Ehrenkirchen is a

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

in the district of

Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald () is a (district) in the southwest of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Fifty towns and municipalities with 133 settlements lie within the district. The district itself belongs to the region of Freiburg with the region of Sou ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, 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 i ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

History

The villages of Ehrenstetten, Kirchhofen, Norsingen, Offnadingen, and Scherzingen were properties of

Saint Blaise Abbey, Black Forest Saint Blaise Abbey () was a Benedictine monastery in the village of St. Blasien in the Black Forest in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History 9th–12th centuries The early history of the abbey is obscure. Its predecessor in the 9th century is ...

until 1806, when they were

mediatized Mediatization or mediatisation may refer to: * German mediatisation, German historical territorial restructuring * Mediatization (media) Mediatization (or medialization) is a method whereby the mass media influence other sectors of society, inclu ...

to the

Grand Duchy of Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden () was a German polity on the east bank of the Rhine. It originally existed as a sovereign state from 1806 to 1871 and later as part of the German Empire until 1918. The duchy's 12th-century origins were as a Margravia ...

. They were assigned to the district of

Staufen im Breisgau Staufen im Breisgau (High Alemannic: ''Staufe im Brisgau'') is a German town in the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district of Baden-Württemberg. It had a population of approximately 8,300 in 2019. General The city of Staufen im Breisgau lies in the ...

until 1936, when they were reassigned to the district of

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

. As part of the , they were assigned to the new district of

. Over 1973 and 1974, the five villages merged into a single municipality, Ehrenkirchen, whose name was a combination of the largest towns, Ehrenstetten and Kirchhofen .

Geography

The municipality ('' Gemeinde'') of Ehrenkirchen is located in the

district of

, a

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

of the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

. It is south of

, the capital of the region to which it is assigned. The municipal area is physically located in the

Markgräflerland Markgräflerland () is a region in the southwest of Germany, in the south of the States of Germany, German federal state of Baden-Württemberg, located between the Breisgau in the north and the Black Forest in the east; adjacent to west with Franc ...

, along the

Möhlin Möhlin () is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Rheinfelden (district), Rheinfelden in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau in Switzerland. History The area around Möhlin was prehistorically settled. A Neo ...

, a tributary of the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

. Elevation above sea level in the municipal area ranges from a high of

Normalnull ("standard zero") or (short N. N. or NN) is an outdated official vertical datum used in Germany. Elevations using this reference system were to be marked (“meters above standard zero”). has been replaced by (NHN). History In 187 ...

(NN) at the top of the Stutzkopf to a low of NN on the Möhlin. The Federally-protected Ölberg Ehrenstetten

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

is located in Ehrenkirchen's municipal area.

Politics

Ehrenkirchen has five boroughs (''Ortsteile''): Ehrenstetten, Kirchhofen, Norsingen, Offnadingen, and Scherzingen.

Coat of arms

The municipal

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

for Ehrenkirchen displays two images inspired by aspects of the municipality and its history, impaled upon the same

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

. The left image is of wine grapes, in

yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In t ...

, above a yellow three-pointed hill upon a

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

. These images refer to the regional history of

viticulture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...

, particularly on the slopes of the , Kirchberg and Ölberg.Alemannic Pages:
Ölberg The right image displays a

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

stag, standing and facing to the left, upon a field of yellow. The stag is taken from the coat of arms of Saint Blaise Abbey, whose

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

was also used for Ehrenkirchen's, but spread around to abide by the

rule of tincture The rule of tincture is a design philosophy found in some heraldry, heraldic traditions that states "metal should not be put on metal, nor colour on colour". Heraldic furs, such as Ermine (heraldry), ermine and vair, and Charge (heraldry), charg ...

. The coat of arms was approved for official use by Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district office on 21 March 1977.

Economy

The economy of Ehrenkirchen is based on tourism, viticulture, and an industrial sector that has been growing since the 1990s.

Transportation

Ehrenkirchen is connected to Germany's network of roadways by

Bundesstraße 3 The Bundesstraße 3 (abbr. B3) is one of the longest federal highways in Germany. It begins in Buxtehude and continues through Bergen, Celle, Hanover, Alfeld, Einbeck, Göttingen, Kassel, Marburg, Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe an ...

and to its railways by the

Mannheim–Karlsruhe–Basel railway The Mannheim–Karlsruhe–Basel railway is a double-track electrified mainline railway in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It runs from Mannheim via Heidelberg, Bruchsal, Karlsruhe, Rastatt, Baden-Baden, Offenburg and Freiburg to Basel, S ...

, which has a stop in Norsingen.

References

External links

* (in German) {{Authority control Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald