Bielefeld



Bielefeld is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany with around 300,000 citizens.

According to a German internet meme (which originated as a tongue-in-cheek take on various conspiracy theories), this city does not exist. Incidentally this is the one thing almost all Germans know about the town.

Understand
While the bizarre conspiracy theory of it not existing is the first thing most Germans will tell you about the city, it actually has a rather long history, dating back to a first mention in the 9th century and it was first called a city in a 1214 document, the 800-year anniversary of which was celebrated - naturally - under the headline "Das gibt's doch gar nicht" which can mean "That's unbelievable" or more literally "That doesn't exist". While a lot of the old town was destroyed in World War II, there are still some nice buildings left.

By plane
The nearest major airport is in Hanover ; other than that the greater Ruhr area, as well as Cologne which are served by various airports are easily reachable by train.

Get around


Bielefeld is served by a Stadtbahn which can be classified as a mixture of light rail, tram and metro. (see the network plan on the right). Where the Stadtbahn doesn't go, there is an extensive bus network. With headways as low as ten minutes. As is usual in Germany, tickets for bus and Stadtbahn are integrated with each other and operate on the proof of payment system.

Do

 * Football: Arminia Bielefeld were relegated back-to-back in 2022 and 2023, and now play soccer in 3. Liga, Germany's third tier. Their home ground is Bielefelder Alm (capacity 27,300), 1 km northwest of town centre.
 * Football: Arminia Bielefeld were relegated back-to-back in 2022 and 2023, and now play soccer in 3. Liga, Germany's third tier. Their home ground is Bielefelder Alm (capacity 27,300), 1 km northwest of town centre.

Go next

 * Gütersloh
 * Minden
 * Paderborn