Herford

Herford (hĕrˈfôrt) [key], city (1994 pop. 65,680), North Rhine–Westphalia, NW Germany, on the Werre River. Its manufactures include cigars, textiles, chocolate, carpets, machinery, and metal products. The city is also a major producer of furniture in Germany. Herford developed around a 13th-century church (still standing) that formerly had been a Benedictine convent (founded in the 9th cent.). It was a member of the Hanseatic League and passed to Brandenburg in 1647. The contemporary art museum (2005) was designed by Frank Gehry.