Minden-Ravensberg was a Prussian

Kingdom of Prussia

The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...

 administrative unit consisting of the Principality of Minden and the County of Ravensberg from 1719–1807. The capital was Minden

Minden

Minden is a town of about 83,000 inhabitants in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The town extends along both sides of the river Weser. It is the capital of the Kreis of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of Detmold. Minden is the historic political centre of the...

. In 1807 the region became part of the Kingdom of Westphalia

Kingdom of Westphalia

The Kingdom of Westphalia was a new country of 2.6 million Germans that existed from 1807-1813. It included of territory in Hesse and other parts of present-day Germany. While formally independent, it was a vassal state of the First French Empire, ruled by Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte...

, a client state of Napoleonic France

First French Empire

The First French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I of France...

. The territory was restored to Prussia after the Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

 and became part of the new Prussian Province of Westphalia

Province of Westphalia

The Province of Westphalia was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946.-History:Napoleon Bonaparte founded the Kingdom of Westphalia, which was a client state of the First French Empire from 1807 to 1813...

 in 1815.

Geography

The province consisted of what is now the Ravensberg Land

Ravensberg Land

Ravensberg Land is a cultural landscape in the district of Ostwestfalen-Lippe in the northeast of the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It lies between the Wiehen Hills to the north, the Teutoburg Forest to the south, the state border with Lower Saxony to the west and the large bend...

, between the Teutoburg Forest

Teutoburg Forest

The Teutoburg Forest is a range of low, forested mountains in the German states of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia which used to be believed to be the scene of a decisive battle in AD 9...

 and the Wiehen Hills, and the Minden Land

Minden Land

Minden Land is a cultural landscape in East Westphalia, the northeastern part of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. It covers the four fifths of the district of Minden-Lübbecke that lie on the North German Plain and is clearly bounded to the south by the Weser Hills and Wiehen Hills, where it...

, north of the Wiehengebirge to the North German lowlands. Minden-Ravensberg was bounded to the east by the Weser, while other important rivers were the Westphalian Aa and the Else.

Minden was the regional capital, while other important cities were Bielefeld

Bielefeld

Bielefeld is an independent city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 323,000, it is also the most populous city in the Regierungsbezirk Detmold...

 as an economic center and Herford

Herford

Herford is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the hill chains of the Wiehen Hills and the Teutoburg Forest. It is the capital of the district of Herford.- Geographic location :...

. Minden-Ravensberg had a population of 160,301 in 1800 and an area of 2,113 km² in 1806.

Present-day

The territory of Minden-Ravensberg is now within northeastern North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...

 and part of Ostwestfalen-Lippe

Ostwestfalen-Lippe

Ostwestfalen-Lippe , abbreviation OWL, is a region in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a 2,000-years-old history and culture. Ostwestfalen-Lippe is the eastern part of the region of Westphalia, joined with the Lippe region. Translated to English, the name would be East...

. It roughly encompasses the districts of Minden-Lübbecke

Minden-Lübbecke

Minden-Lübbecke is a Kreis in the northeastern part of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Diepholz, Nienburg, Schaumburg, Lippe, Herford, Osnabrück.-Geography:...

, Herford

Herford (district)

Herford is a Kreis in the northeastern part of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Minden-Lübbecke, Lippe, the urban district of Bielefeld, and the districts Gütersloh and Osnabrück.-History:...

, northern Gütersloh

Gütersloh (district)

Gütersloh is a Kreis in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Osnabrück, Herford, district-free Bielefeld, Lippe, Paderborn, Soest and Warendorf.-History:...

, and the city of Bielefeld. Because it belonged to Brandenburg-Prussia

Brandenburg-Prussia

Brandenburg-Prussia is the historiographic denomination for the Early Modern realm of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollerns between 1618 and 1701. Based in the Electorate of Brandenburg, the main branch of the Hohenzollern intermarried with the branch ruling the Duchy of Prussia, and secured succession...

 for centuries, Minden-Ravensberg is today regarded as a cultural region differing from its neighbors by its Lutheranism

Lutheranism

Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...

and special economic development.