Ahlen offers you THE GOOD LIFE between many leisure and cultural activities in the city and excursions into the green Münsterland. The approximately 53,000 inhabitants live in the core city, two small districts and several farming communities.
Ahlen is located in the district of Warendorf in the centre of Westphalia: The city is part of Münsterland, but you can also quickly reach the Ruhr area and East Westphalia via the nearby A1 and A2 motorways. For example, Münster is 45 minutes away by car and Münster/Osnabrück Airport (FMO) is 50 minutes away by car. You can reach Dortmund and Bielefeld just as quickly, while Paderborn/Lippstadt Airport is an hour's drive away. The district town of Warendorf is 35 minutes away. From the railway station in Ahlen, you can travel directly to Münster, Hamm, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Düsseldorf and Cologne, among others.
Tip: The Münsterland is a cycling region! 4500 kilometres of cycle paths offer you almost unlimited possibilities in the city and in the countryside: you can easily commute to work by bike and go on great tours with friends and family.
The town of Ahlen consists of the core town and the rural districts of Dolberg and Vorhelm; all three districts each have several neighbourhoods. Around 3,500 of the total population of 53,000 live in Dolberg and around 4,000 in Vorhelm.
In the old town, where you can discover many historic buildings, there are shops, cafés, restaurants, the cinema and museums. There are a number of green spaces between the housing estates, for example the city park on the banks of the small river Werse.
Although rental and purchase prices are following the general property trend overall, there are still numerous niches to be discovered in Münsterland when it comes to building, buying or renting. Here you can find the average purchase and rental prices for a house or flat in the rural area of Münsterland.
On the website of the city of Ahlen you will find an overview of urban building plots.
Ahlen is known nationwide mainly for the club "Rot Weiss Ahlen", which (under the former name LR Ahlen) played in the Second German Football League from 2000 to 2006. Among the most prominent former players is Kevin Großkreutz, who later became German champion with BVB and world champion with the German national team in 2014.
Shopping in Ahlen is particularly good in the city centre with its pedestrian zone. As in many places in Münsterland, you can not only browse in branches of large fashion chains, but also discover small, fine boutiques and concept stores . And of course you will also find specialist bicycle shops in Ahlen that offer lots of accessories and new bicycles or e-bikes. Between the many small and large shops, cafés and restaurants invite you to take a break.
Supermarkets and bakeries are not only in the city centre, but also in the residential areas further out and in the districts of Dolberg and Vorhelm. Twice a week you can also buy fresh food at the market in the city centre.
Ahlen has around 25 kindergartens and daycare centres run by various providers. The city provides information on the enrolment procedure on its website. There you will also find information on child day care in Ahlen.
Ahlen's schools and vocational colleges offer pupils the opportunity to obtain all qualifications and also qualify for their future career:
Ahlen is a former mining town, and today the business location is primarily characterised by the metalworking industry. In addition to many small and medium-sized businesses, Ahlen is also home to a number of well-known companies, such as the bathtub and washbasin manufacturer Franz Kaldewei, the Winkelmann Group, which specialises in metal forming, LR Health & Beauty Systems as a manufacturer of perfume and cosmetics, and Innosozial as a social welfare organisation with around 300 employees and a wide range of services in early intervention, family support, therapy and integration. The hospital in Ahlen - St. Franziskus-Hospital - includes a paediatric clinic.
Cycling through the Münsterland park landscapeOur colleague Kerstin Clev really enjoys riding her e-bike to experience the small and large adventures of Münsterland. The WerseRadweg, which leads through Ahlen among other places, was naturally also on her list. Find out what she experienced and saw on her tour in her article on the MünsterlandBlog.
"SO OR SO - your Münsterland". With this podcast from Germany's most beautiful region, you will experience a short acoustic tour of the colliery site in Ahlen. Come along and learn more about a piece of industrial culture in Münsterland in ten minutes:
