Ettenheim () is a city in the Ortenaukreis,

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, 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 i ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

History

Ettenheim was founded in the 8th century by Eddo,

bishop of Strasbourg Archbishops

*Charles Amarin Brand (16 July 1984 – 23 October 1997) (with rank of archbishop from 1988) *Joseph Doré (23 October 1997 – 25 August 2006) *Jean-Pierre Grallet (21 April 2007 – 18 February 2017) *Luc Ravel (18 February 2017 ...

, and the was founded at about that time. Ettenheim received

town rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

in the 13th century from the Prince-Bishop of Strasbourg, whose territory on the right bank of the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

Ettenheim would form the center of until 1803, when it was mediatized to the

Margraviate of Baden The Margraviate of Baden () was a historical territory of the Holy Roman Empire. Spread along the right banks of the Upper Rhine in south-western Germany, it was named a margraviate in 1112 and existed until 1535, when it was split into the tw ...

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

assigned Ettenheim to the district of Mahlberg, but then in 1809 made it the seat of its own district until 1824. In 1939, Ettenheim was assigned to , which was replaced by the with the

district of Ortenau Ortenaukreis (; ) is a Districts of Germany, ''Landkreis'' (district) in the west of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (clockwise from north) Rastatt (district), Rastatt, Freudenstadt (district), Freudenstadt, Rottweil (distri ...

. Louis Antoine, Duke of Enghien took refuge here in 1801 after he was suspected in a plot against

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. He was arrested on 15 March 1804 and later executed in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Louis René Édouard de Rohan-Guéméné, Prince-Bishop of Strasbourg, also lived here from 1790 and plotted a counter-revolution from the city. He is buried in the local Catholic church.

Geography

The township ('' Stadt'') of Ettenheim lies on the southern edge of the Ortenau district of

, along the former's border with the Emmendingen district. Ettenheim is physically located in the . The main watercourse in the municipal area is the Ettenbach, which, at the municipality's western border, marks its lowest elevation above sea level at

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). The highest elevation, NN, is found in the municipality's northeast, in the

buntsandstein The Buntsandstein (German for ''coloured'' or ''colourful sandstone'') or Bunter sandstone is a lithostratigraphy, lithostratigraphic and allostratigraphy, allostratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the Subsurface (geology), subsurface ...

mountains of the Central Black Forest around

Lahr Lahr (officially Lahr/Schwarzwald since 30 September 1978) (); ) is a city in western Baden-Württemberg, Germany, approximately 50 km north of Freiburg, Freiburg im Breisgau, 40 km southeast of Strasbourg, and 95 km southwest of Ka ...

. In the foothills of those mountains that fall within Ettenheim's municipal area are the wetlands of the Seltenbach, which are protected as the

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, funga, or features of geologic ...

Climate

Ettenheim's climate has mild differences between its highs and lows, with adequate year-round rainfall. The

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

subtype for this climate is " Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate/

Oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

), though it is close to being "

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

" due to the mean temperatures in July and August just under 22 °C.

Politics

Ettenheim has five boroughs (''Stadtteile''): Altdorf, Ettenheim, , Münchweier, and .

Coat of arms

The

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

of Ettenheim displays a castle in

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 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

, with an open gate and three towers (one domed) topped with crosses, 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 ...

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

. This pattern was designed in 1901 by the after a

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, also called "true seal" ** Fur seal ** Eared seal * Seal ( ...

from 1545, though the

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

was decided in 1973. Since 1370, local town seals had depicted a Gothic structure with three towers and a

crenelated A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals t ...

wall, a reference to Ettenheim's defenses.

Transportation

Ettenheim is connected to Germany's network of roadways by

Bundesautobahn 5 is a 445 km (277 mi) long Autobahn in Germany. Its northern end is the Hattenbach triangle intersection (with the Bundesautobahn 7, A 7). The southern end is at the Switzerland, Swiss border near Basel. It runs through the Germa ...

and

Bundesstraße 3 The Bundesstraße 3 (abbr. B3) is one of the longest federal highways in Germany. It begins in Buxtehude and continues through Bergen, Celle, Hanover, Alfeld, Einbeck, Göttingen, Kassel, Marburg, Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe an ...

, which pass through the city. The

Mannheim–Karlsruhe–Basel railway The Mannheim–Karlsruhe–Basel railway is a double-track electrified mainline railway in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It runs from Mannheim via Heidelberg, Bruchsal, Karlsruhe, Rastatt, Baden-Baden, Offenburg and Freiburg to Basel, S ...

passes through the municipality to the west of Ettenheim itself. The next train station Orschweier is about 1 mile away.

Notable people

* Johann von Türckheim (1749–1824), a French politician and a German diplomat, died locally *

Johann Baptist Weiss Johann Baptist Weiss (17 July 1820 in Ettenheim, Baden – 8 March 1899 in Graz) was a German historian. Life After completing his high-school studies he attended the universities of Freiburg, Tübingen, Heidelberg, and Munich, where he devoted ...

(1820 in Ettenheim – 1899), a German historian. * Karl Schneider (1869–1940), ophthalmologist, pacifist and resistance fighter against Nazism *

Conrad Gröber Conrad Gröber (1 April 1872 in Meßkirch – 14 February 1948 in Freiburg im Breisgau) was a Catholic priest and archbishop of the Archdiocese of Freiburg. Life Youth and education Gröber was born in Meßkirch in 1872, to Alois and Martin ...

(1872–1948), a Catholic priest and bishop; was a local priest * Sabine Brogle (born 1965), paralympic air rifle athlete, won five Olympic medals * Thomas Mack (born 1981), restaurateur and hotelier, went to school locally * Verena Schweers (born 1989), retired footballer, played 228 games and 47 for Germany women

References

External links

* {{Authority control Ortenaukreis