Versmold

Versmold (German: [ˈfɛʁsmɔlt] ; Westphalian: Vassem) is a town in Gütersloh District in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located some 30 km west of Bielefeld. In 1096 Versmold was first mentioned in a document, and is thus one of the oldest known settlements in the region. The name "-mold" alludes to "melle", "mal" a location of a court. Situated between the bishoprics Osnabrück and Münster, the possession of Versmold was disputed for a long time in the high Middle Ages. The population tried to protect themselves as well as they could. The St. Petri church was built as a "Wehrkirche" for defense. After 1277, the situation changed when the counts of Ravensberg acquired possession of the Versmold region. Versmold formed the westernmost town of the historic county of Ravensberg with its capital Bielefeld. After the War of the Jülich Succession in 1614 the county came to Brandenburg and later to Prussia.