Vogtsburg im Kaiserstuhl (

Low Alemannic Low Alemannic German () is a branch of Alemannic German, which is part of Upper German. Its varieties are only partly intelligible to non-Alemannic speakers. Subdivisions *Lake Constance Alemannic ( de) **Northern Vorarlberg ( de) **Allgäu dia ...

: ''Vogtsburg im Kaiserstuehl''), often referred to as simply Vogtsburg (), is a town in the Kaiserstuhl, a

volcanic A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often fo ...

region in the district

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 ...

. It has a population of about 5,700 and was created on January 1, 1975 through the unification of six former municipalities, initially under the name ''Oberrotweil'',Gebietsänderungen vom 01.01. bis 31.12.1975

Statistisches Bundesamt The Federal Statistical Office (, shortened ''Destatis'') is a federal authority of Germany. It reports to the Federal Ministry of the Interior. The Office is responsible for collecting, processing, presenting and analysing statistical informati ...

and was renamed to ''Vogtsburg im Kaiserstuhl'' in April 1977. With its of vineyards, Vogtsburg is the biggest wine producing town 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 Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Geography

Geographic position

The individual villages of Vogtsburg are embedded in the valleys of the inner Kaiserstuhl (except Burkheim). The horseshoe-shaped mountain range of the Kaiserstuhl opens to the west and forms the border of the area of Vogtsburg. To the west Vogtsburg borders the Rhine and the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

region of

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

Climate

The relatively low height above sea level and the protected position between the

Vosges Mountains The Vosges ( , ; ; Franconian (linguistics), Franconian and ) is a range of medium mountains in Eastern France, near its France–Germany border, border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the bor ...

and the

Schwarzwald The Black Forest ( ) is a large forested mountain range in the 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 the source of the Da ...

(the Black Forest) create a nearly Mediterranean microclimate.

Geology

The mountains of the Kaiserstuhl are a later result of the creation of a great

rift In geology, a rift is a linear zone where the lithosphere is being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics. Typical rift features are a central linear downfaulted depression, called a graben, or more commonly a half-graben ...

(the

Rhine Rift The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben ( German: ''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'', ''Oberrheinisches Tiefland'' or ''Oberrheingraben'', French: ''Vallée du Rhin'') is a major rift, about and on average , between Basel in the ...

) followed by some smaller

activity. The Kaiserstuhl consists of thick layers of

loess A loess (, ; from ) is a clastic rock, clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loesses or similar deposition (geology), deposits. A loess ...

(), which, together with the special climate, is the main reason for the extraordinary fertility of this area.

Neighboring towns

Artzenheim Artzenheim (; ; ) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. See also * Communes of the Haut-Rhin department The following is a list of the 366 Communes of France, communes of the French Departments of Fra ...

(Alsace) *

Bahlingen Bahlingen am Kaiserstuhl is a municipality in the district of Emmendingen, Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. Geography Bahlingen am Kaiserstuhl is situated on the edge of the volcanic region Kaiserstuhl, on the banks of the river "Al ...

Baltzenheim Baltzenheim (; ; ) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. See also * Communes of the Haut-Rhin department The following is a list of the 366 Communes of France, communes of the French Departments of Fr ...

(Alsace) * Bötzingen *

Breisach Breisach am Rhein (, ; formerly Alt-Breisach, , in contrast to " New Breisach"; Low Alemannic: ''Alt-Brisach''), commonly known as Breisach, is a town with approximately 16,500 inhabitants, situated along the Rhine in the Rhine Valley, in the di ...

* Eichstetten * Endingen *

Ihringen Ihringen is a town in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald in Baden-Württemberg in Germany, just east of Breisach am Rhein and west of Freiburg im Breisgau at the southern end of the Kaiserstuhl. It is known for its wine . Climate By most ...

* Sasbach

Divisions

The town Vogtsburg consists of the following ''Stadtteile'' or municipal divisions:Hauptsatzung
Stadt Vogtsburg im Kaiserstuhl, June 2020.
districts (Ortsteile) of Vogtsburg
', alemannische-seiten.de *

Achkarren Achkarren, a village situated in the southern end of the small town of Vogtsburg im Kaiserstuhl, in the German Kaiserstuhl region, bordering the town of Ihringen. The valley of Achkarren faces west and is 5 km from the Rhine river and 7&n ...

*Bickensohl *Bischoffingen *Burkheim *Oberbergen *Oberrotweil *Schelingen Vogtsburg is composed of nine individual villages. Prior to unification in 1975 the villages of Oberrotweil and Niederrotweil were one political entity. The small

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

with the original name Vogtsburg belonged to Oberbergen. For this reason the city of Vogtsburg has nine different villages but only seven political districts.

Town privileges Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the traditio ...

for the city of Vogtsburg came from Burkheim, which since the Middle Ages was a town despite its small size.

