Blumberg

This article is about German town. For people with the surname Blumberg, see Blumberg (disambiguation).

Blumberg
View over Achdorf
Blumberg
Location of the town of Blumberg within Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis district
Coordinates	47°50′21″N 8°32′3″E
Administration
Country	Germany
State	Baden-Württemberg
Admin. region	Freiburg
District	Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis
Town subdivisions	10 Ortsteile
Mayor	Markus Keller
Basic statistics
Area	98.68 km2 (38.10 sq mi)
Elevation	704 m  (2310 ft)
Population	10,138 (31 December 2010)
- Density	103 /km2 (266 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate	VS
Postal code	78176
Area codes	07702, 07736
Website	www.stadt-blumberg.de

Blumberg is a municipality situated in the Schwarzwald-Baar region of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, 19 kilometres south of Donaueschingen, on the southern edge of the Schwarzwald, The Black Forest and lying directly on the border with Switzerland’s Canton of Schaffhausen.

History

The town of Blumberg lies in the region where the ancient source of the Danube is situated, the former glacial valley between Eichberg and Buchberg. Its official origins date from the 13th Century, with the Masters of Blumberg first mentioned in 1260. However one of the oldest settlements, the Steppacher Hof, was already documented in the 12th century.

The town itself is believed to have originated long before that time, as archaeological discoveries have shown the area was inhabited during the Stone Age.

The Wutach is a 90 km long tributary of the River Rhine which changes name twice as it passes through the southern Black Forest, and Blumberg was established in the Wutach valley near the ancient Wutachschlucht, the spectacular 'Wutach Gorge' which is now a nature reserve and conservation area known as the Grand-Canyon des Schwarzwaldes.

Blumberg castle was built above the town in the Middle Ages, and this contributed significantly towards the development of the surrounding settlements, and from 1559, while under the rule of the princely Fuerstenberg family who from 1283 until 2004 also owned a brewery, Blumberg grew enough in importance to be elevated from a Städtle (town) to a 'city'.

During the Thirty Years' War, 1618–1648, Blumberg castle was destroyed, however after 1648, and thanks to its Doggererz iron ore reserves, the town did experience a short lived expansion.

Doggererz mine was reopened and ore extracted once again from 1934 to 1942, the time of the National Socialist German Workers' Party, Nazi Germany. It was during this period that Doggererz AG imported forced laborers to use as miners, and the population in what had been until then a predominantly agricultural town dramatically increased. By 1945 it had risen from 700 to 7,000.

In 1945 the town and surrounding region were occupied by French forces, as part of South Baden, after the previous states of Baden and Württemberg had been divided into US and French occupation zones.

Blumberg expanded during the 1950's as various industrial works were established in the district, and now has approximately 10.800 inhabitants, while the town is also a thriving tourist area.

Nevertheless Blumberg has retained a small town sense of community and traditional character, with time honoured seasonal festivities, decorations, customs, street parties and parades such as those for Swabian–Alemannic Fastnacht, Carnival, and many small specialised local stores still exist. For a few weeks multicoloured filled carnival doughnuts can be found at artisanal bakers, together with daily supplies of fresh handmade breads, elaborately made cakes and cookies to be ‘taken away’ or enjoyed on the spot. And master butchers, Metzger, work from the early hours of the morning to produce cold cuts, sausages, terrines, fresh meats, and Silesian specialties from what is now mainly Poland.

Tourism

Sauschwänzlebahr, The Wutach Valley Railway

Blumberg is set in the centre of one of the most scenically beautiful areas of Germany, offering everything from castles, nature parks, forests, lakes and mountains, to skiing, sailing, spas and tourist routes. At the same time it is close to cities filled with history, culture and endless shopping possibilites, and just minutes away from Switzerland.

It is also the starting point for the legendary Sauschwänzlebahr, The Pigtail Line, The Wutach Valley Railway. An old fashioned steam locomotive with original carriages, which is run as a railway museum and travels on elevated tracks across the countryside throughout the summer months.

Geography

Districts

The municipality of Blumberg is made up of the districts of Blumberg Achdorf, Blumberg, Epfenhofen, Fützen, Hondingen, Kommingen, Nordhalden, Riedböhringen and Riedöschingen. With the exception of Blumberg itself, each of these has its own district council, as is the custom in Baden-Württemberg.

The village of Achdorf is the only one remaining of the original settlements from alongside the river Wutach, which lies within the 30 km length of the scenic Wutachschlucht, the pre-historic Danube Wutachschlucht gorge.

Religion

Even after the Reformation the Blumberg region remained predominantly Roman Catholic, and produced a Cardinal, Curial Cardinal Augustin Bea. Born the son of a carpenter on May 28, 1881 in Riedböhringen near Donaueschingen, he died in Rome on 16. November, 1968. A museum has been created in the house where his birth took place, and this can be visited by appointment.

Today the area has four Roman Catholic parishes which follow the new theology together with two continuing to use the old traditional Catholic theology, as well as a Protestant and a New Apostolic Church.

Associated with Blumberg

Sophie Scholl, one of the founders of the White Rose, a non-violent Anti Nazi resistance group of students from the University of Munich lived in Blumberg for six months at the beginning of WWII, while she was working for the Reichsarbeitsdienst, State Labor Service, as an ‘Arbeitsmaiden’, a female worker. In 1940 she helped at a protestant crèche in Blumberg, which had been set up to care for the children of women forcibly recruited to work in jobs considered important for the war effort.

Executed for treason in 1943 she, and the group to which she belonged, have been the subject of many books and films.

External links

• Blumberg Tourist Office (English)
• Blumberg: Bilder & Ortsgeschichte (German)