Baden-Württemberg is a state in southwest Germany. According to its
constitution, it has the form of a parliamentary republic and is a
partially sovereign member state of the Federal Republic of Germany. The
state was founded in 1952 through the merger of the short-lived post-war
states of Württemberg-Baden, (South) Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern
and is thus in the tradition of the old states of Baden and Württemberg,
including the Hohenzollernsche Land. Baden-Württemberg is shaped in
terms of its natural environment by its parts of the Upper Rhine
lowlands and low mountain ranges such as the Black Forest, the
south-west German stratum with the Swabian Jura and the foothills of the
Alps north of Lake Constance. Both in terms of population and area,
Baden-Württemberg ranks third among the German states. The most populous
city in Baden-Württemberg is the state capital Stuttgart, followed by
Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Other major cities are Freiburg im Breisgau,
Heidelberg, Ulm, Heilbronn, Pforzheim and Reutlingen.
Baden-Württemberg is the German state with the highest exports (2021),
the second lowest unemployment rate (April 2022), the fourth highest
gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (2021) as well as the most
registered patents per capita (2021) and the highest in absolute and
relative terms Research and Development Expenditure (2019). The average
life expectancy in the period 2018/20 was 79.9 years for men and 84.2
years for women, which means that both rank first among the German
federal states.
Baden-Württemberg shares or includes a number of cultural landscapes
and geographical regions, between which a rivalry is sometimes
cultivated, such as e.g. B. between Baden and Swabia, although the
municipal reform between 1971 and 1975 and the reorganization of the
regions left the old state borders of Baden and Württemberg
unconsidered. The country can be divided into the following travel
regions from north to south:
Kurpfalz-Odenwald
Region in the
northwest around the cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg, together with
the low mountain range to the east.
Kurpfalz Baden Odenwald small
Odenwald building land
Heilbronn Franconia
The north-east of the
country.
Kraichgau Stromberg Tauberfranken Hohenlohe Plain
Heilbronner Land Swabian-Franconian Forest
Black Forest
The
highest German low mountain range offers numerous valleys and also
includes the Upper Rhine Plain and the Kaiserstuhl.
Northern Black
Forest Central Black Forest Southern Black Forest Baden Rhine Plain
Stuttgart region
Diverse surroundings of the state capital: fertile
Neckar basin, airport on the Fildern, industry in the foothills of the
Alb and in the Gäu as well as the local recreation areas of Schönbuch
and Schurwald.
Swabian Alb
Land of the Staufer and Hohenzollern,
rugged cliffs on the Albtrauf and lovely Danube valley: the Alb offers
more than just a barren landscape.
Southwestern Albvorland Middle
Albvorland Eastern Albvorland Donaubergland Zollernalb Middle Swabian
Alb Helfensteiner Land Alb-Danube-Region Stauferland Ostalb
Lake
Constance-Upper Swabia
This holiday region stretches from
Friedrichshafen across the shores of Lake Constance to the baroque
churches of Upper Swabia against the backdrop of the Swiss Alps.
Lake
Constance Upper Swabia
In addition to the cultural and geographic
regions, Baden-Württemberg is administratively divided into 9 urban
districts and 35 rural districts, which are spread across four
administrative districts. The so-called regional associations, in which
several districts are combined, are becoming increasingly important.
This is - as with the Rhine-Neckar association with Hesse and
Rhineland-Palatinate and the Donau-Iller association with Bavaria - also
across national borders. See Political Structure for details.
