Porta Westfalica (German: [ˈpɔʁta vɛstˈfaːlɪka] (listen)) is a town in the district of Minden-Lübbecke, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Porta Westfalica
Town
View over Porta Westfalica to the Weser hills
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Porta Westfalica within Minden-Lübbecke district
Porta Westfalica Show map of Germany Porta Westfalica Show map of North Rhine-Westphalia
Coordinates: 52°13′0″N 8°56′0″E
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Detmold
District	Minden-Lübbecke
Subdivisions	15
Government
• Mayor (2020–25)	<vacant>
Area
• Total	105 km2 (41 sq mi)
Highest elevation	303 m (994 ft)
Lowest elevation	46 m (151 ft)
Population  (2020-12-31)[1]
• Total	35,734
• Density	340/km2 (880/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	32457
Dialling codes	0571, 05706, 05722, 05731, 05751
Vehicle registration	MI
Website	www.portawestfalica.de

The name "Porta Westfalica" is Latin and means "gate to Westphalia". Coming from the north, the gorge is the entry to the region of Westphalia. The name was coined by scholars of the 19th century.

History

The town Porta Westfalica was established in 1973 by merging fifteen villages surrounding the gorge. The centre of the modern town is the former village of Hausberge, which was first mentioned in 1096.

The Emperor William Monument was erected near the town by the then Prussian Province of Westphalia between 1892 and 1896[2] The monument, which is around 88 metres[2] high, is classified as one of Germany's national monuments.

From 18 March 1944 until 1 April 1945 a concentration camp was established in the Barkhausen quarter.[3] From 1 February 1945 until 1 April 1945 a camp was used in the Hausberge quarter.[4] In the Lerbeck quarter also was a concentration camp in use from 1 October 1944 until 1 April 1945.[5] In the Neesen quarter was a location for the forced labour for some of the inmates.[6] All of these camps were subcamps of the Neuengamme concentration camp.

On 10 January 2015, Belgian footballer Junior Malanda died in a car accident near the town, aged 20.[7]

Geography

Porta Westfalica is situated on the right bank of the Weser (except for the Barkhausen quarter), near the Porta Westfalica gorge, where the river runs through the passage between the mountain chains of the Wiehen Hills in the west and the Weser Uplands in the east. The gorge appears like a gate to the region Westphalia, which lies to the south of it. It is overlooked by the Jakobsberg and Wittekindsberg hills.

Neighbouring places

• Bad Oeynhausen
• Bückeburg
• Minden
• Rinteln
• Vlotho

Division of the town

The town of Porta Westfalica consists of 15 districts:

Buildings and structures

• Jakobsberg Telecommunication Tower, a TV tower with an observation deck
• Monument to Kaiser Wilhelm I, above the gorge, near the village Barkhausen
• Wittekindsburg, remains of an Iron Age "oppidum" (3rd – 1st century BC) and Saxon-Frankish fort (8th/9th century AD), in the Wiehen Hills near Barkhausen

Twin towns – sister cities

Porta Westfalica is twinned with:[8]

• Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg (Berlin), Germany
• Waterloo, United States

See also

• List of subcamps of Neuengamme

References

External links

• Official website (in German)
• Official German list of concentration camps (in German)

На других языках

[ru] Порта-Вестфалика