Buchenbach
Encyclopedia
Buchenbach is a municipality
in the south west of the Black Forest
. It is located in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald
in Baden-Württemberg
in Germany
. It is made up of four communities, the main town of Buchenbach and the villages of Falkensteig, Unteribental and Wagensteig. The current municipality was formed by the merger of the former entities of Buchenbach and Falkensteig on 1 December 1971, with Wagensteig being joined to them on 1 August 1973 and Unteribental on 1 January 1975.
to the valley of the Wagensteigbach
, and Unteribental borders the St. Märgen plateau. A little to the west of Buchenbach, these two mountain streams merge to from the Dreisam
, so Buchenbach is the starting point of the Dreisam valley.
, St. Märgen, Breitnau
, Oberried
, Kirchzarten
and Stegen
.
-Wiesneck. In 1118, Bruno von Haigerloch-Wiesneck founded the monastery of St. Märgen. The Haigerloch-Wiesneck line died out in 1170, and the castle fell into the possession of a branch of the Zollerns, who styled themselves as Counts of Hoheberg. In 1293 they sold the castle. In 1577 it fell into the possession of the Barons of Sickingen-Hohenburg. The castle was sacked in 1121 by the Zähringers and in 1646, during the Thirty Years War, by the French. Wiesneck grew up as a small settlement around the castle. Since the location fell within the state of Baden
, Baron Wilhelm von Sickingen eventually sold his overlordship of the village to the state of Baden, which joined it to the larger town of Buchenbach.
Buchenbach itself is first heard of in 1350. It was an Austrian possession, and from 1653 by the Barons of Sickingen owning most of the land. The settlements of Ober- und Unterbuchenbach were under different overlords, causing continual difficulties and disputes, so that there were numerous reorganizations of the municipality down to the 19th century.
. In 1827, however, it became independent again. From the time it came under the authority of the state of Baden in 1806, it was treated as part of the Freiburg district.
it came under the authority of the state of Baden, from 1819 forming part of the Freiburg district. One of the oldest routes from the Neckar and Danube regions across the Black Forest to the Rhine Valley passes through the Wagensteig valley. The name of the valley itself comes from Wagenstadt ("cart town"), the form "Wagensteig" first appearing in the 12th century, in a judgement by Bishop Ulrich of Konstanz in a conflict between the church in Zarten and the monastery at St. Märgen over the rights to tithes in the district. The bishop concluded that the tithes from everywhere up to the town "Waginstat" should go to St. Märgen.
Along with the neighbouring municipalities of Kirchzarten, Oberried and Stegen, Buchenbach belongs to the Gemeindeverwaltungsverband Dreisamtal (Dreisam Valley Authority), whose offices are in Kirchzarten.
argent (white) bordered sable (black). Flag: green and white.
and Seebrugg on the Schluchsee
.
In the west of Buchenbach, the Bundesstrasse B31 (Breisach
–Lindau trunk road), the most important link between Freiburg im Breisgau, the Black Forest and Lake Constance
, runs through the village of Falkenstein. The Landesstrasse L128 provincial highway runs around the edge of the municipality, through the Wagensteig valley and on to St. Märgen and Thurner. A more direct route to Thurner branches off between Buchenbach and Wagensteig, as the local road K4907 through the Spirzen valley.
Buchenbach also offers facilities to Black Forest tourists
. The Schwarzwald-Querweg Freiburg-Bodensee
long-distance footpath passes through the main town.
Municipalities of Germany
Municipalities are the lowest level of territorial division in Germany. This may be the fourth level of territorial division in Germany, apart from those states which include Regierungsbezirke , where municipalities then become the fifth level.-Overview:With more than 3,400,000 inhabitants, the...
in the south west of the Black Forest
Black Forest
The Black Forest is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres ....
. It is located in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald
Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald
Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald is a district in the south of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Emmendingen, Schwarzwald-Baar, Waldshut, Lörrach and the French départements of the Haut-Rhin and the Bas-Rhin. The district-free city of Freiburg is surrounded by the district...
in 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...
in Germany
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 made up of four communities, the main town of Buchenbach and the villages of Falkensteig, Unteribental and Wagensteig. The current municipality was formed by the merger of the former entities of Buchenbach and Falkensteig on 1 December 1971, with Wagensteig being joined to them on 1 August 1973 and Unteribental on 1 January 1975.
