Bodelschwingh Kirmes

Bodelschwingh – a village within the city

Bodelschwingh is a northern district of Dortmund in the Mengede borough, on the border with Castrop-Rauxel and Waltrop. The Bodelschwingh moated castle – owned by the noble family of the same name since the 13th century – shapes the local scenery. Around it: typical Westphalian farmhouses, paddocks, a village church, a few shops on the market square. Bodelschwingh feels like a village in Münsterland, even though it belongs to the city of Dortmund.

The Kirmes as a village highlight

The Bodelschwingh Kirmes has been taking place on the market square on the first weekend of July for decades – a date so established that many former Bodelschwingh residents travel back especially for it. The fairground is manageable (comparable to a medium-sized village Kirmes), but fully equipped: rides like bumper cars, break dancers, and twisters, children's carousels for the youngest, game stalls (shooting gallery, darts, sweets), food stalls with bratwurst, fries, potato pancakes, and sweets.

Four days of festive rhythm

Friday: Opening in the afternoon with a speech by the mayor and tapping of the first keg, evening first festive evenings with local bands. Saturday: full festival operation, live music and beer tent atmosphere in the evening. Sunday: Family day with a special children's program and extended opening hours for the rides. Monday: Family day with a 2-for-1 offer on the rides, the traditional Monday Market with flea market and regional vendors on the market square, and from dusk onwards the closing fireworks.

Local tradition instead of mass event

What distinguishes the Bodelschwingh Kirmes from the big ones of its kind: It's small. Not 4 million visitors like at Crange (Herne) or Rheinkirmes (Düsseldorf), but a manageable village festival with a regular audience, local clubs, showmen from the region, and an atmosphere more reminiscent of a Kirmes in Münsterland than the large Ruhr area Kirmes events. It is precisely this down-to-earthness that constitutes the charm of the event.

Bodelschwingh and its surroundings

Those who travel for the Kirmes can also visit the Bodelschwingh moated castle (castle park is publicly accessible), take a stroll through the old farmhouses and paddocks, or hike to the nearby LWL Industrial Museum Zeche Westhausen or the Datteln-Hamm Canal.