History

Although the city of Vogtsburg is one of the youngest in Germany, the individual villages making it up are mostly more than 1000 years old. The earliest archaeological finds in the village Oberbergen date to the times of the

Linear Pottery culture The Linear Pottery culture (LBK) is a major archaeological horizon of the European Neolithic period, flourishing . Derived from the German ''Linearbandkeramik'', it is also known as the Linear Band Ware, Linear Ware, Linear Ceramics or Incis ...

during the

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

era between 4000 and 2500 BC. Archaeological finds in Bischoffingen give evidence of

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

settlers of the

Corded Ware culture The Corded Ware culture comprises a broad archaeological horizon of Europe between – 2350 BC, thus from the Late Neolithic, through the Copper Age, and ending in the early Bronze Age. Corded Ware culture encompassed a vast area, from t ...

. Other archeological excavations found flexed burials, which could be dated to the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

between 1700 and 1200 BC. In more recent history, from 800 BC onwards, there is extensive evidence of

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

occupation. With the arrival of the

Alemanni The Alemanni or Alamanni were a confederation of Germanic peoples, Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River during the first millennium. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Roman emperor Caracalla of 213 CE ...

around 200 AD the Celts seem to have disappeared from the region. The area of Oberbergen is considered to be the most important settlement in

South Baden 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 ...

during the era of the

Hallstatt culture The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Western Europe, Western and Central European archaeological culture of the Late Bronze Age Europe, Bronze Age (Hallstatt A, Hallstatt B) from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and Early Iron Age Europe (Hallst ...

. Because of the horseshoe-shaped mountain range of the Kaiserstuhl, which opens only to the west, Vogtsburg was not easily accessible before the introduction of modern roads. This led to a stagnation of development and of the population due to significant emigration until 1870. For about 100 years between 1880 and 1980 the population had been about constant at 5000 inhabitants. From 1980 on the population has increased due to development.

Gallery

File:Altvogtsburg, die Sankt Romanuskirche foto1 2013-07-24 16.50.jpg, Altvogtsburg, church: die Sankt Romanuskirche File:Bischoffingen, straatzicht foto4 2013-07-24 15.43.jpg, Bischoffingen, view to a street File:Bisschoffingen, die Sankt Laurentiuskirche foto1 2013-07-24 15.47.jpg, Bisschoffingen, church: die Sankt Laurentiuskirche File:Oberrotweil, straatzicht Bahnhofstrasse foto5 2013-07-24 16.07.jpg, Oberrotweil, view to a street: die Bahnhofstrasse File:Oberbergen, die Sankt Mauritius Kirche foto1 2013-07-24 16.29.jpg, Oberbergen, church: die Sankt Mauritius Kirche Image:Luftbild_Achkarren_morgens.jpg,

, with the ruins of Burg Hoehingen on top of the Schlossberg mountain Image:Luftbild_Bickensohl.jpg, Bickensohl Image:Luftbild_Bischoffingen.jpg, Bischoffingen Image:Luftbild_Burkheim.jpg, Burkheim, with the ruins of a castle and a quarry pond Image:Luftbild_Oberbergen.jpg, Oberbergen Image:Luftbild_Oberrotweil.jpg, Oberrotweil, the central village where the city council is located Image:Luftbild_Niederrotweil.jpg, Niederrotweil, politically part of Oberrottweil Image:Luftbild_Schelingen.jpg, Schelingen, the highest village in Vogtsburg Image:Luftbild_Alt-Vogtsburg.jpg, Alt-Vogtsburg (Old-Vogtsburg), politically part of Oberbergen Image:Luftbild_Burkheimer-Baggersee.jpg, Quarry pond near Burkheim

Policy

Municipal Council

The results of the

local elections Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

from June 13 of 2004:

Economy and infrastructure

The city economy is based primarily on the production of

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

s. In addition the production of

cherries A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The name ...

zwetschge The prune plum (''Prunus domestica'' subsp. ''domestica'') is a fruit-bearing tree, or its fruit. It is a subspecies of the plum ''Prunus domestica''. The freestone fruit is especially popular in Central Europe. Names The fruit is known under ...

n, and

apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

s contribute significantly to the economy. In recent years tourism has grown to be an important economic contributor.

Court

Vogtsburg is in the

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...

of the

district court District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations, some call them "small case court" usually as the lowest level of the hierarchy. These courts generally work under a higher court which exercises control over the lower co ...

of Breisach.

Education

There is one general-education secondary school, two primary schools, and six kindergartens plus one nursery school. Nearby in Breisach there is a secondary school and a 'Gymnasium' (high school, grammar school).

Streets

The L113 - a country road without cross-town links runs through the western part of the city. This street goes from

- Riegel to

Freiamt Freiamt is a town in the district of EmmendingenFreiamt', alemannische-seiten.de 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 ...

