Furtwangen im Schwarzwald (;
Low Alemannic: ''Furtwange im Schwarzwald'') is a small city located in the
Black Forest
The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
region of southwestern
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 ...
. Together with
Villingen-Schwenningen, Furtwangen is part of the district (German:
Kreis) of
Schwarzwald-Baar
Schwarzwald-Baar () is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the south of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from north clockwise) Ortenaukreis, Rottweil, Tuttlingen, Constance, the Swiss canton of Schaffhausen, and the districts ...
.
Geography
Furtwangen is located in the
Southern Black Forest Nature Park
The Southern Black Forest Nature Park (german: Naturpark Südschwarzwald) is located in Baden-Württemberg in Germany and covers an area of 394,000 hectares. As of 2018, it is Germany's largest nature park.
History
The Southern Black Forest Nat ...
in the Southeastern Black Forest, around 25 kilometers west of the district town of Villingen-Schwenningen and around 27 kilometers northeast of
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...
.
Furtwangen is the highest town in Baden-Württemberg. Between 850 m and 1,150 m above sea level, it lies in the upper Bregtal of the
Central Black Forest in the headwaters of the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
. The Breg is a small stream which, coming from the mountainous areas around Furtwangen, flows down through the inner city to the east. The Breg is one of the two little rivers which unite to form the river
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
.
The population of Furtwangen comprises around 10,000 inhabitants
(as of 2016/17).
History
Furtwangen gained the right to call itself a city in 1873. It was not the first time that Furtwangen applied for
city rights
Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...
. After all, in 1833, the village already had 2,292 inhabitants and 2,470 in 1840. The previous attempts had always failed because Furtwangen had no
town hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
, although higher administrative levels had already warned the building several times.
Coat of arms
The coat of arms is mainly in silver. It depicts a red castle ruin on green ground with silver openings, surrounded by two green fir trees.
Clockmaking
![Kuckucksuhr schwarzwald](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Kuckucksuhr_schwarzwald.jpg)
Furtwangen owes its economic boom to the clock, which reached the
Black Forest
The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
in the 17th century and brought the region an unexpected boom in the 18th century. The founding of the watchmaking school in 1850 was the expression and motor of this development. Its first rector
Robert Gerwig also achieved fame as one of the builders of the
Black Forest Railway. The trade association, to which the city also owes the establishment of the Sparkasse, gave the impetus to establish the watchmaking school. Today's
Furtwangen University of Applied Sciences developed from the watchmaking school.
After the city elevation in 1873, industrialization began in Furtwangen through the watch industry. Large companies such as Baduf, Furtwängler and Siedle emerged. In total, they provided 2,000 jobs. At the turn of the century, the Furtwang industry was at its peak. The traffic conditions were improved by the Bregtalbahn, which opened in 1893.
Emilian Wehrle
Emilian Wehrle (1832 – 1896, born in Schönenbach (Furtwangen), was a reputed Black Forest clockmaker famous for his high-quality musical clocks. These musical clocks included the trumpeter clock, flute clock, singing bird clock, and rooster cl ...
(1832–1896) made musical clocks in the Furtwangen-Schönenbach area from about 1857 until his death in 1896. These musical clocks included the
Trumpeter clock, Flute clock, Singing Bird Clock, and Rooster Clock. These clocks call the hour with the sound of the trumpet, flute, song bird and rooster respectively.
![Furtwangen Schwarzwald - Black forest](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Furtwangen_Schwarzwald_-_Black_forest.jpg)
Culture and tourism
The
German Clock Museum The German Clock Museum (german: Deutsches Uhrenmuseum) is situated near the centre of the Black Forest town of Furtwangen im Schwarzwald (Germany), a historical centre of clockmaking. It features permanent and temporary exhibits on the history of t ...
exhibits more than 8,000 items related to clocks and clockmaking. The museum's history dates back to 1852, when
Robert Gerwig, Director of the ''Grand Ducal Baden Clockmaking School'' in Furtwangen, began to collect old clocks as witnesses of traditional handicrafts. In 1978, the "Historic Clock Collection" is renamed into the "German Clock Museum".
The
Hexenloch Mill
The Hexenloch Mill (german: Hexenlochmühle), formerly the Dreistegen Mill (''Dreistegenmühle''), lies in the ravine-like Hexenloch (also sometimes called the Hexenloch valley, but not often by the locals) in the Black Forest in Germany betwee ...
was built in 1825. It has been in the family since 1839. The mill was built as a sawmill, its wheels are driven by the water from the hay stream (approx. 300 litres/second). The large water wheel (4m diameter, 13 HP) is the drive of a high-speed and a circular saw which are still functional today.
