Offenburg ("open borough" - coat of arms showing open gates; Low Alemmanic : Offäburg ) is a city in the state of Baden-Württemberg , in south-western Germany . With nearly 60,000 inhabitants (2019), it is the largest city and the administrative capital of the Ortenaukreis .
114-509: In recent times the remains of Roman settlements have been found within the city's territory. Offenburg was first mentioned in historical documents dating back to 1148. Offenburg had already been declared a Free Imperial City by 1240. In September 1689, the city - with the exception of two buildings - was totally destroyed by the French during the Nine Years War . Due to Napoleon 's dissolution of
228-495: A considerable time, even though no formal right to independence existed. These cities were typically located in small territories where the ruler was weak. They were the exception among the multitude of territorial towns and cities. Cities of both latter categories normally had representation in territorial diets , but not in the Imperial Diet. Free imperial cities were not officially admitted as individual Imperial Estates to
342-506: A few decades of regulated forestry had ensured the regrowth of the raw material wood and when the forest-destroying potash extraction had become unnecessary due to the new glass flux soda, some glass huts ( Glashütten ) revived. Some glassblowing factories still testify to this today, for example in Höllental , near Todtnau and in Wolfach . Black Forest ham originated from this region, as did
456-706: A modified tripartite division, which combined natural and cultural regional approaches and was widely used. His Central Black Forest is bounded in the north by the watershed between the Acher and Rench and subsequently between the Murg and Kinzig or Forbach and Kinzig, in the south by the Bonndorf Graben zone, which restricts the Black Forest in the east as does the Freudenstadt Graben further north by its transition into
570-638: A number of granitic bodies during the Carboniferous period. Among the bigger ones are the Triberg Granite and the Forbach Granite , the youngest is the Bärhalde Granite. In the south lies the zone of Badenweiler-Lenzkirch, in which Palaeozoic rocks have been preserved (volcanite and sedimentary rocks), which are interpreted as the intercalated remains of a microcontinental collision. Still further in
684-674: A prince-bishop and, likewise, progressively gained independence from that lord. In a few cases, such as in Cologne, the former ecclesiastical lord continued to claim the right to exercise some residual feudal privileges over the Free City, a claim that gave rise to constant litigation almost until the end of the Empire. Over time, the difference between Imperial Cities and Free Cities became increasingly blurred, so that they became collectively known as "Free Imperial Cities", or "Free and Imperial Cities", and by
798-448: A publicly accessible airfield in the 1990s, the 910 metre asphalt runway (02-20) is only available to resident aeroclubs and to aircraft that have obtained prior permission from the operator. Airports in the vicinity are: Flughafen Lahr in Lahr (EDTL) and, with scheduled traffic, Strasbourg-Entzheim ( LFST ) and Baden-Söllingen ( EDSB ). Both, Lahr and Baden-Söllingen had formerly been used by
912-808: A result of its vast distance from oceans and seas. Winters are cool, sometimes with night frosts. Precipitation mostly falls in summer months. Offenburg has a rich trade and manufacturing sector and is home to a number of well-known brands. Important manufacturing companies based at Offenburg include tesa-Werke Offenburg GmbH (adhesive tapes), Vivil (humbugs and sweets), MEIKO Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG (professional dishwashing systems, cleaning and disinfection technology), Hansgrohe SE (sanitary fittings) and HOBART GmbH (professional kitchen equipment). Besides, there are many other small and medium-sized companies that produce highly specialized top-of-the-line products in their appropriate sector of business. The most important trading company in terms of employees (1,850)
1026-507: A result of the anthropogenic elevation of the low-side lip of the cirque, such as the Mummelsee , Wildsee , Schurmsee , Glaswaldsee , Buhlbachsee , Nonnenmattweiher , and Feldsee . The Titisee formed as glacial lake behind a glacial moraine . The Black Forest is mainly rural, with many scattered villages and a few large towns. Tradition and custom are celebrated in many places in the form of annual festivities. The main dialect spoken in
1140-425: A say in the government of the city, were the citizens or burghers, the smaller, privileged section of the city's permanent population whose number varied according to the rule of citizenship of each city. There were exceptions, such as Nuremberg , where the patriciate ruled alone. To the common town dweller – whether he lived in a prestigious Free Imperial City like Frankfurt, Augsburg or Nuremberg, or in
1254-484: A secular prince ( duke ( Herzog ), margrave , count ( Graf ), etc.). The evolution of some German cities into self-ruling constitutional entities of the Empire was slower than that of the secular and ecclesiastical princes. In the course of the 13th and 14th centuries, some cities were promoted by the emperor to the status of Imperial Cities ( Reichsstädte ; Urbes imperiales ), essentially for fiscal reasons. Those cities, which had been founded by
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#17330853070311368-438: A small market town such as there were hundreds throughout Germany – attaining burgher status ( Bürgerrecht ) could be his greatest aim in life. The burgher status was usually an inherited privilege renewed pro-forma in each generation of the family concerned but it could also be purchased. At times, the sale of burgher status could be a significant item of town income as fiscal records show. The Bürgerrecht
1482-594: A state after the war due to its special position in divided post-war Germany. Regensburg was, apart from hosting the Imperial Diet , a most peculiar city: an officially Lutheran city that was the seat of the Catholic prince-bishopric of Regensburg, its prince-bishop and cathedral chapter. The Imperial City also housed three Imperial abbeys: St. Emmeram , Niedermünster and Obermünster . They were five immediate entities fully independent of each other existing in
