Simmersfeld is a town in the district of

Calw Calw (; previously pronounced and sometimes spelled ''Kalb'' accordingly) is a town in the middle of Baden-Württemberg in the south of Germany, capital and largest town of the district Calw. It is located in the Northern Black Forest and is a ...

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 ...

History

The village of Aichhalden was acquired in 1345 by 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 ...

and was assigned to the district of

Neuweiler Neuweiler is a municipality of the Calw district and region of Karlsruhe of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History The municipality of Neuweiler was formed in 1975 by the merging of the towns of Agenbach, Breitenberg, Gaugenwald, Neuweiler, Oberk ...

, then to that of

in the early 16th century. Simmersfeld, Beuren, and Ettmannsweiler were manorial estates of the township of

Altensteig Altensteig (; Swabian: ''Aldaschdaeg'') is a town in the district of Calw, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History Altensteig was most likely given town rights by the Counts of Hohenberg around the middle of the 14th century. In 1398, the to ...

, which became a possession of the now- Duchy of Württemberg in 1603 and made the seat of its own district. Fünfbronn came into Württemberger possession in the around 1464 after buying its independence from All Saints' Abbey and was assigned to the district of

Neuenbürg Neuenbürg is a town in the Enz district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the river Enz, 10 km southwest of Pforzheim. History Neuenbürg originated as a village around a castle built by the in the 12th century. Betwee ...

. In the first decade of the 19th century, the administrative structure of the newly created

Kingdom of Württemberg The Kingdom of Württemberg (german: Königreich Württemberg ) was a German state that existed from 1805 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. The kingdom was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which existe ...

was reformed and its districts recreated as Oberämter; Neuweiler was made an Oberamt in 1808, but then in 1810 dissolved, resulting in Simmersfeld, Beuren, and Ettmannsweiler being assigned to . Fünfbronn was reassigned from in 1806 to , then to Oberamt Nagold in 1812. In the district reforms of 1938, Aichhalden, Beuren, Ettmannsweiler, Fünfbronn, and Simmersfeld were all brought together under Landkreis Calw. In 1975, they merged into a single municipality.

Geography

The municipality ('' Gemeinde'') of Simmersfeld is located at the south-western edge of

the district ''The District'' is an American crime drama and police procedural television series which aired on CBS from October 7, 2000, to May 1, 2004. The show followed the work and personal life of the chief of Washington, D.C.'s police department. Pr ...

, in the German state of

. It lies along the border with

Freudenstadt Freudenstadt (Swabian: ''Fraidestadt'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is capital of the district Freudenstadt. The closest population centres are Offenburg to the west (approx. 36 km away) and Tübingen to the eas ...

to the south and west. The municipal area lies within the greater

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...

region, stretching from the upper valley of the Kleine Enz in the north to the

Nagold Nagold is a town in southwestern Germany, bordering the Northern Black Forest. It is located in the ''Landkreis'' (district) of Calw (Germany/Baden-Württemberg). Nagold is known for its ruined castle, Hohennagold Castle, and for its road viad ...

in the south. A portion of Simmersfeld's area lies in the Grinde to the north. Elevation above sea level in the municipal area ranges from a high of

Normalnull ("standard zero") or (short N. N. or NN ) is an outdated official vertical datum used in Germany. Elevations using this reference system were to be marked (“meters above standard zero”). has been replaced by (NHN). History In 187 ...

(NN), in the Enzwald, to a low of NN. A portion of the federally protected

nature reserve 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 ...

is located in Simmersfeld's municipal area.

Politics

Simmersfeld has five boroughs (''Ortsteile'') – Aichhalden, Beuren, Ettmannsweiler, Fünfbronn, and Simmersfeld – and two villages: Neumühle and Oberweiler. The

abandoned village An abandoned village is a village that has, for some reason, been deserted. In many countries, and throughout history, thousands of villages have been deserted for a variety of causes. Abandonment of villages is often related to epidemic, f ...

of Moosberg is also located in the municipal area.

Coat of arms

The Simmersfeld 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 ...

displays a wood grouse, in

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 ...

, upon a yellow branch above a crossed sword and axe, also yellow, upon a

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

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 ...

. The axe and grouse reference the forested character of the municipality, and the sword to Simmersfeld's original name, "Sigmaresfelt". This pattern was first created in 1930 as the coat of arms of the village of Simmersfeld and was adopted as such in 1957. The symbology upon 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 vi ...

was deemed applicable to the whole municipality once it was formed in 1975 and was retained. The Calw district office approved it and issued a corresponding municipal flag on 5 May 1982.

Transportation

Simmersfeld is connected to Germany's network of roadways by its local ''

Landesstraße ''Landesstraßen'' (singular: ''Landesstraße'') are roads in Germany and Austria that are, as a rule, the responsibility of the respective German or Austrian federal state. The term may therefore be translated as "state road". They are roads t ...

n'' und ''

Kreisstraße A Kreisstraße (literally: "district road" or "county road") is a class of road in Germany. It carries traffic between the towns and villages within a '' Kreis'' or district or between two neighbouring districts. In importance, the ''Kreisstraße ...

n''. Local public transportation is provided by the .

References

External links

* (in German) {{Authority control Calw (district) Württemberg