Münsingen (

Swabian Swabian or Schwabian, or ''variation'', may refer to: * the German region of Swabia (German: "''Schwaben''") * Swabian German, a dialect spoken in Baden-Württemberg in south-west Germany and adjoining areas (German:"''Schwäbisch''") * Danube S ...

: ''Mensenga'') is a town in the district of Reutlingen,

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 betwee ...

. It is situated 23 km southeast of

Reutlingen Reutlingen (; Swabian: ''Reitlenga'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the capital of the eponymous district of Reutlingen. As of June 2018, it has a population of 115,818. Reutlingen has a university of applied sciences, which ...

, and 37 km west of

Ulm Ulm () is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube on the border with Bavaria. The city, which has an estimated population of more than 126,000 (2018), forms an urban district of its own (german: link=no, ...

History

The name Münsingen is probably derived from Alemannic chief called Munigis, who founded a settlement within the present-day city boundaries. In 775, Münsingen was mentioned for the first time on a deed of gift of

Lorsch Abbey Lorsch Abbey, otherwise the Imperial Abbey of Lorsch (german: Reichsabtei Lorsch; la, Laureshamense Monasterium or ''Laurissa''), is a former Imperial abbey in Lorsch, Germany, about east of Worms. It was one of the most renowned monasteries ...

. The church of Münsingen was first mentioned in 804. The area was under the suzerainty of the

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools ...

. Later, the village was under the suzerainty of county of Württemberg-Urach, who sold it to Ulrich I in 1263. In 1339, Münsingen was granted

Town privileges 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 traditio ...

. After the partition of Württemberg, it came under the purview of Urach, until the re-unification of the

County of Württemberg The County of Württemberg was a historical territory with origins in the realm of the House of Württemberg, the heart of the old Duchy of Swabia. Its capital was Stuttgart. From the 12th century until 1495, it was a county within the Holy Roman ...

under the auspices of the

Treaty of Münsingen The Treaty of Münsingen was signed on 14 December 1482. This accord officially reunited the divided County of Württemberg after it was divided by the Treaty of Nürtingen in 1442. The hereditary dispute between the Stuttgart part and the part ...

in 1482. On October 23, 1654 Münsingen became an administrative center of regional importance. From 1938 to 1973 Münsingen was capital of 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 Münsingen. In 1895, the German Empire began the construction of a

proving ground A proving ground (US) is an installation or reservation in which technology such as weapons, military tactics and automobile prototypes are experimented with or tested. Proving grounds can be operated by government bodies or civilian industries. ...

which later became the Duke-Albrecht-Barracks. On March 31, 2004, the Duke-Albrecht-Barracks was shut down and the ground was converted into a settlement.

Religions

The first mention of church building in Münsingen was in 804 AD. In 1537, the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

reached Münsingen and the surrounding villages of Apfelstetten, Auingen, Böttingen, Buttenhausen, Dottingen, Hundersingen, Rietheim and Trailfingen. The Lutheran Church Order was introduced to the

Duchy of Württemberg The Duchy of Württemberg (german: Herzogtum Württemberg) was a duchy located in the south-western part of the Holy Roman Empire. It was a member of the Holy Roman Empire from 1495 to 1806. The dukedom's long survival for over three centuries ...

in 1559. The villages of Bichishausen, Gundelfingen and Bremelau, which are currently administered by Münsingen, used to be part of the Principality of Fürstenberg and

Further Austria Further Austria, Outer Austria or Anterior Austria (german: Vorderösterreich, formerly ''die Vorlande'' (pl.)) was the collective name for the early (and later) possessions of the House of Habsburg in the former Swabian stem duchy of south-wes ...

and due to this historical reason, the inhabitants are mainly

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

. Due to the location of village of Magolsheim on the erstwhile border between Württemberg and

it has both Protestant and Catholic churches to cater to the spiritual needs of the villagers. Münsingen used to be the seat of the Church District of Münsingen of the

Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg (german: Evangelische Landeskirche in Württemberg) is a Lutheran member church of the Evangelical Church in Germany in the German former state of Württemberg, now part of the state of Baden-Württem ...

until 1 December 2013 when the neighboring district of Bad Urach was amalgamated with the district of Münsingen to form the Church District Bad Urach-Münsingen. The Apostolic Church,

Baptists Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul com ...

