Albstadt () is the largest city in the

district 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 county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Zollernalbkreis The Zollernalbkreis () is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the middle of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The district is located in the Swabian Alb, and contains the second highest elevation of this range, the high '' Oberhohenberg''. In the south-e ...

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 ...

. It is located on the

Swabian Jura The Swabian Jura ( , more rarely ), sometimes also named Swabian Alps in English, is a mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, extending from southwest to northeast and in width. It is named after the region of Swabia. It is part of th ...

mountains, about halfway between

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

and

Lake Constance Lake Constance (, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein (). These ...

Geography

Albstadt is spread across a variety of hills and valleys, its elevation ranges between above sea level and . One valley is the river

Schmiecha Schmiecha (in its lower course: ''Schmeie'') is a river of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It runs from the Raichberg through the town of Albstadt and through a valley of the Swabian Jura. It flows into the Danube near Inzigkofen. See also * List ...

, a left-hand tributary of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

, a second valley is the river of upper Eyach, a tributary of the

Neckar The Neckar () is a river in Germany, mainly flowing through the southwestern States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, with a short section through Hesse. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the Rhine. Rising in the Schwarzwald-Baar ...

. To Albstadt belongs also the

Raichberg Raichberg is a mountain of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, with an elevation of above sea level. It is located in Zollernalbkreis close to the northwestern edge of the Schwäbische 'Alb'. Situated on the summit is Nägelehaus, a guesthouse, as wel ...

hill in the north, on which there is the

Raichberg Transmitter left, The mast of Raichberg Transmitter until 2007 Raichberg transmitter is a broadcast facility for various FM radio and television programs operated by the Südwestrundfunk (SWR, "Southwest Broadcasting") on the Raichberg mountain (elevation ) i ...

and an observation tower located. South of Albstadt is the Heuberg Military Training Area.

History

Settlement in the region dates back to at least the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

. A

Hallstatt Hallstatt () is a small town in the district of Gmunden District, Gmunden, in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Situated between the southwestern shore of Hallstätter See and the steep slopes of the Dachstein massif, the town lies in the Sa ...

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

in Albstadt was excavated by amateur archaeologists in the late nineteenth century and revealed a wide range of pottery and metal artefacts. Known as the 'Degerfeld Barrow' cemetery, a substantial collection was built up by the local antiquary Hyronimus Edelmann that was eventually deposited in the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. On November 16, 1911, Albstadt was hit by a 6.1 earthquake, particularly affecting the areas of Tailfingen, Lautlingen and Margrethausen. There was high property damage, but there were no fatalities. Thousands of buildings, including landmarks, were damaged, some of them irreparably. The earthquake also resulted in landslides, which caused additional property damage. It is the second most powerful earthquake recorded in Germany, after the

1756 Düren earthquake The 1756 Düren earthquake occurred on the morning at 8 a.m. near the town of Düren with a magnitude of 6.4 on the Richter scale. It was one of the strongest earthquakes in Central Europe, and the strongest in Germany's recorded history. The dep ...

. On May 28, 1943, Albstadt was hit by a 5.6 earthquake, again affecting the areas of Tailfingen, Lautlingen and Margrethausen. There was again high property damage on thousands of buildings, but there were no fatalities. 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 ...

, a heavy bombing raid was carried out on Albstadt on July 11, 1944, which killed 65 people and another one on February 20, 1945, which killed 19 people. In April 1945, the French moved in, and Albstadt, as part of the newly created state of

Württemberg-Hohenzollern Württemberg-Hohenzollern was a West Germany, West German state created in 1945 as part of the French Allied Occupation Zones in Germany, post-World War II occupation zone. Its capital was Tübingen. In 1952, it was merged into the newly founded ...

, was subsequently part of their occupation zone until 1949. On September 3, 1978, Albstadt was hit by a 5.7 earthquake (de), which caused high property damage but no fatalities. 6850 buildings were damaged, some of them irreparably. The cost of the damage amounted to 275 million

Deutsche Mark The Deutsche Mark (; "German mark (currency), mark"), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later of unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it ...

, which is the costliest earthquake in Germany to date.

Religion

The following religions are present in Albstadt: *

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

Tailfingen * Evangelische Landeskirche in Württemberg *

New Apostolic Church The New Apostolic Church (NAC) is a Christian denomination, Christian church of the Catholic Apostolic Church, Irvingian tradition. Its origins are in 1863, in the split from the Catholic Apostolic Church during a schism in Hamburg, Ger ...

in Tailfingen * Gospel Forum in Ebingen * Pauluskirche,

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...

parish in

Ebingen Ebingen is a town in the large district of Albstadt, district Zollernalbkreis, in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the river Schmiecha, a left-hand tributary of the Danube, south of Tübingen and west of Ulm. History ...