1596-456: Is EDEKA Handelsgesellschaft Südwest mbH , the largest German supermarket corporation which has a large regional production, storage and distribution centre in Offenburg. Printus GmbH with approx. 1,600 employees is a stationary wholesaling company. Several subsidiaries or affiliated companies of Markant AG (food and nonfood trade) are based in Offenburg with approx. 600 staff. Hubert Burda Media
1710-618: Is a permanent feature of Alemannic Week, held annually in the Black Forest at the end of September. There are two nature parks and one national park named after the Black Forest that cover the region: the Southern Black Forest Nature Park , the Central/North Black Forest and the Black Forest National Park . The difference between a nature park and a national park is that a nature park's aim
1824-518: Is a traditional cottage industry in the region, and carved ornaments now are produced in substantial numbers as souvenirs for tourists. Cuckoo clocks are a popular example. Glassblowing is another notable craft of the Black Forest region. At the beginning of the 15th century, the art of glassmaking took hold in the Bavarian-Bohemian border mountains, especially since the necessary raw materials such as quartz and wood were abundant here. With
1938-616: Is covered in the east and northeast by Bunter Sandstone slabs, the so-called platforms. On the western edge a descending, step-fault -like, foothill zone borders the Upper Rhine Graben consisting of rocks of the Triassic and Jurassic periods. The dominant rocks of the basement are gneiss (ortho- and paragneisses, in the south also migmatites and diatexites, for example on the Schauinsland and Kandel). These gneisses were penetrated by
2052-656: Is divided into six so-called major units (level 4 landscapes). This division was refined and modified in several successor publications (1:200,000 individual map sheets) up to 1967, each covering individual sections of the map. The mountain range was also divided into three regions. The northern boundary of the Central Black Forest in this classification runs south of the Rench Valley and the Kniebis to near Freudenstadt. Its southern boundary varied with each edition. In 1998,
2166-578: Is known in the Black Forest region, occurs in the time leading up to Lent . On Fasnetmendig , or the Monday before Ash Wednesday , crowds of people line the streets, wearing wooden, mostly hand-carved masks. One prominent style of mask is called the Black Forest Style, originating from the Black Forest Region. The Black Forest is home to an unusual tarot card game called Cego , that is part of
2280-427: Is now Switzerland with cities like Bern, Zürich and Luzern, but also cities like Ulm, Nuremberg and Hamburg in what is now Germany possessed substantial hinterlands or fiefs that comprised dozens of villages and thousands of subject peasants who did not enjoy the same rights as the urban population. At the opposite end, the authority of Cologne, Aachen, Worms, Goslar, Wetzlar, Augsburg and Regensburg barely extended beyond
2394-513: Is one of Germany's largest publishing companies. Together with the affiliated Burda printing works it still employs 1,600 people in Offenburg. Although the prominent position with regard to the number of employees has diminished during the last decades with the emerging of further economic actors in town, the expansion of Franz Burda's printing business after World War II as well as the growth and success of his wife Aenne Burda's Burda Style (formerly: Burda Moden ) have been decisive in developing
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#17330853070312508-553: Is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres (4,898 ft) above sea level . Roughly oblong in shape, with a length of 160 kilometres (100 miles) and breadth of up to 50 km (30 mi), it has an area of about 6,009 km (2,320 sq mi). Historically, the area was known for forestry and the mining of ore deposits, but tourism has now become the primary industry, accounting for around 300,000 jobs. There are several ruined military fortifications dating back to
2622-432: Is to strive for environmentally sustainable land use , to preserve the countryside as a cultural landscape, to market local produce more effectively, to make the area more suitable for sustainable tourism and to practice environmental education . A national park's aims are to protect the country's natural heritage, to practice environmental education, to serve purposes of scientific environmental observation and to prevent
2736-498: The 15th century to denote a self-ruling city that had a certain amount of autonomy and was represented in the Imperial Diet . An imperial city held the status of imperial immediacy , and was subordinate only to the Holy Roman Emperor , as opposed to a territorial city or town ( Landstadt ), which was subordinate to a territorial prince – be it an ecclesiastical lord ( prince-bishop , prince-abbot ), or
2850-559: The Austro-Prussian War of 1866. The three other Free Cities became constituent states of the new German Empire in 1871 and consequently were no longer fully sovereign as they lost control over defence, foreign affairs and a few other fields. They retained that status in the Weimar Republic and into Nazi Germany , although under Hitler it became purely notional. Due to Hitler's distaste for Lübeck and its liberal tradition,
2964-923: The Belchen (1,414 m). In general the mountains of the Southern or High Black Forest are higher than those in the Northern Black Forest. The highest Black Forest peak north of the Freiburg–Höllental–Neustadt line is the Kandel (1,241.4 m). Like the highest point of the Northern Black Forest, the Hornisgrinde (1,163 m), or the Southern Black Forest lookout mountains, the Schauinsland (1,284.4 m) and Blauen (1,164.7 m ) it lies near
3078-558: The Black Forest gâteau , which is also known as "Black Forest Cherry Cake" or "Black Forest Cake" and is made with chocolate cake, cream, sour cherries and Kirsch . The Black Forest variety of Flammekueche is a Baden specialty made with ham, cheese and cream. Pfannkuchen , a crêpe or crêpe-like ( Eierkuchen or Palatschinken ) pastry, is also common. The Black Forest is known for its long tradition in gourmet cuisine. No fewer than 17 Michelin starred restaurants are located in
