Kaufbeuren (; Bavarian: ''Kaufbeiren'') is an independent town in the ''

Regierungsbezirk A ' () means "governmental district" and is a type of administrative division in Germany. Four of sixteen ' ( states of Germany) are split into '. Beneath these are rural and urban districts. Saxony has ' (directorate districts) with more res ...

'' of

Swabia Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

. The town is an

enclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

within the

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...

of Ostallgäu.

Districts

Kaufbeuren consists of nine districts: * Kaufbeuren (town core incl. historical town) * Kaufbeuren-Neugablonz * Oberbeuren * Hirschzell * Kleinkemnat * Großkemnat * Märzisried * Ölmühlhang * Sankt Cosmas

Mayors

Stefan Bosse
(CSU) is the Lord Mayor of Kaufbeuren since November 2004. He was reelected in March 2014 with 57.48% of the votes and again in March 2020 with 54.5% of the votes.

Landmarks

* Town hall (built 1879–1881)
Crescentiakloster (founded 1150)
* Historical town with partially conserve
historical town wall

St.-Martins-Kirche
* Fünfknopfturm (Five-Button-Tower)
St.-Blasius-Kirche
* Hexenturm
Gerberturm
* Pulverturm
Münzturm

Sywollenturm

Zollhäuschen
* Stadttheater Kaufbeuren
Kunsthaus Kaufbeuren

Museums

* Stadtmuseum * Feuerwehrmuseum * Puppentheater-Museum * Isergebirgs-Museum (Neugablonz)

Notable people

* Maria Crescentia Höss (1682–1744), nun, beatified 1900, canonised 2001 * Sophie von La Roche (1730–1807), writer * Ludwig Ganghofer (1855–1920), writer * Rudolf Roessler (1897–1958), publisher and spy *

Wilhelm Walcher Wilhelm Walcher (7 July 1910 in Kaufbeuren – 9 November 2005 in Marburg) was a German experimental physicist. During World War II, he worked on the German nuclear energy project, also known as the Uranium Club; he worked on mass spectrometers ...

(1910–2005), physicist * Hans Liebherr (1915–1993), master mason, inventor of the mobile tower crane and founder of the Liebherr * Hans Magnus Enzensberger (1929-2022), poet, writer and publisher * Walter Riester (born 1943), politician (SPD), Secretary of State for Employment 1998–2002 * Erich Weishaupt (born 1952), ice hockey player * Dieter Hegen (born 1962), ice hockey player *

Alexander Sulzer Alexander Sulzer (born May 30, 1984) is a German former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) and National Hockey League (NHL). Playing career Born in Kaufbeuren, West Germany, Sulzer went through the ...

(born 1984), ice hockey player

Kaufbeuren Air Base

The Kaufbeuren Air Base was established as a

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

station in 1935. When seized by the United States Army in May 1945 at the end of World War II it was discovered to be the final location of

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

's top secret FA

signals intelligence Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is intelligence-gathering by interception of '' signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly used in communication ...

and cryptanalytic agency. After serving as a U.S. airbase during the post-war period, the field was ultimately returned to the town, and today serves as a

German Air Force The German Air Force (german: Luftwaffe, lit=air weapon or air arm, ) is the aerial warfare branch of the , the armed forces of Germany. The German Air Force (as part of the ''Bundeswehr'') was founded in 1956 during the era of the Cold War as ...

training field.

Culture

The Tänzelfest is a festival, which takes place usually at the end of June. Children reenact the history of the town in traditional costume. There are a lot of events at this time.

Sports

The town is known for their ice hockey team ESV Kaufbeuren. They currently play in DEL2, the second level of ice hockey in Germany.

Twin towns – sister cities

Kaufbeuren is twinned with: *

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

, Italy (1991) * Szombathely, Hungary (1992) * Jablonec nad Nisou, Czech Republic (2009)

References

External links

* *
kunsthaus kaufbeuren

Stadtmuseum Kaufbeuren

Tänzelfest in Kaufbeuren

The history of Kaufbeuren
{{Authority control Free imperial cities Swabian Circle Swabian League