Editing Minden (section)

== History ==
{{Quote box
| title = Timeline of Minden <br><small>Historical affiliations</small>
| quote = [[Old Saxony]] bef.798–804<br>
{{flagicon image|CoA_Saxon_Steed.svg}} [[Duchy of Saxony]] 804–1180<br>
{{flagicon image|Wappen_Bistum_Minden.png}} [[Prince-Bishopric of Minden]] 1180–1648<br>
{{flagicon image|Pabellon de Brandeburgo (c. 1684).svg}} [[Margraviate of Brandenburg]] 1648–1701<br>
{{flag|Kingdom of Prussia|1803}} 1701–1807<br>
{{flagicon image|Flag_of_the_Kingdom_of_Westphalia.svg}} [[Kingdom of Westphalia]] 1807–1810<br>
{{flagicon image|Flag_of_France_(1794–1815,_1830–1974).svg}} [[First French Empire]] 1810–1813<br>
{{flag|Kingdom of Prussia|1803}} 1813–1871<br>
{{flag|German Empire}} 1871–1918<br>
{{flag|Weimar Republic}} 1918–1933<br>
{{flag|Nazi Germany}} 1933–1945<br>
{{flag|Allied-occupied Germany}} 1945–1949<br>
{{flag|West Germany}} 1949–1990<br>
{{flag|Germany}} 1990–present
| align = right
| width = 22em
| fontsize = 80%
| title_bg = #B0C4DE
}}

=== Ancient history ===
[[File:Minden-1641-Merian.jpg|thumb|Minden 1641 (Chalcography by [[Matthäus Merian the Elder|Matthäus Merian]])<ref>{{cite Q |Q127276178 |pages= |mode=cs1}}</ref>]]
The Minden area shows continuing settlement activity from the 1st to the 4th century, when it belonged to the [[Weser–Rhine Germanic]] development sphere. During the [[Roman campaigns in Germania (12 BC – AD 16)|Roman campaigns in Germania]], this part of Westphalia came into the focus of military activities. It remains a matter of discussion whether or not the Minden region was the location of the military camp from where commander [[Publius Quinctilius Varus]] began marching to the, for Rome disastrous, [[Battle of the Teutoburg Forest]] in {{CE|9}}.<ref>{{cite news |title=Archäologen finden das Lager des Römer-Feldherren |url=https://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/mensch/varusschlacht-archaeologen-finden-lager-des-roemer-feldherren-a-570701.html |access-date=25 January 2022 |work=[[Der Spiegel]] |date=7 August 2008}}</ref> Likewise, the localization of the [[Battle of Idistaviso]] and the [[Battle of the Angrivarian Wall]], both taking place in {{CE|16}}, to the eastern part of Minden or its neighbour town of [[Porta Westfalica]] is uncertain.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Horstmann |first1=Wilfried |title=Die Römer an der Weser |journal=Mitteilungen des Mindener Geschichtsvereins |date=1981 |volume=53 |pages=9–50 |url=https://sammlungen.ulb.uni-muenster.de/hd/periodical/titleinfo/4625666}}</ref> Definite archaeological proofs for these locations have not been found {{as of |2024 |lc=y}}. However, relicts of a temporary Roman military camp were found in Barkhausen in 2008, about {{convert|3.5|km}} south of the centre of Minden.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tremmel |first1=Bettina |title=Augusteische Marschlager in Porta Westfalica-Barkhausen |journal=Archäologie in Westfalen-Lippe |year=2015 |volume=2009 |pages=45–47 |doi=10.11588/aiw.0.0.25034 |url=https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/aiw/article/view/25034/18743}}</ref>

=== Middle Ages ===
[[File:Alte muenze 1.jpg|thumb|150px|{{lang|de|Alte Münze}} ({{literal translation|old mint}}), dating to the 13th century and one of Westphalia's oldest secular buildings]]
[[File:Minden Weingarten 2011.jpg|thumb|150px|[[Timber framing|Timber-framed]] houses along the street {{lang|de|Weingarten}} ({{literal translation|vineyard}}) between lower and upper town centre]]
The name ''Minda'' was firstly mentioned in a [[Royal Frankish Annals]] record referring to an army assembly held by [[Charlemagne]] in {{CE|798}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=Annales Regni Francorum |url=https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/annalesregnifrancorum.html |access-date=28 November 2021}}</ref> The location of the so-named settlement is supposed at the left river side, where today's ''Fischerstadt'' exists.{{sfn|Nordsiek |1979|p=13–14}} Directly neighbouring was the suspected site of a permanent frankish army camp and a royal estate, located favourably at the place where ways from the south were bundled by the Porta Westfalica gap, connected with a west–east way parallel to the Wiehen and Weser hills, and at a ford through the Weser. The region had already been converted to Christianity, when around {{CE|800}} a bishopric was founded in Minden, one of the seven diocese foundations established under the rule of Charlemagne. The first cathedral was built nearby to the older village.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nordsiek |first1=Hans |title=Karl der Große in Minden |journal=Mitteilungen des Mindener Geschichtsvereins |date=1997 |volume=69 |pages=11–55 |url=https://sammlungen.ulb.uni-muenster.de/hd/periodical/titleinfo/4628576 |access-date=19 February 2022}}</ref> After the dissolution of the [[Duchy of Saxony]] in 1180 the bishop became sovereign of the [[Prince-Bishopric of Minden]] as a constitutional territory of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], and remained in this status until 1648. During the [[Investiture controversy]] two bishops were nominated at the same time in 1080 both by the papal supporters and those of King [[Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry IV]].

The [[Domfreiheit|Cathedral close]] on the lower Weser terrace was soon surrounded to the north and west by a settlement of artisans and merchants, who lived in a parish of their own. The development of the upper town began with the activities of ecclesiastical convents. A convent of [[Benedictines|Benedictine]] nuns removed from the Wiehen Hills to the northwestern edge of the town around St Mary approximately {{CE|1000}}. In 1029, the Canonical Convent of St Martin appears, and a 1042-founded Benedictine monastery removed in 1434 from the Weser shore to a new upper site, where the monastery of St Mauritius was founded.{{sfn|Nordsiek |1979|p=22–24}} The [[Dominican Order|Dominicane]] convent St Paul was established in 1236.