3192-704: The Black Sea drainage basin (drained by the Danube). The longest Black Forest rivers are (length includes stretches outside the Black Forest): Important lakes of natural, glacial origin in the Black Forest include the Titisee , the Mummelsee and the Feldsee . Especially in the Northern Black Forest are a number of other, smaller tarns . Numerous reservoirs like the – formerly natural but much smaller – Schluchsee with
3306-569: The Canadian Forces in Europe and became available for civil use after the end of the Cold War . The combination of an abundance of three well-equipped airports close by, the ever-growing noise sensitivity of residents as well as the necessity for commercial development areas has in 2012 revived discussions to shut down the aerodrome completely. Apart from the primary and secondary schools that are within
3420-668: The Central/North Black Forest Nature Park between the cities of Freudenstadt and Baden-Baden and covers an area of 10,062 ha. Its motto is "Natur Natur sein lassen" (let nature be nature). In addition to the characteristic range of fauna found in Central European forests, the following less common animals may be observed in the Black Forest: The mountain range has lower temperatures and higher rainfall than its surrounding countryside. The highlands of
3534-570: The French Zone of Occupation until the creation of the Federal Republic of Germany in May 1949. Since the creation of the Federal Republic, Offenburg has continually developed in size, inhabitants and prosperity. Between 1971 and 1975 eleven adjacent villages were incorporated into the commune of Offenburg and are now an integral part of the city. Offenburg is located approximately 15 km east of
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3648-584: The Gutach . A pragmatic division, which is oriented not just on natural and cultural regions, uses the most important transverse valleys. Based on that, the Central Black Forest is bounded by the Kinzig in the north and the line from Dreisam to Gutach in the south, corresponding to the Bonndorf Graben zone and the course of the present day B 31 . In 1959, Rudolf Metz combined the earlier divisions and proposed
3762-671: The Holy Roman Empire in 1803 and subsequent reorganization of the German states, Offenburg lost its status as a Free Imperial City and fell under the rule of the Grand Duchy of Baden . During the outbreak of the Revolutions of 1848 , the " Offenburger Programm " which consisted of thirteen demands "in the name of the people of Baden", was put forward at the Salmen Inn on 12 September 1847. This
3876-557: The Imperial Diet until 1489, and even then their votes were usually considered only advisory ( votum consultativum ) compared to the benches of the electors and princes. The cities divided themselves into two groups, or benches, in the Imperial Diet, the Rhenish and the Swabian benches. These same cities were among the 85 free imperial cities listed on the Reichsmatrikel of 1521,
3990-639: The Kraichgau in the north. In the west it is bounded by the Upper Rhine Plain (which, from a natural region perspective, also includes the low chain of foothills); in the east it transitions to the Gäu , Baar and hill country west of the Klettgau . From north to south, the Black Forest extends for over 160 km (100 mi), attaining a width of up to 50 km (30 mi) in the south and 30 km (20 mi) in
4104-773: The Oos to Baden-Baden , the middle reaches of the Bühlot above Bühls and the upper reaches of the Rench around Oppenau . Their exit valleys from the mountain range are all oriented towards the northwest. The Central Black Forest (153) is mainly restricted to the catchment area of the River Kinzig above Offenburg as well as the Schutter and the low hills north of the Elz . The Southeastern Black Forest ( Südöstliche Schwarzwald , 154) consists mainly of
4218-659: The Perpetual Imperial Diet was located, were represented by various Regensburg lawyers and officials who often represented several cities simultaneously. Instead, many cities found it more profitable to maintain agents at the Aulic Council in Vienna, where the risk of an adverse judgment posed a greater risk to city treasuries and independence. The territory of most Free Imperial Cities was generally quite small but there were exceptions. The largest territories formed in what
4332-744: The Rhine Valley Railway between Offenburg and Appenweier . Following the rise to power of the NSDAP in the 1930s, Offenburg's Jewish population fell victim to acts of repression, that culminated in the vandalization of the local synagoge in November 1938. After the war had begun, those members of the Jewish population that had not managed to emigrate were deported to Gurs concentration camp in October 1940 and from there to Auschwitz during 1942. In World War II , it
4446-633: The 17th century. In ancient times, the Black Forest was known as Abnoba mons , after the Celtic deity, Abnoba . In Roman times ( Late antiquity ), it was given the name Silva Marciana ("Marcynian Forest", from the Germanic word marka , "border"). The Black Forest probably represented the border area of the Marcomanni ("border people") who were settled east of the Roman limes . They, in turn, were part of
4560-499: The 50 free imperial cities that took part in the Imperial Diet of 1792. They are listed according to their voting order on the Rhenish and Swabian benches. By the time of the Peace of Westphalia, the cities constituted a formal third "college" and their full vote ( votum decisivum ) was confirmed, although they failed to secure parity of representation with the two other colleges. To avoid
4674-614: The Baden-Württemberg State Department for Environmental Protection (today the Baden-Württemberg State Department for the Environment, Survey and Nature Conservation) published a reworked Natural Region Division of Baden-Württemberg. It is restricted to the level of the natural regional major units and has been used since for the state's administration of nature conservation: The Black Forest Foothills ( Schwarzwald-Randplatten , 150) geomorphologically form plateaux on
