Klettgau (

High Alemannic High Alemannic is a dialect of Alemannic German spoken in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg and in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Language area The High Alemannic dialects are spoken in Liechtenstein and in most of German-speaking S ...

: ''Chleggau'') is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

in the district of Waldshut in

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. It is the centre of the ''Klettgau'' historical region stretching across the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports * Swiss Internation ...

border into the cantons of

Aargau Aargau, more formally the Canton of Aargau (german: Kanton Aargau; rm, Chantun Argovia; french: Canton d'Argovie; it, Canton Argovia), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capit ...

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; gsw, Schafuuse; french: Schaffhouse; it, Sciaffusa; rm, Schaffusa; en, Shaffhouse) is a town with historic roots, a municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimate ...

and

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Z ...

. The municipal area includes the villages of Bühl, Erzingen, Geißlingen, Grießen, Rechberg, Riedern am Sand, and Weisweil.

Geography

Klettgau is located on the

Klingengraben Klingengraben is a river of the Canton of Schaffhausen, northern Switzerland and Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany. It passes through Klettgau and flows into the Wutach in Lauchringen. See also *List of rivers of Baden-Württemberg A ...

and Schwarzbach creeks. In the east it borders on the Swiss municipalities of

Trasadingen Trasadingen is a municipality in the canton of Schaffhausen in Switzerland. Geography Trasadingen has an area, , of . Of this area, 76.3% is used for agricultural purposes, while 12.2% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 11% is settled (bui ...

Wilchingen Wilchingen is a municipality in the canton of Schaffhausen in Switzerland. The former municipality of Osterfingen was incorporated into Wilchingen in 2005. Geography Wilchingen has an area, , of . Of this area, 50.6% is used for agricultural p ...

and

Wasterkingen Wasterkingen is a municipality in the district of Bülach in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. History In 2002, Wasterkingen had his 900th birthday, the ''Wasterkingener'' celebrated a big party and there were a lot of interesting attraction ...

. The neighbouring German municipalities are Wutöschingen,

Lauchringen Lauchringen is a village in the district of Waldshut in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is divided in two districts: Oberlauchringen and Unterlauchringen. Geography Lauchringen lies on the Rhine Plain in the lower Klettgau Klettgau (Hi ...

, Küssaberg, and

Hohentengen am Hochrhein Hohentengen is a municipality in the district of Waldshut in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Geography Location The village Hohentengen lies on the northern banks of the Rhine, overlooking Switzerland. The right weather conditions allow a ...

in the west, as well as Dettighofen in the east. There is a border crossing into Switzerland on the road from Erzingen to Trasadingen. The municipal area comprises the villages of Bühl, Erzingen, Geißlingen, Grießen, Rechberg, Riedern am Sand, and Weisweil. Erzingen, Bühl and Riedern am Sand are part of the

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...

wine region.

History

Erzingen was already mentioned as ''villa Arcingen'' in an 876 deed, a

Swabian Swabian or Schwabian, or ''variation'', may refer to: * the German region of Swabia (German: "''Schwaben''") * Swabian German, a dialect spoken in Baden-Württemberg in south-west Germany and adjoining areas (German:"''Schwäbisch''") * Danube S ...

possession held by the Benedictie abbey of

Rheinau Rheinau may refer to: *Rheinau, Switzerland, a town in the canton of Zürich *Rheinau Abbey, in Rheinau, Switzerland *Rheinau (Baden) Rheinau ( gsw, label= Low Alemannic, Rhinai) is a town in southwestern Baden-Württemberg, Germany and is part o ...

. In 1486 it was occupied by the forces of the

Old Swiss Confederacy The Old Swiss Confederacy or Swiss Confederacy ( Modern German: ; historically , after the Reformation also , "Confederation of the Swiss") was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or In the charters of the 14th centur ...

on a campaign into the Landgraviate of Klettgau. The immediate landgraviate was inherited by the

House of Schwarzenberg The House of Schwarzenberg is a German (Franconian Circle, Franconian) and Czech (Kingdom of Bohemia, Bohemian) aristocratic family, and it was one of the most prominent European noble houses. The Schwarzenbergs are members of the German nobility ...

in 1687 with their residence in Tiengen, and elevated to a

principality A principality (or sometimes princedom) can either be a monarchical feudatory or a sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a regnant-monarch with the title of prince and/or princess, or by a monarch with another title considered to fall un ...

by Emperor Leopold I in 1694. After the Schwarzenberg landgraviate was mediatised in 1806, the lordship fell to the

Grand Duchy of Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden (german: Großherzogtum Baden) was a state in the southwest German Empire on the east bank of the Rhine. It existed between 1806 and 1918. It came into existence in the 12th century as the Margraviate of Baden and subs ...

in 1812. The present-day municipality was established in a 1971 administrative reform. Bühl and Geißlingen were incorporated in 1975.

Politics

Seats in the municipal assembly (''Gemeinderat'') as of 2009

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct v ...

: * Christian Democratic Union: 10 *

Free Voters Free Voters (german: Freie Wähler, FW or FWG) in Germany may belong to an association of people which participates in an election without having the status of a registered political party. Usually it involves a locally organized group of voters ...

: 6 *

Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...

: 4 *

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

: 3

Transport

Railway station

Klettgau has a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

located very close to the border with Switzerland, in Erzingen. The station building was completed in 1863. The railway line from Erzingen to Schaffhausen was electrified and tracks along almost the entire route were doubled, allowing for more frequent services to run. The electrification of the line from Erzingen to Waldshut as well as from Waldshut on to Basel Badischer Bahnhof has also been agreed on and is planned. The station is a border station and as such is in local transport tariff zones in both Germany and Switzerland.

Customs

Erzingen is, for customs purposes, a border station for passengers arriving from Switzerland. Customs checks may be performed in Erzingen station or on board trains by German officials. Systematic passport controls were abolished when Switzerland joined the

Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and ...

in 2008.

International relations

Klettgau is twinned with: *

Clisson Clisson (; br, Klison), is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. It is situated at the confluence of the Sèvre Nantaise and the Moine southeast of Nantes. The town and the celebrated ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, since 1976 * Sanza,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, since 2006

Notable people

* Maximilian Stoll (1742–1787), physician * Radbot, Count of Klettgau (c. 985 – 1045)

References

External links

Municipal website
{{Authority control Waldshut (district) Baden Former countries in Europe Lordships of the Holy Roman Empire Former monarchies of Europe Germany–Switzerland border crossings Former states and territories of Baden-Württemberg