
Freudenstadt (
Swabian: ''Fraidestadt'') is a town in
Baden-Württemberg in southern
Germany. It is capital of the
district Freudenstadt. The closest population centres are
Offenburg to the west (approx. 36 km away) and
Tübingen to the east (approx. 47 km away).
The city lies on a high plateau at the east edge of the north
Black Forest, and is well known for its fresh air. Its city centre is famous as the largest market place in
Germany. After
Horb, it is the second largest city of the Freudenstadt district. The city has an administration partnership with the communities
Bad Rippoldsau-Schapbach and
Seewald.
Freudenstadt is a climatic health resort of international renown. In the 19th and 20th centuries, visitors of note included
George V of the United Kingdom, the Queen of Sweden,
John D. Rockefeller, and even the American writer
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...
. With its many hotels and guest houses, and its high-class cuisine, Freudenstadt remains a popular vacation spot for Germans from every part of the country. Among the many Germans of note who considered Freudenstadt a second home was the justice inspector
Friedrich Kellner
August Friedrich Kellner (1 February 1885 – 4 November 1970) was a German mid-level official and diarist who worked as a justice inspector in Laubach from 1933 to 1945.
Kellner was an infantryman in a Hessian regiment during the First Worl ...
whose WWII
diary is the subject of a
Canadian documentary.
History
Since 1535 a monastery church existed in
Kniebis.
The building of Freudenstadt was ordered by duke
Frederick of
Württemberg in 1599 with the initial population largely being made up of many of the 11,000 Protestants who left the Inner Austrian provinces by force or through self-exile beginning in 1598. The designer was architect Heinrich Schickhardt.
In 1799 the monastery in Kniebis was burned down by the French. Because of the Württemberg foundation Freudenstadt was almost entirely Protestant for a long time. The young church belonged to the dean's office respectively church district
Herrenberg within the
Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg.
Third Reich and World War II
In
World War II, on the nearly 1,000 meter high
Kniebis, not far from the
Alexanderschanze
The Alexanderschanze (Alexander's Redoubt) is a mountain pass, , on the B 28 federal road at Freudenstadt in the Northern Black Forest in southern Germany. In the vicinity is also a fortification and hotel of the same name.
Pass
The Alexanders ...
, a Command Center of the Armed Forces was built to defend the
Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to:
Military frontiers
*Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...
: the
Führer's headquarter Tannenberg. Heavy
Anti-aircraft warfare positions with the associated supply and accommodation buildings were built in the area as part of the
LVZ West (Western Air Defense Zone), especially on the
Schliffkopf and the
Hornisgrinde.
In the Freudenstadt hospital many wounded were treated. Hitler's one-week visit to Tannenberg and Freudenstadt in 1940 (after the French campaign) at the inauguration of the headquarter was propaganda, which was reported in news reels. Thus, Freudenstadt including the nearby region in France has become a symbol of the Nazi regime and the French defeat, which in 1945 was to play an important role.
On 16 April 1945, three weeks before the war ended, the city was unexpectedly attacked by the troops of the
1st French army
The First Army (french: 1re Armée) was a field army of France that fought during World War I and World War II. It was also active during the Cold War.
First World War
On mobilization in August 1914, General Auguste Dubail was put in the ch ...
under General
Jean de Lattre de Tassigny
Jean Joseph Marie Gabriel de Lattre de Tassigny (2 February 1889 – 11 January 1952) was a French général d'armée during World War II and the First Indochina War. He was posthumously elevated to the dignity of Marshal of France in 1952.
As ...
. There was a large-scale destruction caused by bombing and shelling.
Freudenstadt fell, with interruptions, for about 16 hours under artillery fire. No residents dared to go to meet the French troops to surrender the city, conversely the French troops expected considerable military resistance.
Since the water main line was destroyed by US air strikes and the fire engines had been destroyed by shelling, fire spread easily.
[Hans Rommel: ''Vor zehn Jahren 16./17. April 1945 – Wie es zur Zerstörung von Freudenstadt gekommen ist.'' In: ''Freudenstädter Heimatblätter.'' Beiheft 1 Freudenstadt: Oskar Kaupert 1955 56]
A handover took place only when French troops reached the town hall.
[Der deutsche Südwesten zur Stunde Null. Zusammenbruch und Neuanfang im Jahr 1945 in Dokumenten und Bildern. (paper back) Generallandesarchiv Karlsruhe (author). Publisher: Karlsruhe, Harschdruck, (1 January 1975)] There were several dozen civilian casualties; about 600 buildings, 95 percent of the town, were destroyed directly or indirectly during the night from 16 to 17 April and 1,400 families were made homeless. Over the next three days, during the occupation by French troops, there were many violent attacks by soldiers of the Moroccan units. According to doctor, Renate Lutz, she alone treated over 600 raped women. According to witnesses, when the townsfolk complained, they were told it was war and that Freudenstadt had to burn for three days.
