Industrial city in Lower Saxony, West
Germany; 115 km/71 mi W of Hanover;
population (1988) 154,000. Industries include
engineering, iron, steel, textiles, clothing,
paper, and food processing. Before World War
II, Osnabruck contained fine examples of
Gothic and Renaissance architecture.
Osnabruck bishopric was founded by
Charlemagne 783. The Treaty of Westphalia was
signed at Osnabruck and Munster 1648, ending
the Thirty Years' War. A type of rough
fabric, osnaburg, was originally made here.