Münster

Industrial city in North Rhine-Westphalia, northwest Germany, 100 km/62 mi northeast of Düsseldorf on the Dortmund-Ems Canal; population (2005 est) 270,900. There are wire, cement, chemicals, steel, brewing, and distilling industries. It was formerly the capital of Westphalia. The Treaty of Westphalia was signed simultaneously here and at Osnabrück in 1648, ending the Thirty Years' War.

Its university was founded in 1773. Badly damaged in World War II, its ancient buildings, including the 15th-century cathedral and town hall, have been restored or rebuilt.

History Müster became a bishopric in the 9th century and its prince-bishops came to rule extensive territory until the secularization of the principality in 1803. The position of the city on the ancient trade routes made it an important member of the Hanseatic League. In 1533 it became the centre of the Anabaptist disturbances. It was neutralized during the discussions which led up to the Treaty of Westphalia, and some of the provisions of the treaty were signed in its Rathaus. In 1814 it passed to Prussia and in 1816 it became the capital of Westphalia. Münster was severely damaged by bombing during World War II.

Architecture Among the ancient buildings which remain are the much-restored cathedral (12th-13th century), which has fine Romanesque and Gothic sculpture; the 14th-century Church of Our Lady with its beautiful Gothic tower; the 14th-century chapel of the Knights of St John; the splendid baroque episcopal palace (now the university); and the 13th-century Buddenturm. The famous Gothic facade of the Rathaus (the original dating from 1335) has been copied.

University A University of Münster, founded in 1773, was converted in 1818 into faculties of philosophy and theology for Bonn. The present university (the University of Westphalia) was constituted in 1902, and occupies the baroque palace from which the prince-bishops ruled Westphalia until 1803.