Muenster
Where Half Of The Peace Of Westphalia Was Signed In 1648, Ending The Thirty Years War; The Treaty Room Survives In The Town Hall. Rebuilt Gabled Arcades On The Prinzipalmarkt After Near Total War Damage, And The Most Cycled City In Germany · Muenster, North Rhine-Westphalia
In 1648 the Thirty Years War was ended by two treaties signed in two Westphalian towns, and Muenster's half was signed in a panelled room in its town hall that you can still walk into. That room, the Friedenssaal, is the reason this city matters beyond its region, and it is kept as a working civic space rather than a museum set. The rest of Muenster was almost entirely destroyed in 1945 and rebuilt deliberately in its old form: the arcaded gabled houses of the Prinzipalmarkt are post-war reconstructions, which is obvious once you know and handsome either way. It is also the most committed cycling city in Germany, with a ring promenade on the line of the old walls that is closed to cars and carries a constant stream of bikes, and a student population that keeps a fairly formal cathedral city from feeling stiff. Add a heavy Romanesque cathedral with an astronomical clock, a strong art museum, and the iron cages on St Lambert's tower where the Anabaptist leaders were hung in 1536.
The ring road old town around the Prinzipalmarkt, the cathedral square and the Aasee, central Westphalia, Muenster, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
The Friedenssaal in the town hall keeps daytime visiting hours with a small admission and closes without notice when the room is needed for civic business, so ask at the desk rather than assuming - that closure is the commonest disappointment here. The cathedral is open daily around services and free; its astronomical clock draws a small crowd when the figures move at noon. The LWL art museum and the city museum keep standard hours with a Monday closing day, and the city museum is usually free. Shops shut on Sundays and the Prinzipalmarkt arcades go quiet with them, which makes Sunday the best cycling day and the worst shopping one. The promenade ring is open all hours. Station to Prinzipalmarkt is a flat ten minutes, and bike hire from the station is the normal way to get about.