DONAUESCHINGEN

'Donaueschingen' is a town in the southwest of Baden-Württemberg in the Schwarzwald-Baar District near the sources of the Danube. It is located about 13 km south of Villingen-Schwenningen, 24 km west of Tuttlingen, and about 30 km north of the Swiss town of Schaffhausen. As of 2003 the town had a population of 21,300 making it the second-largest town in the Schwarzwald-Baar District.

Contents

Geography

History

Government

Economy

Transportation

Education

Cultural Events

Partner Cities

External links

Geography

Donaueschingen lies on the Baar plateau in the southern Black Forest. The confluence of the Brigach and Breg form the source of the Danube river from which the town gets its name.

History

The place was first mentioned as "Donaueschingen" in 889. In 1283, Rudolph von Habsburg granted the countship of Baar and Donaueschingen to Heinrich von Fürstenberg. The right to brew beer was also connected with this grant. This is the source of the Royal Fürstenberg Brewery. In 1488, possession was passed to the Count of Fürstenberg-Baar. From the 18th Century it was the residence of the Princes of Fürstenberg. In 1806, Donaueschingen came under the rulership of the Grand Duchy of Baden and was granted township in 1810. A large part of the town was destroyed by fire in 1908. Donaueschingen has a tradition as a military garrison; since World War II the French military has maintained barracks in the town, and, until the early 1990s, the U.S. Air Force operated a contingency hospital there. Fortunately the hospital never received casualties on a large scale from military operations; it saw the most activity in 1989, when the United States offered the facility as temporary housing for refugees leaving from East Germany to the West.
Though the Princes of Fürstenberg were nominally secularized and dispossed as absolute ruler of the principality, they still own huge property in their former lands, including their palace with the surrounding parks and gardens. The ''Schlosspark'' (palace gardens) which used to be public and the only park accessible to the citizens of the town since 1806 recently became off-limits again. The Princes of Fürstenberg were also the owners of the only extent manuscript of the Nibelungenlied until they sold it in 2001. The ancestral brewery has been sold as well.

Government

The results of the 2004 local elections are as follows:

CDU	: 16 Seats
FDP/FW	: 7 Seats
SPD	: 7 Seats
Independents	: 5 Seats
Bündnis 90/Die Grünen	: 4 Seats

Economy

The town's economy consists of nearly 1,000 various enterprises, of which 24 are medium-sized employing 2,200 people. The most important industries are machine assembly, semiconductors, injection moulding, magnetics, dyes, and shoe manufacturing.

Transportation

Donaueschingen is a regional rail hub; four rail lines join in the town. It sits on the Schwarzwaldbahn line from Offenburg to Konstanz and it is the start of the Höllentalbahn from Donaueschingen to Freiburg im Breisgau. Both of these lines are uniquely constructed because of the rough Black Forest terrain they cover. Donaueschingen is also the starting point for the Donautalbahn and the Bregtalbahn which run to Ulm and Bräunlingen respectively. The town is part of the Schwarzwald-Baar public transport system.
The town is on the A 864, a spur of the A 81 to Stuttgart. Three Federal Highways cross each other near Donaueschingen: the B 27 from Stuttgart to Schaffhausen; the B 31 from Freiburg im Breisgau to Lindau and the B 33 from Offenburg to Konstanz.
The long-distance Danube Cycle Trail begins in Donaueschingen and follows the course of the Danube. It is one of the most well-known and longest bicycle trails in Europe.

Education

The town has four secondary schools: the Fürstenberg-Gymnasium and the Wirtschaftsgymnasium, one Realschule, and one Hauptschule. There are four elementary schools associated with these schools: Eichendorffschule, Erich-Kästner-Schule, Grundschule Pfohren, and the Grundschule Wolterdingen. There are two special-needs schools: the Heinrich-Feuerstein-Schule and the Karl-Wacker-Schule.
There are two professional training schools: the Donaueschingen Commercial School and the Business and Home Economics Schools. There is also the Nursing College and the College for Agriculture. The Academy for Continuing Education and Personal Development is located in the former district hospital.

Cultural Events

Festival ''Donaueschinger Musiktage'' ("Days of Music at Donaueschingen") for contemporary music (any year the third weekend in october, founded in 1921).

Partner Cities

Donaueschingen has partnerships with the following cities:

★ Kaminoyama, Japan (since 1995)

★ Saverne, France (since 1964)

★ Vác, Hungary (since 1993)

External links

★ Homepage for Donaueschingen

★ Information about the region from Donaueschingen