Blomberg is a town in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with c. 15,100 inhabitants (2019). History City founding and life in the late Middle Ages Today's urban area was settled between the 6th and 8th centuries AD during the course of the old Saxon expansion. During this time, the region's villages ending in -trup emerged, such as Herrentrup, Istrup, Wellentrup, Brüntrup, Tintrup and Höntrup. The term -trup means -dorf (cf thorp) and was formed through metathesis over time. In the 11th century, the population grew significantly. Up until then, the farmers had worked with primitive agricultural methods that did not allow profitable cultivation of the soil. This situation changed with the introduction of the iron wheeled plough, the three-field system and the water mill in the High Middle Ages and led to more productive harvests that improved the food situation. This also made the Lippe region interesting for the ruling class. The new rulers were the Lords of Lippe and the Counts of Schwalenberg and Sternberg. It is believed that both shared Blomberg Castle, which initially only served as a fortress. Between 1231 and 1255 Blomberg was founded as a city by Bernhard III. The documents about it were lost in the course of the Soest feud, so that there is no exact date. However, there is a document from the year 1283, which shows that the city rights had existed "for a long time" at that time. Blomberg was apparently of particular importance to the Lippe sovereigns because the town was located at the crossroads of three important medieval trade routes. These long-distance routes were the Cologne Road, which led to Hameln via Soest, Horn and Blomberg , and the Frankfurt Road, which led via Kassel, Warburg, Steinheim, Blomberg and Rinteln to Bremen and finally the road from Osnabrück via Herford, Lemgo, Blomberg, Höxter and on to Thuringia. In the extensive forests, gangs of robbers also threatened the traffic of the time and the roads in the Blomberg area were secured by six watchtowers. The city was built according to the traditional three-street system, in which three parallel longitudinal streets meet at the ends in front of a city gate. The area of ​​the approximately 11.3 hectare city was planned for 1,600 inhabitants and only expanded after 1860, i.e. almost 600 years later, beyond its border to the east. Simon I (1275-1344) chose Blomberg as his residence