The 9 independent cities are:
1
Stuttgart - state capital and
largest city of the federal state
2
Karlsruhe - The fan-shaped city is
known for its castle
3 Heidelberg
- Romanticism with Castle and Neckar
4
Mannheim - The square city with
multicultural flair in the Rhine-Neckar triangle
5 Freiburg
im Breisgau - university town with southern flair on the edge of the
Black Forest
6 Pforzheim - Goldstadt in the northern Black Forest
7 Baden-Baden - Casino and thermal baths
8 Ulm
- Ulm Minster and medieval old town
9 Heilbronn - Käthchenstadt with
a modern city center
Smaller towns that are important for tourism
include:
10 Baiersbronn - Also known as
Star Village because of the star gastronomy there
11
Bad Sackingen
12 Bad Wildbad
13
Freudenstadt - in the northern Black Forest with
Germany's largest marketplace
14
Konstanz or
Constance - largest city on Lake
Constance
15 Lörrach
16 Schwäbisch Gmuend
17 Sindelfingen
18 Tübingen - university town on the
Neckar
19 Wertheim - the Main Tauber town in northern
Baden-Württemberg
Bear Cave
Fog Cave
Helfenstein Castle
Hohenneuffen Castle
Hohenzollern Castle
Kaltenburg Castle
Katzenstein Castle
Lichtenstein Castle
Ludwigsburg Palace
Burg Meersburg
Nippenburg castle
Rötteln Castle
Salem Abbey
Sausenburg Castle
Schneeburg castle
Schwetzingen Castle
Sigmaringen Castle
Steinsberg Castle
Wildenstein Castle
Windeck Castle
Baden-Württemberg is rich in sights of all kinds:
Islands of Mainau and Reichenau in Lake Constance
Maulbronn
Monastery
Caves of the Swabian Alb
Prehistoric pile dwellings on
Lake Constance
Castle Hohenzollern
Ludwigsburg Residential Palace
Lakes in the Upper Black Forest
Blautopf near Blaubeuren
Europa
Park near Rust
Various holiday routes lead through
Baden-Württemberg to offer the visitor a cross-section of the sights:
Staufer road - around 300 kilometers long route from Wäschenbeuren (near
Schwäbisch Gmünd) to the Charlottenhöhle.
Swabian Albstrasse
Hohenzollernstrasse
Upper Swabian Baroque Road
Swabian poet street
Baden Wine Route - 160 km long road through the most important Baden
wine-growing regions from Baden-Baden, via Freiburg to Weil am Rhein.
German avenue road - leads from Rügen to the island of Mainau in Lake
Constance.
The German Castle Road - It starts in Mannheim, goes via
Schwetzingen, Heidelberg, Bad Wimpfen and Heilbronn to Schwäbisch Hall,
from there via Nuremberg to Prague.
Bertha Benz Memorial Route - in
the footsteps of the world's first long-distance journey in an
automobile (Mannheim, Ladenburg, Heidelberg, Wiesloch, Bruchsal,
Pforzheim, Schwetzingen, Mannheim)
Black Forest High Road - panoramic
road in the northern Black Forest between Baden-Baden and Freudenstadt
Also worth seeing are the federal gold villages and the state gold
villages in Land. These places received this award in the national
competition, which takes place every three years. Our village has a
future.
background
On April 25, 1952, the federal states of
(South) Baden, Württemberg-Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern were
merged to form today's federal state of Baden-Württemberg, even though a
majority of citizens in the former state of Baden voted against the
merger at the time.
Before that, the federal state had already
been reorganized several times. Up to the beginning of the 19th century
and the "Napoleonic land consolidation" there were still around 600
independent territories (including 24 free imperial cities) in
south-west Germany. The traditions and dialects, some of which are still
very different today, can be explained from this period. After the fall
of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, the states of Baden and
Württemberg and two principalities of the Hohenzollerns came into being,
which belonged to Prussia from 1850.
Although the amalgamation
dates back more than 50 years, great importance is still attached to
local differences and demarcation. This is particularly the case between
Badeners and Swabians. The differences are evident above all in the
language, the traditions and the cuisine. It is a popular sight - not
only among older people - if one is aware of the course of the border.
By plane
The main airport in Baden-Württemberg
is Stuttgart Airport (IATA: STR). Low-cost airlines also fly to
Friedrichshafen Airport (IATA: FDH) and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden Airport
(IATA: FKB) near Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden.
The international
airports located outside of the state can also be used: Frankfurt
Airport (IATA: FRA) (75 km from Mannheim), Zurich Airport (IATA: ZRH);
(70 km from Konstanz), Strasbourg Airport (IATA: SXB) (30 km from
Offenburg) or EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg (IATA: BSL, MLH, EAP)
(70 km from Freiburg). Especially from Frankfurt Airport, you can get to
Mannheim (30 minutes), Karlsruhe (about an hour) or Stuttgart (1:15
hours) quickly and easily thanks to the direct ICE connection. There is
a direct Interregio connection from Zurich Airport in the direction of
Konstanz (about an hour). From the EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse you can
take the bus in the direction of Freiburg (just under an hour).