* Versammlung of the Brüderbewegung in the Johanneskirche,

John Nelson Darby John Nelson Darby (18 November 1800 – 29 April 1882) was an Anglo-Irish Bible teacher, one of the influential figures among the original Plymouth Brethren and the founder of the Exclusive Brethren. He is considered to be the father of modern ...

Tailfingen * Gemeinschaftsstunde Süddeutsche Gemeinschaft,

Liebenzell Mission The Liebenzell Mission is a cluster of like-minded Evangelical mission organizations in Austria, Canada, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United States. With roots in German Pietism, their missionaries are inv ...

, Evangelischer Gnadauer Gemeinschaftsverband not allowed in the Protestant church in Truchtelfingen and Tailfingen * Russian Orthodox Church in Tailfingen Schlossstaße Tailfingen. Servie in Balingen Siechenkirche and Meßstetten Lamprechtskirche *TOS * Gemeinde Gottes * Adventisten

Economy and Infrastructure

Most of the textiles industry (among them Hasana J. Hakenmüller) is gone today, leaving some monuments, like

Villa Haux Villa Haux is a villa in the Art Nouveau style built in 1908 by architects Richard Böklen and Carl Feil in the southern German town of Ebingen. It was built for Kommerzienrat Friedrich Haux (1860–1929), entrepreneur in the local textile indust ...

. However, one of the world's biggest makers of industrial needles,

Groz-Beckert The Groz-Beckert is a German manufacturing company that makes industrial needles and precision components for joining textiles. The company is part of the ''Groz-Beckert Group'' based in Albstadt-Ebingen in Baden-Württemberg. Groz-Beckert is the ...

, is still based in the town. Other prominent local companies include Mey (knitwear),

Mettler Toledo Mettler Toledo, stylized in all caps, is a multinational corporation, multinational supplier of precision instruments and services. The company focuses on laboratory, industrial, product inspection, and food retailing applications. Its products ...

(weighing systems) and a major part of

Assa Abloy Assa Abloy AB is a Swedish Group whose offerings include products and services related to locks, doors, gates, and entrance automation. Related products and services include controlling access and confirming identities with keys, cards, tags, ...

security systems (Eff-Eff Brand). Ebingen also hosts the technical and computer science faculties of Albstadt-Sigmaringen University with about 3,000 students (2014).

Education

Albstadt presides over its own modern school system, with elementary through high school provided all within the same city, including

Kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

s and boarding schools for the mentally and physically challenged. Also, the city library offers free internet access to residents.

University

The university was founded in 1971 and has two campus locations, Albstadt and Sigmaringen.

Sport School

In Baden Württemberg training of a sports team or athlete, called Übungsleiter C, is in Tailfingen,Landessportschule Langenwand.As well a hotel with 120 beds.

Coach (sport) An athletic coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction, and training of a sports team or athlete. History The original sense of the word ''Coach'' is that of a Coach (carriage), horse-drawn carriage, deriving ul ...

Mining

In former times iron ore was produced in Albstadt. Fidel Eppler was the name of the mine-inspector. The buttress wood was bought in Truchtelfingen and used from Lautlinger Knappen at the Hörnle area . From an old 3,5 km mine in a Doggererzflöz in Weilheim is wood in the Tuttlinger Fruchtkasten .Fruchtkasten:
Abteilung Ludwigsthal
'' In: ''Pressemiteilungen.'' 21 November 2016. Steel was produced in

Tuttlingen Tuttlingen (; Alemannic: ''Duttlinga'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, capital of the district Tuttlingen. Nendingen, ''Möhringen'' and ''Eßlingen'' are three former municipalities that belong to Tuttlingen. Tuttlingen is located in Swabia ...

by the Schwäbische Hüttenwerke in Ludwigstal, today iron brakes.

Sports

In the city of Ebingen and Tailfingen, there is a

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

stadium complex. The

Handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

indiaca Indiaca is a form of the Brazilian game peteca popular in Europe. It is played on court across a net with similar rules to volleyball but instead of a ball, a large shuttlecock, sometimes also called an ''indiaca'', or ''featherball'' is used; th ...

