Ludgerirast Gerleve

The Coesfelder Berg, which rises to a height of 152 m, is the westernmost mountain of the Coesfeld-Daruper Heights, which continue the Baumberge hills of the Münsterland to the southwest.

The mountain, located east of the town of Coesfeld (district of Coesfeld, North Rhine-Westphalia), rises as a broad ridge between the Berkel and the Honigbach, and drops relatively steeply towards the west from around 140 m above sea level to just under 80 m above sea level in the city area of Coesfeld. It is considered the local mountain of this town.

From the Ludgerirast, the highest point of the mountain, one enjoys a wide view of large parts of the western Münsterland due to the lack of trees. According to tradition, Ludgerus, the first bishop of Münster, is said to have taken a break here on the evening before his death in Billerbeck and blessed the Münsterland.[1] The Dreilindenhöhe, with the three linden trees (Tilia europaea[2]) that give it its name, is an observation point on the slopes above the town of Coesfeld.

In a beautiful side valley located south of the Ludgerirast at an altitude of 125 m lies the Benedictine Abbey of Gerleve. According to legend, from the highest point of the mountain, St. Liudger is said to have blessed the diocese of Münster, which he had founded, one last time on the evening before his death. This is commemorated by a monument erected in 1934 by Brother Dominikus Zwernemann (1901–1983) from the Abbey of Gerleve.

Charly