By train
All major cities are well connected to the Deutsche Bahn
network. Ulm, Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Heidelberg, Stuttgart and Freiburg
and others. are connected to the ICE system. Rides can be booked at
Bahn.de.
In recent years, routes that were closed by the former
Federal Railways have been put back into operation by private or foreign
railway companies.
By bus
The development of the long-distance
bus market is currently subject to rapid change, both in terms of
providers and routes.
There is a well-developed bus network that
connects almost all cities and (also smaller) villages. The departure
times are often coordinated with each other and also with other means of
transport such as the train.
Street
The trunk road network is
well developed in the north-south direction. Motorists have problems
crossing the country south of the Karlsruhe-Stuttgart-Ulm line in an
east-west direction. This is partly due to the mountainous topography,
but also due to years of arguments about the course, for example a Lake
Constance motorway from Singen to Lindau (Bavaria), or a planned and
then rejected route to Freiburg.
Attention: In Baden-Württemberg,
numerous cities have set up environmental zones in accordance with the
Fine Dust Ordinance. This includes not only all of the major cities in
the country, but also numerous small and medium-sized towns. An overview
can be found here. Without a sticker, you risk a fine when entering an
environmental zone.
By boat
There are extensive shipping lines
on the navigable rivers (Neckar, Rhine) and Lake Constance, which,
however, are rarely used for regular passenger transport; mostly tourism
and leisure lines. Only on Lake Constance do passenger and car transport
ships operate regularly, which offer an alternative to other means of
transport.
The Rhine is used by numerous river cruise ships.
Public transport
Baden-Württemberg has an excellent railway
network that even serves remote areas. Rural villages in particular are
served by buses that start at the train stations in the larger cities.
Baden-Württemberg ticket for 1 to 5 people. Mon - Fri from 9 a.m.,
weekends from 12 a.m. to 3 a.m. the next morning is available from the
ticket machine for €24 for 1 person in 2nd class/€32 in 1st class. Each
additional person costs €6 more (2nd class) or €14 (1st class). The
Baden-Württemberg Night Ticket is valid daily from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m.
the following day, and even until 7 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. The
first person costs €21, the next 4 € each.
Tickets cost €2 more at
the ticket office. · As of 14.12.2017 · .
Note: For many travelers,
the metropolitan ticket may be a slightly cheaper alternative to the
Baden-Württemberg ticket. This is valid on local transport from 9
transport associations in Baden-Württemberg. This includes the
Verkehrsverbund Stuttgart (VVS) and another 8 surrounding transport
associations. So if you only travel in this part of Baden-Württemberg,
you will get cheaper. The principle is the same as with the
Baden-Württemberg ticket: the ticket costs €21 and up to four other
people can be taken along for €6 each (as of Jan. 2018). The ticket is
available from the ticket machines (including those of the DB in the
lower right section of the respective transport association) or in the
buses of the transport association. It is also interesting that a
maximum of two adults (parents or grandparents) can take their children
or grandchildren up to and including the age of 14 with them free of
charge. The ticket is valid Mon.-Fri. from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. the
following day and on public holidays (applicable throughout
Baden-Württemberg) from 0:00 a.m.
In the street
If you drive
in the Swabian Alb or in the Black Forest in winter, it is advisable to
have snow chains with you, since side roads in particular are not
cleared enough.
motorcycle
The south of Germany and thus also
Baden-Württemberg is certainly one of the most sought-after motorcycle
areas in Germany. Numerous winding routes in the Black Forest and on the
Alb attract motorcyclists here. Unfortunately, this is also reflected in
the accident figures. This and a sometimes disproportionate number of
special places have led to route closures in the past. Among other
things, the Schauinsland, Freiburg's local mountain and former (1923 to
1984) location of one of the most famous mountain races, is closed to
motorcyclists at the weekend. The twelve-kilometre, serpentine and
sometimes very bumpy route leads from Horben via the Holzschlägermatte
to the mountain station of the Schauinslandbahn. A partial closure for
motorcyclists applies to the Lochen Pass (L 440 between Weilstetten and
Tieringen in the Zollernalb district).
