Öhningen is a municipality on the western edge of

Lake Constance Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three Body of water, bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, ca ...

where it forms the border between

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 the district of

Konstanz Konstanz (, , locally: ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was th ...

(or Constance) 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 ...

World heritage site

It is home to one or more prehistoric pile-dwelling (or stilt house) settlements that are part of the

Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps Prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps are a series of prehistoric pile dwelling (or stilt house) settlements in and around the Alps built from about 5000 to 500 BC on the edges of lakes, rivers or wetlands. In 2011, 111 sites located various ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

.UNESCO World Heritage Site - Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps
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Palaeontology

The discovery of the fossil ''

Andrias scheuchzeri ''Andrias scheuchzeri'' is an extinct species of giant salamander belonging to the genus ''Andrias'', which also contains the closely related living Asian giant salamanders. It is known from Oligocene to Pliocene aged deposits primarily from Ce ...

'' in 1726 by the Zurich city physician

Johann Jakob Scheuchzer Johann Jakob Scheuchzer (2 August 1672 – 23 June 1733) was a Swiss scholar born at Zürich. Herbarium deluvianum Zürich, Zwingli-Platz ( Grossmünster) : Former home of Konrad von Mure († 1280) and the house, where Johann Jakob Scheuch ...

in Öhningen (Dutch: Oeningen) placed this town firmly in the history annals of

palaeontology Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

because Scheuchzer interpreted his find as the skeletal remains of a child who suffered the biblical deluge, and which he referred to as ''Homo diluvii''. Later in the 1770s it was determined to be a fossilized lizard and it was finally identified as the

giant salamander The Cryptobranchidae are a family of fully aquatic salamanders commonly known as the giant salamanders. They include the largest living amphibians. The family is native to China, Japan, and the eastern United States. They constitute one of two li ...

in 1811 by

George Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, Baron Cuvier (; 23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier, was a French naturalist and zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuvier was a major figure in nat ...

after he hacked gently away at the specimen to reveal the limbs. The site at Öhningen has also yielded a rich material of other fossils including many Miocene insects, of which the pioneer student was

Oswald Heer Oswald Heer (or Oswald von Heer) (31 August 1809 – 27 September 1883), Swiss geologist and naturalist, was born at Niederuzwil in Canton of St. Gallen and died in Lausanne. Biography Oswald Heer was educated as a clergyman at Halle and ...

Twin towns

Öhningen is twinned with: *

Mérinchal Mérinchal (; oc, Mairinchal) is a commune in the Creuse department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in central France. Geography A large area of farming, forestry, lakes and streams comprising several villages and hamlets situated some east ...

, France, since 1984

Notable people

Florian Schneider Florian Schneider-Esleben (7 April 194721 April 2020) was a German musician. He is best known as one of the founding members and leaders of the electronic band Kraftwerk, performing his role with the band until his departure in 2008. Early li ...

, (1947–2020) co-founder of electronic band Kraftwerk

References

Towns in Baden-Württemberg Konstanz (district) {{Konstanz-geo-stub