Many of the remaining buildings were then occupied by French troops. Many families lived in makeshift roofed cellars. Overall, the average living space per inhabitant was reduced to less than eight square metres. The need was great, and the cleanup of the debris was initially slow.
Municipal subdivisions
The borough of Freudenstadt is divided into the town of Freudenstadt with Christophstal and Zwieselberg (together 16,159 inhabitants) and the outlying districts of Dietersweiler and Lauterbad (2,256), Grüntal and Frutenhof (1,027),
Igelsberg
Igelsberg is a village in the town of Freudenstadt in the Black Forest in Germany.
The settlement was built in a clearing first recorded around 1230 as ''Illigsberg''. Count Palatine Rudolf of Tübingen assigned the place to the Prince-Bishopric ...
(254),
Kniebis (947), Musbach (761) and Wittlensweiler (2,186). These are further divided into villages, hamlets, farms and individual houses.
Main sights

The market place, flanked by arcaded houses, is the largest market place in Germany. The Rathaus (Town Hall), at the market place, houses the museum of local history.
On the south side of the market place is the Evangelical Lutheran Church, with its green tower roofs. It was built between 1601 and 1608, and is considered the most significant building of Freudenstadt. It was built in the
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
/
Renaissance style.
The Friedrichsturm (Frederick's Tower) is a 25m high tower which is built 799m above sea level on the Kienberg. It was built of red sandstone from the northern Black Forest in 1899 for the 300 year anniversary of Freudenstadt. On days with a clear sky it offers a view over the whole
Murg
Murg may refer to:
Places
* Murg (Aare), a river of Switzerland
* Murg (Northern Black Forest), a river and right tributary of the Rhine in the districts of Freudenstadt and Rastatt, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
** Murg Valley Railway
* Murg (Sou ...
valley, a view over
Dornstetten and Schopfloch.
Cultural and social life
The following social institutions are present: The children's and youth workshop EIGEN-SINN aims to promote personal, social and academic skills of children and adolescents in social group work. The Erlacher Höhe is committed to ensure that people will have respect and value in social need and to reduce social exclusion. The
Diakonisches Werk works for the poor, marginalized and disadvantaged. In children's center Freudenstadt (KiJuz) open child and youth work is offered for primary school children and adolescents. The Catholic young community (KJG) Freudenstadt is involved in child and youth work.
Regional daily newspapers are the Schwarzwälder Bote and the Neckar Chronik of the
Südwest Presse.
Economics
The
value added comes in 2006 from the service sector (54,2%), the manufacturing industry (45,0%) and from agriculture (0,8%). 2007 were in the urban area 2,832 guest beds available. The number of overnight stays was 339,292.
The manufacturing sector is located mainly in the industrial areas. Particularly significant are the Gebrüder Schmid (photovoltaic, printed circuit boards, flat panel displays), the Robert Bürkle (equipment for surface finishing), the company Georg Oest mineral (mineral oil, gas stations, mechanical engineering).
Roads
Due to the central location in the Black Forest, four federal roads lead through Freudenstadt. At the market place the B 28 (
Kehl-
Ulm) meets the B 462 (
Rastatt-
Rottweil
Rottweil (; Alemannic: ''Rautweil'') is a town in southwest Germany in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Rottweil was a free imperial city for nearly 600 years.
Located between the Black Forest and the Swabian Alps, Rottweil has nearly 25,000 in ...
). Here ends also the B 500 (
Baden-Baden-Freudenstadt).
Since 1985, the B 294 from
Bretten to
Gundelfingen bypasses Freudenstadt in a north–south direction.
Bus and train
Freudenstadt is the starting point of three railway lines.
In 1879 construction of the
Eutingen im Gäu–Freudenstadt railway connected the city to the railway network. It runs from
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
over
Herrenberg and
Eutingen im Gäu
Eutingen is a municipality in the district of Freudenstadt in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in E ...
to Freudenstadt. Because continuation into the
Kinzig valley was already planned (and as part of the
Kinzig Valley Railway was carried out in 1886), the main station was built southeast of the city, relatively far from the center. In 1901 the Württemberg part of the
Murg Valley Railway to Klosterreichenbach was built. The 60-meter higher Stadtbahnhof north of the center is a
Standardized railway station.
In 1928, a direct connection to
Rastatt (Baden) was established.
