OstWestfalenLippe (OWL) is congruent with North Rhine-Westphalia's northeastern administrative district of Detmold. Over two million people live in the six districts of Gütersloh, Herford, Höxter, Lippe, Minden-Lübbecke and Paderborn as well as the independent city of Bielefeld.
The economic and cultural area around the cities of Bielefeld and Paderborn is characterized by a strong economy and an extremely attractive cultural landscape. A balanced mix of industries is characterized by mechanical engineering, the furniture industry, metal processing and the electrical industry, the food industry, the textile and clothing industry, the healthcare industry and the plastics processing industry. Over a million employees work in around 150,000 companies. Companies like Bertelsmann, Dr. Oetker, Melitta, Miele, Claas, Schüco, Gerry Weber and Wincor Nixdorf are firmly rooted here.
Universities and technical colleges provide important impetus for research and development in the region. Around 65,000 young people from all disciplines study at 13 universities in OWL.
Numerous companies in the region have joined forces in industry initiatives. With the technology network it's OWL - Intelligent Technical Systems OstWestfalenLippe, a leading-edge cluster recognized by the federal government, the region is positioning itself nationwide as a top implementer for Industry 4.0 and has proven expertise in the field of intelligent technical systems.
Around the Teutoburg Forest, OstWestfalenLippe presents itself as an attractive holiday and leisure region. The 'Healing Garden of Germany' is the right destination for more health and well-being.
OstWestfalenLippe GmbH is the regional development and regional marketing company for OWL and is one of the pioneers of regional funding initiatives. As an association of the districts and the independent city as well as business and science in OWL, it has been working for over 20 years to ensure the region's competitiveness in international location competition and to make a contribution to securing the future of the economic and cultural area. The diverse areas of work at OWL GmbH include regional marketing, regional development, the OWL cultural office, the Teutoburg Forest Tourism, the OWL regional agency and the OWL competence center for women and careers.
In OWL, business and science join forces with politics and administration with the aim of achieving more together. In keeping with the slogan “One Region. A word."