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4788-510: The Belchen and Feldberg in the south, where annual rainfall reaches 1,800–2,100 mm. Moisture-laden Atlantic westerlies dump about as much rain in the Northern Black Forest, despite its lower elevation, than in the higher area of the Southern Black Forest. There, the Vosges act as a rain shield in the face of the prevailing winds. On the exposed east side of the Central Black Forest, it is much drier;
4902-414: The Black Forest are characterized by regular rainfall throughout the year. However, temperatures do not fall evenly with increasing elevation, nor does the rainfall increase uniformly. Rather, the precipitation rises quickly even in the lower regions and is disproportionately heavy on the rainier western side of the mountains. The wettest areas are the highlands around the Hornisgrinde in the north and around
5016-427: The Black Forest area is Alemannic . The forest is best known for its typical farmhouses with their sweeping half-hipped roofs , its Black Forest gâteaus , Black Forest ham , Black Forest gnomes , Kirschwasser and the cuckoo clock . Traditional costume or Tracht is still sometimes worn today, usually at festive occasions. The appearance of such costume varies from region to region, sometimes markedly. One of
5130-442: The Black Forest to paint his landscapes. The works of the Gutach artist colony around Wilhelm Hasemann were widely admired, their landscape and genre motifs capturing the character of the Black Forest. Like local author Heinrich Hansjakob, they were part of a Baden folk costume movement. In the field of handicrafts, wood carving produces folk art like the Longinus crosses along with sculptors like Matthias Faller . Wood carving
5244-404: The Black Forest to the east and the Vosges to the west. In the centre lies the Kaiserstuhl volcano , which dates to the Miocene . In the times that followed, the Mesozoic platform on the uplands was largely eroded, apart from remains of Bunter Sandstone and Rotliegend Group , but it has survived within the graben itself. During the Pliocene a pronounced but uneven bulge especially affected
5358-401: The Black Forest; morphologically, geologically and climatically it is separate from the other parts of the Southern Black Forest and, in this classification, is also counted as part of the High Black Forest. At 1,493 m above sea level (NHN) the Feldberg in the Southern Black Forest is the range's highest summit. Also in the same area are the Herzogenhorn (1,415 m) and
5472-438: The Diet could vote a second and a third simplum , in which case each member's contribution was doubled or tripled. At the time, the free imperial cities were considered wealthy and the monetary contribution of Nuremberg, Ulm and Cologne for instance were as high as that of the Electors ( Mainz , Trier , Cologne , Palatinate , Saxony , Brandenburg ) and the Dukes of Württemberg and of Lorraine . The following list contains
5586-541: The German kings and emperors in the 10th through 13th centuries and had initially been administered by royal/imperial stewards ( Vögte ), gradually gained independence as their city magistrates assumed the duties of administration and justice; some prominent examples are Colmar , Haguenau , and Mulhouse in Alsace or Memmingen and Ravensburg in upper Swabia . The Free Cities ( Freie Städte ; Urbes liberae ) were those, such as Basel , Augsburg , Cologne or Strasbourg , that were initially subjected to
5700-420: The Germanic tribe of Suebi , who subsequently gave their name to the historic state of Swabia . With the exception of Roman settlements on the perimeter (e.g. the baths in Badenweiler, and mines near Badenweiler and Sulzburg ) and the construction of the Roman road of Kinzigtalstraße , the colonization of the Black Forest was not carried out by the Romans but by the Alemanni . They settled and first colonized
5814-421: The High Black Forest as well as the main ridge of the Northern Black Forest. Apart from that, it is only discernible from a large number of cirques mainly facing northeast. Especially in this direction snow accumulated on the shaded and leeward slopes of the summit plateau to form short cirque glaciers that made the sides of these funnel-shaped depressions. There are still tarns in some of these old cirques, partly
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#17330853070315928-474: The Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in 1806. By 1811, all of the Imperial Cities had lost their independence – Augsburg and Nuremberg had been annexed by Bavaria , Frankfurt had become the center of the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt , a Napoleonic puppet state , and the three Hanseatic cities had been directly annexed by France as part of its effort to enforce the Continental Blockade against Britain. Hamburg and Lübeck with surrounding territories formed
6042-403: The Middle Eocene a rifting period affected the area and caused formation of the Upper Rhine Plain . During the last glacial period of the Würm glaciation , the Black Forest was covered by glaciers; several tarns (or lakes) such as the Mummelsee are remains of this period. The geological foundation of the Black Forest is formed by the crystalline bedrock of the Variscan basement. This
6156-414: The Northern Black Forest. The Handbook of the Natural Region Divisions of Germany published by the Federal Office of Regional Geography ( Bundesanstalt für Landeskunde ) since the early 1950s names the Black Forest as one of six tertiary-level major landscape regions within the secondary-level region of the South German Scarplands and, at the same time, one of nine new major landscape unit groups. It
6270-462: The Reformation, and of the sixty Free Imperial Cities that remained at the Peace of Westphalia , all but the ten Alsatian cities which were annexed by France during the late 17th century continued to exist until the mediatization of 1803. The Empire had approximately 4000 towns and cities, although fewer than 400 of these had more than a thousand inhabitants around the year 1600. During the Late Middle Ages, fewer than 200 of these places ever enjoyed
6384-422: The Southern Black Forest Plateau, is oriented towards the Danube, but drained over the Wutach and the Alb into the Rhine. The southern crest of the Black Forest in the west is deeply incised by the Rhine into numerous ridges. Immediately right of the Wiese above Lörrach rises the relatively small Bunter Sandstone- Rotliegendes table of the Weintenau Uplands ( Weitenauer Bergland ) in the extreme southwest of
