County of Urach
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Bad Urach () 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 betwe ...
. It is situated 14 km east 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 ...
, at the foot of the Swabian ''Alb'' (or Swabian Alps in English), and is known for its
spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...
and therapeutic bath.


Neighbouring communities

The following towns border Urach, and are also part of the district of Reutlingen. Clockwise from the north are:
Hülben Hülben is a municipality in the district of Reutlingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is located next to the area of the Celtic Heidengraben. Geography Hülben is a municipality on the northern edge of the Swabian Jura, above the spa ...
,
Grabenstetten Grabenstetten is a municipality in the district of Reutlingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It lies within the area of the Celtic Heidengraben. Municipality arrangement Besides the homonymous village Grabenstetten there are no other places t ...
,
Römerstein Römerstein is a municipality in Baden-Württemberg, Germany; three formerly independent villages (Böhringen, Donnstetten, Zainingen) and two hamlets (Strohweiler and Aglishardt) were merged in 1975. Townhall is in Böhringen. The community is ...
,
Gutsbezirk Münsingen Gutsbezirk Münsingen is an unincorporated area in the German district of Reutlingen. It is located in the Swabian Jura (Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany ...
,
Münsingen Münsingen (Highest Alemannic German, Highest Alemannic: ''Münsige'') is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Bern-Mittelland (administrative district), Bern-Mittelland administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, cant ...
, St. Johann and
Dettingen an der Erms Dettingen an der Erms (Dettingen on the Erms River) is a town in the district of Reutlingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. The town about twelve kilometers north-east of Reutlingen in Baden-Wuerttemberg or about 46 kilometers from Stuttgart. T ...
. Bad Urach consists of the districts Hengen (687.01 ha; 854 inhabitants, at 31 December 2005), Seeburg (220.65 ha; 302 inhabitants), Sirchingen (481.78 ha; 1031 inhabitants), Bad Urach (2,797, 89 ha; 9289 inhabitants) and Wittlingen (1362.24 ha; 1112 inhabitants). With the exception of the district Bad Urach the neighborhoods form simultaneously villages within the meaning of Baden-Wuerttemberg Municipal Code. Urach includes the homestead of Güterstein. Among the districts Hengen and Sirchingen each include only the villages of the same name. Seeburg includes the village Seeburg, castle and courtyard and the village of Wittlingen, the homestead Hohenwittlingen and the individual houses, Georgenau, the pumping station Ermsgruppe XIII, including Front Albgruppe, Schanz and Villa Mühleisen. In the Hengen district is the castle Gardena. In the district of Bad Urach are the villages Berg, Gyrenbad, Merzhausen, Hausen, Sontheim and Weiler, and in Wittlingen district are the villages Henni fountain, Hofstetten and Winneden and castle Baldeck.


History

In the early
Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...
, the ''Alb'' was already populated, and several caves in the area show evidence that they provided shelter for the inhabitants. During the
Alemanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...
period Bad Urach had an important castle. Owing to its prime location on a hill overlooking the Erms Valley, Hohenurach Castle was built around 1025. In the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
Bad Urach (at that time only known as Urach) became a centre of power. The castle became a state prison in the late Middle Ages; the poet Philipp Nikodemus Frischlin died while trying to escape over its walls in 1590. In the 18th century, the fortress was razed to the ground by the citizenry. Around 1260 Urach became part of
Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...
. Nearly 100 years later, at the time when Württemberg was divided, the southern part of the region was governed from Urach, the so-called "secret capital", which was the residential home of the
Dukes of Württemberg Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...
from 1442 until 1482. Count Eberhard the Bearded was born here in 1445 and returned there frequently throughout his life. Over the next several centuries, the town prospered and became a centre for
weaving Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal th ...
. It escaped serious damage during any wars and so remains in excellent historical condition. In 1561 to 1565 a institute produced 30000 bibles in Urach and smuggled. In 1867 a cousin of the king of Württemberg was created
Duke of Urach The title of Duke of Urach (German language, German: ''Herzog von Urach'') was created in the Kingdom of Württemberg on 28 March 1867 for Wilhelm, 1st Duke of Urach, Friedrich Wilhelm Alexander Ferdinand, Count of Württemberg, with the style of ...
, but lived away at Lichtenstein Castle. Since 1985 the town has been a nationally recognized
spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath in 1668. H ...
.


Geology


The Urach volcanic area

Several million years ago the area was actively volcanic. Due to an anomaly in the subsurface, the town has a thermal spring with water at 61 °C. The spring was developed to serve a spa operation and mineral thermal baths. In the early part of the 21st century a geothermal project was started, to develop electricity generation and heating in the town. The project failed in 2004 due to insufficient finance.


Sights

Bad Urach possesses a late-medieval marketplace with a city hall and
half-timbered houses Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...
that date from the 15th and 16th centuries. The Residenzschloss (Castle Residence), the residential home of the Counts of Württemberg-Urach where Eberhard the Bearded was born, contains rooms that date from the
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
,
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
, and
Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
periods. The Goldener Saal (Golden Hall), one of Germany's loveliest Renaissance rooms, is particularly worth a visit. The Church of
Saint Amand Amandus ( 584 – 679), commonly called Saint Amand, was a bishop of Tongeren-Maastricht and one of the great Christian missionaries of Flanders. He is venerated as a saint, particularly in France and Belgium. Life The chief source of details ...
us dates from 1477 and was built in the
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
style for Eberhard the Bearded. His lavish praying desk dates from 1472. The
pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...
is decorated with figures of the
saints In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual res ...
and
church fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical per ...
and is considered an important piece of German
stonemasonry Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history. Many of the long-lasting, ancient shelters, temples, mo ...
. The 1518
baptismal font A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism. Aspersion and affusion fonts The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). ...
is by the sculptor . Also of interest are the ruins of the old castle (Schloss Hohenurach) and the waterfall (Uracher Wasserfall) on the hiking trail up to it. The "round mountain" ("Runder Berg"), a former volcano, is of archeological interest and shows an old
Alemanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...
castle.


