[3][4] The old farmerships of Darum, Gretesch and Lüstringen – along with Icker, Vehrte, Powe and Haltern – originally belonged to the parish of Belm, which was founded in the 9th century.
In later years they developed into separate municipalities in the district of Osnabrück, before being incorporated into the city as part of a wider-ranging reform of local government in Lower Saxony, which came into effect on 1 July 1972.
[6] The entire site was levelled subsequently; today only a couple of corrugations around the area of the Schoeller paper mill give traces of its existence.
[8] The local Felix Schoeller paper mill has played a particularly important role in the economic development of Gretesch, whose commercial tax payments (up until its incorporation into Osnabrück) helped make the district into one of the most affluent places in Germany.
At its opening in September 1970 the sprinter Gert Metz ran 100 metres in exactly 10.0 seconds – setting a new European record and also the best time that year.