6498-417: The area from being commercially exploited. The Southern Black Forest Nature Park ( Naturpark Südschwarzwald ) was founded in 1999. It comprises 394,000 ha and is therefore Germany's largest nature park (as of 2020). It encloses the southern part of the Central Black Forest, the Southern Black Forest and adjacent areas. The Central/North Black Forest Nature Park ( Naturpark Schwarzwald Mitte/Nord )
6612-528: The areas west of the Rhine were annexed to France by the revolutionary armies, suppressing the independence of Imperial Cities as diverse as Cologne, Aachen, Speyer and Worms. Then, the Napoleonic Wars led to the reorganization of the Empire in 1803 (see German Mediatisation ), where all of the free cities but six – Hamburg , Bremen , Lübeck , Frankfurt, Augsburg , and Nuremberg – lost their independence and were absorbed into neighboring territories. Under pressure from Napoleon,
6726-460: The best-known Black Forest costumes is that of the villages of Kirnbach , Reichenbach and Gutach im Kinzigtal with the characteristic Bollenhut headdress. Unmarried women wear the hats with red bobbles or Bollen ; married women wear black. Engaged women sometimes wear a bridal crown ( Schäppel ) before and on the day of their wedding, whose largest examples from the town of St. Georgen weigh up to 5 kilograms. Its rural beauty as well as
6840-420: The case of Hamburg in 1708, the situation was considered sufficiently serious to warrant the dispatch of an Imperial commissioner with troops to restore order and negotiate a compromise and a new city constitution between the warring parties. The number of Imperial Cities shrank over time until the Peace of Westphalia. There were more in areas that were very fragmented politically, such as Swabia and Franconia in
6954-425: The catchment areas of the upper reaches of the Danube headstreams, the Brigach and Breg as well as the left side valleys of the Wutach north of Neustadt – and thus draining from the northeast of the Southern Black Forest. To the south and west it is adjoined by the High Black Forest ( Hochschwarzwald , 155) with the highest summits in the whole range around the Feldberg and the Belchen . Its eastern part,
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#17330853070317068-405: The city of Offenburg, Baden-Württemberg. The club is one of the most successful amateur football clubs in Germany. Offenburg is twinned with: Free Imperial City In the Holy Roman Empire , the collective term free and imperial cities (German: Freie und Reichsstädte ), briefly worded free imperial city ( Freie Reichsstadt , Latin : urbs imperialis libera ), was used from
7182-442: The city walls. The constitution of Free and Imperial Cities was republican in form, but in all but the smallest cities, the city government was oligarchic in nature with a governing town council composed of an elite, hereditary patrician class, the so-called town council families ( Ratsverwandte ). They were the most economically significant burgher families who had asserted themselves politically over time. Below them, with
7296-441: The city was temporary, such as wintering noblemen, foreign merchants, princely officials, and so on. Urban conflicts in Free Imperial Cities, which sometimes amounted to class warfare, were not uncommon in the Early Modern Age, particularly in the 17th century (Lübeck, 1598–1669; Schwäbisch Hall, 1601–1604; Frankfurt, 1612–1614; Wezlar, 1612–1615; Erfurt, 1648–1664; Cologne, 1680–1685; Hamburg 1678–1693, 1702–1708). Sometimes, as in
7410-513: The clearest division is also between east and west. Large areas of the eastern Black Forest, the lowest layer of the South German Scarplands composed of Bunter Sandstone, are covered by seemingly endless coniferous forest with their island clearings. The exposed basement in the west, predominantly made up of metamorphic rocks and granites , was, despite its rugged topography, easier to settle and appears much more open and inviting today with its varied meadow valleys. The most common way of dividing
7524-466: The construction of the railway line from Mannheim in 1844, Offenburg had developed into a railway centre during the 19th and earlier part of the 20th century. However, since the privatization of the Deutsche Bundesbahn in the early 1990s and the ensuing restructuring of the Deutsche Bahn AG , which subsequently led to the decommissioning of the railway workshops, the operations in Offenburg have considerably shrunk in size. Today Offenburg station lies at
7638-444: The course of the Middle Ages, cities gained, and sometimes – if rarely – lost, their freedom through the vicissitudes of power politics. Some favored cities gained charters by gift. Others purchased one from a prince in need of funds. Some won it by force of arms during the troubled 13th and 14th centuries and others lost their privileges during the same period by the same way. Some cities became free through
7752-422: The crossroads of a number of railway lines, the most important being the Rhine Valley Railway , the main line between Karlsruhe and Basel with regular Intercity Express (ICE) services to Basel, Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt, Frankfurt Airport and Amsterdam. The picturesque Black Forest Railway starts at Offenburg as does the line to Strasbourg and the line serving the Rench valley in the Black Forest. Due to
7866-422: The crystalline basement of the Northern Black Forest and the adjacent parts of the Central Black Forest, the bunter sandstone platforms rise in prominent steps. The most resistant surface strata on the stepped terrain of the grinden uplands and the heights around the upper reaches of the Enz , which have been heavily eroded by the tributaries of the Murg, is the silicified main conglomerate (Middle Bunter). To
7980-454: The diminutive Free Imperial City of Isny was the equal of the Margraviate of Brandenburg . Having probably learned from experience that there was not much to gain from active, and costly, participation in the Imperial Diet's proceedings due to the lack of empathy of the princes, the cities made little use of their representation in that body. By about 1700, almost all the cities with the exception of Nuremberg, Ulm and Regensburg, where by then