German medieval sovereigns governed their realms with an [[itinerant court]], travelling from town to town. [[Louis the German]] hold an imperial assembly in Minden in 852. The Emperors of the [[Ottonian dynasty|Ottonian]] and [[Salian dynasty]] visited Minden several times.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Spannhoff |first1=Christof |title=Minden – Bischofssitz |url=https://www.uni-muenster.de/Staedtegeschichte/Minden.html |publisher=University of Münster |access-date=28 November 2021}}</ref> When Henry IV came to visit in 1062, a dispute between members of his entourage and citizens caused a fire that destroyed the cathedral and parts of the town.{{sfn|Nordsiek |1979|p=18}} The imperial visit of [[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles IV]] in October 1377 was the last one until the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nordsiek |first1=Hans |title=Karl IV. und das Bistum Minden |journal=Mitteilungen des Mindener Geschichtsvereins |date=1978 |volume=50 |pages=71–102 |url=https://sammlungen.ulb.uni-muenster.de/hd/periodical/pageview/4625224 |access-date=28 November 2021}}</ref>

In 1168, [[Henry the Lion]], Duke of Saxony, married his second wife [[Matilda of England, Duchess of Saxony|Matilda]], daughter of [[Henry II of England]], in [[Minden Cathedral]]; with this marriage Henry maintained the continuance of the [[House of Welf]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Leschhorn |first1=Wolfgang |title=Die Hochzeit Heinrichs des Löwen mit Mathilde von England im Dom zu Minden 1168 |url=https://amtage.de/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Hochzeit_Heinrich-der-Loewe_1168_Rede-Leschhorn.pdf |access-date=26 January 2022}}</ref>

The rights to hold a market, to mint coins, and to collect customs duties were granted in 977 by Emperor [[Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto II]]. Until the beginning of the 13th century, the bishop appointed the {{lang|de|Wichgraf}} as secular administrator of the town. The citizens of Minden and their council obtained independence from the bishop's rule around 1230 and received a town charter in 1301. The increased self-confidence of the citizens was demonstrated by the construction of the town hall, probably adjoining the separately governed cathedral precinct.{{sfn|Nordsiek |1979|p=26–27}} As a result, the Bishop moved his official residence from Minden to [[Petershagen]] in 1307.

The economic development of Minden was influenced by its location on a navigable river and by its success in grain trading since the Middle Ages. Minden got the right to store goods and could force passing ships to unload their cargo; furthermore the town became a flourishing member of the [[Hanseatic League]].<ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Minden |volume=18 |page=503}}</ref> The precise year of the first Weser bridge construction is not known. A previous wooden pedestrian bridge was replaced in the late 13th century by another one fit for wagon transport. In the early 16th century Minden got a stone [[arch bridge]].{{sfn|Nordsiek |1979|p=40}}

=== Modern era since the Reformation ===
[[File:Karte von Minden (ca. 1680).tif|thumb|Map of Minden ({{circa|1680}})]]
[[File:St Johannis Minden.JPG|thumb|St John's church, now an event location called {{lang|de|Bürgerzentrum}} ({{literal translation|citizen centre}})]]
At the end of the medieval age the [[papal legate]] Cardinal [[Nicholas of Cusa]] visited some German [[church province]]s to remedy deficits in pastoral care and clerical administration. During his journey he stayed in Minden for one week in August 1451, where he signed various decrees, but on the whole this project did not achieve the intended aims.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Nordsiek |first1= Hans |title= Nikolaus von Kues in Minden |journal= Mitteilungen des Mindener Geschichtsvereins |date= 2001 |volume= 73 |pages= 79–125 |url= https://sammlungen.ulb.uni-muenster.de/hd/periodical/titleinfo/4629490 |access-date=16 February 2022}}</ref> The [[Lutheranism|Lutheran]] [[Reformation]] was introduced in 1529 during a vacancy after the death of the not very respected Bishop [[Francis of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel]], and a 36-man unit constituted itself as town regiment. A new church order, based on [[Martin Luther]]'s principles, was announced from the pulpit of St Martin's Church ({{lang|de|Martinikirche}}) on 13 February 1530. The Dominican convent was dissolved in 1529, and its buildings have been used since 1530 as a location of the new founded municipal [[Gymnasium (Germany)|Gymnasium]], the first Protestant {{lang|de|Gymnasium}} in Westphalia.
 
Imperial Catholic troops occupied Minden from 1625 to 1634 during the [[Thirty Years' War]]. Protestant Swedish troops laid siege to Minden and captured it in 1634. Queen [[Christina of Sweden]] ({{reign | 1632 | 1654}}) granted Minden full sovereignty in internal and external affairs. During the Catholic occupation the bishop ordered the introduction of the [[Gregorian calendar]] in 1630; the calendar was re-set in 1634 under the Swedish régime, but finally standardized to the new style in 1668.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nordsiek |first1= Hans |title=Vom Fürstbistum zum Fürstentum Minden |journal=Westfälische Zeitschrift |date=1990 |volume= 140 |pages= 251–271 |url= https://www.lwl.org/westfaelische-geschichte/txt/wz-9073.pdf |access-date= 17 June 2022}}, pp. 262–263.</ref> 
 