By bicycle
Numerous
cycle paths and long-distance cycle paths such as the Danube Cycle Path
run through the country. The article Cycle routes in Baden-Württemberg
provides an overview. All cyclists who like to cycle on trails away from
the long-distance cycle paths move around in Baden-Württemberg, mostly
illegally. According to the state forest law, cycling/MTBs are not
permitted on paths in the forest that are less than 2 meters wide.
Appropriate petitions to lift this have so far failed (explanation on
DIMB).
Hike
The most famous long-distance hiking trail is
certainly the Way of St. James with the Franconian-Swabian Way of St.
James from Würzburg to Ulm and the Way of St. James running from
Nuremberg to Constance. In addition, there are numerous regional hiking
trails, such as those of the Black Forest and the Swabian Alb
Association.
Franconian dialects are spoken in a narrow strip to the north.
Otherwise "Alemannic" is spoken in Baden-Württemberg. The dialect colors
are sometimes extremely different. The Alemannic in the east is also
sometimes referred to as "Swabian". This dialect is now considered an
endangered language by linguists because it is spoken less and less. The
Alemannic in the west and southwest is referred to as "Badisch" and is
related to the Swiss German and Alsatian dialects. People from Baden,
Switzerland and Alsace can usually talk without any problems.
In
general, High German is understood relatively well, and in addition to
the local dialect, a locally colored High German is spoken. In larger
cities (particularly university towns) you can also get by with foreign
languages (especially English), but in the country you shouldn't
automatically assume that. In border areas with France, French is also
mostly spoken, since many employees from Alsace can also be found here.
The top shopping street in Baden-Württemberg is Stuttgart's Königsstrasse.
You can find more about food and drink
in Baden-Württemberg on the page: Eating and drinking in
Baden-Württemberg.
Each region has its own specialities, which
you should mainly try there. There are restaurants serving local cuisine
everywhere, and it's best to rely on local recommendations. Restaurants
with international cuisine are mainly found in larger cities.
Local specialties of Swabian cuisine and Baden cuisine
Spaetzle
in many variations, e.g. e.g.:
cheese spaetzle
Lentils with
home-made pasta
The same applies to
Maultaschen
Schupfnudeln
pretzel
Bibiliskäs (Baden herbal quark)
pancake
soup
Schärbe and Strübli/Striebele (dessert, especially common in
southern Baden)
Black forest gateau
dancing ban
The state of Baden-Württemberg has the strictest public holiday law in
Germany when it comes to bans on dancing. There is a day-long ban on
dancing on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Christmas
Day. However, the ban on dancing does not only apply to dance events,
but also to sporting events, for example.
In addition to the
all-day ban on dancing, there are also 14 days of temporary bans on
dancing, mostly from 3 a.m. to 11 a.m. (New Year’s Day, Epiphany,
Easter, Ascension Day, Pentecost, Corpus Christi and Boxing Day) or 3
a.m. to midnight (All Saints’ Day, National Day of Mourning , Day of
Repentance and Prayer, Sunday of the Dead and Christmas Eve).
Baden-Württemberg has numerous universities, including some of the best
and oldest in the country. The universities in Tübingen, Heidelberg and
Constance have been included in the federal funding program as so-called
elite universities. This means that the state has three out of eleven
nationwide elite universities. There are other universities in Mannheim,
Stuttgart, Freiburg im Breisgau, Karlsruhe and Ulm. There are also
numerous universities of applied sciences. The vocational academies,
similar to those in Saxony and Thuringia, offer a strongly
career-oriented opportunity to study.
The school system in
Baden-Württemberg is very demanding; Pupils in Baden-Württemberg have to
study at the weekend and during the holidays from the 3rd grade at the
latest. The pressure to perform is very high.
Similar to Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg has a low unemployment rate. In some areas there is even a shortage of workers. For years, attempts have been made here to compensate for this shortage with workers from other federal states or abroad.