8094-402: The département of Bouches-de-l'Elbe , and Bremen the Bouches-du-Weser . When the German Confederation was established by the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Hamburg, Lübeck, Bremen, and Frankfurt were once again made Free Cities, this time enjoying total sovereignty as all the members of the loose Confederation. Frankfurt was annexed by Prussia in consequence of the part it took in
8208-579: The east and north are the nappes of the Upper Bunter (platten sandstones and red clays). South of the Kinzig the Bunter Sandstone zone narrows to a fringe in the east of the mountain range. It is considered proven that the Black Forest was heavily glaciated during the peak periods of at least the Riss and Würm glaciations (up to about 10,000 years ago). This glacial geomorphology characterizes almost all of
8322-408: The final stages of the conflict. It was only a primary target on one occasion during World War II on 27 November 1944, when a force of more than 300 USAAF B-17 and Liberator bombers attacked the marshalling yards. Many other tactical attacks were flown during 1944 and 1945 against the railway installations. French Forces entered Offenburg on 15 April 1945 and from then on Offenburg became part of
8436-503: The imperial civil and military tax-schedule used for more than a century to assess the contributions of all the Imperial Estates in case of a war formally declared by the Imperial Diet. The military and monetary contribution of each city is indicated in parentheses. For instance Cologne (30-322-600) means that Cologne had to provide 30 horsemen, 322 footsoldiers and 600 gulden. These numbers are equivalent to one simplum . If need be,
8550-552: The late 15th century, many cities included both "Free" and "Imperial" in their name. Like the other Imperial Estates, they could wage war, make peace, and control their own trade, and they permitted little interference from outside. In the later Middle Ages, a number of Free Cities formed City Leagues ( Städtebünde ), such as the Hanseatic League or the Alsatian Décapole , to promote and defend their interests. In
8664-466: The local economy after 1945 and in making the name of the city known all over the world. Owing to its favourable geographic situation Offenburg lies at the crossroads of important lines of communication that can be traced back to Roman times. Offenburg is situated 3 km east of the federal motorway A 5 , to which it has been connected since 1960 via a famous egg-shaped junction. Two major federal roads, B 3 and B 33 , intersect at Offenburg. Since
8778-426: The middle: Freudenstadt , Ortenaukreis and Rottweil ; in the south: Emmendingen , Schwarzwald-Baar , Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald , Lörrach and Waldshut . The natural regions of the Black Forest are separated by various features. Geomorphologically , the main division is between the gentle eastern slopes with their mostly rounded hills and broad plateaux (so-called Danubian relief , especially prominent in
8892-478: The much higher Southern Black Forest with its distinctive highland economy and ice age glacial relief. The term High Black Forest referred to the highest areas of the South and southern Central Black Forest. The boundaries drawn were, however, quite varied. In 1931, Robert Gradmann called the Central Black Forest the catchment area of the Kinzig and in the west the section up to the lower Elz and Kinzig tributary of
9006-583: The multiple baroque fieldworks of Margrave Louis William of Baden-Baden or individual defensive positions such as the Alexanderschanze (Alexander's Redoubt), the Röschenschanze and the Schwedenschanze ( Swedish Redoubt ). Originally, the Black Forest was a mixed forest of deciduous trees and firs. At the higher elevations spruce also grew. In the middle of the 19th century, the Black Forest
9120-408: The national game of Baden and Hohenzollern , and these are the only regions of Germany where tarot cards are still used for playing games. The game has grown organically, and there are many regional variations, but in recent years the establishment of a Cego Black Forest Championship has led to official tournament rules being defined. In addition, regular courses and local tournaments are held and it
9234-530: The need was devised to compensate Prussia for territorial losses under the Greater Hamburg Act , and Lübeck was annexed to Prussia in 1937. In the Federal Republic of Germany which was established after the war, Bremen and Hamburg, but not Lübeck, became constituent states , a status which they retain to the present day. Berlin , which had never been a Free City in its history, received the status of
9348-642: The north and east on the Bunter Sandstone) and the deeply incised, steeply falling terrain in the west that drops into the Upper Rhine Graben ; the so-called Valley Black Forest ( Talschwarzwald ) with its Rhenanian relief. It is here, in the west, where the highest mountains and the greatest local differences in height (of up to 1000 metres) are found. The valleys are often narrow and ravine-like. The summits are rounded, and there are remnants of plateaux and arête -like landforms. Geologically
9462-627: The north and northeast periphery of the mountain range that descend to the Kraichgau in the north and the Heckengäu landscapes in the east. They are incised by valleys, especially those of the Nagold river system, into individual interfluves ; a narrow northwestern finger extends to beyond the Enz near Neuenbürg and also borders the middle reaches of the Alb to the west as far as a point immediately above Ettlingen . To
9576-545: The north. The Black Forest is the highest part of the South German Scarplands , and much of it is densely wooded, a fragment of the Hercynian Forest of antiquity. Administratively, the Black Forest belongs completely to the state of Baden-Württemberg and comprises the cities of Freiburg , Pforzheim and Baden-Baden as well as the following districts ( Kreise ). In the north: Enz , Rastatt and Calw ; in
9690-706: The operations against Offenburg railway sidings were mostly flown by aircraft from the Independent Force from Ochey aerodrome. It is mostly neglected, that in the aftermath of World War I, during the Occupation of the Rhineland , French troops occupied Offenburg, because it fell within the perimeter of the Kehl bridgehead. The French occupation forces entered the town in February 1923 and remained until 1924, blocking all traffic on