The [[Peace of Westphalia]] in 1648 secularized the Prince-Bishopric to the [[Principality of Minden]] and assigned the territory to the [[Margraviate of Brandenburg|Prince Electorate of Brandenburg]],<ref name=EB1911/> later named [[Brandenburg-Prussia]]. Swedish troops moved back in 1650, and the principality administration was restored from [[Petershagen]] to Minden in 1668. The Brandenburgian "Great Elector" [[Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg|Frederick William]] ({{reign | 1640 | 1688}}) confirmed all traditional rights of the town,{{sfn|Nordsiek |1979|p=63}} but under his successors King [[Frederick I of Prussia|Frederick I]] ({{reign | 1688 | 1713}}) and [[Frederick William I of Prussia|Frederick William I]] ({{reign | 1713 | 1740}}) the town was subordinated to the strongly centralized Prussian government in the spirit of [[Absolutism (European history)|absolutism]]. The 400-year civil self-determination ended with two town regulations from 1711 and 1721; the representatives of the town were no longer elected for a certain period, but for life, and they needed royal confirmation for inauguration.<ref>{{cite web | last1 = Schulte | first1 = Monika | title = Macht auf Lebenszeit von Preußenkönigs Gnaden | url = http://www.minden.de/internet/page.php?site=7000023&typ=2 | website = minden.de | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140819140809/http://www.minden.de/internet/page.php?site=7000023&typ=2 | access-date=20 December 2021| archive-date = 19 August 2014}}</ref> In 1698, a French Reformed congregation was founded in the town.<ref>{{cite book|last=Muret|first=Eduard|title=Geschichte der Französischen Kolonie in Brandenburg-Preußen, unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Berliner Gemeinde. Aus Veranlassung der Zweihundertjährigen Jubelfeier am 29. Oktober 1885|year=1885|location=Berlin|language=de|page=246}}</ref>

The [[Battle of Minden]] took place some miles to the north of Minden on 1 August 1759, during the [[Seven Years' War]] of 1756 to 1763. The allied forces of Prussia, [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]], and some German allies defeated the allied [[Kingdom of France (1498-1791)|French]] and [[Electorate of Saxony|Saxonian]] troops in a decisive battle. The region remained Prussian, with the adjacent region in the possession of the British King [[George II of Great Britain|George II]] (being the Prince-elector of [[Electorate of Hanover|Hanover]] in [[personal union]]). Because French troops had occupied the town twice  during the war, King [[Frederick the Great]] realized that it could no more be defended in the old manner; thus he gave order to annul Minden's status as a fortress in 1764.{{sfn|Nordsiek |1979|p=64}}

The town functioned as the capital of the Prussian territory of [[Minden-Ravensberg]] from 1719 to 1807 and as the seat of the upper administrative authority named {{lang|de|Kriegs- und Domänenkammer}} (Chamber of War Affairs and State Property), that ruled Minden-Ravensberg together with the Prussian territories of the County of Lingen and the [[County of Tecklenburg]]. The most prominent president of the chamber was the [[Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein|Baron vom Stein]] (in office from 1796 to 1803).

The Weser had long been an important trade route, and the legal regulation of trading had immense significance. In 1552 Emperor [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] conferred the privilege of its merchants' unhindered trading on the whole Weser to the town of Minden. During the Thirty Years' War, Emperor [[Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand II]] confirmed the [[staple right]] to Minden in 1627, meaning that all passing merchants had to offer their goods for sale for some days. As other towns on the Weser{{snd}}like [[Bremen]] and [[Hann. Münden|Münden]]{{snd}}had similar rights, many conflicts arose about the partly contradictory legal positions.<ref name="Korinth">{{cite conference
 | first = Dirk
 | last = Korinth
 | title = Minden und die Weserschiffahrt
 | book-title = Die etwas andere Industrialisierung.
 | place = Essen
 | pages = 33–60
 | date = 1999}}
</ref><ref>{{cite web | last1 = Schulte | first1 = Monika | title = Schifffahrt auf der Weser bei Minden | url = http://www.minden.de/internet/page.php?site=7000030&typ=2 | website = minden.de | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140819195358/http://www.minden.de/internet/page.php?site=7000030&typ=2 | access-date = 16 January 2022| archive-date = 19 August 2014}}</ref>

=== From the Napoleonic Wars to World War I ===
[[File:Minden6.jpg|thumb|Barracks (''Defensionskaserne'') dating to 1829 on Simeon Square, now site of the Prussia Museum, and the starting point of the Minden planet path in front]]
[[File:2010-05-21 Minden Reihenhäuser Friedrich-Wilhelm-Straße.jpg|thumb|Workers' housing estate in the railway quarter dating to 1899]]
[[File:MI Weserbruecke - Blick auf die Porta.jpg|thumb|Weser with Glacisbridge, looking towards [[Porta Westfalica (gorge)|Porta Westfalica]] and the [[Emperor William Monument (Porta Westfalica)|Emperor William Monument]] from 1896]]
In course of the [[War of the Fourth Coalition]], French troops occupied the town on 13 November 1806. In the following year [[Napoleon]] founded the [[Kingdom of Westphalia]], governed by his brother [[Jerome Bonaparte]] as king, and Minden became part of this [[client state]] until 1810 as district capital in the Weser department. On 1 January 1811 Napoleon moved Minden to the department [[Ems-Supérieur]] of the [[First French Empire|French Empire]]; now the Weser formed the eastern frontier between France and Westphalia. The rights of the [[Cathedral chapter]] in the cathedral close were abolished, the still existing convents were dissolved, and some ecclesiastical buildings like St John's church were secularized and used for military purposes. Before the French troops abandoned Minden on 3 November 1813 after the disastrous [[Battle of Leipzig]], they blew up some of the arches of the Weser bridge, with the damage replaced for decades by a wooden auxiliary construction only.{{sfn|Nordsiek |1979|p=74}}

