The very important linen industry of Bielefeld, Herford, Minden and Warendorf has flourished in this region since the 14th century.
Bielefeld is the centre of the Westphalian linen industry.
Bielefeld is mentioned as early as the 9th century, as Belanvelde, but its first recorded mention as a town is in 1233.
The population is thickest in upper Silesia around Beuthen (coal-fields), around Ratibor, Neisse and Waldenburg (coal-fields), around Zittau (kingdom of Saxony), in the Elbe valley around Dresden, in the districts of Zwickau and Leipzig as far as the Saale, on the northern slopes of the Harz and around Bielefeld in Westphalia.
Although linen was formerly one of her most important articles of manufacture, Germany is now left far behind in this industry by Great Britain, France and Austria-Hungary, This branch of textile manufacture has its principal centres in Silesia, Westphalia, Saxony and Wurttemberg, while Hirschberg in Silesia, Bielefeld in Westphalia and Zittau in Saxony are noted for the excellence of theirproductions.