Herford City Germany
Herford is part of the East Westphalian conurbation area, which stretches from Gütersloh via Bielefeld and Herford to Minden. The city is located in the Ravensberg hills between the Teutoburg Forest and the Wiehengebirge, 15 kilometers northeast of Bielefeld.
Herford was not founded, but its founding dates back to around 789. In the early Middle Ages, the city developed into one of the most important and most fortified trading cities in Westphalia and was a member of the Hanseatic League from 1342 and of the Ladbergen League of Cities from 1246. The women's monastery, founded around 800, developed into an important intellectual center. Herford was a free imperial city until it was annexed by Prussia in 1652. The territory of the women's monastery remained a free imperial abbey until 1803. From 1911 to 1968, Herford was an independent city in Prussia and North Rhine-Westphalia.
Herford is a founding member of the Westphalian Hanseatic Cities and the New Hanseatic League and has had the official name suffix Hanseatic City since 2013.