Minden became part of the Kingdom of Prussia again as capital both of the District of Minden and the [[Minden region|government region]] ({{lang|de|Regierungsbezirk Minden}}) in the new formed [[Province of Westphalia]]. By royal order it was declared a fortress once more. The fortress regulations ordered a {{convert|600|m|adj=on}} area in front of the wall being free of any buildings, not even vertical gravestones were allowed.{{sfn|Nordsiek |1979|p=84}} The refortification had severe consequences, hindering any extension of the town area and thus economic development. The {{lang|de|Infanterie-Regiment "Prinz Friedrich der Niederlande" (2. Westfälisches) Nr. 15}} was stationed in the garrison from 1820 to 1919, when it was dissolved; the naming [[Colonel-in-chief]] was [[Prince Frederick of the Netherlands]] and after his death [[Queen Emma of the Netherlands]]. Frederick's wife [[Princess Louise of Prussia (1808–1870)|Princess Louise of Prussia]] was Colonel-in-chief of the {{lang|de|Infanterie-Regiment "[[Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Bülow|Graf Bülow von Dennewitz]]" (6. Westfälisches) Nr. 55}}, that was partly stationed in Minden, too. Since 1999, the {{lang|de|Feldartillerie-Regiment Nr. 58}} encamped a new barracks area in the nordwest of the town centre. The ''Hanoveran Pionier-Battalion No. 10'' was part of the [[X Corps (German Empire)|X Corps]], that was incorporated into the Prussian Army after the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, and had its barracks near to Minden station. The main [[military training area]] was a large location in today's quarter of Minderheide at the very northwest edge of the town, an area that had already been part of the main fighting during the Battle of Minden in 1759.{{sfn|Dallmeier |1998 |p=8–17}}

After the [[Congress of Vienna]] of 1815 had passed general principles of free traffic on the main rivers, the six Weser-states of the [[German Confederation]] annulated all restrictions and most of the financial burdens for shipping on the river by the Weser Shipping Act ({{lang|de|Weserschifffahrtsakte}}) of 1823.<ref>{{cite conference
 | first = Hans-Joachim 
 | last = Behr
 | title = Das Ende des Mindener Stapels
 | book-title = Zwischen Dom und Rathaus.
 | place = Minden
 | pages = 233–247
 | date = 1977}}</ref>
The first steam ship was put in operation in 1836, and a first harbour basin was built in 1859 on the east side of the river, connected with the railway in 1863. In the following decades, the great majority of transferred goods were imported goods, as export was of low importance. Inland shipment grew enormously after the completion of the ''Mittelland Canal'' and its connection to the Weser by the [[Lock (water navigation)#Shaft lock|shaft lock]] in 1915.<ref name="Korinth" />

The [[Cologne-Minden trunk line|trunk line]] of the [[Cologne-Minden Railway Company]] was opened in 1847 with a solidly fortified station and connected with the [[Hanover–Minden railway]].{{sfn|Nordsiek |1979|p=79}} After defortification,{{explain |date=September 2024}} the railway got an important momentum for economic growth in Minden.

The spatial narrowness in the fortress restricted the development of industrial firms of different branches to a certain degree, but did not prevent it.<ref>{{cite conference
 | first = Philipp
 | last = Koch
 | title = Rückständigkeit in einer industriellen Pionierregion? Die Wirtschaft der Festung Minden 1815 bis 1873
 | book-title = Die etwas andere Industrialisierung.
 | place = Essen
 | pages = 85–110
 | date = 1999}}</ref> 
The dominant industry, as well as in the whole district, was the manufacture of [[cigar]]s; this branch decreased after World War I and finally vanished, because the growing market share of [[cigarette]]s had been ignored. Minden was seat of a [[Chamber of commerce]] from 1849 to 1932, when it was merged with those of Bielefeld.<ref>{{cite conference
 | first = Monika
 | last = Dickhaus
 | title = Die 'Tabakkammer der Nation': Die Handelskammer zu Minden 1949 bis 1932
 | book-title = Die etwas andere Industrialisierung.
 | place = Essen
 | pages = 137–156
 | date = 1999}}</ref>

Overpopulation and unemployment were the reasons for an enormous emigration from the [[Minden Land]]; various emigration agencies had their location in Minden.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Riechmann |first1=Wolfgang |title=Zweihundert Jahre Auswanderung aus dem Mindener Land |journal=Mitteilungen des Mindener Geschichtsvereins |date=1992 |volume=64 |pages=81–113 |url=https://sammlungen.ulb.uni-muenster.de/hd/periodical/titleinfo/4627747 |access-date=20 February 2022}}</ref>

The town remained a Prussian fortress until 1873, when Germany's [[Reichstag (German Empire)|Imperial Diet]] ({{lang|de|Reichstag}}) passed the law to remove the fortress status of several fortified places, among them Minden. The fortress walls were razed by 1880{{snd}}the town had to pay for it{{snd}}and a new Weser bridge was constructed, permitting the town to catch up economically. However, it was never able to regain its former political and economic importance.{{sfn|Nordsiek |1979|p=88–89, 95}}

The upper class used the new conditions for construction of a new town quarter in a half-circle to the north and west of the old centre with prestigious buildings on spacious plots, but the urgent narrowness inside the centre maintained.<ref>{{cite web | last1 = Schulte | first1 = Monika | url = http://www.minden.de/internet/page.php?typ=2&site=7000044 |title=Promenieren im Grünen und Wohnen in Villen | website = minden.de | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100724234353/http://www.minden.de/internet/page.php?typ=2&site=7000044 | access-date = 16 December 2021| archive-date = 24 July 2010}}</ref> A lot of buildings in the style of historicism replaced older ones at the market place and in the main streets.{{sfn|Nordsiek |1979|p=95}}
The lack of buildings outside the fortifications was favourable for planning a road network in the outer areas of the town. Since the 1890s, a sequence of six ring roads in the west and north of the town has formed the backbone of the road network.{{sfn|Nordsiek |1979|p=90}}

Grandiose festivities took place when Emperor [[William II, German Emperor|William II]] and Empress [[Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein|Auguste Victoria]] visited Minden and the southern village of Barkhausen for inauguration of the [[Emperor William Monument (Porta Westfalica)|Emperor William Monument]] on the [[Wittekindsberg]] above the [[Porta Westfalica (gap)|Porta Westfalica gap]] on 18 October 1896. Since then the monument has been a visible element of the southern view from Minden.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe |title=Das Kaiser-Wilhelm-Denkmal |url=https://www.lwl.org/westfaelische-geschichte/portal/Internet/finde/langDatensatz.php?urlID=619&url_tabelle=tab_websegmente |website=www.lwl.org |date=25 March 2014 |access-date=27 January 2022}}</ref> The first line of the Minden tramway has connected the primary site of the memorial with Minden since 1893 when the memorial was still under construction.<ref name="SchütteTram">{{cite book |last1=Schütte |first1=Ingrid und Werner |title=Minden und seine Straßenbahn |date=1986 |publisher=Uhle und Kleimann |location=Lübbecke |isbn=3-922657-47-8}} p. 187.</ref>

