History
The first documentary mention of the town is from the year 851.
At the beginning of the 19th century Drensteinfurt obtained some wealth through Strontianite mining. Today some old buildings which reflect this prosperous period still can be seen in the town.
On march 23rd, 1944 a bombing raid by the British Royal Air Force hit the town and some 80 residents died. Most of the historical buildings in the Old Town were destroyed.
Read more about this topic: Drensteinfurt
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“We aspire to be something more than stupid and timid chattels, pretending to read history and our Bibles, but desecrating every house and every day we breathe in.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“We don’t know when our name came into being or how some distant ancestor acquired it. We don’t understand our name at all, we don’t know its history and yet we bear it with exalted fidelity, we merge with it, we like it, we are ridiculously proud of it as if we had thought it up ourselves in a moment of brilliant inspiration.”
—Milan Kundera (b. 1929)
“It takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature.”
—Henry James (1843–1916)