Paderborn, city, North Rhine–Westphalia Land (state), central Germany. It lies on the Pader River, a small affluent of the Lippe formed from rain seepage on the slope of the Egge Mountains (Eggegebirge) and emerging from below the cathedral in about 200 springs, about 60 miles (100 km) east-northeast of Dortmund. Paderborn was the birthplace of the Holy Roman Empire when Charlemagne met Pope Leo III there in 799 to discuss the founding of a German nation. Excavation of Charlemagne’s palace there began in 1964 and has uncovered many artifacts. Since 805 Paderborn has been the seat of a bishopric, and it joined the Hanseatic League in the 13th century. It was ruled by prince-bishops from about 1100 until 1802, when it passed to Prussia under an agreement with France.
A road and rail junction and cultural centre, Paderborn is the marketing and export centre for the surrounding agricultural region; Paderborn bread, cattle, and beer are well known. The city is also a centre of heavy industry and of the manufacture of furniture, motor-vehicle parts, machinery, and metal products. Massive destruction in World War II greatly altered the city’s appearance, but some old buildings survived, and many have been restored. Particularly notable are the three-gabled Renaissance town hall (1613–16), the Baroque Franciscan church (1681), with a fine facade by Antonio Petrini, and the cathedral (11th–13th century), with a typical Westphalian tower and a monumental carved portal. Other buildings include several 11th–13th-century churches, the classical Gymnasium (high school; 1612), the philosophy and theology academy, and the Jesuit church (1682–86). The diocesan museum contains the Madonna of Bishop Imad, an important 11th-century sculpture. Pop. (2011) 142,365.