The Minden District Railways ({{lang|de|Mindener Kreisbahnen}}), founded in 1898, built up a [[narrow-gauge railway]] net with three lines until World War I.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schütte |first1=Ingrid und Werner |title=Die Mindener Kreisbahnen |date=1989 |publisher=Uhle und Kleimann |location=Lübbecke |isbn=3-922657-77-X}} p. 10, 29, 40.</ref> Minden got a municipal water supply system in the 1880s{{sfn|Nordsiek |1979|p=96}} and an electric power station in 1902.{{sfn|Nordsiek |1979|p=326}}

=== The Weimar Republic and the Nazi Regime ===
[[File:2010-05-21 Minden Fort B (5).jpg|thumb|Fort B]] 
The republican [[German Revolution of 1918–19|November Revolution]] of 1918 passed with only small disturbances that occurred in a few barracks of the Minden garrison on 7 and 8 November 1918. A [[German workers' and soldiers' councils 1918–1919|workers' and soldiers' council]], most of them members or supporters of the Social Democratic Party, took control in the afternoon of 18 November, but co-operated both with the town council and the military and civil administration as well and was successful in calming the situation.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kossack |first1=Kristan |title=Die Anfänge der Reichswehr in Minden |journal=Mitteilungen des Mindener Geschichtsvereins |date=1998 |volume=70 |pages=47–105 |url=https://sammlungen.ulb.uni-muenster.de/hd/periodical/titleinfo/4628899 |access-date=19 February 2022}}</ref>

The situation became more critical during the [[Kapp Putsch]] of March 1920, when right-wing officers tried to overthrow the legitimate government of the ''[[Weimar Republic|German Reich]]''. A majority of the town council declared their loyalty to President [[Friedrich Ebert]] and Chancellor [[Gustav Bauer]], who for their part confirmed the authority of the Minden Workers' Council. The assassination of Foreign Minister [[Walther Rathenau]] on 24 June 1922 resulted in serious rioting in Minden. A demonstration of 15,000 people in support of the government was held at the market square on 27 June. Public opinion changed during the time of the [[Great Depression]], and in the 1930-election of the town council, the [[Nazi Party|NSDAP]] received 6 of 31 seats, and in the 1933-election, the last democratic one, they won a majority comprising 16 of 28 seats.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kossack |first1=Kristan |title=Von der Reichswehr zur Wehrmacht |journal=Mitteilungen des Mindener Geschichtsvereins |date=1999 |volume=71 |pages=65–111 |url=https://sammlungen.ulb.uni-muenster.de/hd/periodical/titleinfo/4629104 |access-date=17 February 2022}}, p. 111</ref> The NSDAP increased their Minden results of the [[Reichstag (Weimar Republic)|Reichstag elections]] from 2.0 percent in [[1928 German federal election|May 1928]] to 40.1 percent in [[July 1932 German federal election|July 1932]].<ref>Stefan Nesenhöner (1994): ''"Fest wie ein Felsen im wilden Meer ..." – Die Mindener Sozialdemokratie in den letzten Jahren der Weimarer Republik.'' p. 165–185, 169. In: Joachim Meynert, Ursula Bender-Wittmann (Ed.): ''Keine vaterlandslosen Gesellen – Beiträge zur Geschichte der Sozialdemokratie in  Minden.'' Lübbecke. ISBN 3-928959-04-2</ref>

Although the German armed forces were restricted considerably by the regulations of the [[Treaty of Versailles#Military restrictions|Treaty of Versailles]], Minden remained a garrison town of the ''[[Reichswehr]]'' with the Pioneer Battalion No. 6 and the Artillery Regiment No. 6, both parts of the [[6th Division (Reichswehr)|6th Division]]. However, soldiers became more and more connected with right-wing groups, although officially obliged to political neutrality. The military units put forward the construction of sporting facilities: a stadium ({{lang|de|Adolf-Hitler-Kampfbahn}}, now {{lang|de|Weserstadion}}), a public open-air pool (now {{lang|de|Sommerbad}}), and a horse racecourse. Both [[Walther von Brauchitsch]] (who organized annual horse tournaments from 1925 to 1927) and [[Wilhelm Keitel]] (who succeeded him in the same function until 1929) spent part of their career in Minden.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kossack |first1=Kristan |title=Von der Reichswehr zur Wehrmacht |journal=Mitteilungen des Mindener Geschichtsvereins |date=1999 |volume=71 |pages=65–111 |url=https://sammlungen.ulb.uni-muenster.de/hd/periodical/titleinfo/4629104 |access-date=17 February 2022}}, p. 76–78</ref>

When the ''Reichswehr'' was transformed to the ''[[Wehrmacht]]'' in 1935, army units were enlarged. Minden received another pioneer battalion (No. 46), new barracks ({{lang|de|Mudra-Kaserne}}, after WWII ''Clifton barracks'') and an exercise area at the Weser shore were built. After the last prisoners of war had left the camp area Minderheide in 1922, the place was used again for military exercise, horse and motorcycle sport, and a part from it as a place to land for small planes, as had already been happened starting in 1910. Two hangars and workshops for repairing and overhauling were built in this area beginning in 1936, where new types of planes were also tested.{{sfn|Dallmeier |1998 |p=76–81}}

After the war, the Minden District railway opened a fourth line to the coal mine of Meißen and the ore mine of Kleinenbremen, and in 1924 began to convert the narrow gauge to standard gauge tracks.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schütte |first1=Ingrid und Werner |title=Die Mindener Kreisbahnen |date=1989 |publisher=Uhle und Kleimann |location=Lübbecke |isbn=3-922657-77-X}} p. 47, 108–111.</ref> The Minden tram was electrified in 1920, and three lines were added by 1930.<ref name="SchütteTram" />

