Welcome to Laer!

The municipality of Laer is situated in the district of Steinfurt, around a 15-minute drive from the district town of Steinfurt. The village is in a rural setting, but with the nearby B54 and the A1 motorway, it offers good transport links for commuters: It takes half an hour by car to get to Münster and Münster/Osnabrück Airport (FMO), and an hour to Osnabrück. The journey to Dortmund takes a good hour, whilst it takes around 45 minutes to reach Enschede in the Netherlands.

Did you know? Laer lies right in the heart of the Münsterland – geographically speaking, too! In the art project ‘Atlas der Mitten’ (Atlas of Centres), Laer was identified as the geographical centre of the Münsterland region. This was determined using the so-called ‘bounding box’ method: if you imagine drawing the tightest possible rectangular frame around the region, its centre lies at the intersection of the diagonals – in Laer!

Tip: The Münsterland is a cycling region! 4,500 kilometres of cycle paths offer you almost limitless possibilities in town and in the countryside: you can easily cycle to work and go on great rides with friends and family.

The centre of Laer is an idyllic sight: The town hall is housed in a historic Schulzenhof courtyard, next to which stands an old granary. Behind the town hall is a small park with a pond, and on the opposite bank is a historic mill. There are also restaurants, bakeries and an ice cream parlour nearby.

Most of the town's 6,800 inhabitants live in the residential areas around the small centre. Three kilometres south of the town centre - five minutes away by car - lies the second district of Holthausen, which is home to around 600 people.

Even though 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 rural Münsterland.

On the municipality's website you will find information and contacts for current building areas with residential building plots.

You can buy groceries in several supermarkets in the Laer district, and on Thursdays there is also a small weekly market here. In the centre of town, a shoe shop, a flower shop, a toy shop and a shop for wedding and evening dresses offer a small, fine selection. If you want to do some extensive shopping, you are not far away: besides Münster and Enschede, the Designer Outlet Ochtrup (25 minutes by car from Laer) is a popular destination for bargain hunters.

There are around seven kindergartens and daycare centres in the municipality, one of which is located in the Holthausen district. There are also child day care services. All contacts and further information can be found here.

The youngest pupils in Laer attend the Werner Rolevinck primary school. Secondary schools can be found in the neighbouring towns, for example the comprehensive school in Nordwalde, the secondary school in Horstmar-Schöppingen or the grammar schools in Steinfurt.