a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of Westphalia, 22 m. by rail N.W. of Dortmund on the railway to Munster. Pop. (1905) 44,396. In the neighbourhood are extensive coal-mines and brick-works, and the industries embrace the manufacture of linen, beer, spirits and tobacco.
The county of Recklinghausen belonged to the archbishopric of Cologne until 1803, when it passed to the duke of Arenberg. It was known as the Vest Recklinghausen. In 1810 it was divided by Napoleon between the grand duchy of Berg and France, but was, in 1815, restored to the duke of Arenberg as a fief under Prussian sovereignty.
See Ritz, Die iiltere Geschichte des Veste and der Stadt Recklinghausen (Erzen, 1904).