Gütersloh (district)

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The title of this article contains the character ü. Where it is unavailable or not desired, the name may be represented as Guetersloh (district).

Gütersloh
Map of North Rhine-Westphalia highlighting the district Gütersloh
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
County seat	Gütersloh
Adm. region	Detmold
Area	967.18 km²
Population	352,961 (2005)
pop. density	365 inh./km²
Car identification	GT
Web page	http://www.kreis-guetersloh.de

Gütersloh is a Kreis (district) in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Osnabrück, Herford, district-free Bielefeld, Lippe, Paderborn, Soest and Warendorf.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Coat of arms
4 Towns and municipalities
5 Economy
6 External links

[edit] History

It was created in 1973 in the reorganization of the districts in North Rhine-Westphalia, when the previous districts of Halle and Wiedenbrück were merged. Also the districts Bielefeld, Paderborn, Beckum und Warendorf had to cede parts of their area to the newly formed district. The precursor districts were created in 1816 after the new Prussian province of Westphalia was established.

[edit] Geography

The east of the district is covered by the Teutoburg Forest, which also contains the highest elevation of the district, the Hengeberg (316m). In the west there is the source of the Ems river. The Ems valley also contains the lowest point of the district, near Harsewinkel with 56m.

[edit] Coat of arms

The coat of arms was adopted with the creation of the district in 1973 by combining the symbols from the arms of the previous districts Halle and Rheda-Wiedenbrück. The three elements derive from the medieval counties in the area now covered by the district.

The golden eagle in the bottom of the coat comes from the duchy of Rietberg. The wheel in the middle derives from the sign of the city Osnabrück, which owned the Amt Reckenberg. The chevrons in the top part are the symbol of the duchy of Ravensberg.

[edit] Towns and municipalities

Towns	Municipalities
Borgholzhausen Gütersloh Halle (Westf.) Harsewinkel Rheda-Wiedenbrück Rietberg Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock Versmold Werther (Westf.)	Herzebrock-Clarholz Langenberg Steinhagen Verl

[edit] Economy

Some important companies are located in the district of Guetersloh:

Beckhoff Automation Technology
Bertelsmann Media
Claas Combine harvesters
Gerry Weber Fashion
Miele Consumer electronic goods
Nobilia International Kitchens
Storck Candies
Telefonica Internet Services

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Kreis Gütersloh

Official website (German)

	Urban districts and Districts in the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW)
Urban districts	Aachen \| Bergisch Gladbach \| Bielefeld \| Bochum \| Bonn \| Bottrop \| Dortmund \| Duisburg \| Düsseldorf \| Essen \| Gelsenkirchen \| Hagen \| Hamm \| Herne \| Köln (Cologne) \| Krefeld \| Leverkusen \| Mönchengladbach \| Mülheim \| Münster \| Oberhausen \| Remscheid \| Solingen \| Wuppertal
Districts	Aachen \| Borken \| Kleve (Cleves) \| Coesfeld \| Düren \| Ennepe-Ruhr \| Euskirchen \| Gütersloh \| Heinsberg \| Herford \| Hochsauerland \| Höxter \| Lippe \| Märkischer Kreis \| Mettmann \| Minden-Lübbecke \| Oberbergischer Kreis \| Olpe \| Paderborn \| Recklinghausen \| Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis \| Rhein-Erft-Kreis \| Rhein-Kreis Neuss \| Rhein-Sieg-Kreis \| Siegen-Wittgenstein \| Soest \| Steinfurt \| Unna \| Viersen \| Warendorf \| Wesel