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Freiburg im Breisgau
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coordinates 7°51′0″E / 47.983333°N 7.85°E / 47.983333; 7.85
Administration
Country Germany
State Baden-Württemberg
Admin. region Freiburg
District Urban district
City subdivisions 41 districts
Lord Mayor Dieter Salomon (Greens)
Basic statistics
Area 153.07 km2 (59.10 sq mi)
Elevation 278 m (912 ft)
Population 217,547 (31 December 2006)[1]
- Density 1,421 /km2 (3,681 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate FR
Postal codes 79098–79117
Area codes 0761, 07664, 07665
Website www.freiburg.de
Freiburg im Breisgau is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Located in the extreme south-west of the country, Freiburg straddles the Dreisam river, at the foot of the Schlossberg. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Breisgau region on the western edge of the Black Forest in the Upper Rhine Plain. One of the famous old German university towns, and archiepiscopal seat, Freiburg was incorporated in the early 12th century and developed into a major commercial, intellectual, and ecclesiastical centre of the upper Rhine region. The city is known for its ancient university and its medieval cathedral, as well as for its high standard of living and advanced environmental practices. The city is situated in the heart of a major wine-growing region and serves as the primary tourist entrepot to the scenic beauty of the Black Forest. According to meteorological statistics, the city is the sunniest and warmest in Germany.[2]
History
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Freiburg was founded by Konrad and Duke Bertold III of Zähringen in 1120 as a free market town;[3] hence its name, which translates to "free (or independent) town" – the word "frei" meaning "free" and Burg, like the modern English word borough, was used in those days for an incorporated city or town, usually one with some degree of autonomy.[4] However, the German word "Burg" also means "a fortified town" as in Hamburg. Thus, it is likely that the name of this place means a "fortified town of free citizens". Look further for a description of Freiburg as a town with a wall around it.
This town was strategically located at a junction of trade routes between the Mediterranean Sea and the North Sea areas, and the Rhine and Danube rivers. In the year 1200, Freiburg's population numbered around 6,000 people. At about this time, under the rule of Bertold V, the last duke of Zähringen, the city began construction of its Freiburg Münster cathedral on the site of an older parish church.[3] Begun in the Romanesque style, it was continued and completed 1513 for the most part as a Gothic cathedral. In 1218, when Bertold V died, the counts of Urach assumed the title of Freiburg's count.[3][5] The city council did not trust the new nobles and wrote down their established rights in a document. At the end of the 13th century there was a feud between the citizens of Freiburg and their lord, Count Egino II of Freiburg. Egino raised taxes and sought to limit the citizens' freedom, after which the Freiburgers used catapults to destroy the count's castle atop Schloßberg, a hill that overlooks the city center. The furious count called on his brother-in-law the Bishop of Strasbourg, Konradius von Lichtenberg, for help. The bishop answered by marching with his army to Freiburg.
According to an old Freiburg legend, a butcher named Hauri stabbed the Bishop of Strasbourg to death on July 29, 1299. It was a Pyrrhic victory, since henceforth the citizens of Freiburg had to pay an annual expiation of 300 marks in silver to the count of Freiburg until 1368. In 1366 the counts of Freiburg made another failed attempt to occupy the city during a night raid. Eventually the citizens were fed up with their lords, and in 1368 Freiburg purchased its independence from them. The city turned itself over to the protection of the Habsburgs, who allowed the city to retain a large measure of freedom. Most of the nobles of the city died in the battle of Sempach (1386). The patrician family Schnewlin took control of the city until the guildsmen revolted. The guilds became more powerful than the patricians in 1389.
The silver mines in Mount Schauinsland provided an important source of capital for Freiburg. This silver made Freiburg one of the richest cities in Europe, and in 1327 Freiburg minted its own coin, the Rappenpfennig. In 1377 the cities of Freiburg, Basel, Colmar, and Breisach entered into an alliance known as the Genossenschaft des Rappenpfennigs (Rappenpfennig Collective). This alliance facilitated commerce between the cities and lasted until the end of the 16th century. There were 8,000-9,000 people living in Freiburg between the 13th and 14th centuries, and 30 churches and monasteries. At the end of the 14th century, the veins of silver were dwindling and by 1460, only around 6,000 people still lived within Freiburg's city walls. A university city, Freiburg evolved from its focus on mining to become a cultural center for the arts and sciences. It was also a commercial center. The end of the Middle Ages and the dawn of the Renaissance was a time of both advances and tragedy for Freiburg.
In 1457, Albrecht VI, Regent of Further Austria, established Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, one of Germany's oldest universities. In 1498, Emperor Maximilian I held Reichstag in Freiburg. In 1520, the city ratified a set of legal reforms, widely considered the most progressive of the time. The aim was to find a balance between city traditions and old Roman Law. The reforms were well received, especially the sections dealing with civil process law, punishment and the city's constitution.
In 1520, Freiburg decided not to take part in the Reformation and became an important center for Catholicism on the Upper Rhine. In 1536, a strong and persistent belief in witchcraft led to the city's first witch-hunt. The need to find a scapegoat for calamities such as the Black Plague, which claimed 2,000 area residents (25% of the city population) in 1564, led to an escalation in witch-hunting that reached its peak in 1599. A plaque on the old city wall marks the spot where burnings were carried out.
The 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries were turbulent times for Freiburg. Through battles in the Thirty Years' War (at the beginning of this war there were 10,000-14,000 citizens in Freiburg; by its end only 2,000) and other conflicts, the city belonged at various times to the Austrians, the French, the Swedish, the Spanish, and various members of the German Confederacy. In the period between 1648 and 1805, it was the administrative headquarters of Further Austria, the Habsburg territories in the southwest of Germany, when the city was not under French occupation. In 1805, the city, together with the Breisgau and Ortenau areas, became part of Baden.
In 1827, when the Archdiocese of Freiburg was founded, Freiburg became the seat of a Catholic archbishop.
In 1889, the entire city had to be evacuated when the noxious compound thioacetone (C3H6S ) was produced in a laboratory and released into the air.
On October 22, 1940, the Nazi Gauleiter of Baden ordered the deportation of all Baden's Jews, and 350 Jewish citizens of Freiburg were deported[6] to the southern French internment camp of Camp Gurs in the Basses-Pyrénées. They remained there under poor conditions until the majority of the survivors were sent to their deaths at Auschwitz on July 18, 1942. The cemetery for German Jews who died at Camp Gurs is maintained by the town of Freiburg and other cities of Baden. A memorial stands outside the modern synagogue in the town center. The pavements of Freiburg carry memorials to individual victims in form of brass plates outside former residences, including that of Edith Stein.