Bocholt is a town of 71,000 people (2019) in Münsterland in Germany, about 4 km from the Dutch border.
Bocholt is a manufacturing town. It was centred on the textile industry for most of the 19th and 20th centuries. The importance of the textile industry has greatly declined. The major employers today in Bocholt are Gigaset (Communications) and Mechanical Drives (Siemens), a leading manufacturer of transmissions, especially for wind energy plants. Most of Bocholt's industries are smaller and manufacture highly specialized products.
The climate in the region of Bocholt and West Münsterland is temperate with distinct maritime influences, with very mild winters in comparison to other German regions because of the proximity to the ocean and the low elevation. Summers are moderately warm. The average temperature in January is 2.7 °C and in July 18.4 °C.
Via Weeze Airport (IATA: NRN, approx. 45 km away) or Düsseldorf Airport (IATA: DUS, approx. 85 km away).
Can be reached from Bocholt train station with the regional train RB 32"Der Bocholter" (Wesel - Bocholt), which runs every hour. In Wesel connection to the Rheinschiene trains, for example the Rheinexpress RE 5.
Bocholt is the last stop on a 25-minute, 2-way-1-track train route starting in Wesel travelling north to Bocholt. From Wesel you can transfer from trains that travel north from Düsseldorf Airport, Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof or southeast from Emmerich am Rhein or Arnhem in the Netherlands. In 2021 a new railway line between Bocholt and Düsseldorf main station is to open.
The city can be reached from Münster:
From the Ruhr area via the motorway A3 (Holland line), from AS5 Hamminkeln via the B473.
From Münster over the B67.
From Arnhem (Netherlands) via the A3, depart AS4 Rees.
Cyclists on the 100-Schlösser-Route route come through Bocholt.
There is a city bus network with 12 bus routes that meet every half hour at the bus meeting point (Europaplatz) as a rendezvous. (Single ticket €2.00), information and tickets (multi-trip and group tickets) in the StadtBus-Center at the bus meeting point or on the bus. Shared call taxis (AST) operate in the evenings and outside of business hours. Registration min. 30 minutes before the journey via tel. 0800-2191920.
The parking possibilities are limited, there are some parking garages in the city centre, in some cases shops replace part of the parking costs. Particular caution is required in areas reserved for residents only. Parking violations are particularly expensive there.
Bocholt is a designated bicycle city, and almost every citizen has one or more bikes, the bicycle network is vast and convenient. In the summer, foreign motorists need to take care because of the popularity of cycling in the city, and even in winter, many people travel only by bike.
The city was almost eighty percent destroyed at the end of World War II, so there are relatively few historical buildings. The reconstruction was carried out on the original plans.
In summer there are public city tours from the market square, mostly on Saturdays from 10:00 (appointments at the tourist information office).
Bocholt is also a regional centre for shopping in the West-Münsterland area and draws consumers from the neighbouring rural and small town areas of the Netherlands. The town features an attractive old town shopping area as well as a popular new shopping mall.
2nd-order administrative division
Primary administrative division