Münster

Münster, capital of Westphalia, stands on a small stream, by rail 101 miles N. by E. of Cologne and 106 SSW. of Bremen. It retains numerous remains of mediæval architecture, including the mixed Romanesque and Gothic cathedral (12th to 14th c.); Our Lady's Church, Gothic (1340); the Gothic church of St Lambert (14th c.); the church of St Ludgerus, also Gothic, dating from 1330; the Gothic town-hall, in which, in 1648, the peace of Westphalia was signed (also signed simultaneously at Osnabrück, q.v.); the castle, built in 1767, and surrounded by fine pleasure-grounds, including botanical gardens; and the 16th-century town wine-cellar, in which are preserved some rare pictures of the old German school. The old Catholic university of Münster was dissolved in 1818; there is now an academy, with a Catholic theological and a philosophical faculty, and about 470 pupils. Attached to it are a library of 123,000 volumes, a natural history museum, and collections of art and antiquity. The industrial products of Münster include woollen, cotton, and silk fabrics, and paper, besides dyeing, printing, and enamelling. The trade is limited to linens, woollens, thread, cattle, corn, &c. Pop. (1875) 35,705; (1885) 44,060, of whom 36,751 were Catholics; (1890) 49,613. Münster was known under the name of Mimigardevord in the time of Charlemagne, who in 791 made it the see of the new bishop of the Saxons, St Ludgerus. Towards the middle of the 11th century a monastery (whence Münster) was founded on the spot, and by 1186 it had grown into a town. In the 12th century the bishopric was elevated into a principality of the empire. In the 13th century the city became a member of the Hanseatic League; and in 1532 it declared its adhesion to the Reformed faith, notwithstanding the violent opposition of the chapter. During 1535 Münster was the scene of the violent politico-religious movement of the Anabaptists (q.v.). The bishop repossessed himself of the city, and in 1661 Bishop Bernhard built a strong citadel within the walls, and deprived the citizens of nearly all their liberties. In both the Thirty Years' War and the Seven Years' War Münster suffered severely. The bishopric, which since 1719 had been held by the Archbishop of Cologne, although it retained a special form of government, was secularised in 1803, and divided among various reigning houses. The Congress of Vienna gave the greater part of the principality to Prussia, a small portion being apportioned to Oldenburg, while Hanover acquired the territories of the mediatised Dukes of Aremberg. The bishopric was reconstituted in 1821. See works by Erhard (1837), Cornelius (1855-60), Keller (1880), and Detten (1887).—There is another Münster in Alsace, 12 miles S.W. of Colmar by rails; pop. 3390.