The security situation is very good, especially in rural areas and small towns. In the big cities like Freiburg, Mannheim, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe and Stuttgart, the crime rate is slightly higher than in the countryside, but not higher than in other German and Central European cities.
There is a high density of doctors and hospitals in Baden-Württemberg. Heidelberg is known for its university clinic, in Stuttgart there is the Marienhospital, the Katharinenhospital and the Olgahospital.
In terms of climate, Baden-Württemberg offers a wide range. When it
is already warm in summer in Freiburg, it can still be very cold and
snowy in the high areas of the Black Forest and the Swabian Jura.
Nevertheless, the people of Baden-Württemberg are very proud of
their climate and like to claim that this is the best place to observe
the seasons and that they are very pronounced here. There are certainly
seasons in Baden-Württemberg, but they are sometimes very blurred: the
winters are often snow-free for several weeks, instead there are
repeated cold relapses with snow in March and sometimes even in April.
In summer there are certainly heat waves, but also cool days with
autumn-like temperatures. In general, however, one can be quite
satisfied with the Swabian summer.
Even if Baden-Württemberg has been a federal state since 1952, people
from Baden should not be called Swabians, or vice versa, because there
is still mutual teasing, even if it is more of a mocking nature today.
However, the derogatory term "Badenser" (likely used by the Swabians) is
very insulting to the "Badners", with which one can quickly make oneself
unpopular in Baden areas. Roughly speaking, the Württemberg areas are
Swabian and the Baden areas are Baden or Alemannic. However, Hohenlohe
or Franconian idioms are more likely to be found in the north-east, so
one should not generalize too much.
If some Swabians appear a
little rude and curt for "Neigschmeckte", i.e. people from other
language areas, this is usually not malicious, but simply everyday
behavior. A well-known saying is: "Ned gschompfa, isch au g'lobt", which
corresponds to "not scolded, but also praised". This means that the
Swabian is reluctant to express himself in effusive praise, but rather
expresses his enthusiasm by skipping negative comments.
What one
should perhaps also avoid is to imitate the prevailing dialects
(Swabian, Alemannic, Franconian, Kurpfälzisch) and many dialects. Even
if the other person doesn't complain, they will feel as if you want to
make fun of the dialect speaker yourself.
Practical hints
Almost complete GSM coverage. Sometimes weak reception in rural areas
and in the valleys of the Black Forest and the Alb. In the border area
to France and Switzerland, the foreign networks often transmit stronger
than the German networks. Depending on the setting, this can lead to
cost traps, especially when receiving data.
The area of today's Baden-Württemberg was demonstrably inhabited by
representatives of the genus Homo at least half a million years ago. The
lower jaw of Mauer found near Mauer and the Homo steinheimensis
discovered near Steinheim an der Murr, both of which are now classified
as part of the hominin species Homo heidelbergensis, are among the
oldest finds of the genus Homo in Europe at all, with an age of around
500,000 and 250,000 years respectively .
Significant Palaeolithic
evidence of cultural life in Baden-Württemberg goes back around 35,000
to 40,000 years. That's how old the finds of the oldest known musical
instruments of mankind (an ivory flute, excavated in 1979 in the
Geißenklösterle) and works of art (Lion Man), which were discovered in
caves in the Swabian Jura, especially in those in the Lone Valley. The
most important of these caves are the so-called caves of the oldest Ice
Age art.
From the Neolithic in particular there are numerous
documents of settlements and burials from the earliest times, which go
back to the most diverse cultural complexes from the Linear Pottery
Culture and represent an uninterrupted line up to the beginning of the
Bronze Age and up to the Iron Age. The oldest German jasper mine from
the Neolithic Age is located near Kleinkems in southern Baden.
In
the Hallstatt period, the Celts settled large parts of the country. This
is evidenced by the numerous burial mounds, the best-known of which is
the grave of the Celtic prince of Hochdorf, and by Hallstatt-period
settlements such as the Heuneburg or the minster hill of Breisach.
Since Caesar's Gallic Wars in 55 BC In the north, the Rhine formed
the eastern border of the Roman Empire. Around 15 B.C. the Romans
crossed the Alps under Tiberius. The newly founded province of Raetia
extended to the Danube and thus also included today's Upper Swabia.
