Lippstadt

Lippstadt is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest town within the district of Soest.GeographyLippstadt is situated in the Lippe valley, roughly 70 kilometres east of Dortmund and roughly 30 kilometres west of Paderborn. The historic town centre is situated between an artificial canal of the river Lippe and the river itself.Neighbouring municipalitiesDivision of the townLippstadt consists of 18 districts:Twin towns — sister citiesLippstadt is twinned with: Uden, Netherlands, since 1971HistoryLippstadt was founded by Bernhard II zur Lippe. In the early 13th century Lippstadt, with a population of 2700, had four parish churches. There was an Augustinian abbey which had existed since 1281.From 1400, the enclave and town of Lippstadt was to be a condominium shared by the county of Lippe and the counts of Cleves-Mark, who were succeeded by the Hohenzollerns (Brandenburg/Prussia), a situation that endured until the middle of the 19th. century.Heinrich von Ahaus founded one of his communities for women of the Brethren of the Common Life there.In 1523 it formed a defensive alliance together with the neighbouring cities of Osnabrück, Dortmund, Soest and Münster.