, and then meets the L115 near Niederrotweil. The L115 goes on to Bötzingen and Umkirch. The different districts are connected with a net of district roads. Vogtsburg is one of the rare towns without speed limit zones of 30 km/h (20 mph).

Public transport

Achkarren, Oberrotweil and Burkheim together with Bischoffingen each have a railway station for the western track of the small Kaiserstuhlbahn, a

light railway A light railway is a Rail transport, railway built at lower costs and to lower standards than typical "heavy rail": it uses lighter-weight track, and may have more Grade (slope), steep gradients and Minimum railway curve radius, tight curves to ...

leading from Breisach to Riegel. The railway traffic does not follow a fixed timetable but runs occasionally as needed. Vogtsburg is connected by bus lines to Breisach, Endingen, Bötzingen and

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 ...

. All public transport is a part of a regional transport association.

Shipping

Even though Burkheim borders directly on 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 ...

river, the city of Vogtsburg has no river harbor. There is a landing stage on the river to ship the grit produced by a quarry in Burkheim.

Culture and objects of interest

Museums

In 1979 the museum of

viniculture 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, ...

in the historical 'Zehntscheur' (a barn where historic taxes were collected = 1 tenth of all produced goods) was established in Achkarren. The earliest documented reference to this building dates from 1358 as 'St. Johannser Trotte'. In Burkheim one can visit the Museum of Corkscrews.

Buildings

In the villages of Achkarren, Oberrotweil, Schelingen and Altvogtsburg there are four churches designed by

Friedrich Weinbrenner Friedrich Weinbrenner (24 November 1766 – 1 March 1826) was a German architect and city planner admired for his mastery of classical style. Birth and education Weinbrenner was born in Karlsruhe, and began his career apprenticed to his father, ...

, a famous architect. These four churches are typical of the style of

Neoclassicism Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...

in the former state of Baden. The church of St. Michael's in Niederrotweil dates from 1157, according to documented references. This building is famous for some recently discovered

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

es and for its wooden altar, a late masterpiece of the unknown master H. L. This altar is an extraordinary example of the

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style of

gothic art Gothic art was a style of medieval art that developed in Northern France out of Romanesque art in the 12th century, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, and much of Northern Europe, Norther ...

and is dated to about 1530. The church St. Romanus in Alt-Vogtsburg was founded in 1835/36 as a subsidiary church near a country road. First a church with a capacity of 700 people was planned which would have been several times the population figure of Alt-Vogtsburg. The reduced version built by the master builder

Hans Voß Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi a ...

has a

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

and two adjoining rooms. The altar comes from the workshop of Franz Xaver Marmon. The windows are from the Freiburg glass workshops of Helmle and Merzweiler. The inner part of the church is decorated with historical paintings and murals from the Freiburg painter Anselm Endress. The church is now closed due to structural deterioration caused by water intrusion and vibration from traffic. The 'Deutsche Stiftung Denkmalschutz" (German Foundation for Monument Protection) is engaged in restoration of the church. The old town of Burkheim starts with a historical town gate. Its houses are grouped around a single paved street, and look very romantic. At the end of the town an old ruin of a castle sits atop a small mountain, below which the Rhine used to flow. High above the village of Achkarren on the top of the Schloßberg mountain are the ruins of the castle Burg Hoehingen.

Natural monuments

There are twelve nature reserves covering a total of 280 hectares (1.1 sq mi).

Sport

Cycling races: Vogtsburg is the site of the traditional last race (king's stage) of the 'International Rothaus Regio-Tour' (sponsored by a local beer brewers company).

Sons and daughters of the town

* Eugen Biser (born 1918 in Oberbergen), a

philosopher of religion Philosophy of religion is "the philosophical examination of the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions". Philosophical discussions on such topics date from ancient times, and appear in the earliest known texts concerning ph ...

* Simone Larsen (born 1970), a German-Norwegian popstar, grew up in Bischoffingen *

Lazarus von Schwendi Lazarus von Schwendi, Barón de Hohenlandsberg (1522, Mittelbiberach – 28 May 1583, Ehrenkirchen) was a military commander in the Army of the Holy Roman Empire. He was important for the development of Alsatian viticulture; among his own vine ...

(1522–1584), a diplomat, statesman and an emperor's general, since 1560 AD Lord of Burkheim (Oberrotweil, Oberbergen, Vogtsburg and Jechtingen included). *

Jörg Wickram Georg (or Jörg) Wickram (c.1505 – before 1562) was a German poet and novelist. Life Wickram was born at Colmar in Alsace; the exact date of his birth and death are unknown. He founded a Meistersinger school in Colmar in 1549, and has left ...

(* b. 1505 in Burkheim, d. 1562), an early

New High German New High German (NHG; ) is the term used for the most recent period in the history of the German language, starting in the 17th century. It is a loan translation of the German (). The most important characteristic of the period is the developme ...

writer

References

External links

*
Vogtsburg: History and Pictures
{{Authority control Towns in Baden-Württemberg Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald