Detmold () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of . It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947. Today it is the administrative center of the district of Lippe and of the Regierungsbezirk Detmold. The Church of Lippe has its central administration located in Detmold. The Reformed Redeemer Church is the preaching venue of the state superintendent of the Lippe church.

History

Iron Age

About to the southwest of Detmold is the hill with a prehistoric circular rampart and the Hermann monument (). The monument commemorates the so-called Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, a battle in 9 AD which may or may not have been fought close to the present location of Detmold. In this encounter, Germanic tribes led by Hermann () defeated Roman legions under the command of Publius Quinctilius Varus.

Middle Ages

Detmold was first mentioned as Theotmalli in 783, the year of a battle between the Saxons and Charlemagne's forces nearby.

  • Hasselt, Belgium
  • Saint-Omer, France
  • Savonlinna, Finland
  • Zeitz, Germany
  • Oraiokastro, Greece

Notable people

thumb|150px|[[Leopold Zunz]]

thumb|150px|[[Ferdinand Freiligrath, 1851]]

thumb|150px|[[Gustav Wallis, 1879]]

Notable people born in Detmold include:

  • Friedrich Adolph Lampe (1683–1729), theologian
  • Simon August, Count of Lippe-Detmold (1727–1782), Count of Lippe
  • Leopold I, Prince of Lippe (1767–1802), Prince of Lippe
  • Leopold Zunz (1794–1886), scientist, founder of Reform Judaism.
  • Leopold II, Prince of Lippe (1796–1851), Prince of Lippe
  • Christian Dietrich Grabbe (1801–1836), alongside Georg Büchner the most important innovator of German-language drama in his time.
  • Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810–1876), poet and author
  • Leopold III, Prince of Lippe (1821–1875), Prince of Lippe
  • Ferdinand Weerth (1774–1836), Pastor and School Reformer
  • Georg Weerth (1822–1856), writer and poet.
  • Gustav Wallis (1830–1878), botanist and South American traveler
  • (1879–1966), actor, spieler, elocutionist, singer and regional poet
  • Jürgen Stroop (1895–1952), Nazi general of the SS, executed for war crimes
  • Werner Buchholz (1922–2019), engineer, creator of the art word byte
  • Manfred Fuhrmann (1925–2005), old philologist
  • Hans-Ulrich Schmincke (born 1937), volcanologist
  • Heinz Burt (1942–2000), British musician and member of The Tornados
  • Hartmut Fladt (1945), musicologist
  • (born 1946), art historian, for 11 years curator of the German Historical Museum in Berlin
  • Iris Berben (born 1950), actress
  • Peter Lampe (born 1954), theologian
  • Detlef Grumbach (born 1955), journalist, journalist, author and publisher
  • Frank-Walter Steinmeier (born 1956), foreign minister, Vice Chancellor, and current President of Germany
  • Manfred Ostermann (born 1958), local politician (independent) and former Landrat of Soltau-Fallingbostel
  • Andreas Voßkuhle (born 1963), jurist, president of the Bundesverfassungsgericht
  • Ludger Beerbaum (born 1963), jumping rider
  • Wotan Wilke Möhring (born 1967), actor
  • Matthias Opdenhövel (born 1970), television presenter and journalist
  • Sven Montgomery (born 1976), Swiss-American cyclist
  • Vera Ludwig (born 1978), poet
  • Dennis Maelzer (born 1980), politician
  • Tujamo (born 1988), DJ and record producer
  • Stefan Langemann (born 1990), footballer

thumb|150px|[[Albert Lortzing, 1835]]

Long-time residents of Detmold include:

  • Albert Lortzing (1801–1851), composer.
  • Johannes Brahms (1833–1897), composer, lived in Detmold in the winters of 1857–60
  • Heinrich Drake (1881–1970), politician
  • Felix Fechenbach (1894–1933), journalist
  • Florian Reike, entrepreneur
  • Giselher Klebe (1925–2009), composer
  • Thomas Quasthoff (born 1959), bass-baritone
  • Suzanne Bernert, German-born Indian actress

Others:

  • Detmold child, a child mummy about 6,500 years old, found in Peru, named after this city.

Amongst the honorary citizens of Detmold, besides politicians are scientists and artists who have served in Detmold. The best-known are the builder of the Hermannsdenkmal, Ernst von Bandel (1871), Reich Chancellor Otto von Bismarck (1895), and Reich President Paul von Hindenburg (1917).

References