In 1929, the [[Melitta]] firm transferred its production from [[Dresden]] to Minden. From 1935 the {{lang|de|Chemische Werke Minden}} produced chemicals for pharmaceutical use, e.g. [[codeine]]; because of potentially military interest the producing company ''Knoll AG'' in [[Ludwigshafen]] had decided for a more inner-German producing location.{{cn|date=March 2024}}

From 1934 to 1940, two suburbs with single-family houses of modest size ({{lang|de|Siedlung Kuhlenkamp}} and {{lang|de|Siedlung Rodenbeck}}) were created in considerable distance to the previous settlements.{{sfn|Nordsiek |1979|p=93, 102}} Like in other communities, the names of some streets or places were changed for political reasons during the [[Third Reich]], with most being reverted in 1945.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Weidner |first1=Marcus |title=Die Straßenbenennungspraxis in Westfalen und Lippe während des Nationalsozialismus. Minden |url=https://www.lwl.org/westfaelische-geschichte/nstopo/strnam/Kommune_148.html |publisher=Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe |access-date=17 December 2021}}</ref>

=== World War II ===
[[File:Wilhelmstraße Stolpersteine (in Minden, Germany).JPG|thumb|''[[Stolpersteine]]'' in Minden]]
During World War II, underground factories were built in the [[Weser Hills]] and [[Wiehen Hills]] near Minden. [[Slave labour]]ers from a nearby [[List of subcamps of Neuengamme|subcamp]] of the [[Neuengamme concentration camp]] were forced to produce weapons and other war [[materiel]]. After the war the machinery was removed by American troops and the entrances were sealed.
 
Most of the Jewish citizens of Minden were [[Holocaust|deported]], dispossessed and murdered. ''[[Stolpersteine]]'' (literally 'stumbling stones', metaphorically 'stumbling blocks') have begun to be laid within Minden's pavements as a memorial to them.<ref>{{cite web |title="Stumbling Stones" – Stones – Lest We Forget "The Path of Remembrance in Minden" |url=https://en.stolpersteine-minden.de/ |website=www.en.stolpersteine-minden.de |access-date=14 February 2022}}</ref>
 
Minden sustained severe damage from [[Strategic bombing during World War II|Allied bombing]]s during World War II. These attacks were minor during the early phase of the war. The raid on 26 October 1944 on the canal aqueduct damaged the wall of the [[Mittelland Canal]], and numerous workers in a nearby air raid shelter were drowned. The last and most devastating air raid was conducted by [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress]] aircraft of the [[United States Army Air Forces]] on 28 March 1945 and destroyed great parts of the town centre, including the town hall and cathedral, and resulted in the death of over 180 people.<ref>{{cite web |title=Luftangriff Minden 1945 |url=https://amtage.de/stadtgeschichte-minden/luftangriff-1945-auf-minden/ |website=amtage.de |date=19 January 2016 |access-date=8 March 2022}}</ref> At the end of the war 13% of all buildings were destroyed or damaged.{{sfn|Nordsiek |1979|p=106}}

When the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] troops were approaching, the [[Nazi Germany|Nazi]] officials were ordered to leave the town to the east or the north; even the police and the firebrigade drew back, but Mayor Werner Holle remained. The [[1st Canadian Parachute Battalion|1st Canadian Airborne Battalion]] of the [[3rd Parachute Brigade (United Kingdom)|3rd Parachute Brigade]] came from Bad Oeynhausen in the south, not through the Porta Westfalica gap but over the Wiehen Hills at the [[Mountain pass|pass]] of Bergkirchen. On the evening of 4 April 1945 they took the town centre nearly without resistance. Almost all the bridges over the Weser and Mittelland Canal as well as the canal aqueduct had just been blown up by the [[Wehrmacht|German Army]] in a futile attempt to delay the Allied advance, according to Hitler's [[Nero Decree]].{{sfn|Nordsiek |1979|p=104}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Keber |first1=Paul |title=Minden im Jahre 1945 |journal=Mitteilungen des Mindener Geschichtsvereins |date=1960 |volume=32 |pages=59–62 |url=https://sammlungen.ulb.uni-muenster.de/hd/periodical/titleinfo/5053866 |access-date=22 February 2022}}</ref> Before the retreat the army set fire to the Granary and the Army bakery; the spreading out of fire to the St Martin's church could be avoided  only with great difficulties for lack of the fire brigade. In the first days of occupation a lot of plunder took place in the now police-less town.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Keber |first1=Paul |title=Minden im Jahre 1945 |journal=Mitteilungen des Mindener Geschichtsvereins |date=1961 |volume=33 |pages=26–31 |url=https://sammlungen.ulb.uni-muenster.de/hd/periodical/titleinfo/5053686 |access-date=22 February 2022}}</ref>

=== Postwar time ===
[[File:MI - Rathaus - Blickachse Dom.jpg|thumb|Cathedral reconstructed after the war and new town hall on the left side, seen from the medieval arch of the old town hall]]
In the early post-war time the Minden region became an important part of the [[British Occupation Zone]]. The British Military Government took its main location in Bad Oeynhausen before it moved to Berlin. The headquarter of the [[British Army of the Rhine|British Forces]] remained there until 1954. All the German Wehrmacht barracks in Minden were taken over by the British Army, as well as the former exercise area on Minderheide, where the St George's barracks were built in the following years, and on a nearby location the Kingsley barracks.<ref>{{cite web |title=Minden |url=https://www.baor-locations.org/minden.aspx.html |website=www.baor-locations.org |access-date=13 February 2022}}</ref> 466 houses were confiscated in 1945. As immediate measure, the British Army set up an auxiliary bridge (the ''Francis bridge''), that was in use until the regular bridge was restored in 1947.{{sfn|Nordsiek |1979|p=106}}

The Economic Council for the British Occupation Zone ({{lang|de|Wirtschaftsrat für die britische Besatzungszone}}) was founded in Minden on 11 March 1946 for reactivation of the German economy and supervised the work of the Central Office for Economy ({{lang|de|Zentralamt für Wirtschaft}}) at the same place. The {{lang|de|Zentralamt}} under its head ''Viktor Agartz'' fought against the policy of industrial dismantling and tried to reorganize the economy with perspectives of [[planned economy]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kossack |first1=Kristan |title=Viktor Agartz und das "Zentralamt für Wirtschaft" in Minden |journal=Mitteilungen des Mindener Geschichtsvereins |date=1993 |volume=65 |pages=95–119 |url=https://sammlungen.ulb.uni-muenster.de/hd/periodical/titleinfo/4627962 |access-date=17 February 2022}}</ref> After the partial conjunction of the American and British Occupation Zones in 1947 to the [[Bizone]], the [[Bizonal Economic Council]] continued the activities of the Minden {{lang|de|Wirtschaftsrat}} in [[Frankfurt]] in the American occupation zone, where with [[Ludwig Erhard]] the course was changed to a [[market economy]].

