Bocholt in the Münsterland | Info on living, living, working in Bocholt
Bocholt in the Münsterland
© Münsterland e.V./Maren Kuiter
A city with tradition and joie de vivre
Bocholt

Welcome to Bocholt!

With a population of around 71,000, Bocholt is not only the largest city in the Borken district, but also the third largest city in the Münsterland region (after Münster and Rheine). In the eleven districts you can enjoy THE GOOD LIFE between urban leisure and cultural activities and green surroundings.

Between Münsterland, the Ruhr region, the Lower Rhine and in the direct neighbourhood of the Netherlands

Bocholt is located in the Borken district and has a unique location at the interface of Münsterland, the Ruhr region and the Lower Rhine. It lies to the west of Münster and in close proximity to the Netherlands. The town offers many opportunities: The popular shopping cities of Enschede and Venlo can be reached by car in around an hour, for example, while Münster, Düsseldorf and the airports of Münster/Osnabrück (FMO) or Weeze are also each around an hour's drive away. The district town of Borken is half an hour's drive away.

A regional express train runs from Bocholt station in the direction of the Rhineland via Wesel. There you can also change trains to the Netherlands.

Tip: The Münsterland is a cycling region! 4500 kilometres of cycle paths offer you almost unlimited possibilities in the city and in the countryside. Bocholt is characterised by cycling like almost no other medium-sized town, so you can easily commute to work by bike, your children can do their journeys by bike or you can go on tours with friends and family.

Living in Bocholt

Bocholt has eleven districts: Barlo, Biemenhorst, Bocholt (centre), Hemden, Holtwick, Liedern, Lowick, Mussum, Spork, Stenern and Suderwick. The ten incorporated districts around the city centre are each home to between just under 1,000 and just over 5,000 of the total population of 71,000.

On a walk through Bocholt's old town centre, you can still see some traces of the town's 800-year history, such as the historic town hall on the market square. Residential and industrial areas surround this city centre with its many shops, cafés and restaurants. To the south-east of the old town centre is the Bocholter Aasee lake with many leisure facilities and a beach café. The Bocholter Aa meanders as a river through the middle of Bocholt city centre - there are several places on the banks where you can relax and unwind.

Although rental and purchase prices are following the general property trend overall, there are still numerous niches to be discovered in Münsterland for building, buying or renting. Here you can find the average purchase and rental prices for a house or flat in the rural area of Münsterland.

Would you like to rent a flat or buy or build a house in Bocholt? On the city's website you will find the current rent index and addresses of the housing associations as well as all information about planning and building. You can also view information on sales and price trends on the property market in the Borken district in the property market report.

Shopping in Bocholt

You can buy fresh food in Bocholt not only in the large supermarkets, but also at the market several times a week. On Thursdays, you can even buy fruit, vegetables and other products from the region at the evening market after work. If you need a change, you can visit the weekly market in Winterswijk in the Netherlands just over the border.

If you want to shop for clothes, shoes, books, jewellery and sports accessories, you will not only find what you are looking for in Bocholt city centre with its many owner-managed specialist retailers, but you can also browse through numerous stores in the Shopping Arkaden and the Neutor-Center. Want even more choice? The Designer Outlet Ochtrup is just under an hour's drive away, while Roermond is around an hour and a half away.

Our tip for cyclists: In the cycling town of Bocholt, there are many specialist bike shops with a large selection of bikes, e-bikes and accessories.

Childcare and schools in Bocholt

Children up to the age of six are well looked after in Bocholt in around 40 daycare centres and kindergartens run by various providers. In the Kitaportal Bocholt you will find an overview of all facilities and can use a detailed form to search directly for the facilities that best suit your child and you.

The educational programme in Bocholt offers all options - from the Hauptschule or Realschule certificate to the Abitur and Bachelor's or Master's degree:

  • Ten primary schools
  • Two lower secondary schools
  • Two secondary modern schools
  • One comprehensive school
  • Four grammar schools
  • One further education college (evening secondary school and evening grammar school)
  • Three vocational colleges
  • Two special schools (specialising in intellectual development and learning)
  • One university of applied sciences
Did you know...?!

Science and technology-loving children and young people can research and learn, build and tinker at the JUNGEN UNI in Bocholt. Workshops, seminars and lectures in the MINT subjects (mathematics, information technology, natural sciences, technology) are offered for young people between the ages of six and 18.

Working in Bocholt

Owner-managed medium-sized companies, well-known corporations and the largest industrial park in North Rhine-Westphalia: Bocholt is a diverse and constantly changing business location. Major employers include Siemens AG and its subsidiaries Flender and Gigaset Communications as well as Grunewald, Olbrich and TIS. The 30-hectare Bocholt Industrial Park is home to around 380 companies with more than 7,200 employees.

Bocholt is also a university centre, as the Bocholt campus of the Westphalian University of Applied Sciences attracts students from all over Germany and is an attractive employer. There is a wide range of courses on offer, which are primarily technical, economic and scientific in nature.

Top employer in Münsterland

Top employer in Münsterland Top employer in Münsterland
© Hengst SE

Our tips: Leisure, Excursions, Culture in Bocholt

  • Cycle tour on the 100 Castles Route or the Flamingo Route. (You read that right - flamingos in Münsterland!)
  • Hiking in the Hohe Mark Nature Park
  • Swimming in the Bahia fun and leisure pool
  • Numerous sports clubs, such as sports in the Stadtwaldsportpark or the TuB sports club
  • Sailing or surfing on the Bocholter Aasee lake
  • Cinema, bowling centre, go-kart track and bouldering hall
  • Riding at the riding club
  • Excursion to the Wasserburg Anholt Golf Club
  • Theatre, music and cabaret in the municipal theatre or in the Alte Molkerei
  • Exhibitions at Kunsthaus Bocholt
  • Wine festival in July
  • Funfair in October
  • City trip to Münster, Enschede or Venlo
  • Bocholt for beginners? There's plenty of information for newcomers and the curious here.

Listen in! Podcast "So oder so" | The textile factory in Bocholt

"SO OR SO - your Münsterland". This podcast from Germany's most beautiful region takes you on an acoustic discovery tour of the Bocholt textile factory. Like no other museum, it tells the textile history of Münsterland. Let Münsterland reporter Dennis Burk take you on an immersion into the industrial culture of times gone by. Varied exhibitions can also be visited there. Curious? Take nine minutes and listen in:

Curious? Your free time in Bocholt

Bocholt in the Münsterland Bocholt in the Münsterland
© Münsterland e.V./Sebastian Lehrke