Singen ( Low Alemannic: ''Singe'') is an industrial city in the very south 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 ...

in southern

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 ...

and just north of the

German-Swiss border The German-speaking part of Switzerland (german: Deutschschweiz, french: Suisse alémanique, it, Svizzera tedesca, rm, Svizra tudestga) comprises about 65 percent of Switzerland (North Western Switzerland, Eastern Switzerland, Central Switz ...

Location

Singen is an industrial city situated in the very south of

close to Lake Constance just north of the German-Swiss border and is the most important city in the Hegau area.

Landmarks

The most famous landmark of Singen is

Hohentwiel Hohentwiel is an extinct volcano in the Hegau region of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany The mountain is west of the city of Singen and 20 miles (30 km) from Lake Constance. Hohentwiel began forming, along with the chain of vol ...

, a volcanic stub on which there are the ruins of a fortress destroyed by French troops during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

World War II 'Singen route'

Singen is notable in military history for the Singen route in

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 ...

. This route into Switzerland was discovered by Dutch naval lieutenant

Hans Larive Etienne Henri "Hans" Larive, MWO, DSC and bar, (23 September 1915 – 28 December 1984) was a Dutch naval officer during World War II. He escaped from the prisoner of war camp Oflag IV-C at Colditz Castle in 1941, and spent the rest of the wa ...

in 1940 on his first escape attempt from an Oflag (prisoner's camp for officers) in Soest. After being captured at the Swiss border near Singen, the interrogating Gestapo officer was so confident the war would soon be won by Germany that he told Larive the safe way across the border. Larive did not forget and many prisoners later escaped using this route - that included Larive himself,

Francis Steinmetz Francis Steinmetz (20 September 1914 – 2 January 2006) was an officer in the Royal Netherlands Navy who escaped from Oflag IV-C, Colditz Castle, a German POW camp, during World War II, making a "home run" to safety. Early life Steinmetz was b ...

Anthony Luteyn Abraham Pierre Tony Luteyn (10 February 1917 – 9 February 2003) was a Dutch officer who successfully escaped from the German prisoner of war camp of Colditz. Sometimes he is referred to as Anthony Luteyn. Start of World War II Luteyn was born ...

, Airey Neave,

Pat Reid Patrick Robert Reid, (13 November 1910 – 22 May 1990) was a British Army officer and author of history. As a British prisoner of war during the Second World War, he was held captive at Colditz Castle when it was designated Oflag IV-C. Reid wa ...

and

Howard Wardle Howard Douglas Wardle MC (15 August 1915 – 30 January 1995), commonly known as Hank, was a Canadian pilot in the Royal Air Force during World War II. He is notable for being (along with the 'Medium Sized Man, Dominic Bruce) one of the only two ...

in their escapes from

Colditz Castle Castle Colditz (or ''Schloss Colditz'' in German) is a Renaissance castle in the town of Colditz near Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz in the state of Saxony in Germany. The castle is between the towns of Hartha and Grimma on a hill spur over the r ...

when Colditz was used in the war as

Oflag IV-C Oflag IV-C, often referred to by its location at Colditz Castle, overlooking Colditz, Saxony, was one of the most noted German Army prisoner-of-war camps for captured enemy officers during World War II; ''Oflag'' is a shortening of ''Offiziersl ...

Transport

Singen is an important regional train hub with three railway lines and the terminal of the Stuttgart-Hattingen railway with connections to Stuttgart and the Swiss

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; gsw, Schafuuse; french: Schaffhouse; it, Sciaffusa; rm, Schaffusa; en, Shaffhouse) is a town with historic roots, a municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of the same name; it has an estimate ...

Twin towns – sister cities

Singen is twinned with: *

La Ciotat La Ciotat (; oc, label= Provençal Occitan, La Ciutat ; in Mistralian spelling ''La Ciéutat''; 'the City') is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southern France. It is the southeasternmost ...

, France (1968) *

Pomezia Pomezia () is a municipality (''comune'') in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Lazio, central Italy. In 2009 it had a population of about 60,000. History The town was built entirely new near the location of ancient Lavinium on land resulting ...

, Italy (1974) * Celje, Slovenia (1989) *

Kobeliaky Kobeliaky ( uk, Кобеля́ки, ) is a city in Poltava Oblast, Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Kobeliaky Raion. Population: History During World War II, Kobeliaky was under German occupation from 15 September 1941 until 2 ...

, Ukraine (1993)

Notable people

Herbert Haag Herbert Haag (11 February 1915 – 23 August 2001) was a Swiss Roman Catholic theologian and biblical scholar of German origin. Haag was born in Singen am Hohentwiel. After studying theology in Paris for the diocese of Basel in 1940, he was o ...

(1915–2001), Swiss Catholic theologian *

Knut Folkerts Knut Detlef Folkerts (born 1 January 1952 in Singen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany) is a former member of the terrorist group, the Red Army Faction (RAF). In 1977 he was sentenced to 20 years in prison in the Netherlands for murder. Later he was c ...

(born 1952), former terrorist Red Army Faction (RAF) *

Beatrix Ruf Beatrix Ruf (born 1960, Singen, Germany) is a German art curator and art advisor who held the position of director of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam between November 2014 and October 2017. Formerly she was director of the Kunsthalle Zurich. She i ...

(born 1960), director and curator of the

Kunsthalle Zürich The Kunsthalle Zürich is a contemporary art exhibition centre in Zurich, Switzerland. It is located on Limmatstrasse, near the city centre. A number of temporary exhibitions are organized each year. In 2014 Daniel Baumann replaced Beatrix Ruf ...

Jens Truckenbrod Jens Truckenbrod (born 18 February 1980 in Singen) is a semi-retired German footballer who plays as midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking ...

(born 1980), footballer *

Cédric Soares Cédric Ricardo Alves Soares (born 31 August 1991), known simply as Cédric (), is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a right back for club Fulham, on loan from Arsenal, and the Portugal national team. Cédric's career starte ...

(born 1991), Portuguese footballer

References

External links

* Konstanz (district) Hegau Baden {{Konstanz-geo-stub