Geography
The municipality is located within the South Black Forest Natural Park, about 12 km as the crow flies east of Freiburg im Breisgau. It stretches from the lower end of the Höllental, below RotbachRotbach (Dreisam)
Rotbach is a river of Baden-Württemberg, Germany....
to the valley of the Wagensteigbach
Wagensteigbach
Wagensteigbach is a river of Baden-Württemberg, Germany.-See also:*List of rivers of Baden-Württemberg...
, and Unteribental borders the St. Märgen plateau. A little to the west of Buchenbach, these two mountain streams merge to from the Dreisam
Dreisam
Dreisam is a river in Germany near Freiburg. It empties into the Elz. The waters of the Dreisam feed the famous Freiburg bächle....
, so Buchenbach is the starting point of the Dreisam valley.
Neighbouring municipalities
Clockwise from the north, Buchenbach borders on the municipalities of Sankt PeterSankt Peter, Baden-Württemberg
Sankt Peter is a town in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.-External links:...
, St. Märgen, Breitnau
Breitnau
Breitnau is a municipality in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald in the Black Forest in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.-History:Breitnau is first mentioned 1275 as Breittnowe but is probably older since the first church was built around 1200...
, Oberried
Oberried, Germany
Oberried is a town in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.Oberried is home to the Barbarastollen caves, the central safekeeping archive of Germany. The Barbarastollen holds microfilms with millions of images from German archives and museums.- References :...
, Kirchzarten
Kirchzarten
Kirchzarten is a town in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald in the federal-state of Baden-Württemberg in southwestern Germany.A Zionist agricultural training farm was founded in Kirchzarten in 1919 to prepare young people to become farmers in Eretz Israel.The Kirchzarten synagogue had a set...
and Stegen
Stegen
Stegen is a small town in the commune of "Aerenzdallgemeng", in eastern Luxembourg. , the town has a population of 395....
.
Buchenbach and Wiesneck
Lying in the lower Wagensteil valley, Buchenbach is made up of numerous small settlements and isolated farmsteads. Constituent settlements include Ober- and Unterbuchenbach, and the village of Wiesneck, which was independent of the town until 1837. Wiesneck is in fact the oldest part of the municipality, with a castle that is first documented in 1079. This was owned by the counts of HaigerlochHaigerloch
-Geography:-Geographical situation:Haigerloch lies at between 430 and 550 metres elevation in the valley of the Eyach, which forms two loops in a steep shelly limestone valley...
-Wiesneck. In 1118, Bruno von Haigerloch-Wiesneck founded the monastery of St. Märgen. The Haigerloch-Wiesneck line died out in 1170, and the castle fell into the possession of a branch of the Zollerns, who styled themselves as Counts of Hoheberg. In 1293 they sold the castle. In 1577 it fell into the possession of the Barons of Sickingen-Hohenburg. The castle was sacked in 1121 by the Zähringers and in 1646, during the Thirty Years War, by the French. Wiesneck grew up as a small settlement around the castle. Since the location fell within the state of Baden
Baden
Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....
, Baron Wilhelm von Sickingen eventually sold his overlordship of the village to the state of Baden, which joined it to the larger town of Buchenbach.
Buchenbach itself is first heard of in 1350. It was an Austrian possession, and from 1653 by the Barons of Sickingen owning most of the land. The settlements of Ober- und Unterbuchenbach were under different overlords, causing continual difficulties and disputes, so that there were numerous reorganizations of the municipality down to the 19th century.
Falkensteig
The village derives its name from the Falkenstein Castle built in the 12th century by the lords of Falkenstein and destroyed in 1388 by the townspeople of Freiburg. In the 17th century, the area fell into the possession of the lords of Pfirt, and subsequently to the state of Baden. An attempt to join it to Buchenbach in the 19th century failed.Unteribental
Unteribental was founded in 1120 and was under the Zähringers. Subsequently it was merged into StegenStegen
Stegen is a small town in the commune of "Aerenzdallgemeng", in eastern Luxembourg. , the town has a population of 395....
. In 1827, however, it became independent again. From the time it came under the authority of the state of Baden in 1806, it was treated as part of the Freiburg district.
Wagensteig
Wagensteig is first heard of in 1125, at which time it belonged to the St. Märgen monastery. After the secularisation mandated by the German MediatisationGerman Mediatisation
The German Mediatisation was the series of mediatisations and secularisations that occurred in Germany between 1795 and 1814, during the latter part of the era of the French Revolution and then the Napoleonic Era....
it came under the authority of the state of Baden, from 1819 forming part of the Freiburg district. One of the oldest routes from the Neckar and Danube regions across the Black Forest to the Rhine Valley passes through the Wagensteig valley. The name of the valley itself comes from Wagenstadt ("cart town"), the form "Wagensteig" first appearing in the 12th century, in a judgement by Bishop Ulrich of Konstanz in a conflict between the church in Zarten and the monastery at St. Märgen over the rights to tithes in the district. The bishop concluded that the tithes from everywhere up to the town "Waginstat" should go to St. Märgen.