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelica ...

and the Biblical faith community are also present in Münsingen. A large

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

community used to exist in the village of Buttenhausen. The Jews of Buttenhausen were fully integrated into the communal life. This became apparent when during the November 1938 pogrom, the SA squad first had to arrest the mayor of Buttenhausen, who had stubbornly resisted the desecration of the

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of wor ...

. Only after his arrest, the SA were able to burn down the synagogue. The remaining Jewish families were deported in the following period and became victims of the Shoah. At the former site of the synagogue, a memorial stone is present. Additionally, in 1961 a memorial was erected in the centre of Buttenhausen with the names of 45 murdered Jewish inhabitants. The Jewish cemetery, Buttenhausen, which was in use from 1787 to 1943, also received a memorial stone. Münsingen has a

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

which caters to the Turkish-Islamic community. The congregation consists of approximately 70 members as of 2015.

Incorporations

Bichishausen Lauter valley Dürrenstetten was in 1822 united with Gundelfingen. As part of the municipal reform in

the following previously independent municipalities were amalgamated with Münsingen: * July 1, 1971: Auingen, Böttingen and Dottingen * January 1, 1974: Apfelstetten and Gundelfingen * April 1, 1974: Bremelau and Trailfingen * January 1, 1975: Bichishausen, Buttenhausen Hundersingen, Magolsheim and Rietheim Münsingen (Württemberg)

View on Münsingen Münsingen-beim-gr-haus3-2015

Half-timber house, City of Münsingen

Politics

Council

The council in Münsingen has after the last election 26 members (2014: 24). The local elections in Baden-Württemberg 2019 on May 26, 2019 resulted in the following official results. The turnout was 57,5% (2014: 50,2%). The council consists of the elected honorary councilors and the mayor as chairman. The mayor is entitled to vote in the municipal council.

Mayor

The

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

is elected for a term of eight years. The term of office of Mike Muenzing ends on 27 November 2021. * Around 1510: Jakob Ilsenbrand * Ludwig Neuffer (his daughter Margaretha married Hans Hawysen) * 1587: Hans Hawysen * - N.N. -(we do not know) * 1900-1922: August Wörner * 1922-1945: Otto Werner * 1945-1949: Eugen Hahn * 1949-1971: Erwin Volz * 1971-1981: Heinz Kälberer * 1981-1997: Rolf Keller * since 1997: Mike Münzing SPD

Arms

The

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The ...

coat of arms reads: "In silver a reclining four-ended black deer rod."

Twinning

Münsingen is twinned with the following cities: and maintains friendly relations with:

Tourism

Münsingen is located on the Swabian Poet Route, which passes by many sights.

Music

The musical culture Münsingen is mainly borne by the local music clubs. With the trombone choirs in Münsingen, Auingen, Hundersingen-Buttenhausen and Dottingen, the Stadtkapelle Münsingen and the music clubs Böttingen, Magolsheim and Rietheim many clubs are active in the field of Brass Band. There are also several church choirs, as well as the secular singer Communities "Liederkranz Münsingen" Männergesangsverein Apfelstetten, Sängerbund Buttenhausen, Liederkranz Dottingen, Liedertafel Hundersingen, men's glee club Trailfingen and the chorus of EJW district Münsingen.

Buildings

Featured buildings in Münsingen are the historic Old Town Hall from 1550, and its successor, the New Town Hall in timbered house style, which was built in 1935–1937. The "old stock" as a historical site with more than 140 buildings for up to 5200 soldiers. Also worth seeing are the market fountain and the Martin Church, completed in 1495 by Peter of Koblenz. In Buttenhausen district Castle Buttenhausen and also a Jewish Cemetery. In addition, several ruins exist in Lautertal, for example the Castle Hohenhundersingen.

