Horben is a village in the

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 ...

district in

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 ...

Geography

Horben is located to the south of the city of

Freiburg 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 ...

and east of the Hexental valley on the western slope of the

Schauinsland The Schauinsland (literally "look-into-the-country"; near Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany) is a mountain in the Black Forest with an elevation of above sea level. It is a popular destination for day trips. Due to the high amount of silver mining, ...

mountain range. It lies between the mountains of "Illenberg" () and "Eduardshöhe" (). The area is the source of the Bohrer and Selzenbach creeks. Horben lies at an altitude above and is within the

Southern Black Forest The Southern Black Forest () is the highest part of the Black Forest, an area heavily transformed by ice age glaciation south of a line roughly from Freiburg im Breisgau to Donaueschingen. The term High Black Forest is not quite identical; th ...

Nature park A nature park, or sometimes natural park, is a designation for a protected area by means of long-term land planning, sustainable resource management and limitation of agricultural and real estate developments. These valuable landscapes are pres ...

. Because of its proximity to the city of Freiburg new housing areas have been developed in the districts Langackern and Bohrer.

Climate

The average annual temperature at the foothills of the

Black Forest The Black Forest ( ) is a large forested mountain range in the States of Germany, 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 th ...

is just over , the rainfalls reach annual average values between , in the higher areas up to .

Administration

The municipality of Horben includes the village itself and the hamlets of Bohrer, Katzental, Langackern, Münzenried, and Gerstenhalm. The neighbouring municipalities are the city of

(in particular its suburb

Günterstal The village Günterstal is the southernmost district of Freiburg im Breisgau. It is located in the so-called ''Bohrer-Tal'' area (where the craft of "Deichel-Bohrer", preindustrial wooden water pipes used for the distribution of water, took pla ...

) and the municipalities of Au,

Wittnau Wittnau is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Laufenburg (district), Laufenburg in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau in Switzerland. Geography Wittnau has an area, , of . Of this area, or 39.3% is used ...

Sölden Sölden () is a municipality in the Ötztal valley of Tyrol, Austria. Geography At c. , it is the largest municipality in the country. The population of 3,449 (as of 2003) is outnumbered by tourists, of which 15,000 can be accommodated. Wit ...

and St. Ulrich in the Black Forest. Horben is part of the

Municipal association A municipal association, also called municipal league or local government association, is an organization made of municipal governments. They perform advocacy to higher-level governments. They also provide various public services more cheaply tha ...

of Hexental of Hexental ( de).

Municipal council

The

local election 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 var ...

s on 7 June 2009 with a

voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This is typically either the percentage of Voter registration, registered voters, Suffrage, eligible voters, or all Voti ...

of 72.7% had the following result:

History

Horben originally belonged to the

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in money, cash, cheques or v ...

district of

parish, which was ruled the

Abbey of Saint Gall The Abbey of Saint Gall () is a dissolved abbey (747–1805) in a Catholic religious complex in the city of St. Gallen in Switzerland. The Carolingian-era monastery existed from 719, founded by Saint Othmar on the spot where Saint Gall had er ...

in Switzerland. Feudal landlords associated with the abbey, the "Lords of Horwen", are mentioned in 12th century documents and were reported as having a castle on "Horben Mountain". The feudal rights over the village were held by various landlords before being acquired by the city of Freiburg in 1582. However the village was not incorporated into the city then, or since. In 1525 Horben consisted of 24 farms in scattered locations, three houses of widows and an orphanage. Chief activities during the Middle Ages were

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

and

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

. During the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

Horben was pillaged by marauding soldiers. It was reported that not one head of cattle was left in Horben in 1645. The village was later re-settled by farmers from the Bohrer Valley. In January 1814, during the wars against Napoleon, Russian troops passed through Horben on their way from Freiburg to the Wiese valley. During the 1848

Baden Revolution The Baden Revolution () of 1848/1849 was a regional uprising in the Grand Duchy of Baden which was part of the Revolutions of 1848, revolutionary unrest that gripped almost all of Central Europe at that time. As part of the popular liberal Revol ...

Horben was the base of operations of revolutionaries

Franz Sigel Franz Sigel (November 18, 1824 – August 21, 1902) was a German American military officer, revolutionary and immigrant to the United States who was a teacher, newspaperman, politician, and served as a Union major general in the American Civil ...

and

Gustav Struve Gustav Struve, known as Gustav von Struve until he gave up his title (11 October 1805 – 21 August 1870), was a German surgeon, politician, lawyer and publicist, and a revolutionary during the German revolutions of 1848–1849 in Baden, Germa ...

. The village expanded in the early 20th century, and 1930 saw the construction of the valley station of the Schauinslandbahn gondola lift system. Horben was untouched by bombing during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, though nearby Freiburg was devastated, and at the end of the war the area was occupied by French troops. After the war many

refugees A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

found a new home in the village. Since then development pressure from Freiburg increased and in Horben village, Bohrer and Langackern large areas have had new houses built.

Landmarks

Local landmarks include the ''Althäusle''

dower house A dower house is usually a moderately large house available for use by the widow of the previous owner of an English, Scottish, Welsh or Irish estate (house), estate. The widow, often known as the "dowager", usually moves into the dower house fr ...

, pre-dating 1600, the ''Zum Raben'' guesthouse, dating from 1604, and the parish church of St Agatha, from 1792.

Economy

The main economic activities are

, part-time agriculture ( de) and

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

; in 2009 Horben recorded 25,000 overnight stays.

Infrastructure and traffic

Horben holds the base station for the Schauinslandbahn gondola lift system.

References

External links

*
Horben:Ortsinfos und Bilder

{{Authority control Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald