Oerlinghausen (German pronunciation: [ˈœʁlɪŋhaʊzən] ^ⓘ; Low German: Ankhiusen) is a city in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany located between Bielefeld and Detmold in the Teutoburg Forest. At the end of February 2023, it had 17,314 inhabitants.^[3]

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Oerlinghausen
Town
A view of Oerlinghausen
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Oerlinghausen within Lippe district
Oerlinghausen Show map of Germany Oerlinghausen Show map of North Rhine-Westphalia
Coordinates: 51°58′00″N 08°40′00″E
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Detmold
District	Lippe
Government
• Mayor (2020–25)	Dirk Becker[1] (SPD)
Area
• Total	32.69 km2 (12.62 sq mi)
Elevation	214 m (702 ft)
Population  (2022-12-31)[2]
• Total	17,238
• Density	530/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	33813
Dialling codes	05202
Vehicle registration	LIP
Website	oerlinghausen.de

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Geographically, Oerlinghausen is situated on top of the Teutoburger Forest hills. Oerlinghausen's highest point is the Tönsberg with 334 meters. The flatlands of northern Germany start some 40 km north of Oerlinghausen. There are hiking routes along the hill chain which stretches 80 km in east-west direction. To the south of the hills are large sand areas originating from melting glaciers during past ice ages. Although not high, the hills are steep in many places and almost completely covered by forest.

First mentioned in documents in 1036, the town became a city in 1926 by authority of the Land of Lippe. In 1969 the city was expanded with the addition of Helpup, Währentrup and Lipperreihe as part of the "Gebietsreform" movement.

Oerlinghausen is home to an airfield which is one of Europe's largest gliding centres as well as the well known Archäologisches Freilichtmuseum Oerlinghausen (archaeological open-air museum) featuring reconstructions of a variety of dwellings spanning from 10,000 BC to 1000 AD.

The city has also been home to an unusual number of well-known sociologists. Marianne Weber (born Schnitger), who was born in Oerlinghausen and married Max Weber here in 1893, was a well-respected author herself. Niklas Luhmann and Richard Grathoff, two of the key sociologists who made the Bielefeld University one of the premier institutions for sociology in Europe, have also lived in Oerlinghausen for extended time periods.

• Marianne Weber (born Schnitger) (1870–1954), lawyer, sociologist and legal historian
• Friedrich Bödeker (1867–1937), craftsman and cacti explorer
• Berthold Müller-Oerlinghausen (1893–1979), sculptor
• Andreas Ortmann (born 1953), economist