The land route between Mainz and Augsburg was strategically very
important. To shorten this, the Romans built a road through the Kinzig
valley in the central Black Forest around 73/74 AD; to protect this road
they founded Rottweil. Other foundations of this time are Ladenburg, Bad
Wimpfen, Rottenburg am Neckar, Heidelberg and Baden-Baden; However,
settlement continuity is only likely for Baden-Baden, Ladenburg and
Rottweil. The road built later via Bad Cannstatt further shortened the
route between Mainz and Augsburg. The Romans secured their land grab in
south-west Germany with campaigns in present-day Hesse. Around AD 85,
Emperor Domitian founded the province of Germania superior (Upper
Germany).
The frontier of the Roman Empire ran from about 98-159
AD along the Neckar-Odenwald Limes, later along the Upper
Germanic-Rhaetian Limes. The Romans called the part of the area to the
right of the Rhine and left of the Danube surrounded by the Limes as
Dekumatland. The north-eastern part of today's Baden-Württemberg was
never part of the Roman Empire.
Around AD 233 the Alamanni
plundered the Dekumatland; in the time of the imperial crisis of the 3rd
century, the Romans gave up the previous border around 260 AD after
renewed raids and withdrew behind the Rhine, Danube and Iller, the
Danube-Iller-Rhine-Limes. They still held the Rhine frontier up to the
crossing of the Rhine in 406.
In the 5th century the territory of the Duchy of Alemannia became
part of the Frankish Empire. The northern border of Alemannia was
shifted to the south and roughly coincided with the current
Alemannic-Franconian dialect border. The northern third of
Baden-Württemberg was thus in the direct Franconian sphere of influence
(dioceses of Mainz, Speyer, Worms, Würzburg), the southern two thirds
remained in the Alemannic sphere of influence (dioceses of Constance,
Augsburg, Strasbourg). In the 8th century, counties (districts) were
installed as administrative units. With the new formation of the tribal
duchies, the southern areas of today's federal state belonged to the
Duchy of Swabia until the end of the High Middle Ages, while the
northern areas belonged to the Duchy of Franconia.
In the High
Middle Ages, the area was one of the central landscapes of the Holy
Roman Empire of the German Nation. It is home to numerous emerging noble
dynasties and was at the crossroads of some important long-distance
trade routes. The high nobility and the monasteries directed an
intensive expansion of the country, in the course of which the low
mountain ranges were developed and numerous cities were founded, and
thus expanded their power base. In addition to the ducal houses,
important families were above all the Franconian Salians and the Swabian
Staufers, who fought for the imperial throne in their time. Other
important aristocratic houses were the Guelphs, who originally came from
Upper Swabia, the Zähringer and the Habsburgs, and also the Lower
Swabian Hohenzollerns.
After the end of the Staufer dynasty in
the 13th century, there was permanent decentralization of the empire.
The central power of emperors and kings, which was traditionally weak
anyway, increasingly lost rights and powers to emerging regional powers.
This long-term trend was also and especially noticeable in south-west
Germany. There was a territorial fragmentation into hundreds of small
counties, imperial cities, spiritual areas or even individual knightly
villages.
The territories that developed in the area of the old
tribal duchies of Franconia and Swabia in the High and Late Middle Ages
proved to be mostly stable and dominated until the years of upheaval in
1803/1806. Among the most important of them are:
the imperial
cities of Ulm, Biberach an der Riss, Esslingen, Heilbronn, Gmünd, Hall,
Rottweil, Constance (until 1548) and Reutlingen
the secular princely
states of Württemberg, Anterior Austria, Palatinate, Baden, Hohenlohe
and Fürstenberg
the secular dominions of the bishoprics of Constance,
Worms, Speyer and Strasbourg
the monastic states of St. Blasien,
Zwiefalten, Ochsenhausen and Salem
Horizontal diversification was
followed by the vertical division of rights in one place into different
rights holders. Thus, the numerous financial, economic, military, and
judicial rights within a village could be in the hands of several
states, lords, or families.