Education
The
University of Applied Sciences Furtwangen was founded in 1850. It specialises in
microelectronics
Microelectronics is a subfield of electronics. As the name suggests, microelectronics relates to the study and manufacture (or microfabrication) of very small electronic designs and components. Usually, but not always, this means micrometre-s ...
, precision mechanics,
computer sciences
Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (including ...
, informatics, digital media, industrial technologies, medical and life sciences, mechanical and medical engineering etc.
Infrastructure
Strongly frequented by traffic is the "
B 500" (Bundesstraße 500) road which is also commonly known as the black forest "Panoramastraße". In 1972, the railway connection called ''Bregtalbahn'' was closed after 80 years of service. The railway track had led from Furtwangen to
Donaueschingen
Donaueschingen (; Low Alemannic: ''Eschinge'') is a German town in the Black Forest in the southwest of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg in the Schwarzwald-Baar '' Kreis''. It stands near the confluence of the two sources of the river Da ...
.
Sons and daughters of the city
*
![Robert-Gerwig](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/Robert-Gerwig.jpg)
*
Hugo Eberhardt
Hugo Eberhardt (2 May 1874, Furtwangen im Schwarzwald − 8 April 1959) was a German Architect.
Biography
Eberhardt started his career as a ship interior architect for Norddeutscher Lloyd, After working in Kos as an archeologist for a German ...
(1874-1959), architect
*
Fritz Faiss
Fritz Wilhelm Faiss (March 6, 1905 – October 1, 1981) was a German-American abstract expressionist artist.
Life and work
Faiss was born on March 6, 1905 in the town of Furtwangen, a town in the Black Forest section of Germany. He studied a ...
(1905 – 1981), abstract expressionist artist
*
Siegfried Weiss (1933-2013), cross-country skier
Personalities related to the city
*
Christabel Bielenberg (1909-2003), British writer
*
Robert Gerwig (1825-1885), engineer, from 1850 to 1857 head of watchmaking school; one of the principal designers of the
Black Forest Railway
*
Alexander Herr
Alexander Herr (born 4 October 1978 in Furtwangen im Schwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg) is a German former ski jumper who competed 1993 to 2006, then came out of retirement in 2009 to compete in the 2010 Winter Olympics. He won a bronze m ...
(born 1978), ski jumper
*
Georg Hettich (born 1978), Nordic combiner
*
Dominik Koepfer
Dominik Koepfer (born 29 April 1994) is a German professional tennis player. He has achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 50 on 10 May 2021, and a doubles ranking of No. 92 on 14 February 2022.
He played college tennis at Tulan ...
(born 1994), professional tennis player
*
Martin Schmitt
Martin Schmitt (; born 29 January 1978) is a German former ski jumper who competed from 1997 to 2014. He is one of Germany's most successful ski jumpers, having won the World Cup twice; a gold medal at the Winter Olympics; four gold medals at th ...
(born 1978), popular ski jumper
*
Thorsten Schmitt
Thorsten Schmitt (born September 20, 1975 in Villingen-Schwenningen, Baden-Württemberg) is a German nordic combined skier who has been competing since 1998. He won a silver medal in the 4 x 5 km team event at the 2003 FIS Nordic World ...
(born 1975), Nordic combiner
External links
Official website of the municipalityin German)
Furtwangen: pictures & history (de)
Photo gallery
File:Furtwangen Feb 05 GHB.jpg, Furtwangen
File:Furtwangen Jan 05 fog GHB.jpg, Furtwangen in January 2005 (in the mist)
File:University of Applied Sciences Furtwangen Germany.jpg, University of Applied Sciences Furtwangen
File:Deutsches-Uhrenmuseum-Aussenansicht.png, German Clock Museum
File:Furtwangen-Neukirch - Hexenlochmühle (01-2).jpg, Hexenloch Mill
The Hexenloch Mill (german: Hexenlochmühle), formerly the Dreistegen Mill (''Dreistegenmühle''), lies in the ravine-like Hexenloch (also sometimes called the Hexenloch valley, but not often by the locals) in the Black Forest in Germany betwee ...
in Furtwangen
File:Furtwangen 1808.jpg, Drawing of Furtwangen (1808)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Furtwangen Im Schwarzwald
Black Forest
Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis
Baden