Vierländereck

In earlier times, four independent states came together here.
The county of Ravensberg (Bielefeld-Sennestadt), the principality of Lippe (Oerlinghausen-Lipperreihe), the county of Rietberg (Schloß Holte) and the prince-bishopric of Paderborn (Stukenbrock).

Germany looked like a patchwork quilt in the 17th and 18th centuries. Countless small states and just as many rulers
shaped our country. Princes, counts and ecclesiastical rulers competed with each other through customs duties, their own military,
different laws and even their own currency.

Flourishing smuggling
In the first half of the 19th century,
a flourishing smuggling trade in colonial goods
(e.g. sugar from sugar cane, coffee, tobacco) developed. (e.g. sugar from sugar cane, coffee, tobacco), which came from
the seaport of Bremen on ships up the Weser and into the country via the
Lippe Weser port of Erder and were then sold in
Prussia at higher prices.
There was even a smuggling route in Stukenbrock, which
was called the sugar route. Various smuggling routes also led from the Bartholdskrug or the Jakobskrug in the
"Lippische Reihe" to Prussia by night and fog. Only
when the Principality of Lippe joined the German Customs Union
in 1842 did the smuggling stop.