Renchen is a small city 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...

, 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...

, part of the district of Ortenau

Ortenaukreis

Ortenaukreis is a district in the west of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Rastatt, Freudenstadt, Rottweil, Schwarzwald-Baar and Emmendingen...

.

Geography

Renchen is located in the foothills of the northern 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 ....

 at the entrance to the Rench

Rench

The Rench is a river in the district of Ortenau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany and a right-side tributary of the Rhine River. Its source is near Kniebis Mountain not far from Bad Griesbach in the Black Forest...

 valley at the edge of the Upper Rhine River Plains.

Neighboring communities

The city shares borders with the following cities and towns, listed clock-wise from the north: Achern

Achern

Achern is a city in Western Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located approximately 18 km southwest of Baden-Baden and 19 km northeast of Offenburg...

, Kappelrodeck

Kappelrodeck

Kappelrodeck is a town in Western Baden-Württemberg, Germany and belongs to the district of Ortenau.-External links:...

, Oberkirch

Oberkirch (Baden)

Oberkirch is a town in Western Baden-Württemberg, Germany about 12 km North-East of Offenburg and belongs to the Ortenaukreis district....

, Appenweier

Appenweier

Appenweier is a municipality in western Baden-Württemberg, Germany in the district of Ortenau.- Geography :Appenweier consists of the main municipal Appenweier , Urloffen , known for horseradish-growing, and Nesselried...

, and Rheinau

Rheinau (Baden)

Rheinau is a town in southwestern Baden-Württemberg, Germany and is part of the district of Ortenau.-Geography:Rheinau is located in the Upper Rhine River Plains directly on the Rhine and as such at the German-French border...

.

Boroughs

In addition to Renchen (proper) the city includes the boroughs of Erlach

Erlach

Erlach may refer to:places in Austria:*Erlach , a locality of Kallham*Erlach , a locality of Pischelsdorf am Engelbach*Bad Erlach, also known as Erlach an der Pitten in Wiener Neustadt-Land in Lower Austriaplaces in Switzerland:...

 and Ulm zu Renchen.

History

Renchen was first in official documents in 1115. In 1326 it received a city charter but the city lost it again as well as all significance when it was destroyed during the Thirty Years' War

Thirty Years' War

The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....

. In 1838 the Grand Duke of Baden again granted a city charter to Renchen but it again lost the right to call itself a city as a result of the German district reform in 1935. Renchen then received a city charter for the third time in 1950 in recognition of its historic importance.

Renchen's borough of Ulm zu Renchen is known mostly for its Ulmer Bier, a specialty beer brewed only at full moon.

City council

As of February 2006, Renchen's city council has the following composition:

{| border="0"
| valign="top" |
{| class="wikitable"
! Party
! Seats
|-
| align="left" | CDU

Christian Democratic Union (Germany)

The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...

|| align="right" | 8
|-
| align="left" | SPD

Social Democratic Party of Germany

The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...

 || align="right" | 4
|-

|-
| align="left" | Independents || align="right" | 8
|}

Grimmelshausen Prize

The Grimmelshausen Prize is a literary prize of €10,000 awarded in odd-number years on September 15, in turn, by Renchen or the city of Gelnhausen

Gelnhausen

Gelnhausen is a town and the capital of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located approx. 40 kilometers east of Frankfurt am Main, between the Vogelsberg mountains and the Spessart range at the river Kinzig...

.

Media

In Renchen the Offenburger Tageblatt publishes a daily local edition as "Acher-Rench-Zeitung" and the Stattzeitung für Südbaden is an alternative magazine offered in the area.

Famous people

Renchen likes to call itself the city of Grimmelshausen, as the poet Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen

Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen

Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen was a German author.-Biography:Grimmelshausen was born at Gelnhausen. At the age of ten he was kidnapped by Hessian soldiery, and in their midst tasted the adventures of military life in the Thirty Years' War...

, author of Der Abenteuerliche Simplicissimus Teutsch, served from 1667 until his death in 1676 as the Bishop of Strasbourg's executor in Renchen.

External links

www.stadt-renchen.de Stattzeitung für Südbaden, erscheint in Renchen