9804-643: The other lakes of the Schluchseewerk , the Schwarzenbach Reservoir , the Kleine Kinzig Reservoir or the Nagold Reservoir are used for electricity generation , flood protection or drinking water supply. The Black Forest consists of a cover of sandstone on top of a core of gneiss and granite . Formerly it shared tectonic evolution with the nearby Vosges Mountains . Later during
9918-451: The permission of the manor, glassblowers operated simple glass production facilities as "wandering huts" ( Wanderhütten ), the locations of which were relocated when the local resources were available. They needed huge amounts of firewood and wood for potash . In the second half of the 18th century, the huts had to close due to a shortage of wood and sales difficulties. Only after 1800, when the demand for luxury glass increased enormously, when
10032-611: The possibility that they would have the casting vote in case of a tie between the Electors and the Princes, it was decided that these should decide first and consult the cities afterward. Despite this somewhat unequal status of the cities in the functioning of the Imperial Diet, their full admittance to that federal institution was crucial in clarifying their hitherto uncertain status and in legitimizing their permanent existence as full-fledged Imperial Estates. Constitutionally, if in no other way,
10146-523: The re-routing of the TGV services from Freiburg to Paris-Est via Offenburg (instead of via Müllheim and Mulhouse) in December 2018, there has since been a daily (except Saturdays) direct service from Offenburg via Strasbourg to Paris-Est. Offenburg airfield (EDTO) has been used for flying purposes since 1911 and has received a paved runway in 1975. It is owned by the municipality. However, since its declassification as
10260-466: The region's cultural heritage. After the defeat of Further Austria in 1805, much of its territory was allocated to the Grand Duchy of Baden . During the ensuing Napoleonic Wars , soldiers from Baden deployed with Napoleon's troops to Spain where, among other things, they learned a new card game, Ombre . They took this back to Baden and adapted it to be played with Tarot cards which were then in common use in southern Germany. Cego soon developed into
10374-687: The region, among them two restaurants with three stars (Restaurants Bareiss and Schwarzwaldstube in Baiersbronn ) as well as the only restaurant in Germany that has been awarded a Michelin star every year since 1966. At Schwarzwald Hotel Adler in Häusern , three generations of chefs from the same family have defended the award from the first year the Michelin Guide selected restaurants in Germany until today. The German holiday of Fastnacht , or Fasnet , as it
10488-521: The regions of the Black Forest is, however, from north to south. Until the 1930s, the Black Forest was divided into the Northern and Southern Black Forest, the boundary being the line of the Kinzig valley . Later the Black Forest was divided into the heavily forested Northern Black Forest , the lower, central section, predominantly used for agriculture in the valleys, was the Central Black Forest and
10602-530: The responsibility of several public bodies, Offenburg houses a diverse number of educational institutions. Offenburg is also home to the University of Applied Sciences Offenburg , with its main campus location in Offenburg, and the other campus in Gengenbach (less than 12 km away). There are several historical attractions in Offenburg including: Offenburger FV is a German association football club based in
10716-521: The river Rhine between Karlsruhe and Freiburg . The French city of Strasbourg lies 20 km northwest across the Rhine. Offenburg is situated at the mouth of the Kinzig river valley and at the foot of the Black Forest . The Kinzig flows out of the Black Forest and meets the Rhine near Kehl . Köppen climate classification classifies its climate as oceanic ( Cfb ). Marine features are limited however, as
10830-715: The rock massif of Battert near Baden-Baden). Thick rotliegendes rock, covered by bunter, also occurs in the north of the Dinkelberg block (several hundred metres thick in the Basel geothermal borehole). Even further to the southeast, under the Jura, lies the North Swiss Permocarboniferous Basin. Since the downfaulting of the Upper Rhine Graben during the Eocene epoch, the two shoulders on either side have been uplifted:
10944-517: The same small city. Black Forest The Black Forest ( German : Schwarzwald [ˈʃvaʁt͡svalt] ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany , bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland . It is the source of the Danube and Neckar rivers. Its highest peak
11058-479: The sense of tradition of its inhabitants attracted many artists in the 19th and early 20th centuries, whose works made the Black Forest famous the world over. Notable were Hans Thoma from Bernau and his fellow student, Rudolf Epp, who was sponsored by the Grand Duke of Baden, Frederick I . Both artists painted motifs from the Black Forest throughout their lives. Artist J. Metzler from Düsseldorf travelled through
11172-594: The southeast (around Todtmoos) is a range of exotic inclusions: gabbro from Ehrsberg , serpentinites and pyroxenites near Todtmoos, norite near Horbach ), which are possibly the remnants of an accretionary wedge from a continental collision. Also noteworthy are the basins in the Rotliegend , for example the Schramberg or the Baden-Baden Basin with thick quartz-porphyry and tuff plates (exposed, for example, on
11286-546: The southern Black Forest, including the Feldberg. As a result, the upper surface of the basement in the northern part of the forest around the Hornisgrinde is considerably lower. In the central Black Forest, the tectonic syncline of the Kinzig and Murg emerged. Geomorphologist Walther Penck regarded the Black Forest as an uplifted geologic dome and modeled his theory of piedmonttreppen (piedmont benchlands) on it. Above
11400-637: The southwest it is adjoined by the Black Forest Grinden and Enz Hills ( Grindenschwarzwald und Enzhöhen , 151), along the upper reaches of the Enz and Murg, forming the heart of the Northern Black Forest. The west of the Northern Black Forest is formed by the Northern Black Forest Valleys ( Nördliche Talschwarzwald , 152) with the middle reaches of the Murg around Gernsbach , the middle course of
