With a population of around 71,000, Bocholt is not only the largest city in the Borken district, but also the third largest city in the Münsterland region (after Münster and Rheine). In the eleven districts you can enjoy THE GOOD LIFE between urban leisure and cultural activities and green surroundings.
Bocholt is located in the Borken district and has a unique location at the interface of Münsterland, the Ruhr region and the Lower Rhine. It lies to the west of Münster and in close proximity to the Netherlands. The town offers many opportunities: The popular shopping cities of Enschede and Venlo can be reached by car in around an hour, for example, while Münster, Düsseldorf and the airports of Münster/Osnabrück (FMO) or Weeze are also each around an hour's drive away. The district town of Borken is half an hour's drive away.
A regional express train runs from Bocholt station in the direction of the Rhineland via Wesel. There you can also change trains to the Netherlands.
Tip: The Münsterland is a cycling region! 4500 kilometres of cycle paths offer you almost unlimited possibilities in the city and in the countryside. Bocholt is characterised by cycling like almost no other medium-sized town, so you can easily commute to work by bike, your children can do their journeys by bike or you can go on tours with friends and family.
Bocholt has eleven districts: Barlo, Biemenhorst, Bocholt (centre), Hemden, Holtwick, Liedern, Lowick, Mussum, Spork, Stenern and Suderwick. The ten incorporated districts around the city centre are each home to between just under 1,000 and just over 5,000 of the total population of 71,000.
On a walk through Bocholt's old town centre, you can still see some traces of the town's 800-year history, such as the historic town hall on the market square. Residential and industrial areas surround this city centre with its many shops, cafés and restaurants. To the south-east of the old town centre is the Bocholter Aasee lake with many leisure facilities and a beach café. The Bocholter Aa meanders as a river through the middle of Bocholt city centre - there are several places on the banks where you can relax and unwind.
Although rental and purchase prices are following the general property trend overall, there are still numerous niches to be discovered in Münsterland for 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.
Would you like to rent a flat or buy or build a house in Bocholt? On the city's website you will find the current rent index and addresses of the housing associations as well as all information about planning and building. You can also view information on sales and price trends on the property market in the Borken district in the property market report.
You can buy fresh food in Bocholt not only in the large supermarkets, but also at the market several times a week. On Thursdays, you can even buy fruit, vegetables and other products from the region at the evening market after work. If you need a change, you can visit the weekly market in Winterswijk in the Netherlands just over the border.
If you want to shop for clothes, shoes, books, jewellery and sports accessories, you will not only find what you are looking for in Bocholt city centre with its many owner-managed specialist retailers, but you can also browse through numerous stores in the Shopping Arkaden and the Neutor-Center. Want even more choice? The Designer Outlet Ochtrup is just under an hour's drive away, while Roermond is around an hour and a half away.
Our tip for cyclists: In the cycling town of Bocholt, there are many specialist bike shops with a large selection of bikes, e-bikes and accessories.
Children up to the age of six are well looked after in Bocholt in around 40 daycare centres and kindergartens run by various providers. In the Kitaportal Bocholt you will find an overview of all facilities and can use a detailed form to search directly for the facilities that best suit your child and you.
The education programme in Bocholt offers all options - from the Hauptschule or Realschulabschluss to the Abitur to the Bachelor's or Master's certificate:
Science and technology-loving children and young people can research and learn, build and tinker at the JUNGEN UNI in Bocholt. Workshops, seminars and lectures in the MINT subjects (mathematics, information technology, natural sciences, technology) are offered for young people between the ages of six and 18.
Owner-managed medium-sized companies, well-known corporations and the largest industrial park in North Rhine-Westphalia: Bocholt is a diverse and constantly changing business location. Major employers include Siemens AG and its subsidiaries Flender and Gigaset Communications as well as Grunewald, Olbrich and TIS. The 30-hectare Bocholt Industrial Park is home to around 380 companies with more than 7,200 employees.
Bocholt is also a university centre, as the Bocholt campus of the Westphalian University of Applied Sciences attracts students from all over Germany and is an attractive employer. There is a wide range of courses on offer, which are primarily technical, economic and scientific in nature.
"SO OR SO - your Münsterland". This podcast from Germany's most beautiful region takes you on an acoustic discovery tour of the Bocholt textile factory. It tells the textile history of the Münsterland like no other museum. Let Münsterland reporter Dennis Burk take you on a tour and immerse yourself in the industrial culture of times gone by. A wide variety of exhibitions can also be visited there. Curious? Take nine minutes and have a listen:
BocholtThe MünsterlandBlog presents seven selected highlights that aptly reflect the character of the city. The mixture of urban history, traditional craftsmanship and natural retreats makes Bocholt an exciting destination in Münsterland. Whether it's the lively city centre, cultural heritage, leisure time by the water or regional farm produce - the article provides a wide range of suggestions for a varied stay. Further impressions can be found in the full blog article.
Textile Museum BocholtThe MünsterlandBlog takes you on a journey into the heart of Bocholt's textile history: The Museum Textilwerk Bocholt in the kubaai quarter between the city centre and Aasee lake impressively shows how a flourishing textile town once functioned.
You can find more information in the blog article.