The town administration resumed its work on 9 April 1945 on a provisional basis. Subsequent to the foundation of the state of [[North Rhine-Westphalia]] in 1946, the [[Free State of Lippe]] was adjoined to it in 1947. Consequently Minden lost its position as a [[Regierungsbezirk|regional capital]] to the former Lippian capital [[Detmold]] in 1947. In contrast to the other [[Allied Powers (World War II)|Allied Powers]], the British changed the German community regulation for their occupation zone in the way of strict [[separation of powers]]. Beginning in 1946, the mayor was merely an honorary position as head of town and chairman of the town council, with a professional town director ({{lang|de|Stadtdirektor}}) being chief of administration.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ribhegge |first1=Wilhelm |title=Preußen im Westen |date=2008 |publisher=Aschendorff |location=Münster |page=640}}</ref> In North Rhine-Westphalia these regulations were in force until 1998.

Parts of the [[Bundesbahn Central Offices|Federal Railways Central Offices]] {{lang|de|Bundesbahn-Zentralämter}} were moved to Minden in 1950. In the course of [[West German rearmament]], the {{lang|de|Herzog-von-Braunschweig-Kaserne}} (Duke of Brunswick Barracks) was built for the new garrison of the Federal Forces (''[[Bundeswehr]]'') in 1959 in the western quarter of Rodenbeck and another barracks in the quarter of Minderheide.

The town centre reconstruction adapted largely to the pre-war situation, the previous road system remained, and the destroyed houses were rebuilt in a 1950s style. Even in the undestroyed areas, dilapidated buildings were replaced by new ones that deviated from the quarter's character by form and volume.{{sfn|Nordsiek |1979|p=106–110}} The renewal of the main shopping street ''Scharn''  was planned by [[Werner March]].{{sfn|Nordsiek |1979|p=106–112}}

The serious lack of housing in the 1950s and 1960s, caused by bombing and the post-war migration of refugees, was addressed with new housing areas, especially in the west and north of the centre. Furthermore, some housing estates for British soldiers' families were developed.{{sfn|Nordsiek |1979|p=114–115}}

The Minden tramway reduced the lines and finally stopped running in 1959; a trolley bus line on the right side of the Weser ran from 1953 to 1965.<ref name="SchütteTram"/>

=== From the local government reorganization to present day ===
[[File:Minden marktplatz.jpg|thumb|upright=1.0|Market square (2008)]]
[[File:2010-09-26 Minden Dom 4707.jpg|thumb|New Town hall (view from the cathedral)]]
On 1 January 1973, the previously separate surrounding communities of Aminghausen, Bölhorst, Dankersen, Dützen, Haddenhausen, Hahlen, Häverstädt, Kutenhausen, Leteln, Meißen, Päpinghausen, Stemmer, Todtenhausen as well as parts of Barkhausen, Hartum and Holzhausen II were incorporated into the town of Minden. Thereby the area of Minden increased from {{convert|29|km2|2|abbr=out}} to {{convert|101|km2|2|abbr=out}} and the population number from about 54,000 to 84,000.{{sfn|Nordsiek |1979|p=117}} At the same time the former districts of Minden and Lübbecke were merged to the new district ({{lang|de|Kreis}}) of Minden-Lübbecke, of which Minden became the capital. A new district administration building was constructed south of the town centre on the site of an old barracks; the former administrative building has since then used as a community archive.{{cn|date=March 2024}}

In the 1960s, ongoing problems with the town centre became increasingly urgent, such as high population density, large percentage of low-income persons, houses in poor condition, outdated business premises, unsuitable for pedestrians, and severe shortage of parking lots. Therefore, an [[urban renewal]] was carried out in the 1970s, within the frame of the federal law for urban development promotion (''Städtebauförderungsgesetz'', 1971), and subsidized by public money. Dilapidated buildings were renovated or replaced by new structures, although the removal of timber-framed houses was later regretted. The height of buildings was restricted to four or five storeys. The main shopping areas were rearranged to a pedestrian zone. Public traffic was kept away from the inner part with a new central bus station nearby. Since then private traffic has been inhibited from passing through the centre, but houses can still be reached by a [[Dead end (street)|dead end]] system. Two large parking areas at the edge of the town centre, an underground car park and several [[multistorey car park]]s provide parking facilities. To keep away the regional traffic, two new Weser bridges and a new bypass road in the very east were built; the old bridge was replaced in 1978.<ref>
{{cite conference
 | first = Erwin 
 | last = Niermann 
 | title = Stadterneuerung in Minden 1970–1979
 | book-title = Minden. Zeugen und Zeugnisse seiner städtebaulichen Entwicklung
 | place = Minden
 | pages = 141–156
 | date = 1979}}
</ref>