Economy and infrastructure


Transport

The
Bundesstraße 28 Bundesstraße 28 or B 28 is a German federal road. The road runs west through Baden-Württemberg from the eastern terminus of the French route nationale 4 in Strasbourg, after crossing the Rhine river in Kehl, to Senden in Bavaria, where it ter ...
runs through the city and connects it to the west with
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
Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thr ...
and to the east with
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, ...
. The B 465 leads from Bad Urach 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. The Erms Valley Railway connects Bad Urach with
Metzingen Metzingen () is a Swabian city with about 22,000 inhabitants, in Reutlingen county, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, south of Stuttgart. Geography The following towns and municipalities are on the borders of Metzingen, they are named starting in ...
, there is connection to the Plochingen-Tübingen railway. 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, typical ...
is guaranteed by the Verkehrsverbund Neckar-Alb-Donau (NALDO). The city is located in the comb 221.


Court, authorities and bodies

Bad Urach has a District Court, which belongs to the Landgerichtsbezirk Tübingen and Oberlandesgerichtsbezirk Stuttgart. Furthermore, Bad Urach has a tax office (Finanzamt) and with the Ermstal Clinic a hospital. The city is also home to the Kirchenbezirk Bad Urach 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 ...
.


Education

In the city there are the Graf-Eberhard-Gymnasium, the Geschwister-Scholl-Realschule. Since 2012 there is, named after
Barbara Gonzaga Barbara of Brandenburg (1422 – 7 November 1481) was a Marchioness consort of Mantua, married in 1433 to Ludovico III Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua. She was referred to as a ''virago'' because of her strong character and forceful nature, and se ...
, the ''Barbara Gonzaga Community school Bad Urach '', the primary school in Wittlingen district, two special schools as well as a business school.


Tourism

Bad Urach has a far into the 19th century reaching tradition in tourism and performs the predicate health resort and spa. The successful drilling for mineral thermal water and its development led in 1983 to the recognition as a spa, which had according to the Statistical Office of Baden-Württemberg for Bad Urach in 2012 the number of 367.344 overnight stays.


Famous people

*
Gottfried von Neifen Gottfried von Neifen (fl. 1234–1255) was a German ''Minnesänger'' (lyric poet). Gottfried was born to an '' Edelfrei'' famly of Swabia. He was associated with the court of King Henry VII of Germany (1220–1235) and is mentioned in documents be ...
(beginning of the 13th century to – c. 1255),
Minnesinger (; "love song") was a tradition of lyric- and song-writing in Germany and Austria that flourished in the Middle High German period. This period of medieval German literature began in the 12th century and continued into the 14th. People who wr ...
* Eberhard the Bearded (1445–1496), first Duke of Württemberg *
Christoph Christoph is a male given name and surname. It is a German variant of Christopher. Notable people with the given name Christoph * Christoph Bach (1613–1661), German musician * Christoph Büchel (born 1966), Swiss artist * Christoph Dientzenho ...
(1515–1568), fourth Duke of Württemberg * Hans Ungnad von Weißenwolff, Freiherr von Sonneck, Hans III. (1493–1564) Bible printer and smuggler * (1629–1665), legal advocate during the
witch trials A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern per ...
*
Max Friz Max Friz (October 1, 1883 – June 9, 1966) was a German mechanical engineer specializing in engine design. He was the key contributor of engine design and innovation that led to the founding of Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) in 1917. Early ...
(1883–1966), one of three men responsible for the founding of BMW *
Georg Joos Georg Jakob Christof Joos (25 May 1894 in Bad Urach, German Empire – 20 May 1959 in Munich, West Germany) was a German experimental physicist. He wrote ''Lehrbuch der theoretischen Physik'', first published in 1932 and one of the most influ ...
(1894–1959), German physicist *
Reinhard Breymayer Reinhard Breymayer (4 January 1944 – 13 August 2017)Death notice
''
(born 1944), philologist *
Cem Özdemir Cem Özdemir (, ; born 21 December 1965) is a German politician who currently serves as Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture since 2021. He is a member of the Alliance 90/The Greens party. Between 2008 and 2018, Özdemir co-chaired the Gr ...
(born 1965), German politician with
Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...
* (born 1972), German actress and spokeswoman born in the town


Gallery

File:Urach1912.jpg, Urach, 1912 File:Germany Bad-Urach Moses-Font.jpg,
Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...
on the
baptismal font A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism. Aspersion and affusion fonts The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). ...
in the Church of St. Amandus File: Bad Urach St. Amandus Chorgitter 307.jpg, Choir-stalls, St. Amandus church File:uracher_wasserfall_2003_00a_w1.jpg, Uracher Wasserfall, 2003 File:Bad Urach 2005 -Burg Hohenurach- by Ra Boe 10.jpg, View over Urach, taken from the castle


References


External link

{{Authority control Towns in Baden-Württemberg Reutlingen (district) Counties of the Holy Roman Empire Württemberg Spa towns in Germany