Mittelbaden (German: "Middle Baden") is a vaguely defined region in the
Baden
Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine.
History
The margraves of Ba ...
part of
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 ...
. It is customarily used for the region containing the districts of
Rastatt
Rastatt () is a town with a Baroque core, District of Rastatt, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located in the Upper Rhine Plain on the Murg river, above its junction with the Rhine and has a population of around 51,000 (2022). Rastatt was an ...
,
Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...
, and
Ortenaukreis
Ortenaukreis (; ) is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the west of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (clockwise from north) Rastatt, Freudenstadt, Rottweil, Schwarzwald-Baar and Emmendingen. To the west it borders the French Ba ...
. Before the district reform of 1973 it contained the former districts of Baden-Baden, Bühl,
Kehl
Kehl (; ) is a city with around 38,000 inhabitants in the southwestern Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg. It lies in the region of Baden on the Rhine River, at the confluence with the smaller Kinzig (Rhine), Kinzig River, directly oppo ...
, Rastatt,
Offenburg
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 administrat ...
and
Wolfach
Wolfach () is a town in the Black Forest and part of the Ortenaukreis in Baden-Württemberg (Germany) and borders the Freudenstadt and Rottweil districts.
History
Wolfach was first mentioned in 1084 as ''Wolphaha'' and was given a wide var ...
. The region includes the historic counties (''
Gaue
''Gau'' (German: ; ; or ) is a Germanic term for a region within a country, often a former or current province. It was used in the Middle Ages, when it can be seen as roughly corresponding to an English shire. The administrative use of the ...
'') of
Ufgau
Ufgau (Old High German ''Ufgowe'', ''Uffgau''; ''Usgau, Osgau''; ''pagus auciacensis'') was a historical county ('' gowe'') of the duchy of Franconia, along the Oos River and the lower Murg, delimited to the south by the counties of Albgau and ...
and
Ortenau
The Ortenau (), originally called Mortenau, is a historic region in the present-day German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the right bank of the river Rhine, stretching from the Upper Rhine Plain to the foothill zone of the Black F ...
.
In a wider sense, Mittelbaden is used to refer to the area between northern Baden (
Mannheim
Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...
and
Rhein-Neckar
The Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region (, ), often referred to as the Rhein-Neckar Triangle, is a polycentric metropolitan region located in south western Germany, between the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region to the north and the Stuttgart Region to t ...
) and southern Baden (
Emmendingen
Emmendingen (; ) is a town in Baden-Württemberg, capital of the Emmendingen (district), district Emmendingen of Germany. It is located at the Elz (Rhine), Elz River, north of Freiburg im Breisgau. The town contains more than 26,000 residents, ...
,
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 ...
,
Lörrach
Lörrach () is a city in southwest Germany, in the valley of the Wiese, close to the French and the Swiss borders. It is the district seat of the district of Lörrach in Baden-Württemberg. It is the home of a number of large employers, inclu ...
and
Konstanz
Konstanz ( , , , ), traditionally known as Constance in English, is a college town, university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the Baden-Württemberg state of south Germany. The city ho ...
). In this sense, the term can include the regions of
Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...
,
Pforzheim
Pforzheim () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city of over 125,000 inhabitants in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, in the southwest of Germany.
It is known for its jewelry and watch-making industry, and as such has gained the ...
and
Enzkreis
Enzkreis is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the northwest of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from west clockwise) Karlsruhe, Heilbronn, Ludwigsburg, Böblingen and Calw. The district-free Pforzheim area in the south is ne ...
.
Unlike ''
Südbaden
South Baden (; ), formed in December 1945 from the southern half of the former Republic of Baden, was a subdivision of the French occupation zone of post-World War II Germany. The state was later renamed to Baden (French: ''Bade'') and became a fo ...
'' and '' Nordbaden'', Mittelbaden has never been an official term for a district or area.
Examples of use
Some examples of the use of the term Mittelbaden:
* Baden-Baden is completely surrounded by Rastatt district and both districts are tightly linked to one another. From 1924 to 1939, Baden-Baden belonged to the Amtsbezirk of Rastatt; in the 1973 district reform, the city became an independent district - by far the smallest civic district in Baden-Württemberg. Both the city council of Baden-Baden and the district council of Rastatt use the term Mittelbaden for institutions which cross district boundaries.
