Wettringen is a village and a municipality in the district of Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

A historical document says that in 838 Kaiser Louis the Pious donated the church of "Wateringas" to the nun monastery of Herford.

In 1590, during the Dutch Revolt, Spanish Troops plundered Wettringen multiple times.

In 1622, during the Thirty Years' War Wettringen was the victim of plunder and pillage again.

It was renamed to "Max-Clemens Canal" after the prince-bishops Maximilian Frederick of Königsegg-Rothenfels and Clemens August of Bavaria.

The original plan was a connection between Münster and the Dutch Town of Zwolle, but the last segment was never completed.