Paderborn (district)

Infobox German district
name=Paderborn
state=North Rhine-Westphalia
regierungsbezirk=Detmold
capital=Paderborn
area=1,245.27
population=299,127
population_as_of=31/12/2006
density=240
carsign=PB
url=http://www.kreis-paderborn.de/

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Paderborn (IPA2|paːdɐˈbɔʁn) is a Kreis (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Gütersloh, Lippe, Höxter, Hochsauerland, and Soest.

History

Paderborn was part of the Bishopric of Paderborn until it was included into Prussia in 1802. After the Napoleonic wars when Prussia created the province Westphalia it also created five districts roughly covering the area of the previous state - Brakel, Büren, Höxter, Paderborn and Warburg. In 1975 Paderborn and Büren districts were merged to the current Paderborn district. At the same time the towns and municipalities in the district were merged to form the today's ten towns municipalities.

Geography

The Paderborn district is located at the western slope of the Teutoburg Forest, west of the Eggegebirge. The highest elevation is the "Am Totenkopf" at the district border near Bleiwäsche (Bad Wünnenberg) with 498 m, the lowest near Delbrück with 77 m. The main river in the district is the Lippe, which has its spring in Bad Lippspringe.

Coat of arms

The red cross in the top of the coat of arms symbolizes the clerical state Paderborn, the historic precursor of today's district. The wave line below stands for the rivers in the district, especially the Lippe River. The symbol in bottom derives from the Lords of Büren.

Towns and municipalities

External links

* [http://www.kreis-paderborn.de Official website] (German)