** The '' Klinikum Mittelbaden gGmbH'' is a collaborative healthcare service of Rastatt and Baden-Baden districts.
** The ''Integrierte Leitstelle Mittelbaden'' is the Public-safety answering point for ambulance and fire services in the districts.
** The ''Medienzentrum Mittelbaden'' supplies media and advice to all schools in Baden-Baden and Rastatt.
** The city of Baden-Baden, the communities of Rastatt and local businesses, established the ''Interessengemeinschaft „Wirtschaftsregion Mittelbaden“'' ("Mittelbaden Industrial Area" Interest group) to encourage regional business ties, in 2012.
* The ''VR-Bank in Mittelbaden eG'' which was formed from several
co-operative bank
Cooperative banking is retail and commercial banking organized on a cooperative basis. Cooperative banking institutions take deposits and lend money in most parts of the world.
Cooperative banking, as discussed here, includes retail banking carr ...
s in Rastatt, with its headquarters in
Iffezheim
Iffezheim is a town in the district of Rastatt in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It lies close to the Rhine river, where the Lock Iffezheim is also situated. Iffezheim is also known for the horse races, which takes place three times a year.
Poli ...
Steinmauern
Steinmauern is a town in the district of Rastatt in Baden-Württemberg in 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 ...
in the north.
* '' E-Werk Mittelbaden'', an electricity supply company in Ortenau, has included "Mittelbaden" in its name since it was formed by the merger of Lahrer E-Werk and Offenburger E-Werk in 1922.
* The Südwestdeutsche Verkehrs-Aktiengesellschaft (SW German Transport Organisation) based in
Lahr
Lahr (officially Lahr/Schwarzwald since 30 September 1978) (); ) is a city in western Baden-Württemberg, Germany, approximately 50 km north of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, 40 km southeast of Strasbourg, and 95 km southwest of Ka ...
has a ''Verkehrsbetrieb Mittelbaden-Schwarzach'' (Mittelbaden-Schwarzach Transport Company), which serves Rastatt and Ortenau.
* Newspapers in Ortenau are published by the ''Mittelbadische Presse''.
* The business area of the building co-operative ''Familienheim Mittelbaden'', based in
Achern
Achern (; ) is a city in Western Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located approximately 18 km southwest of Baden-Baden and 19 km northeast of Offenburg. Achern is the fourth largest town in the district of Ortenau (Ortenaukreis), aft ...
, includes Ortenau and the surrounding regions.
* The ''Obstgroßmarkt Mittelbaden'' (Mittelbaden Fruit Wholesale Market) in Oberkirch was created in 1996 by the merger of several local fruit wholesale co-operatives.
* The
Baden Football Association
The Baden Football Association (), the ''bfv'', is one of 21 state organisations of the German Football Association, the ''DFB'', and covers the north of Baden, the north-western part of the state of Baden-Württemberg.
has a ''Landesliga Mittelbaden'' (Mittelbaden State League), including Karlsruhe, Enzkreis and Pforzheim. Baden-Baden and Rastatt on the other hand belong to the
South Baden Football Association
The South Baden Football Association (), the ''SBFV'', is one of 21 state organisations of the German Football Association, the ''DFB'', and covers the south-western part of the state of Baden-Württemberg.DGB includes Karlsruhe as well as Baden-Baden and Rastatt.
* The ''Historical Organisation for Mittelbaden'' produces an annual ''Die Ortenau''. It has local groups in other parts of Baden. Rastatt is included in the northern part of its territory, but it stretches south to
Ettenheim
Ettenheim () is a city in the Ortenaukreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
History
Ettenheim was founded in the 8th century by Eddo, bishop of Strasbourg, and the was founded at about that time. Ettenheim received German town law, town rights in ...
and
Triberg
Triberg im Schwarzwald is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located in the Schwarzwald-Baar district in the Black Forest. Triberg lies in the middle of the Black Forest between 500 and 1038 metres above sea level.
Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaf ...