Every design for Münster

Ever tried counting the bicycles parked outside a lecture hall in Münster? You would give up quickly. This is the city Germans call their bicycle capital, a university town with tens of thousands of students and a skyline of church spires rather than tower blocks. It is also the historic capital of Westphalia, a seat of bishops and high courts, and a place where brick houses turn their gables to the street.

St. Lamberti tells the darker side of the story: the metal baskets in which the bodies of the Anabaptist rebels were displayed in 1535 still hang from its tower. A short way off stand the St.-Paulus-Dom, seat of a bishopric founded in 799, the Historisches Rathaus and the Erbdrostenhof. In 1648 Münster shared with Osnabrück the signing of the Peace of Westphalia, which ended the Thirty Years' War.

The picture that stays is simple: brick gables, a church spire, and a long row of bikes leaning against the railings.