, and natural sports in Halls and the Sportgelände Markenberg YMCA.

Districts

The districts Ebingen, Laufen, Lautlingen, Pfeffingen und Tailfingen were first mentioned in 793 in a document of the abbey St. Gallen.

received city rights around 1250 from the Hohenberg ducal family. Albstadt consists of the following urban districts, which had been independent towns and merged to form Albstadt in 1975:

Population

* 1975: 50,772 * 1987: 46,369 * 1995: 49,463 * 2005: 46,505 * 2015: 44,431

Lord Mayors of Albstadt

* 1975–1991: Hans Pfarr (CDU) * 1991–1999: Hans-Martin Haller (SPD) * 1999–2015: Jürgen Gneveckow (CDU) * since 2015: Klaus Konzelmann (Free voters Baden-Württemberg)

Notable people

Philipp Matthäus Hahn Philipp Matthäus Hahn (25 November 1739 in Scharnhausen (today part of Ostfildern), Duchy of Württemberg – 2 May 1790 in Echterdingen (today part of Leinfelden-Echterdingen)) was a German pastor, astronomer and inventor. In about 1763 he ...

(1739–1790), pastor, designer and inventor, lived in Onstmettingen in 1764–1770 * Ignaz Anton Demeter (1773–1842), Roman Catholic priest, Archbishop 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 ...

, 1836–1842 *

Otto Hahn Otto Hahn (; 8 March 1879 – 28 July 1968) was a German chemist who was a pioneer in the field of radiochemistry. He is referred to as the father of nuclear chemistry and discoverer of nuclear fission, the science behind nuclear reactors and ...

(1879–1968), chemist, nuclear scientist, won the

Nobel Prize in Chemistry The Nobel Prize in Chemistry () is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outst ...

in 1944. researched locally. *

Kurt Georg Kiesinger Kurt Georg Kiesinger (; 6 April 1904 – 9 March 1988) was a German politician who served as the chancellor of West Germany from 1 December 1966 to 21 October 1969. Before he became Chancellor he served as Minister-President of Baden-Württembe ...

(1904–1988), lawyer and politician (CDU), Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg (1958–1966) and Chancellor (1966–1969) *

Berthold Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg Berthold Alfred Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (15 March 1905 – 10 August 1944) was a German aristocrat and lawyer who was a key conspirator in the plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler on 20 July 1944, alongside his younger brother, Colonel C ...

(1905–1944), jurist, participant in the assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler; grew up in Lautlingen *

Claus von Stauffenberg Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (; 15 November 1907 – 21 July 1944) was a German army officer who is best known for his failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair, part of Op ...

(1907–1944), officer, attempted assassin of Adolf Hitler; grew up in Lautlingen * Gregor Dorfmeister (1929–2018), journalist and writer, born in Tailfingen *

Monika Herzig Monika Herzig (born 1964) is a German-born jazz pianist. After receiving a scholarship in 1987 from the pedagogical institute in Weingarten, Germany for a one-year exchange program at the University of Alabama, she moved to the United States in ...

(born 1964), jazz musician and musicologist * Thomas Bareiß (born 1975), politician (CDU) and former Govt. minister

Sport

Martin Schaudt Martin Schaudt (born 7 December 1958 in Balingen, Baden-Württemberg) is a German equestrian and Olympic champion. He won a gold medal in ''team dressage'' at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capi ...

(born 1958), dressage rider, gold medallist at the

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Marcus Klausmann Marcus Klausmann (born 8 August 1977) is a German former downhill mountain biker. He notably finished second overall at the 1996 UCI Downhill World Cup and won the second race in Nevegal, Italy. He also won the National Downhill Championships ...

(born 1977), former downhill mountain biker, multiple winner of the German Championships *

Roberto Floriano Roberto Floriano (born 14 August 1986) is an Italian retired footballer who played as a forward, and the current sporting director of Caravaggio. Playing career Youth career Born in Albstadt, Baden-Württemberg, Floriano moved back to Italy at ...

(born 1986), an Italian retired footballer who plyed over 440 games * Kevin Dicklhuber (born 1989), footballer who has played over 330 games * Marcel Heister (born 1992), footballer who has played about 300 games

Twin towns – sister cities

Albstadt is twinned with: *

Chambéry Chambéry (, , ; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the southeastern ...

, France

References

External links

Sammlung Hieronymus Edelmann (1853–1921), Hyronimus Edelmann

{{Authority control Towns in Baden-Württemberg Zollernalbkreis