Bisingen is a municipality in the

Zollernalbkreis The Zollernalbkreis is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the middle of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The district is located in the Swabian Alb, and contains the second highest elevation of this range, the high '' Oberhohenberg''. In the south-east ...

district of

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 ...

History

Bisingen is one of the oldest settlements of the area, verified by several findings of the

Neolithic Age The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

, the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

, the early

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

and the La Téne time period. The founding of Bisingen and Wessingen is ascribed to the Alemanni around 300 A.D., and Steinhofen, Thanheim & Zimmern being founded around 500 A.D. The first recorded mention of Bisingen and Wessingen was in 786 A.D.: the Franconian Count Gerold in der Baar gifted goods from ''Pisinguin'' (Bisingen) and ''Uassingun'' (Wessingen) to the St. Gallen monastery. The towns of Bisingen, , , and were part of , a of the Principality of

Hohenzollern-Hechingen Hohenzollern-Hechingen was a small principality in southwestern Germany. Its rulers belonged to the Swabian branch of the Hohenzollern dynasty. History The County of Hohenzollern-Hechingen was created in 1576, upon the partition of the Coun ...

and, from 1850, the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

. The Oberamt was dissolved in 1925 and mixed with into the new . Over the 1930s, the population of Romani that had grown up in Steinhof to escape persecution in Württemberg was, despite the efforts of local lawyer Julius Klink, expelled. During the later part of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, from August 1944 to March 1945, operated at Bisingen. After the war, Bisingen began expanding dramatically. The town itself grew until the 1970s to the north and east, and politically over the same decade with the merging of Wessingen and Zimmern into Bisingen in 1972, followed by Thanheim in 1974. When , Hechingen's district was as a consequence dissolved, and Bisingen was assigned to the new Zollernalb district. Bisingen's industrial capacity began expanding in the 1980s, and this growth continued well into the 1990s.

Geography

Bisingen is physically located along the northern edge of the Swabian Jura, between the Hundsrücken and the Hohenzollern mountains. Elevation above sea level in the municipal area ranges from a low of Normalnull (NN) on the Klingenbach to a high of NN at the top of the

Zeller Horn Zeller Horn is a mountain of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located in Albstadt, Zollernalbkreis The Zollernalbkreis is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the middle of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The district is located in the Swabian Alb, an ...

. Portions of the Federally-protected , , and

nature reserves A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

are located in Bisingen.

Political geography

The municipality ('' Gemeinde'') of Bisingen covers of the Zollernalb district of

, a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

of the

Federal Republic of 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 between ...

. The abandoned villages of Hofen and Weiler are located within Bisingen. Weiler was first mentioned in 1328 as "Wiler hinter Zollern" and vanished by the 15th century; it likely belonged to the pilgrimage church.

Coat of arms

Bisingen's municipal

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

is divided ''party per pale'' into a

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

field on the left and a

yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the ...

one on the right. Inside the red portion is a yellow miter while in the yellow half is half of a red gear wheel. These are, respectively, references to the Lords of Bisingen and to Bisingen's industry. This pattern was first approved by the provisional government of Württemberg-Hohenzollern on 14 September 1953. The Zollernalb district office reapproved the pattern for municipal use on 30 June 1982.

Transportation

Bisingen is connected to Germany's network of highways by

Bundesstraße 27 Bundesstraße 27 or B27 is a German federal road. It connects Blankenburg am Harz with Rafz in Switzerland. Route The Bundesstraße 27 crosses the following states and towns (north to south): * Saxony-Anhalt: Blankenburg am Harz * Lower ...

and to its railways by the Tübingen–Sigmaringen railway. Public transport is provided by the .

References

External links

* (in German) {{Authority control Bisingen