The administration of the enlarged town required a new building. Architect [[Harald Deilmann]] planned this complex directly from the old town hall to the cathedral court in the style of [[Structuralism (architecture)|structuralism]]. Since its completion in 1977 it has been a matter of public discussion, not only for the look of the façade, but also for blocking the scenic view of the cathedral from the arches of the old town hall.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Weiß |first1=Klaus-Dieter |title=Minden – die Rückkehr zum Kontext |journal=Bauwelt |date=2012 |issue=40–41 |url=https://www.bauwelt.de/themen/bauten/Minden-die-Rueckkehr-zum-Kontext-2153253.html}}</ref> In 2006 a controversial resolution by the town council proposed the demolition of the town hall extensions to make room for a new shopping mall. However, a 57% majority opposed this plan in a [[referendum]]. Today the whole town hall building complex is classified as [[historical monument]], and {{as of |2022 |lc=y}} extensive renovation has been in progress since 2019.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rathaussanierung |url=https://www.minden.de/rathaus-service-zukunft/organisation-recht-und-finanzen/rathaussanierung/ |access-date=18 December 2022}}</ref>

The shoreline of the Weser was improved in 1976 by extending the promenade to the {{lang|de|Fischerstadt}} (Fishermen's Town). The ''Glacis'', a park-like open space in front of the old fortifications, which was important as a green belt, was altered and made more accessible. The old town wall fronting the Fischerstadt was restored to its former height. 
The opposite shore area ({{lang|de|Kanzlers Weide}}) has been made accessible by a footbridge. This improves access to a large parking area and festival site.

When British troops had left Minden in 1994, their barracks areas became valuable sites for further town development ("conversion areas").

=== Place of prosecution and imprisonment ===
Minden was the location of criminal prosecution or imprisonment in a number of very different cases.

* After the [[reformation]], Minden was a stronghold of [[witch-hunt]]s in Germany. There were 128 prosecutions for witchcraft between 1603 and 1684. As in nearby regions, almost all those sentenced persons were women.<ref>Barbara Groß: ''Hexerei in Minden. Zur sozialen Logik von Hexereiverdächtigungen und Hexenprozessen (1584–1684).'' (Westfalen in der Vormoderne. Studien zur mittelalterlichen und frühneuzeitlichen Landesgeschichte, Bd. 2), Münster 2009, Aschendorff Verlag, p. 119–147 {{ISBN|978-3-402-15041-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Minden Liste der Opfer der Hexenprozesse |url=http://www.anton-praetorius.de/downloads/namenslisten/Minden%20Liste%20der%20Opfer%20der%20Hexenprozesse%20kurz.pdf |access-date=26 January 2022}}</ref>
* [[Clemens August Droste zu Vischering]] (1773–1845), [[Archbishop of Cologne]], was brought to Minden, where he was taken under [[house arrest]] from November 1837 to April 1839; he never returned to Cologne. During the so-called Cologne confusions ({{lang|de|Kölner Wirren}}), Droste zu Vischering got in trouble with the Prussian state on the question of interconfessional marriages and the independence of the Faculty of Catholic Theology at the [[University of Bonn]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nordsiek |first1=Marianne |title=Der "Märtyrer von Minden". Die Haft des Kölner Erzbischofs Droste zu Vischering in Minden 1837–1839 |journal=Mitteilungen des Mindener Geschichtsvereins |date=1973 |volume=45 |pages=107–126 |url=https://sammlungen.ulb.uni-muenster.de/hd/download/pdf/4624376?originalFilename=true |access-date=9 May 2022}}</ref>
* The  physician [[Abraham Jacobi]] was  born in the nearby village of [[Hille, Germany|Hartum]] and educated at the gymnasium in Minden. Though being acquitted as defendant in the [[Cologne Communist Trial]] in 1852, he was afterwards imprisoned and condemned of [[lese-majesty]] by the district court of Minden. After his release he emigrated to the US, where he became an important [[Pediatrics|pediater]].
* During [[World War I]], a large [[prisoner-of-war camp]] was established in the western quarter of Minderheide. In September 1914 the first French and British soldiers were brought there, but only at the end of the year barracks were built for about 3,300 prisoners. Over the years more than 25,000 prisoners lived there. The camp was a main camp (''[[Stalag|Stammlager]]'') with several external labour camps (''[[Arbeitslager]]''). Apart from British and French soldiers (including auxiliary troops from the colonies) Italians, Russians, Serbians, Croats, Poles, and Armenians were captured. The camp was dissolved after the [[Armistice of 11 November 1918]], but the total dismantling lasted until 1922. The name {{lang|de|Franzosenfriedhof}} (Cemetery of the French) of the nearby cemetery derives from a war memorial for French soldiers and is misleading, as the buried French, British, and Italian soldiers were transferred to their home countries after war. However, the gravesites of others, such as Russian, Serbian and Armenian, remain to date. In September 1917, [[Nuncio|Apostolic Nuncio]] [[Pope Pius XII|Eugenio Pacelli]] visited the camp.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Beutelspacher, Martin & |first1=Irmak, Kenan |title=Das Kriegsgefangenenlager Minderheide. Ein Beitrag zur Militärgeschichte Mindens |journal=Mitteilungen des Mindener Geschichtsvereins |date=1990 |volume=62 |pages=111–130 |url=https://sammlungen.ulb.uni-muenster.de/hd/periodical/titleinfo/4627372 |access-date=8 May 2022}}</ref>{{sfn|Dallmeier |1998 |p=54–72}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Nuncial report no. 482 |url=http://www.pacelli-edition.de/en/document.html?idno=482 |website=www.pacelli-edition.de |access-date=17 July 2022}}</ref>
* [[Auschwitz concentration camp]] commander [[Rudolf Höss]] was brought to Minden after being captured by the British in [[Schleswig-Holstein]]. In Minden, he was examined in the so-called ''Camp Tomato'', where he, for the first time, confessed the murders of millions of Jews in his camp and signed a protocol on 15 March 1946. On 31 May he was brought to [[Nuremberg]], where he repeated the confession as witness in the [[Nuremberg trials]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=World War Data Base |title=Rudolf Höss |url=https://ww2db.com/person_bio.php?person_id=608 |website=ww2db.com/ |access-date=9 May 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=Thomas Harding: 10 minutes alone with the butcher of Auschwitz |journal=National Post |date=4 November 2013 |url=https://nationalpost.com/opinion/thomas-harding-10-minutes-alone-with-the-butcher-of-auschwitz |access-date=9 May 2022}}</ref>