Albstadt
Town
Coordinates48°12′43″N 09°01′26″E
StateBaden-Württemberg
RegionTübingen
DistrictZollernalbkreis
Elevation731
Area134.4
Gemeindeschlüssel08417079
Postal code72421–72461
Area code07431, 07432, 07435
LicenceBL
Websitewww.albstadt.de
MayorRoland Tralmer[1]
Leader term2023–31
PartyCDU
BürgermeistertitelLord Mayor

Albstadt (ˈalpʃtat) is the largest city in the district of Zollernalbkreis in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the Swabian Jura mountains, about halfway between Stuttgart and Lake Constance.

Geography

Albstadt is spread across a variety of hills and valleys, its elevation ranges between 614 m (2,014 ft) above sea level and 966 m (3,169 ft). One valley is the river Schmiecha, a left-hand tributary of the Danube, a second valley is the river of upper Eyach, a tributary of the Neckar.

To Albstadt belongs also the Raichberg hill in the north, on which there is the Raichberg Transmitter 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. A Hallstatt cemetery 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.[2][3]

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.[4][5]

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.[6]

During World War II, a heavy bombing raid was carried out on Albstadt on July 11, 1944, which killed 65 people[7] and another one on February 20, 1945, which killed 19 people.[8] In April 1945, the French moved in, and Albstadt, as part of the newly created state of Württemberg-Hohenzollern, 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, which is the costliest earthquake in Germany to date.[9][10]

Religion

The following religions are present in Albstadt:

Economy and Infrastructure

Most of the textiles industry (among them Hasana J. Hakenmüller) is gone today, leaving some monuments, like Villa Haux. However, one of the world's biggest makers of industrial needles, Groz-Beckert, is still based in the town. Other prominent local companies include Mey (knitwear), Mettler Toledo (weighing systems) and a major part of Assa Abloy 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 Kindergartens 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. [16]

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.[17]

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 .[18] From an old 3,5 km mine in a Doggererzflöz in Weilheim is wood in the Tuttlinger Fruchtkasten .[19] Steel was produced in Tuttlingen by the Schwäbische Hüttenwerke in Ludwigstal, today iron brakes.

Sports

In the city of Ebingen and Tailfingen, there is a Soccer stadium complex.

The YMCA do Handball, indiaca, Soccer, and natural sports in Halls and the Sportgelände Markenberg YMCA.[20][21]

Districts

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

Coat of Arms
DistrictEbingenTailfingen (Albstadt)OnstmettingenTruchtelfingenPfeffingen (Albstadt)Lautlingen (Albstadt)Laufen (Albstadt)MargrethausenBurgfelden
Population (2006)19,61812,2345,3843,2292,1681,9981,7531,084345
Population (2007)19,33912,0915,3143,2232,1311,9871,7531,087338
Population (2008)19,26512,0725,2603,1892,1471,9881,7771,069346
Population (2009)19,19611,8955,1943,2102,0741,9421,7641,046382
Population (2010)18,71811,5225,0063,1012,1441,8331,7091,023364
Population (2011)18,58411,5004,9573,1082,0481,8211,6991,025361
Population (2012)18,47811,3294,9003,0281,9931,7711,699997314
Population (2014)[22]18,67511,2084,9033,0351,9821,8081,664967336

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

Sport

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Albstadt is twinned with:[23]

See also

References

  1. ^ Oberbürgermeisterwahl Albstadt 2023, Staatsanzeiger. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  2. ^ Schwarzwaelder-bote website
  3. ^ British Museum Collection
  4. ^ "Das Albstadt-Erdbeben 1911" (in German). Erdbebennews.de. 2019-11-04.
  5. ^ "Albstadt - Kaum ein Gebäude blieb verschont" (in German). Schwarzwälder Bote. 2011-11-16.
  6. ^ "Historisches Erdbeben (M5.7): 28. Mai 1943 Albstadt" (in German). Erdbebennews.de. 2021-03-15.
  7. ^ "Albstadt - Blick zurück: Im Juli 1944 fielen Bomben auf Ebingen – 65 Menschen kamen ums Leben" (in German). Zollern-Alb-Kurier.de. 2019-07-11.
  8. ^ "Albstadt - Heute vor 75 Jahren fielen die Bomben" (in German). Schwarzwälder Bote. 2020-02-21.
  9. ^ "Das Albstadt-Erdbeben 1978" (in German). Erdbebennews.de. 2019-09-03.
  10. ^ Heino Schütte (2011-03-14). "Alb-Beben 1978: Der nächste Sechser kommt bestimmt" (in German). Stuttgarter Nachrichten
  11. ^ YMCA Tailfingen
  12. ^ Ortodoxe Osternacht
  13. ^ TOS
  14. ^ Gemeinde Gottes
  15. ^ "Adventisten". Archived from the original on 2002-09-26. Retrieved 2023-01-02.
  16. ^ University
  17. ^ Sport School
  18. ^ Hermann Bitzer, "Tailfinger Heimatbuch 1954" (in German), p. 35
  19. ^ Fruchtkasten: Abteilung Ludwigsthal. In: Pressemiteilungen. 21 November 2016.
  20. ^ YMCA
  21. ^ FIT_UP
  22. ^ http://www.albstadt.de/stadt/zahlendatenfakten (in German) Population numbers
  23. ^ "Städtepartnerschaft - Unsere Partnerstadt Chambery" (in German). albstadt.de. Albstadt. Archived from the original on 2022-06-19. Retrieved 2021-02-04.