Soest Travel Guide

More about the History of Soest

Because of the fertile soil the area around Soest was occupied long before 836 when the village is first mentioned in the Dagobertsche Schenkung, although the origin of this document is historically uncertain. But there is no doubt that Soest has been inhabited for a long time; excavations in the last two decades have uncovered signs of habitation stretching back more than 4000 years. In the 11th and 12th century Soest grew considerably, making it one of the biggest towns in Westphalia with some 10,000 citizens. It was also an important member of the Hanseatic League until 1609. A self-confident Soest from 1444 to 1449 liberated itself from the Bishop of Cologne (Cologne vacation rentals | Cologne travel guide), who controlled Westphalia (the so-called Soester Fehde). Being no longer capital of Westphalia, the city aligned itself with the Duke of Cleves. This was a Pyrrhic victory, however; the city had shown itself strong enough to defy the powerful Archbishop of Cologne, but lost much of its trade: the liberated town was two-thirds surrounded by territories with other allegiances. When the last Duke of Cleves died in 1609 that dukedom was inherited by Brandenburg and after a short siege Soest was incorporated into it. From 1971-1993 the former Canadian properties, including the Married Quarters along Hiddingser Weg, south of the B-1, were used and occupied by British military and families. Upon the closing out of Belgian and British army facilities many of these military facilities either became used for civilian purposes or were abandoned or demolished. The former Married Quarters area was converted to civilian housing. The former CLFEX (the Canadian Army's food and clothing store for NATO families) was converted to a NAAFI under the British and finally demolished in 2006.

[ source: wikipedia ]