Gütersloh (district)

Gütersloh () is a Kreis (district) in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

 History 
Kreis Gütersloh was made in 1973 when all of the districts in North Rhine-Westphalia, where changed. The old districts of Halle and Wiedenbrück were joined, and parts of the districts of Bielefeld, Paderborn, Beckum and Warendorf were added to the new district.

 Coat of arms 
100px|Coat of armsThe coat of arms was adopted with the creation of the district in 1973 by joining symbols from the arms of the old districts Halle and Rheda-Wiedenbrück. The three elements are from the medieval counties in the area now covered by the district.
The golden eagle in the bottom of the coat comes from the duchy of Rietberg. The wheel in the middle comes from the sign of the city of Osnabrück, which owned the Amt Reckenberg. The chevrons in the top part are the symbol of the duchy of Ravensberg.

Towns and municipalities
TownsMunicipalities Borgholzhausen
 Gütersloh
 Halle(Westf.)
 Harsewinkel
 Rheda-Wiedenbrück
 Rietberg
 Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock
 Versmold
 Werther (Westf.) Herzebrock-Clarholz
 Langenberg
 Steinhagen
 Verl

Economy
Some important companies are located in the district of Gütersloh:
 Beckhoff Automation Technology
 Bertelsmann Media
 Claas Combine harvesters
 Gerry Weber Fashion
 Miele Consumer electronic goods
 Nobilia International Kitchens
 Storck Candies
 Telefonica Internet Services

Other websites

 Official website (German)