Melle, Germany

Melle is a city in the district of Osnabrück, Lower Saxony, Germany. The city corresponds to what used to be the district of Melle until regional territorial reform in 1972. Since then Melle is the third largest city in Lower Saxony in terms of surface area.

Melle
Town hall
Coat of arms
Location of Melle
Melle
Melle
Coordinates: 52°12′16″N 8°20′20″E
CountryGermany
StateLower Saxony
DistrictOsnabrück
Government
 • MayorReinhard Scholz (CDU)
Area
 • Total254.00 km2 (98.07 sq mi)
Elevation
76 m (249 ft)
Population
 (2018-12-31)[1]
 • Total46,493
 • Density180/km2 (470/sq mi)
Time zoneCET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes
49324–49328
Dialling codes05422 (Melle, Gesmold, Oldendorf); 05427 (Buer); 05428 (Neuenkirchen); 05429 (Wellingholzhausen); 05226 (Riemsloh, Bruchmühlen)
Vehicle registrationOS, MEL
Websitehttps://www.melle.info/

History

Melle was first mentioned in a document from 1169. In 1443 Heinrich von Moers, Bishop of Osnabrück, gave Melle the privilege of a Wigbold. Osnabrück looked after Melle's interests in the Westphalian Hanseatic League. Melle belonged to the Kingdom of Hanover until 1866 when it became part of Prussia. In 1885 Amt Grönenberg and the municipality Melle formed the prussian district Kreis Melle. The district Melle later on became the municipality Melle. In 1972 the former district with its 56 municipalities were united to the city Melle which since then is part of Osnabrück (district).

Geography

Geographical Position

Melle is situated in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills in the North and the Teutoburg Forest in the South. The cities of Osnabrück and Bielefeld are some 30 kilometres (19 miles) away each. The Münster Osnabrück International Airport is located about 60 kilometres (37 miles) to the southwest.

Administrative organisation of Melle

Neighbouring Towns

Neighbouring towns are Preußisch Oldendorf in the North Rhine-Westphalian Minden-Lübbecke district, Rödinghausen, Bünde and Spenge in the North Rhine-Westphalian Herford district, Werther and Borgholzhausen in the North Rhine-Westphalian Gütersloh district, as well as Dissen, Hilter, Bissendorf, and Bad Essen in the Osnabrück district.

Municipalities

The city consists of the eight municipalities of Melle-Mitte, Buer, Bruchmühlen, Gesmold, Neuenkirchen, Oldendorf, Riemsloh and Wellingholzhausen.

Evangelical Lutheran St. Petri Church
Roman Catholic St. Matthäus Church

Religion

Last updated: 31 December 2007

Politics

Major

Reinhard Scholz (CDU) is mayor of Melle.

City council

The city council is composed of 40 members. Additionally the city mayor is eligible to vote.

CDUSPDThe GreensFDPTotal
201116157240 seats

(As of: Local elections on 11 September 2011)

Further election results
CDU SPD The Greens FDP The Left Others Election turnout
State election 2013 38.8% 30.8% 13.7% 10.6% 2.2% 4.0% 61.4%
Federal election 2013 44.3% 30.5% 9.7% 4.8% 4.0% 6.8% 77.5%
European parliament election 2014 43.3% 31.0% 11.1% 3.0% 3.2% 8.3% 60.1%

(Source: Official election results of the County of Osnabrück)

Twin towns

Melle is maintaining town twinnings with Bad Dürrenberg in Saxony-Anhalt and with Reinickendorf in Berlin. Its French twin town is Melle in the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Further twin towns in Europe are Jēkabpils in Latvia, Resko in Poland, and Ghent in Belgium.[2] Outside Europe there are the twin towns of New Melle in the US and Niğde in Turkey.

Economy

A substantial economic factor for Melle is the wood processing industry. Further important branches are metal, food, and plastics processing. Tetra (company) was founded in Melle. In recent years Melle has more and more become a logistics site along the A 30 motorway.

Culture and sights
NEW MELLE- Meeting Point

Observatories

There are two astronomical observatories in the surrounding of Melle providing guided tours for the public. The EXPO 2000 observatory in Melle-Oberholsten runs the largest Newtonian telescope used for public observation.[3]

People
  • Axel Bulthaupt (born 1966), German journalist and television presenter

References
  1. Landesamt für Statistik Niedersachsen, LSN-Online Regionaldatenbank, Tabelle 12411: Fortschreibung des Bevölkerungsstandes, Stand 31. Dezember 2018.
  2. "Ghent Zustersteden". Stad Gent (in Dutch). City of Ghent. Archived from the original on 2013-07-28. Retrieved 2013-07-20.
  3. http://www.sternwarte-melle.de/
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