Minden

Minden stands on the Weser just north of the Porta Westfalica, where the river emerges from the hills onto the North German Plain. Its old town occupies the western bank near a long-used crossing. A bishop's seat from around 800, it became the centre of a prince-bishopric and developed substantial fortifications in the later Middle Ages.

The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 ended the prince-bishopric and transferred its territory to Brandenburg-Prussia. Minden subsequently served as a centre of the combined lands of Minden-Ravensberg. Its position on the Weser made it valuable to successive rulers, who maintained it as a fortified town and garrison. The cathedral and the division between upper and lower town preserve the imprint of its long history as both an ecclesiastical centre and a river crossing.