Municipal council
Following the municipal elections of 13 June 2004, the local council is made up as follows:| CDU | 45,0 % | +3,0 | 7 Sitze | ±0 |
| UWG | 38,1 % | −19,9 | 5 Sitze | −4 |
| SPD | 16,9 % | +16,9 | 2 Sitze | +2 |
Along with the neighbouring municipalities of Kirchzarten, Oberried and Stegen, Buchenbach belongs to the Gemeindeverwaltungsverband Dreisamtal (Dreisam Valley Authority), whose offices are in Kirchzarten.
Arms
Above three hills vert (green), vertically divided; dexter (right) argent (white), with a beech tree vert (green) above the dexter hill, sinister (left) gules with a wavy fessFess
In heraldry, a fess or fesse is a charge on a coat of arms that takes the form of a band running horizontally across the centre of the shield. Writers disagree in how much of the shield's surface is to be covered by a fess or other ordinary, ranging from one-fifth to one-third...
argent (white) bordered sable (black). Flag: green and white.
Transport
On the western border of the municipality is the Himmelreich station on the Höllentalbahn, with a half-hourly service throughout the day to Freiburg im Breisgau and on into the Black Forest, alternately to NeustadtTitisee-Neustadt
Titisee-Neustadt is a municipality in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is made up of the six communities of Neustadt, Langenordnach, Rudenberg, Titisee, Schwärzenbach and Waldau.The town of Neustadt is a spa known for its Kneipp hydrotherapeutic...
and Seebrugg on the Schluchsee
Schluchsee
The Schluchsee is a reservoir lake in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, southeast of the Titisee in the Black Forest near Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.- Location :...
.
In the west of Buchenbach, the Bundesstrasse B31 (Breisach
Breisach
Breisach is a town with approximately 16,500 inhabitants, situated along the Rhine in the Rhine Valley, in the district Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about halfway between Freiburg and Colmar — 20 kilometres away from each — and about 60 kilometres north of Basel near the...
–Lindau trunk road), the most important link between Freiburg im Breisgau, the Black Forest and Lake Constance
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...
, runs through the village of Falkenstein. The Landesstrasse L128 provincial highway runs around the edge of the municipality, through the Wagensteig valley and on to St. Märgen and Thurner. A more direct route to Thurner branches off between Buchenbach and Wagensteig, as the local road K4907 through the Spirzen valley.
Industry
The main employers are:- Holzwerke Dold GmbH, a sawmillSawmillA sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
and producer of furniture and building materials, employing about 250 people; - Siko GmbH, makers of measuring instruments, with about 140 employees
Buchenbach also offers facilities to Black Forest tourists
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
. The Schwarzwald-Querweg Freiburg-Bodensee
Schwarzwald-Querweg Freiburg-Bodensee
The Schwarzwald-Querweg Freiburg-Bodensee is a long-distance footpath that runs in an east–west direction in the Black Forest region of Baden-Württemberg, Germany....
long-distance footpath passes through the main town.
Honorary citizens
- Oskar Saier, former Roman Catholic Archbishop of Freiburg, was born in Wagensteig
- Hans Martin, former mayor
- Josef Eckmann, Representative and mayor of the previously independent village of Unteribental
- Günther Wandres, Entrepreneur (Siko GmbH)
- Erwin Dold, Entrepreneur (since 8 November 2002), born in Buchenbach.
Other people associated with the municipality
- Friedrich Husemann, founded an anthroposophicallyAnthroposophyAnthroposophy, a philosophy founded by Rudolf Steiner, postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world accessible to direct experience through inner development...
oriented clinic for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Neurology in Buchenbach. - Alfred DöblinAlfred DöblinAlfred Döblin was a German expressionist novelist, best known for the novel Berlin Alexanderplatz .- 1878–1918:...
, was treated in the Husemann clinic.
External links
- Official municipal website
- Buchenbach: History and pictures
- Buchenbach for officials, tourists and business people
- Studienhaus Wiesneck of the Institute for political Education of Baden-Württemberg
- Friedrich Husemann clinic