenty to discover in Münster.
Worth visiting is the old city hall, St. Lamberti church, Erbdrostenhof city palace and St. Clemens church. The area around the medieval arcades of Prinzipalmarkt is especially exciting for shopping fans. Next to exquisite shops you can also find here sophisticated department stores. In the city centre’s Kiepenkerl district most shops are in historic merchant’s houses. Visitors can easily combine shopping tours with art. For example, a visit to the Pablo Picasso Museum of Graphic Art, international sculpture exhibitions or the Westphalia State Museum of Art and Cultural History is definitely worthwhile.
In October 2004 Münster was the first German city to have won the international cities’ competition Gold LivCom Award in Niagara/Canada and came first in the category of cities with 200,000 to 750,000 inhabitants. The medieval ground plan of the Altstadt testifies to Münster’s history of over 1200 years. The Prinzipalmarkt with the Lamberti church, the Cityhall of the Westphalia Peace as well as the cathedral and cathedral square are internationally significant buildings of past eight centuries. The composition of historical buildings, modern architecture and contemporary sculptures ensures the Altstadt to be a lively centre of the city. The Promenade, a green ring around the Altstadt and the charming park landscape of Münsterland make Münster a really green town.
The Westphalia metropolis is Germany’s third biggest university city and has an outstanding international reputation. Attended by approx. 50,000 students the university is headquarters of innovative centres in the fields of research and technology transfer. The unmistakable atmosphere of Münster is therefore most of all due to a lot of young people, numerous institutions that belong to the university, an exciting cultural life as well as the bicycle.
The bicycle is in Münster also called Leeze. Daily over 100,000 people are on the move with this most used means of transportation. To get the right Münster feeling, one should explore the city of course by bicycle. As bicycle capital of Germany, Münster disposes over a very well developed bicycling trail net, many special offers around the bike and an auto free ring around the city centre.
More information: http://www.muenster.de/en/
Photo: seewhatmitchsee/Shutterstock
