Places of interest in Greven

Click on one of the places of interest for further information:

• Church of the city and market "St. Martinus"
• The Hoek – The oldest part of Greven
• Passages and pedestrian areas
• The "Niederort"
• Centre of culture GBS and Kunstturm
• Open air theatre "Reckenfeld"
• The church of the village "Gimbte" and the old canal-viaduct
• The army repository

The church of the city and the market was founded by the holy Liudger, first bishop of Münster, who was assigned to evangelize the "Münsterland". The first building of the church made out of stone was built in 12^th century. Parts of the mighty peel still remain from this time. In the 15^th century, the nave was rebuilt and in the 19^th century it was expanded. At the church’s southern wall one can find a sundial from 1616.  Worth seeing inside the church is the "group of crucifixion" by Philipp Gröninger, a sculptor from Münster, from 1722. In 1964, tendrillar ornaments of the Middle Ages were bared in the arch of the left aisle.

The view of a place of Greven still shows a lot of the history of development of the old market place. The Hoek is the oldest still remaining place of Greven. In the 17^th century the Hoek (Low German: corner/bracket) originated as an expansion of the residential area in grown form, i.e. unplanned. In the Hoek the old Greven is still existing with its typical farmhouses like one can still find on the street "Marktstraße" (e.g. pizzeria Gallo d’Oro). The first "real” citizens came to Greven with the industrialization. That’s why the next type of house is the industrial mansion (examples can be found on the street "Marktstraße" with the mansions Biederlack, Schründer, Kalbhen). Patrician houses are missing, as they can be found, for instance, in Münster.

In 1986 the fountain with the "Emspünte" on the street "Alte Münsterstraße” was adapted by the tourist office. The model of the ship remembers of the "Püntenschifffahrt" in old times on the river Ems. This extended from Greven to the coast of the North Sea. It reached its bloom in the 16^th and the 17^th century. In 1855 with the building of the railway the "Püntenschiffahrt" came to its eternal end.
Since the mid seventies Passages and pedestrian areas ("Alte Münsterstraße", "Marktstraße") developed while the center of Greven was rehabilitated. The new buildings fit in with form and dimension in the old conditions. Noteworthy are the many interesting details of the gables and facades in the passage and the street "Martinistraße". In 1993 the fountain on the marketplace was initiated, which shows a baptizing of men with the help of artful figures. By passing the protestant church one can get over the "Wilhelmplatz" to the "Niederort". It got its name because of a flat that emperor Wilhelm II. had to deal with in 1907 while passing the place of today’s "Wilhelmplatz".

The name "Niederort” comes from the German expression "Nierodde", which means something like "new clearing". This shows that the place was populated relatively late. So the name doesn’t have any connection to the place opposite of the street "Marktstraße", which is lower. The population of the "Niederort" depended on the reopening of the "Püntenschiffahrt" in 1582. On the southern endpoint of the "Emsschifffahrt", carpenters, craftspersons and chandlers settled down. Today the "Niederort" is often a meeting point for live events.

The first textile companies of Greven seeked closeness to a river, for example the oldest company, the Grevener Baumwollspinnerei (GBS), a cotton-spinning mill, founded in 1855 and closed in 1993. Now, the Grevener Baumwollspinnerei is a centre of culture and education. Numerous artists are attracted by the unique ambiance in the Ballenlager and the intimate atmosphere in the Kulturschmiede in the cultural heart of Greven.
Remarkable are also the exhibits that take place in the Kunstturm at the street Kirchstraße, which the Kunstverein can now call its extraordinary domicile.

The church of the village "Gimbte" contains lots of treasuries, among other things one of the oldest baptisteries in the Münsterland (12th century). Not far from the village is the nature-sanctuary "Bockholter Berge" with a juniper heathland. Abroad here, Herman Löns came first in contact with the Low German tradition. The "Lönsstein" – a large erratic block- reminds of the regional writer.

A technical cultural monument is located east of the forested dune in form of the old canal-viaduct "KÜ" over the river "Ems" (built in 1899).