Biberach an der Riß
Encyclopedia
Biberach is a town in the south of Germany
. It is the capital of Biberach district
, in the Upper Swabia
region of the German state (Land) of Baden-Württemberg
. To distinguish it from the other towns of the same name it is called Biberach an der Riss after the small river Riss which flows through the city (the Riss also gave its name to the Riss glaciation period).
The marketplace with its patrician buildings, its fountain and its renovated town hall is one of the loveliest in the south of Germany.
With a rather low unemployment rate of around 3.6% and place of business of companies like EnBW
, Handtmann, Liebherr
, KaVo Dental GmbH, and Boehringer Ingelheim, Biberach is a significant industrial location in the southwest of Germany.
Biberach has a population of about 32,000, and is located in Upper Swabia between the river Danube and Lake Constance
.
The districts of Biberach comprise the inner city (with the quarters Bachlangen, Bergerhausen, Birkendorf, Burren, Fünf Linden, Gaisental, Hagenbuch, Jordanbad, Mumpfental, Reichenbach and Wolfentalmühle) and its suburban, integrated villages Rissegg
, Rindenmoos, Ringschnait, Stafflangen and Mettenberg.
. In that role it participated in the 1792 Reichstag
.
During the Protestant Reformation
, Biberach was notable for being — eventually along only with Ravensburg
, Augsburg
and Dinkelsbühl
— a Mixed Imperial City where the Peace of Westphalia
caused the establishment of a joint Catholic–Protestant
government and administrative system, with equality offices and a precise and equal distribution between Catholic and Protestant civic officials.
This status ended in 1803, when Biberach was annexed by the Margraviate of Baden
, soon to become a grand-duchy
. In 1806, it was traded with the Kingdom of Württemberg
in exchange for the town of Villingen; becoming part of the German Empire
on its creation in 1871.
During World War II, two large prisoner-of-war camp
s were located here, with
Oflag V-B
for officers, and internment camp Ilag V-B for allied civilians, mainly from the Channel Islands
.
KaVo (Kaltenbach & Voigt) is a leading company in producing dental medicine equipment and products like instruments, dental systems, laboratory and equipment for training centers for universities. The head office is in Biberach. But KaVo has production locations and sales locations all over the world, e.g. in Brazil, England, USA, Canada, Russia, France, Italy, etc. In March 2004, Danaher, an American industrial company, took over KaVo in order to improve its portfolio in terms of dental technology. Since a massive loss of jobs is expected, waves of solidarity have tried to help KaVo's workers' council. Even Walter Riester
, Germany's former Secretary of Labour, is involved in that.
Boehringer Ingelheim researches, develops,and produces drugs for people all over the world. With about 35.529 employees who are employed in 156 countries on all continents, today, Boehringer Ingelheim is part of the most research intensive enterprises internationally. Boehringer Ingelheim was founded in Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany in 1885, where the corporate headquarters are located.There are about 4500 employees in Biberach.
EnBW means "Energy Baden-Württemberg". Its corporate center is in Karlsruhe
. In Stuttgart
there is the "Regional Center". An exciting chapter of the success story began with the merger of Badenwerk AG and Energie-Versorgung Schwaben AG in the year 1997. The EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG was born. EnBW is Germany's third largest energy company. In Biberach there are about 900 employees. The firm employs 125 trainees. Every year the EnBW gives young people the chance for a position as an apprentice.
The beginning of Liebherr Biberach was in 1954. The firm produces many sorts of cranes. 1700 people and 112 trainees work there. Dr. Hans Liebherr invented the crane in 1949 in Kirchdorf/Iller
. You can find Liebherr products all over the world. For example Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, the USA and so on.
(Italy), Valence, Drôme
(France), Telavi
(Georgia
), Clacton-on-Sea
, Essex
(UK) and Świdnica
(Poland). It also has close links to Guernsey
, one of the Channel Islands
.
" derives from the German noun Schütze, meaning marksman. But nowadays, the crossbow competition and the appraisal of the best male and female champion shot (Schützenkönig and -königin), are only small events during the week of the Schützenfest. Other attractions and events during the festival are:
.
in Biberach is specially determined by the St.-Martins-Chorknaben Biberach
(English
: St Martin’s Boys’ Choir Biberach).
IBOT Another important sports festival in Biberach is IBOT. It's an annual international handball tournament for youths with more than a thousand participants which takes place at Easter.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It is the capital of Biberach district
Biberach (district)
Biberach is a district in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Ravensburg, Sigmaringen, Reutlingen and Alb-Donau, and the Bavarian districts Neu-Ulm, Unterallgäu and the district-free city Memmingen...
, in the Upper Swabia
Upper Swabia
Upper Swabia is a region in Germany in the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. The name refers to the area between the Swabian Alb, Lake Constance and the Lech...
region of the German state (Land) of Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
. To distinguish it from the other towns of the same name it is called Biberach an der Riss after the small river Riss which flows through the city (the Riss also gave its name to the Riss glaciation period).
