Osnabrück is situated on the intersection of two former trading routes. Nowadays the motorway and railway networks meet here. This has had a considerable influence on its development from a smaller agricultural settlement into the thriving industrial centre which it is today.
With approximately 164,000 inhabitants (as at 30/06/05), Osnabrück is the third largest city in Lower Saxony and the focal point of an economic region, which stretches to parts of its neighbouring state North Rhine-Westphalia and across to the Netherlands, and has around 1.2 million people. It has become an attractive location for industry, trade and services of all kinds.
Major companies such as Karmann (motor industry) and Kabelmetall (copper-works) account for more than half of the 20,000 jobs in the metalworks industry. The company Schoeller (paper industry) is another major employer, producing high quality photo paper for worldwide exportation. A great number of middle-sized companies are also located in Osnabrück, with an increasing proportion providing employment in the service sector – currently, 69% of all employees work in the service sector.

Osnabrück has 18,000 students enrolled at three universities and has become an important centre of education in Lower Saxony. This has been particularly significant in linking industry with science - the specialist research fields of biology and biophysics are among the best in the whole of Germany.

Osnabrück nestles between the northern part of the Teutoberger Forest and the Wiehen Hills and offers a wide variety of excursions for visitors. The zoo, for example, is located in woodland and is just one of many attractive trips on offer. You never need to travel far to reach the countryside or other nature reserves, such as Heger Wood, Rubbenbruch Lake, the Bürger Park, Nette Valley and Gartlage Wood - they all lie within the city boundaries.

One of the most exciting experiences that the Osnabrück region can provide you with is a visit to the Kalkriese Museum and Park, near Bramsche. For centuries, the site of the Varus Battle was suspected to have been in the Teutoburger Forest, but, after extensive archaeological research, it could eventually be pinpointed to the northern side of the Kalkriese hill. This is where the 24 hectare park and its impressive museum building are located. They effectively connect the past with the present, by offering on the one hand a combination of exhibitions of archaeological findings, and on the other hand by holding a wide array of cultural events, which attract people from all over the world to the site of the Varus Battle.

Osnabrück also has big plans for the future. The German Federal Garden Exhibition will take place in Osnabrück in 2015, on the land around the former quarry at Piesberg. The nearby Museum of Industrial Culture presents the history of Osnabrück as a mining town and visitors are able to step back in time and be taken 30 metres underground in a glass lift, like the miners once did.