Ibbenbüren

Ibbenbüren
Christ Church, Ibbenbüren
Coat of arms
Ibbenbüren
Location of Ibbenbüren within Steinfurt district
Coordinates: 52°16′40″N 7°43′00″E / 52.27778°N 7.71667°E / 52.27778; 7.71667Coordinates: 52°16′40″N 7°43′00″E / 52.27778°N 7.71667°E / 52.27778; 7.71667
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Münster
District	Steinfurt
Government
• Mayor	Heinz Steingröver (SPD)
Area
• Total	108.85 km2 (42.03 sq mi)
Elevation	64 m (210 ft)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	50,935
• Density	470/km2 (1,200/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	49477, 49479
Dialling codes	05451, 05459 (Uffeln), 05455 (Dörenthe)
Vehicle registration	ST (until 1975: TE)
Website	www.ibbenbueren.de

Ibbenbüren or Ibbenbueren is a medium-sized town in the district of Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is on position 185 of the largest cities in Germany and the largest city in Tecklenburger Land.

Ibbenbüren is situated on the Ibbenbürener Aa river, at the northwest end of the Teutoburger forest and rather exactly in the center of the two cities Rheine in the west and Osnabrück in the east, both approximately 20 km away.

Ibbenbüren is mentioned in documentary evidence for the first time in 1146, when the bishop of Osnabrück at that time, Philipp of Katzenelnbogen, donated a tenth of his possessions in Ibbenbüren to the Getrudenkloster of Osnabrück. Although Ibbenbüren is already much older and a document of the year 1348 already occupies the establishment of a church in the year 799, the year 1146 is officially considered as the year of the foundation of Ibbenbüren.

In the years 1219 and/or 1234 it appears as a church village. In this transition of the High Middle Ages to the Late Middle Ages the noble gentlemen of Ibbenbüren, that is the abbot of Herford and the counts of Tecklenburg, possessed basic rule in the place. To this time Ibbenbüren belonged to the Diocese of Osnabrück. During this time the castle of Ibbenbüren was built by the noble gentlemen of Ibbenbüren starting from 1150. The last remains of this castle are the remnants of the heath tower in the proximity of the Aasee.

After the noble gentleman of Ibbenbüren died out, Ibbenbüren came under the exclusive rule of the counts of Tecklenburg. This rule lasted until the end of the 15th or beginning of the 16th century, when Ibbenbüren finally fell into the possession of Charles V in 1548 by awkward and luckless tactics used by the counts of Tecklenburg. Karl donated it to his sister Mary of Habsburg, governor of the Netherlands. Ibbenbüren was assigned to the office of Lingen. Into this period also falls the beginning of coal mining.