The marketplace with its patrician buildings, its fountain and its renovated town hall is one of the loveliest in the south of Germany.
With a rather low unemployment rate of around 3.6% and place of business of companies like EnBW
EnBW
EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG, or simply EnBW, is a publicly traded electric utilities company headquartered in Karlsruhe, Germany.-History:...
, Handtmann, Liebherr
Liebherr
* The Liebherr Group, a German manufacturing complex established in 1949 by Hans Liebherr* Liebherr Grazer AK* Liebherr T 282B, an off- highway, ultra class, rigid frame, two- axle, diesel/electricappointed...
, KaVo Dental GmbH, and Boehringer Ingelheim, Biberach is a significant industrial location in the southwest of Germany.
Geography
Lake Constance
Lake Constance is a lake on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps, and consists of three bodies of water: the Obersee , the Untersee , and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein.The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the Alps...
.
The districts of Biberach comprise the inner city (with the quarters Bachlangen, Bergerhausen, Birkendorf, Burren, Fünf Linden, Gaisental, Hagenbuch, Jordanbad, Mumpfental, Reichenbach and Wolfentalmühle) and its suburban, integrated villages Rissegg
Rissegg
Rissegg is a part of the city of Biberach/Riß and a municipality in the district of Biberach, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Rissegg is a village of about 2,000 inhabitants and was founded in the 9th or 10th century. There is a Free Catholic school with about 700 students....
, Rindenmoos, Ringschnait, Stafflangen and Mettenberg.
History
For many centuries, Biberach was an Imperial Free City in the Holy Roman EmpireHoly Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
. In that role it participated in the 1792 Reichstag
Reichstag (Holy Roman Empire)
The Imperial Diet was the Diet, or general assembly, of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire.During the period of the Empire, which lasted formally until 1806, the Diet was not a parliament in today's sense; instead, it was an assembly of the various estates of the realm...
.
During the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
, Biberach was notable for being — eventually along only with Ravensburg
Ravensburg
Ravensburg is a town in Upper Swabia in Southern Germany, capital of the district of Ravensburg, Baden-Württemberg.Ravensburg was first mentioned in 1088. In the Middle Ages, it was an Imperial Free City and an important trading centre...
, Augsburg
Augsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
and Dinkelsbühl
Dinkelsbühl
Dinkelsbühl is a historic city in Bavaria, Germany and a former Free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire. Now it belongs to the district of Ansbach, north of Aalen.-History:...
— a Mixed Imperial City where the Peace of Westphalia
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. These treaties ended the Thirty Years' War in the Holy Roman Empire, and the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch Republic, with Spain formally recognizing the...
caused the establishment of a joint Catholic–Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
government and administrative system, with equality offices and a precise and equal distribution between Catholic and Protestant civic officials.
This status ended in 1803, when Biberach was annexed by the Margraviate of Baden
Margraviate of Baden
The Margraviate of Baden were a historical territory in the Holy Roman Empire. It was already named so in 1112 and existed until the division in 1535 and lived with the reunion back in 1771, until the Electorate of Baden came up in 1803...
, soon to become a grand-duchy
Grand Duchy of Baden
The Grand Duchy of Baden was a historical state in the southwest of Germany, on the east bank of the Rhine. It existed between 1806 and 1918.-History:...
. In 1806, it was traded with the Kingdom of Württemberg
Kingdom of Württemberg
The Kingdom of Württemberg was a state that existed from 1806 to 1918, located in present-day Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which came into existence in 1495...
in exchange for the town of Villingen; becoming part of the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
on its creation in 1871.
During World War II, two large prisoner-of-war camp
Prisoner-of-war camp
A prisoner-of-war camp is a site for the containment of combatants captured by their enemy in time of war, and is similar to an internment camp which is used for civilian populations. A prisoner of war is generally a soldier, sailor, or airman who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or...
s were located here, with
Oflag V-B
Oflag V-B
Oflag V-B Biberach, was a World War II German prisoner-of-war camp for officers located in Biberach in south-eastern Baden-Württemberg from 1940 to 1942. Most of the prisoners were British officers captured in the Battle of France in 1940 or in Greece in June 1941...
for officers, and internment camp Ilag V-B for allied civilians, mainly from the Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
.
Industry
- KaVo
KaVo (Kaltenbach & Voigt) is a leading company in producing dental medicine equipment and products like instruments, dental systems, laboratory and equipment for training centers for universities. The head office is in Biberach. But KaVo has production locations and sales locations all over the world, e.g. in Brazil, England, USA, Canada, Russia, France, Italy, etc. In March 2004, Danaher, an American industrial company, took over KaVo in order to improve its portfolio in terms of dental technology. Since a massive loss of jobs is expected, waves of solidarity have tried to help KaVo's workers' council. Even Walter Riester
Walter Riester
Walter Riester is a German politician of the SPD and former Minister of Labour and Social Affairs.Walter Riester joined the SPD in 1966 and since 1998 he has been a member of the party's federal executive board. From 1993 to 1998 he was deputy chairman of the IG Metall...
