Rebuild the city!

The war was over. But what to do with the city, of which major parts were destroyed? No brick stood at the right place, it was difficult to locate streets and squares under the huge amounts of debris. The city council decided to build a modern-faced city with large roads, old elements that survived should be modernised and integrated into the townscape. The industry was restored remarkably fast: The old Bielefeld merchant families were skilled enough to get most of their factories up and running in the late 1940s, extensively enough to amaze industrialists from other cities. The tramway was operational on June 30, 1945, only single-tracked, not on the whole network, and at first every 15 minutes. First newspapers were sold in 1946.