The Encyclopedia Americana (1906)/Münster (Germany)

Münster, mün'stĕr, Prussia, the capital of Westphalia, a town and episcopal see, in a plain on the Aa, at the junction of several railways and on the Dortmund-Ems canal, 78 miles northeast of Cologne. The site of its mediæval ramparts has been converted into promenades. The principal edifices are the cathedral, the church of St. Lambert, the Rathaus, exchange, museum, theatre, the Pauline Library, several educational, benevolent, and charitable institutions, etc. The manufactures include woolen, linen; and cotton goods, leather, sugar, starch, etc. Münster originated in a monastery around which a settlement arose in the 12th century; it was long governed by martial bishops. The most notable event in its long history occurred in 1532-5 when the city fell into the hands of the Anabaptists (q.v.). Pop. (1900) 63,776.