ARNSBERG  , a

town of Germany, in the Prussian province of Westphalia, romantically situated on an eminence almost surrounded by the river Ruhr, 44 M . S.E. of Minster and 58 m . E.N.E. of Disseldorf by rail . Pop . (moo) 849o . It is the seat of the provincial authorities, and has three churches, a court of appeal, a Roman Catholic gymnasium, which was formerly the Benedictine abbey of Weddinghausen, a library, a normal school and a chamber of commerce . Weaving, brewing and distilling are carried on, and there are manufactories of white lead, shot and paper, works for the production of railway plant, and saw-mills . Near the town are the ruins of the castle of the counts of Arnsberg, the last of whom, Gottfried, sold his count-ship, in 1368, to the archbishop of Cologne . The countship was incorporated by the archbishops in their duchy of Westphalia, which in 1802 was assigned to Hesse-Darmstadt and in x815 to Prussia . The town, which had received its first charter in 1237 and later joined the Hanseatic League, became the capital of the duchy .