Villingen-Schwenningen

Villingen-Schwenningen
Stadt/Town
View of Villingen
Coat of arms
Location of Villingen-Schwenningen within Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis district
Villingen-Schwenningen Villingen-Schwenningen
Coordinates: 48°03′37″N 08°27′31″E
Country	Germany
State	Baden-Württemberg
Admin. region	Freiburg
District	Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis
Subdivisions	Stadtbezirk
Government
• Mayor	Dr. Rupert Kubon (SPD)
Area
• Total	165.47 km2 (63.89 sq mi)
Elevation	704 m (2,310 ft)
Population  (2022-12-31)
• Total	88,213
• Density	530/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	78001–78056
Dialling codes	07721, 07720, 07425, 07705
Vehicle registration	VS
Website	www.villingen-schwenningen.de

Villingen-Schwenningen (German pronunciation: [ˈfɪlɪŋən ˈʃvɛnɪŋən]) is a town in the Schwarzwald-Baar district in southern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It has 84,818 inhabitants (as of January 2018).

History

Villingen

In the Middle Ages Villingen was a town under Austrian lordship. During the Protestant Reformation it remained Catholic. Villingen came to international attention when it was besieged by marshal Tallard in 1704. Colonel Von Wilstorff put up a stout defence of the outdated fortifications, and after six days the siege failed.

Schwenningen remained a village until the 19th century. In 1858 the first watch factory was established, and watchmaking and precision mechanics have been important industries ever since. The town styled itself "the greatest watch city in the world" at one time, and the Kienzle Uhren watchmaking company was founded there in 1822 and remained until moving to Hamburg in 2002. The Museum of Clockmaking celebrates the town's clock and watchmaking history.

As part of the Baden-Württemberg territorial reform of 1972, Villingen and Schwenningen were merged with a number of surrounding villages to form the city of Villingen-Schwenningen. Nevertheless, the two halves of the city are separated by a plateau and remain distinct. Villingen is a former part of Baden, while Schwenningen is a former part of Württemberg.

Villingen is a major center of German Carneval celebrations. The traditional Narros represent the old citizens of Villingen: Alt Villingere, Morbili, Narro, Suribbel.

Since 1904, Villingen-Schwenningen has also been home to the ice hockey team the Schwenninger Wild Wings which competes in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.

Geography

Villingen-Schwenningen lies on the eastern edge of the Black Forest about 700 m (2,300 ft) above sea level. The source of the River Neckar is in Schwenningen (Schwenninger Moos).

Boroughs

• Villingen
• Schwenningen
• Obereschach
• Weilersbach
• Weigheim
• Mühlhausen
• Marbach
• Rietheim
• Pfaffenweiler
• Herzogenweiler
• Tannheim

Mayors and Lord mayors of Villingen

• 1912–1930: Guido Lehmann
• 1931–1933: Adolf Gremmelspacher
• 1933: Gutmann, temporary
• 1933–1937: Hermann Schneider
• 1937–1940: Karl Berckmüller
• 1940–1945: Hermann Riedel
• 1945–1946: Walter Bräunlich
• 1946: Edwin Hartmann
• 1946–1950: Edwin Nägele
• 1950–1972: Severin Kern

Mayors and Lord mayors of Schwenningen

• 1797–1816: Erhard Bürk
• 1816–1819: (Vogt)
• 1819–1821: Thomas Wegler
• 1821–1825: ?
• 1825–1835: Matthias Rapp
• 1835–1841: Johann Georg Koch
• 1841–1852: Andreas Bürk
• 1852–1857: Christian Strohm
• 1857–1887: Erhard Müller
• 1887–1912: David Würth
• 1912–1925: Emil Braunagel
• 1925–1930: Ingo Lang von Langen
• 1930–1948: Otto Gönnenwein
• 1949–1962: Hans Kohler
• 1962–1972: Gerhard Gebauer

Lord mayors of Villingen-Schwenningen

• 1972–1994: Gerhard Gebauer (SPD)
• 1994–2002: Manfred Matusza (CDU)
• since 2002: Rupert Kubon (SPD)

Number of inhabitants (Villingen-Schwenningen)

Date Inhabitants 31. December 1972 78.436 31 December 1980 78.904 31 December 1990 78.218 31 December 1995 80.734 31 December 2005 81.778 31 December 2015 84.674

Source: Statistical office Baden-Württemberg

The 10 largest communities of foreigners are :

Italy
Turkey
Croatia
Romania
Syria
Serbia
Greece
Poland
Kosovo
Bosnia

Main sights

Villingen-Schwenningen Watch factory Bürk Museum of watch industry

Schwenningen - Janusz-Korczak-school

Villingen Romäus tower

Münster Villingen West side

• Town Wall
• Municipal Art Gallery
• Franciscan Monastery Museum (in German)
• Schwenningen Clock Museum (in German)
• Minster of Our Lady
• Theater am Ring
• Wanne Observation Tower, one of the oldest towers built of iron
• Internationales Luftfahrt-Museum, aviation museum

International relations/sister cities

• Tula, Russia
• Pontarlier, France
• La Valette du Var
• Savona
• Zittau
• Friedrichsthal

Notable people

• Georg Pictorius (around 1500–1569), physician and mystic-magical author of the Renaissance
• Trudpert Neugart (1742–1825), professor for oriental languages
• Johannes Benzing (1913–2001), Turkologist and diplomat
• Martin Barner (born 1921), mathematician
• Kurt Leichtweiss (1927–2013), mathematician
• Hartmann von der Tann (born 1943), journalist
• Rainer Baumann (1949–2007), guitarist, composer and lyricist
• Horst Ludwig Meyer (1956–1999), presumed member of the Red Army Faction (RAF)
• Veit Heinichen (born 1957), writer
• Gundolf Köhler (1959-1980), right-wing extremist
• Andreas K. Engel (born 1961), brain researcher
• Robert Prosinečki (born 1969), Croatian footballer and coach
• Michelle (born 1972), singer
• Thorsten Schmitt (born 1975), Nordic Combiner
• Oliver Roggisch (born 1978), handball player
• Martin Schmitt (born 1978), ski jumper
• Andreas Lang (born 1979), curler
• Dennis Seidenberg (born 1981), ice hockey player (New York Islanders)
• Ivana Brkljačić (born 1983), Croatian hammer thrower
• Jochen Schöps (born 1983), volleyball player
• Marco Caligiuri (born 1984), German-Italian footballer
• Adem Sarı (born 1985), Turkish footballer
• Daniel Caligiuri (born 1988), German-Italian footballer
• Florian Rudy (born 1989), footballer
• Sebastian Rudy (born 1990), footballer
• Domenic Weinstein (born 1994), cyclist

External links

• Official website Template:De icon
• Villingen-Schwenningen: history & pictures Template:De icon
• The siege of Villingen in 1702