11514-763: The southwest, than in the North and the East where the larger and more powerful territories, such as Brandenburg and Saxony, were located, which were more prone to absorb smaller, weaker states. In the 16th and 17th century, a number of Imperial Cities were separated from the Empire due to external territorial change. Henry II of France seized the Imperial Cities connected to the Three Bishoprics of Metz , Verdun and Toul . Louis XIV seized many cities based on claims produced by his Chambers of Reunion . That way, Strasbourg and
11628-690: The status of Free Imperial Cities, and some of those did so only for a few decades. The Imperial military tax register ( Reichsmatrikel ) of 1521 listed eighty-five such cities, and this figure had fallen to 65 by the time of the Peace of Augsburg in 1555. From the Peace of Westphalia of 1648 to 1803, their number oscillated at around 50. Unlike the Free Imperial Cities, the second category of towns and cities, now called "territorial cities", were subject to an ecclesiastical or lay lord, and while many of them enjoyed self-government to varying degrees, this
11742-565: The storm are demonstrated by the Lothar Path , a forest educational and adventure trail at the nature centre in Ruhestein on a highland timber forest of about 10 hectares that was destroyed by a hurricane. Several areas of storm damage, both large and small, were left to nature and have developed today into a natural mixed forest again. The Black Forest stretches from the High Rhine in the south to
11856-547: The ten cities of the Décapole were annexed. When the Old Swiss Confederacy gained its formal independence from the Empire in 1648, it had been de facto independent since 1499, the independence of the Imperial Cities of Basel , Bern , Lucerne , St. Gallen , Schaffhausen , Solothurn , and Zürich was formally recognized. With the rise of Revolutionary France in Europe, this trend accelerated enormously. After 1795,
11970-529: The uprisings (including the Bundschuh movement ) that preceded the 16th century German Peasants' War , originated in the Black Forest. Further peasant unrest, in the shape of the saltpetre uprisings, took place over the next two centuries in Hotzenwald . Remnants of military fortifications dating from the 17th and 18th centuries can be found in the Black Forest, especially on the mountain passes. Examples include
12084-408: The valleys, crossing the old settlement boundary, the so-called "red sandstone border", for example, from the region of Baar . Soon afterwards, increasingly higher areas and adjacent forests were colonized, so that by the end of the 10th century, the first settlements could be found in the red (bunter) sandstone region. These include, for example, Rötenbach , which was first mentioned in 819. Some of
12198-628: The void created by the extinction of dominant families, like the Swabian Hohenstaufen . Some voluntarily placed themselves under the protection of a territorial ruler and therefore lost their independence. A few, like Protestant Donauwörth , which in 1607 was annexed to the Catholic Duchy of Bavaria , were stripped by the Emperor of their status as a Free City – for genuine or trumped-up reasons. This rarely happened after
12312-648: The western rim of the range. Rivers in the Black Forest include the Danube (which originates in the Black Forest as the confluence of the Brigach and Breg rivers), the Enz , the Kinzig , the Murg , the Nagold , the Neckar , the Rench , and the Wiese . The Black Forest occupies part of the continental divide between the Atlantic Ocean drainage basin (drained by the Rhine ) and
12426-511: Was a precarious privilege which might be curtailed or abolished according to the will of the lord. Reflecting the complex constitutional set-up of the Holy Roman Empire, a third category, composed of semi-autonomous cities that belonged to neither of those two types, is distinguished by some historians. These were cities whose size and economic strength was sufficient to sustain a substantial independence from surrounding territorial lords for
12540-487: Was almost completely deforested by intensive forestry and was subsequently replanted, mostly with spruce monocultures . In 1990, extensive damage to the forest was caused by a series of windstorms . On 26 December 1999, Cyclone Lothar raged across the Black Forest and caused even greater damage, especially to the spruce monocultures. As had happened following the 1990 storms, large quantities of fallen logs were kept in provisional wet-storage areas for years. The effects of
12654-541: Was founded in 2000. It covers 375,000 ha and is thus the second-largest in Germany (as of 2020). It begins in the southern part of the Central Black Forest, bordering on the Southern Black Forest Nature Park and covers the rest of the Black Forest to the north. The Black Forest National Park , established in 2014, is the first national park in Baden-Württemberg. It lies completely within
12768-429: Was local and not transferable to another city. The burghers were usually the lowest social group to have political power and privilege within the Holy Roman Empire. Below them was the disenfranchised urban population, maybe half of the total in many cities, the so-called "residents" ( Beisassen ) or "guests": smaller artisans, craftsmen, street venders, day laborers, servants and the poor, and those whose residence in
12882-541: Was the first known demand for democracy in Germany. Along with the Carlsbad Decrees , the Offenburger Program demanded basic and human rights as well as freedom of the press and a progressive income tax structure. On 19 March 1848 the demands were confirmed by the 20,000 member Offenburg Peoples' Assembly. During World War I Offenburg was one of the first cities to experience the effects of aerial bombardment,
12996-520: Was the location of the Heilag V-C, Oflag 55/V-D and Stalag V-C prisoner-of-war camps for Allied POWs of various nationalities, including French , Polish, Belgian, British, Serbian, American, Soviet , Italian , Indian and South African. Owing to its geographical proximity to the French border, Offenburg was either exposed to temporary evacuations during the Battle of France in 1940 or artillery fire towards
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