At around 55BC, the time of Julius Caesar, the territories west of the Rhine in this region were occupied by the Eburones, … See more

Julius Caesar conquered the tribes on the left (western) bank of the Rhine, and Augustus established numerous fortified posts along it, but the Romans never succeeded in gaining a firm footing on the right bank. … See more

Charlemagne is thought to have spent considerable time in Paderborn and nearby parts. His Saxon Wars also partly took place in what is thought of as Westphalia today. Popular legends link his adversary Widukind to places n… See more

Parts of Westphalia came under Brandenburg-Prussian control during the 17th and 18th centuries, but most of it remained divided duchies and other feudal areas of power. The Peace of Westphalia of 1648, signe… See more

As a result of the Protestant Reformation, there is no dominant religion in Westphalia. Roman Catholicism and Lutheranism are on relatively equal footing. Lutheranism is strong in the eastern and northern parts with numer… See more

Prussia first set foot on the Rhine in 1609 by the occupation of the Duchy of Cleves and about a century later Upper Guelders and Moers also became Prussian. At the peace of Basel in 1795 the whole of the left bank of the … See more

North Rhine-Westphalia was established by the British military administration's "Operation Marriage" on 23 August 1946.
Originally, it consisted of Westphalia and the northern parts of the Rhine Province, both formerly pa… See more