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,

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 lan ...

. The town is an enclave 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 county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

Ostallgäu Ostallgäu is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the districts of Oberallgäu, Unterallgäu, Augsburg, Landsberg, Weilheim-Schongau and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and by the Au ...

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 Maria Crescentia Höss (Höß), TOR (1682–1744) was a religious sister of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis. In 1900, she was beatified by Pope Leo XIII, and she was canonized in 2001 by Pope John Paul II. Early life Anna Höss was born on ...

(1682–1744), nun, beatified 1900, canonised 2001 *

Sophie von La Roche Marie Sophie von La Roche (née Gutermann von Gutershofen; 6 December 1730 – 18 February 1807) was a German novelist. She is considered the first financially independent female professional writer in Germany. Biography Sophie von La Roche was ...

(1730–1807), writer *

Ludwig Ganghofer Ludwig Ganghofer (7 July 1855 – 24 July 1920) was a German writer who became famous for his homeland novels. Biography He was born in Kaufbeuren, Bavaria, the son of forestry official August Ganghofer (1827–1900). His younger sister Ida (186 ...

(1855–1920), writer * Rudolf Roessler (1897–1958), publisher and spy * Wilhelm Walcher (1910–2005), physicist * Hans Liebherr (1915–1993), master mason, inventor of the mobile tower crane and founder of the

Liebherr Liebherr is a German-Swiss multinational equipment manufacturer based in Bulle, Switzerland, with its main production facilities and origins in Germany. Liebherr consists of over 130 companies organized into 11 divisions: earthmoving, mining, ...

Hans Magnus Enzensberger Hans Magnus Enzensberger (11 November 1929 – 24 November 2022) was a German author, poet, translator, and editor. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Andreas Thalmayr, Elisabeth Ambras, Linda Quilt and Giorgio Pellizzi. Enzensberger was regarde ...

(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 Dieter Hegen (born April 29, 1962 in Kaufbeuren, West Germany) is a retired professional ice hockey player who played in the Eishockey-Bundesliga and its replacement the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. Playing career Hegen began playing for his hometown ...

(born 1962), ice hockey player * Alexander Sulzer (born 1984), ice hockey player

Kaufbeuren Air Base

The

Kaufbeuren Air Base Kaufbeuren Air Base (Fliegerhorst Kaufbeuren) is a German Air Force military airbase. It is currently the home of the Luftwaffe Technical School 1. History Originally built in 1935 as a Luftwaffe station, the aerodrome was seized by the Uni ...

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-Fliegerabtei ...

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 and

cryptanalytic Cryptanalysis (from the Greek ''kryptós'', "hidden", and ''analýein'', "to analyze") refers to the process of analyzing information systems in order to understand hidden aspects of the systems. Cryptanalysis is used to breach cryptographic s ...

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 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 ESV Kaufbeuren (ESVK) is a professional ice hockey team based in Kaufbeuren, Germany. They currently play in DEL2 DEL2 (also known as DEL II) is the second tier ice hockey league in Germany, below the '' Deutsche Eishockey Liga'' (DEL) and ...

. They currently play in

DEL2 DEL2 (also known as DEL II) is the second tier ice hockey league in Germany, below the '' Deutsche Eishockey Liga'' (DEL) and ahead of the '' Oberliga''. Founded in 2013 to replace the defunct '' 2nd Bundesliga'', DEL2 is administered by ESBG, ...

, the second level of ice hockey in Germany.

Twin towns – sister cities

Kaufbeuren is twinned with: * Ferrara, Italy (1991) *

Szombathely Szombathely (; german: Steinamanger, ; see also other alternative names) is the 10th largest city in Hungary. It is the administrative centre of Vas county in the west of the country, located near the border with Austria. Szombathely lies by t ...

, Hungary (1992) *

Jablonec nad Nisou Jablonec nad Nisou (; german: Gablonz an der Neiße) is a city in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 45,000 inhabitants. It is the second-largest city in the region. It is a local centre for education, and is known for its glass ...

, 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