DEUTSCHLAND	GERMANY
Bundesland: Niedersachsen	Lower Saxony
Landkreis: Osnabrück

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Bramsche is situated at an elevation of 49 m at the river Hase close to where it and the Mittellandkanal in the Osnabrück district of Lower Saxony.

The settlement seems to have been founded in the 8th/9th century and was first mentioned in a document of 1097. As it was located favourably at the crossroads of important trading routes it obtained some importance during the Middle Ages. The tradition of clothmaking goes back to those times; the guild of clothmakers was founded in 1586. Until the secularisation of 1802/03 Bramsche was part of the lands of the sovereign diocese of Osnabrück, which since 1648 was ruled alternatingly by a Catholic bishop and a Lutheran prince of the house of Braunschweig-Lüneburg. In 1803 it became part of the Electorate of Hannover, 1806/1807 to the Kingdom of Westphalia, 1810 to France, 1815 again to the now Kingdom of Hannover, and in 1866 with all of Hannover to Prussia. During the late 19th century Bramsche was one of the German centres of clothmaking. The modern municipality of Bramsche obtained its current boundaries in 1971/72 when several villages were incorporated into the town. Bramsche currently has a population of about 31,000 (2002).

Archeological excavations made since 1988 indicated that Bramsche – more precisely its borrough Kalkriese – might have been the site (or one of the sites) of the famous Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (Varus Battle) of AD 9. In this famous battle The Roman general Publius Quinctillius Varus lost three legions fighting against several Germanic tribes led by the leader of the Cherusci, Arminius. It was this battle that initiated the withdrawal of the Romans from the Germanic countries. The estimates of lives lost vary, but some speak of 20,000 to 25,000 or even more soldiers killed. Varus is said to have taken his own life. Upon hearing of the defeat, emperor Augustus is reported to have shouted, "Quinctilius Varus, give me back my legions!" The losses were certainly devastating and the Romans never again used the numbers of the annihilated legions (XVII, XVIII, and XIX). During the 19th century Arminius (wrongly transformed to Hermann) was made a celebrated national hero. A colossal monument was erected near Detmold in 1838–1875.

The picture on glass no. 1695 [left] shows the Lindenstraße ('Lime-Tree Street').

The picture on glass no. 2258 [right] shows the intersection of Neustadtstraße ('New Town Street') and Wilhelmstraße.