Eutingen and Stuttgart are connected with the Gäubahn. There is a rail service every hour with consolidations in school transport. Since 2006, coming from
Karlsruhe, S41 goes every two hours about Freudenstadt up to Eutingen where is connection to the Regional Express (RE) Stuttgart-
Singen
Singen (Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Singe'') is an industrial city in the very south of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany and just north of the German-Swiss border.
Location
Singen is an industrial city situated in the very south ...
.
The connection to
Offenburg is via the
Kinzig Valley Railway. The trains of the
Ortenau-S-Bahn
Ortenau-S-Bahn (''OSB'') is a brand name of the Südwestdeutsche Verkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft (SWEG), a transport company owned by the state of Baden-Württemberg. It is employed for regional railway services in the Ortenau area, centering on . Be ...
(OSB), connect Freudenstadt hourly over
Alpirsbach,
Schiltach and
Hausach to
Offenburg. The central bus station (ZOB) with more than 40 bus lines is a main transport hub in the Black Forest. City buses run to destinations in the urban core. Public transport to towns in neighboring
districts
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
, such as to
Oberndorf,
Wolfach
Wolfach ( gsw, label=Low Alemannic, Wolfä) is a town in the Black Forest and part of the Ortenaukreis in Baden-Württemberg ( Germany). It is a well-known spa town.
Geography
Geographical Position
Wolfach lies where the two rivers Wolf ...
,
Altensteig or
Dornhahn. On the nights of Saturdays, Sundays and holidays an overnight bus service completes the night rail service.
Administration
Freudenstadt is home of the
Amtsgericht, which belongs to the court Rottweil and the superior court Stuttgart. It is the seat of the district office of the homonymous district and home to the majority of its administrative authorities. There is also a notary and a tax office.
It is the seat of the church district Freudenstadt of the
Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg.
Education
The schools sponsored by the city are on the one hand the Kepler-Gymnasium and the Kepler secondary school. Southeast towards the central station is the Falken-Realschule, not far away from the Hartranft Elementary School. The Theodor-Gerhard-primary school with integrated Werkrealschule as a second primary school of the main town is located opposite to the Kepler schools.
Among the schools sponsored by the district are the Eduard-Spranger-School, a business school with an economic high school, the Heinrich-Schickhardt school as industrial and technical school with a technical high school and
Luise Büchner School as domestic school with a nutritional scientific school. The Christopher's School, a special school, is found north the building yard.
Notable people
*
Frederick I, Duke of Württemberg (1557–1608), founder of Freudenstadt
*
Karl Burger
Karl Schumm Burger (26 December 1883 in Stuttgart – 3 October 1959 in Freudenstadt) was a German amateur footballer who played as a midfielder and coach, competing as a player in the 1912 Summer Olympics
The 1912 Summer Olympics ( sv, Olympi ...
(1883–1959), footballer
*George Lindemann (1884–1963), colonel general in World War II
*
Klaus Mehnert
Klaus Mehnert (October 10, 1906, Moscow, Russia – January 2, 1984, Freudenstadt, Germany) was a German writer, journalist and academic. He was a correspondent in the Soviet Union; a professor in the United States; a publisher of a German-funded ...
(1906–1984), political journalist, publicist and author
*
Margret Hofheinz-Döring (1910–1994), painter, lived here in 1953–1974
*
Hermann Wagner
Hermann Wagner (born May 20, 1941) is a German scientist in the field of microbiology and immunology and past Dean of the Medical Faculty of the Technical University Munich (TUM). His massive number of published works, at over 370, makes him one ...
(born 1941), physician
*
Costa Cordalis (1944–2019), German-Greek pop singer; lived here
*
Michael Volle (born 1960), operatic baritone
*
Kevin Kurányi (born 1982), footballer; graduated 1997 from Kepler secondary school
*
Petra Lammert
Petra Lammert (born 3 March 1984 in Freudenstadt, Baden-Württemberg) is a former Germany, German shot putter and current bobsledder. She was the 2009 European Indoor champion in the shot put and medallist at the 2006 European Athletics Champion ...
(born 1984), track and field athlete in the discipline shot put
*
Ben Salfield (born 1971), lutenist
Twin towns – sister cities
Freudenstadt is
twinned
Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to:
* In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so;
* Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning
* Twinning inst ...
with:
*
Courbevoie
Courbevoie () is a commune located in the Hauts-de-Seine Department of the Île-de-France region of France. It is in the suburbs of the city of Paris, from the center of Paris. The centre of Courbevoie is situated from the city limits of Par ...
, France
*
Männedorf, Switzerland
*
Sandanski, Bulgaria
References
{{Authority control
1599 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire
Freudenstadt (district)
Populated places established in 1599
Towns in Baden-Württemberg
Württemberg