Towers

In the peripheral area of the former military training area Münsingen are four

Towers A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specific ...

of Swabian Albverein (Swabian Alp Association), which are all freely accessible (key deposit). * The 42 m high 'Hursch Tower' 'is about 1.5 km southwest of Römerstein-Zainingen and was erected in 1981. * The 20 m high 'Waldgreutturm' 'is 2 km southeast of Römerstein-Zainingen and was erected in 1981. * The 30 m high 'Heroldstatt Tower' 'is about 2 km north-west of

Heroldstatt Heroldstatt is a village in the district of Alb-Donau in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Geography Heroldstatt is located on the Swabian Jura about 25 kilometers west of Ulm. Neighboring communities The municipality borders in the north and e ...

- Ennabeuren and was erected in 1981. * The 8 m high 'Sternberg Tower' 'is not far northeast of the Münsinger district Böttingen and was erected in 1900 originally as a windmill .

Museums

Münsingen museums are the memorial site

Matthias Erzberger Matthias Erzberger (20 September 1875 – 26 August 1921) was a German writer and politician (Centre Party), the minister of Finance from 1919 to 1920. Prominent in the Catholic Centre Party, he spoke out against World War I from 1917 and as a ...

in Buttenhausen, the Jewish Museum Buttenhausen, the local history museum in the '' Old Palace '', the museum for former military training area in the "old camp" at Auingen. The museum '' Anton Geiselhart '' and the castle museum are located in Gundelfingen.

Regular events

* On 1 May, regularly organized by Luftsportverein Münsingen, the international vintage and steam engines meeting takes place. Every year there are about 600 motorcycles, Lanz Bulldogs, steam engines, vintage aircraft and more. * Every summer takes place in the streets of the old town instead of the city festival, which - with musical entertainment - especially thrives on the commitment of numerous Münsingen clubs.

Economy and infrastructure

Established Businesses

The Uralan polymer processing is located in the industrial area West. In addition, the Walter AG and Volksbank Münsingen have a seat here.

Traffic

The Bundesstraße B 465 coming from

Bad Urach Bad Urach () is a town in the district of Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 14 km east of Reutlingen, at the foot of the Swabian ''Alb'' (or Swabian Alps in English), and is known for its spa and therapeutic bath. N ...

comes through the town and runs to

Ehingen Ehingen (Donau) (; Swabian: ''Eegne'') is a town in the Alb-Donau district in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, situated on the left bank of the Danube, approx. southwest of Ulm and southeast of Stuttgart. The city, like the entire district of ...

and

Biberach an der Riss Biberach may refer to: *Biberach an der Riß, a town in Upper Swabia, Germany *Biberach (district), which has Biberach an der Riß as its capital *Biberach, Baden, a municipality in the ''Ortenaukreis'', Germany *Biberach is a part of Roggenburg, B ...

. The national road 230 runs through the urban area in east–west direction and connects the region to the Federal Highway 8 in

Merklingen Merklingen is a municipality in the district of Alb-Donau in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Geographical location Merklingen is located on the plateau of the Swabian Jura, about 20 kilometers northwest of Ulm, between Geislingen and Blaubeuren ...

. The

Public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...

is guaranteed by the Verkehrsverbund Neckar-Alb-Donau (NALDO). The community is located in the comb 225. The Münsingen station, is located on the Reutlingen–Schelklingen railway. On Sundays and holidays from early April to late October regional trains and special trains bring mainly hikers and sightseers to their destination. In addition, throughout the year goes from Monday to Friday, some regional trains direction

or direction

Gomadingen Gomadingen is a town in the district of Reutlingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. About 85% of its territory is located on the Swabian Alps. It's the district where the Grafeneck Castlis situated. During the II World War, the castle was home ...

. Since early 2008 Münsingen is connected with a transition tariff also to the

Donau-Iller-Nahverkehrsverbund The Donau-Iller-Nahverkehrsverbund (German for ''Danube-Iller Local Transport Association'', abbreviated DING, the German word for ''thing'') is a regional transport cooperative that coordinates tickets and fares among all transport operators in ...

(DING).

Media

The daily '' Alb-Bote '', which is part of the

Südwest Presse ''Südwest Presse'' is a German daily newspaper based in Ulm, which is distributed in Ulm, Neu-Ulm, Alb-Donau-Kreis and Landkreis Neu-Ulm. It is also the name of a regional cooperative venture (called a ''Zeitungsverbund'' – newspaper composite ...

in Ulm reports daily on what is happening in and around Münsingen. Also, the '' Reutlinger General Anzeiger '' is represented in Münsingen.

