Albbruck is a municipality of the district of Waldshut in

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is on the southwestern border of Germany with Switzerland.

History

In 1805 during the process of

German mediatisation German mediatisation (; german: deutsche Mediatisierung) was the major territorial restructuring that took place between 1802 and 1814 in Germany and the surrounding region by means of the mass mediatisation and secularisation of a large number ...

, a restructuring of certain jurisdictions, Albbruck became a possession of the

Grand Duchy of Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden (german: Großherzogtum Baden) was a state in the southwest German Empire on the east bank of the Rhine. It existed between 1806 and 1918. It came into existence in the 12th century as the Margraviate of Baden and subs ...

. In 1939, the town was assigned to the district of Waldshut. Through much of this period, it was rural and agricultural. Decades after World War II, beginning in the 1970s, Albbruck underwent a period of growth. Residential areas were developed on the west side of the town and commercial space to its north. A new town hall was constructed in 1973. The municipality also grew in geographic area in that period, adding , Buch, and Unteralpfen with Albbruck on 1 January 1975. A new town center was completed in 2000.

Geography

The municipality (''

Gemeinde Gemeinde (; plural: Gemeinden) is a German word translating to "community", "town", "parish", or "municipality". Gemeinde may refer to: * An administrative division encompassing a single village, town, or city: ** Gemeinde (Austria) ** Gemeinde (G ...

'') of Albbruck lies at the southern edge of the district of Waldshut in

, a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

of the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...

. It lies along the

High Rhine The High Rhine (german: Hochrhein) is the name used for the part of the Rhine that flows westbound from Lake Constance to Basel. The High Rhine begins at the outflow of the Rhine from the Untersee in Stein am Rhein and turns into the Upper Rhine ...

and the national border with

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, and extends from there north into the

Hotzenwald The Hotzenwald is a landscape and region in the Southern Black Forest in the county of Waldshut. Its headquarters was the ''Waldvogteiamt''. Location and topography The region of Hotzenwald is not precisely defined in the records. In a narro ...

. The municipality is crossed by the

chine A chine () is a steep-sided coastal gorge where a river flows to the sea through, typically, soft eroding cliffs of sandstone or clays. The word is still in use in central Southern England—notably in East Devon, Dorset, Hampshire and the Isl ...

valleys of the Mühlbach and

Alb The alb (from the Latin ''albus'', meaning ''white''), one of the liturgical vestments of the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Reformed and Congregational churches, is an ample white garment coming down to the ank ...

rivers. of the former is a Federally-protected nature reserve and the latter forms part of the municipality's northwest border. Elevation above sea level in the municipal area ranges from a high of

Normalnull ("standard zero") or (short N. N. or NN ) is an outdated official vertical datum used in Germany. Elevations using this reference system were to be marked (“meters above standard zero”). has been replaced by (NHN). History In 187 ...

(NN) in the Hotzenwald to a low of about on the Rhine.

Coat of arms

Albbruck's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

depicts a

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

river crossed by a bridge of

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

masonry, from which two fir trees grow, over a

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

. This pattern was first used in seals from the late 19th century, but was approved for official use by the

Federal Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

on 2 November 1956. The pattern was again approved, this time by the Waldshut district office, on 13 May 1977, following the absorption of Birkingen, Buch, and Unteralpfen into Albbruck. The river on the shield is the Alb, a tributary of the High Rhine; their confluence is located in the town. The two trees are from the arms of the .

Twin towns

Albbruck has been twinned with Carmignano di Brenta,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, since 1959.

Transportation

Albbruck is connected to Germany's network of Federal highways by . The

High Rhine Railway The High Rhine Railway (german: Hochrheinbahn) is the Deutsche Bahn railway line from Basel to Singen. It is also part of the tri-national S-Bahn Basel and referenced as . It was built by the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways as part of the Bad ...

also passes through the municipality. Traffic into Switzerland from Albbruck is made possible by the , in operation since 1933.

References

External links

* (in German) {{Authority control Waldshut (district) Baden Germany–Switzerland border crossings Hotzenwald