Minden, Germany

Minden is a town in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The town extends along both sides of the river Weser. Minden is the historic political centre of the cultural region of Minden Land. It is widely known as the intersection of the Mittelland Canal and the River Weser. The town is over 1200 years old and has many buildings in the Weser Renaissance style, in addition to the architecturally symbolic 1000 year old cathedral.

Attractions in Minden include its scenic old-town surrounding the Cathedral of St.Gorgonius and the market square which has more historic buildings with impressive facades, including the "Schmiedingsche Haus".

Minden has a community archive and two significant museums. The "Preußenmuseum Minden" is one of two Prussian museums in Westfalia. The second is the "Mindener Museum für Geschichte (history) Landes (country)- und Volkskunde (civic affairs)". The exhibits are in a Weser Weserrenaissance style row of patrician houses. The attached "Kaffee(coffee)-Museum" focuses on the 100 year old coffee producer Melitta.

Things to See & Do

* Market Square
* Historical buildings
* Minden-Lübbecke District
* Old town
* Cathedral of St. Gorgonius.

General Information

Cruise Season – March to Dec
Currency – Euro (€) (EUR)
Language – German
Land Area – 108.08 km2
Population – 83,000 approx
Electricity – 2 round pins European style
Time - GMT/UTC plus one hour
International Country Telephone Code – + 49

Port Location – The river port at Minden is located on the river Weser.

Travel Links - Minden station is on the Hanover–Minden and the Hamm-Minden lines, which are part of the main lines connecting Cologne-Ruhr area with Berlin and Amsterdam with Berlin, as well as the secondary Weser-Aller line between Minden and Nienburg. The railway station is a stop for local and express trains such as Intercity-Express and InterCity.

Bus connection with the railway station occurs every half-hour though the "Verkehrsbetriebe Minden-Ravensberg GmbH (VMR)" bus line. The central bus depot is called "ZOB" and is located in the town centre. The 13 bus lines rendezvous here every half hour. The local buses are coordinated with the regioanl buses to places such as Bad Oeynhausen, Lübbecke, Espelkamp and Petershagen. Some of these bus lines operate only on an hourly basis and only until 8 PM.