Court

Münsingen has a District Court, which belongs to the District Court Tübingen and Higher Regional Court Stuttgart. With the gymnasium Münsingen, the

Gustav Mesmer Gustav Mesmer (1903–1994) was a German inventor of experimental human-powered flying machines, often referred to in the press as "the Icarus of Lautertal." He has been championed by curators as an outsider artist, while his theories about improv ...

- Realschule, the

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

with

Werkrealschule Werkrealschule is a relatively young branch of German secondary education (e.g. in Baden-Württemberg), which offers pupils additional lessons in grades 8 and 9 and allows them to qualify after ten years with a final exam which is equal to graduatio ...

'' Schillerschule '', the

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

'' primary school at Hardt '' in the district Auingen, primary school Dottingen, primary school '' Lautertalschule '' and the primary school '' Astrid Lindgren school '' all general education forms are represented in the town. Besides, there are the Gustav-Heinemann-School (special school), the Erich Kaestner school, (Sprachheilschule), the Karl-Georg-Haldenwang -School for the mentally handicapped and the branch office of the physically disabled school Mössingen also four special schools. The range is supplemented by the Vocational School Münsingen. For the youngest inhabitants there are seven municipal, five

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

and

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

and two small nurseries.

Sons and daughters of the town

Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1989-072-16, Matthias Erzberger

* Jacob Lorhard (1561–1609) a German philosopher and pedagogue based in St. Gallen, Switzerland * Johannes Scholl (1827–1916) a German-American woodcarver, known for only using a jackknife and paint *

Lehmann Bernheimer Lehmann Bernheimer (27 December 1841 - 29 May 1918) was a German antique dealer, who built the Bernheimer-Haus in Munich. He was born on 27 December 1841 in Buttenhausen near Münsingen, Germany, Münsingen, Württemberg, the third child of Mei ...

(1841-1918) a German antique dealer, who built the

Bernheimer-Haus The Bernheimer-Haus, also known as the Bernheimer Palace, is a residential and commercial building located on Lenbachplatz 3 in Munich. The building was built in 1888/89 by architect Friedrich von Thiersch with a Baroque Revival architecture, neo-b ...

in Munich. * (1869-1943) Württembergian official *

(1875-1921) a German publicist and politician, Reich Minister of Finance 1919-1920 * (1876 or 1879 - 1944 in

Theresienstadt Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia ( German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstadt served as a waystation to the extermination ca ...

), educational reformer and victim of the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

Erwin Nestle Erwin Nestle (22 May 1883 in Münsingen, Germany – 1972), son of Eberhard Nestle, was a German scholar who continued editing his father's "Nestle Edition" of the New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, trans ...

(1883-1972) a German scholar, theologian and philologist *

Max Kommerell Max Kommerell (25 February 1902 – 25 July 1944) was a German literary historian, writer, and poet. A member of the Stefan George circle from 1921 to 1930, Kommerell was a prominent literary critic associated with the Conservative Revolutiona ...

(1902-1944), literary scholar and poet * Johannes Hölz (1906–1945) a highly decorated Generalmajor in the Wehrmacht during World War II * (1925-2005), aviation pioneer, fighter pilot and founder of Südflug International * (1929-2012), Evangelical Lutheran theologian and professor of theology * (born 1952), politician, district chief executive of

Alb-Donau-Kreis Alb-Donau-Kreis is a (district) in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is bounded by (from the south and clockwise) the districts of Biberach, Reutlingen, Göppingen and Heidenheim, the two Bavarian districts Günzburg and Neu-Ulm, and the city o ...

2005-2016 * Gabriele Rauscher (born 1970) a German freestyle skier * Andreas Glück (born 1975) politician and surgeon German Wiki, Andreas Glück * Dirk Schrade, (born 1978), eventer, gold medallist at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

International relations

Münsingen, Germany is twinned with:

References

External links

French army training camp

Truppenübungsplatz MünsingenOfficial website of Münsingen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Munsingen, Germany Towns in Baden-Württemberg Reutlingen (district) Holocaust locations in Germany Württemberg