, Germany's former Secretary of Labour, is involved in that.
- Boehringer Ingelheim
Boehringer Ingelheim researches, develops,and produces drugs for people all over the world. With about 35.529 employees who are employed in 156 countries on all continents, today, Boehringer Ingelheim is part of the most research intensive enterprises internationally. Boehringer Ingelheim was founded in Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany in 1885, where the corporate headquarters are located.There are about 4500 employees in Biberach.
- EnBW
EnBW means "Energy Baden-Württemberg". Its corporate center is in Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
. In Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
there is the "Regional Center". An exciting chapter of the success story began with the merger of Badenwerk AG and Energie-Versorgung Schwaben AG in the year 1997. The EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG was born. EnBW is Germany's third largest energy company. In Biberach there are about 900 employees. The firm employs 125 trainees. Every year the EnBW gives young people the chance for a position as an apprentice.
- Liebherr Biberach
The beginning of Liebherr Biberach was in 1954. The firm produces many sorts of cranes. 1700 people and 112 trainees work there. Dr. Hans Liebherr invented the crane in 1949 in Kirchdorf/Iller
Iller
The Iller is a river in Bavaria, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Danube, 147 km in length.The source is located near Oberstdorf in the Allgäu region of the Alps, close to the Austrian border. From there it runs northwards, passing the towns of Sonthofen, Immenstadt, and Kempten...
. You can find Liebherr products all over the world. For example Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, the USA and so on.
International relations
Biberach is twinned with AstiAsti
Asti is a city and comune of about 75,000 inhabitants located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, about 55 kilometres east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River...
(Italy), Valence, Drôme
Valence, Drôme
Valence is a commune in southeastern France, the capital of the Drôme department, situated on the left bank of the Rhône, south of Lyon on the railway to Marseilles.Its inhabitants are called Valentinois...
(France), Telavi
Telavi
Telavi is the main city and administrative center of Georgia's eastern province of Kakheti. Its population consists of some 21,800 inhabitants . The city is located on foot-hills of Tsiv-Gombori Range at 500-800 meters above the sea level....
(Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
), Clacton-on-Sea
Clacton-on-Sea
Clacton-on-Sea is the largest town on the Tendring peninsula, in Essex, England and was founded in 1871. It is a seaside resort that attracted many tourists in the summer months between the 1950s and 1970s, but which like many other British sea-side resorts went into decline as a holiday...
, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
(UK) and Świdnica
Swidnica
Świdnica is a city in south-western Poland in the region of Silesia. It has a population of 60,317 according to 2006 figures. It lies in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, being the seventh largest town in that voivodeship. From 1975–98 it was in the former Wałbrzych Voivodeship...
(Poland). It also has close links to Guernsey
Guernsey
Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.The Bailiwick, as a governing entity, embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, Burhou, and Lihou and their islet...
, one of the Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
.
Film festival
Biberach has a film fest for German films which celebrated its 31st anniversary in 2009."Biberacher Schützenfest"
The Biberacher Schützenfest is an historic festival for children and the town. The event starts every year in the first week of July and lasts nine days. The name "SchützenfestSchützenfest
A Schützenfest is a traditional festival or fair featuring a target shooting competition in the cultures of both Germany and Switzerland....
" derives from the German noun Schütze, meaning marksman. But nowadays, the crossbow competition and the appraisal of the best male and female champion shot (Schützenkönig and -königin), are only small events during the week of the Schützenfest. Other attractions and events during the festival are:
- Street parades
- Fairgrounds
- Historical performances
- Theme park
- Parties in bars, cafès and so on
- Beer tent
- Children theater (Schützentheater)
Christmas Market
The annual Christmas market, called "Christkindlesmarkt", which takes 16 days, is another highlight of the year. Exotic foods from Britain, France, and Italy (presented by the twin cities), kitsch, and beautiful arts and crafts are there to see and buy. People meet to drink mulled wineMulled wine
Mulled wine, variations of which are popular in Europe, is wine, usually red, combined with spices and typically served warm. It is a traditional drink during winter, especially around Christmas and Halloween.-Glühwein:...
.
Music
The church musicChurch music
Church music may be defined as music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclestiacal liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn. This article covers music in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. For sacred music outside this...
in Biberach is specially determined by the St.-Martins-Chorknaben Biberach
St.-Martins-Chorknaben Biberach
The St.-Martins-Chorknaben Biberach is a boys' and men's choir from Biberach an der Riß in southern Germany. The choir was founded in 1962 and is since then member of the Pueri Cantores, an international association of catholic youth choirs.The choir regularly takes part in services in its home...
(English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
: St Martin’s Boys’ Choir Biberach).
Sports in Biberach
TG Biberach 1847 e. V. is one of the biggest unions in the region. It has more than 6000 members and 27 divisions including American football, tennis, chess or volleyball.IBOT Another important sports festival in Biberach is IBOT. It's an annual international handball tournament for youths with more than a thousand participants which takes place at Easter.