The early modern period was shaped by the Reformation and the
expansion efforts of the emerging territorial states of Austria,
Prussia, France and Sweden. These resulted in conflicts such as the
Peasants' War, the Thirty Years' War and the Palatinate War of
Succession. Today's Baden-Württemberg, which remained extremely
fragmented in terms of territory, was one of the focal points of the
fighting, with the corresponding consequences for the population and the
economy.
Reformation and Peasants' War
Later Baden was the
scene of the Bundschuh conspiracies. Joss Fritz, who came from
Untergrombach, led a total of three conspiracies from 1501 to 1517 in
the Bishopric of Speyer and in Anterior Austria.
As early as
1518, young south-west German scholars got to know Martin Luther and his
teachings at the Heidelberg Disputation. The Brettener Philipp
Melanchthon followed Luther to Wittenberg and became one of the leading
figures of the Lutheran Reformation. Johannes Brenz went from Heidelberg
to Schwäbisch Hall, introduced the Reformation there and later supported
Duke Christoph von Württemberg in building up the evangelical state
church.
The German Peasants' War had one of its focal points in
the German south-west. As early as 1524, several thousand farmers
gathered in Stühlingen, Furtwangen and Biberach.
On Easter Sunday
1525, Swabian peasants stormed and occupied Weinsberg Castle and killed
Count Ludwig von Helfenstein, who was a son-in-law of Emperor Maximilian
I. This Weinsberger bloody deed cost the farmers a lot of sympathy. As a
result, they moved into Stuttgart, among other places, and destroyed
numerous castles and monasteries, including Hohenstaufen Castle, Lorch
Monastery and Murrhardt Monastery. On April 24, 1525, the rebels
transferred the military command to Captain Götz von Berlichingen. On
May 23, 1525, farmers from southern Baden took Freiburg.
The
peasant uprising was brutally suppressed in the summer of 1525 by a
mercenary army fighting on behalf of the Swabian League under the
leadership of Georg Truchsess von Waldburg-Zeil. It is estimated that
around 100,000 insurgents were killed.
The Reformation spread
particularly quickly in the imperial cities of south-west Germany. In
1529, five imperial cities from what is now Baden-Württemberg belonged
to the Speyer protestation. When Margrave Philipp von Baden died
childless in 1533, the margraviate was taken over by his brothers Ernst
and Bernhard III. divided into Protestant Baden-Durlach and Catholic
Baden-Baden. Duke Ulrich von Württemberg introduced the Reformation when
he returned to the Stuttgart throne in 1534 after fifteen years of
forced administration by the Habsburgs by winning the Battle of Lauffen.
In 1557, Elector Ottheinrich introduced the Lutheran Reformation in
the Electoral Palatinate. Under his successor Frederick III, who had the
Heidelberg Catechism drawn up in 1563, the Palatinate became Calvinist.
The main theaters of the Thirty Years' War in the south-west of
Germany were the Electoral Palatinate and Upper Austria, but the other
areas were also badly hit by the plundering and robbing of mouths by the
army that was passing through and encamped.
After the Battle of
Weißer Berg, the Bohemian-Palatinate War shifted to the Electoral
Palatinate. The combined armies of Counts Peter von Mansfeld and Georg
Friedrich von Baden-Durlach defeated Tilly in 1622 near Mingolsheim. A
little later, the Margrave of Baden Tilly, separated from Mansfeld, lost
in the Battle of Wimpfen.
While the events of the war then
shifted north, the Electoral Palatinate remained occupied by the
Spaniards on the left of the Rhine and the Bavarians on the right of the
Rhine. In 1632 both were expelled by the Swedes under King Gustav Adolf.
In 1634 the Swedes conquered the Philippsburg fortress and in the same
year moved to the Upper Rhine. After the Battle of Nördlingen, Duke
Eberhard III fled. in exile in Strasbourg. The victorious imperial and
Spanish troops occupied the territory of Württemberg and devastating
attacks, looting and arson took place in these evangelical regions. In
1635, Johann von Werth recaptured Philippsburg and Heidelberg, and
Bavaria again occupied the Electoral Palatinate.
In 1638 the
Protestant-Swedish associations under Bernhard von Sachsen-Weimar
celebrated successes in the battles near Rheinfelden, in Breisach and in
Freiburg. In 1643/44 the tide of battle turned in favor of the imperial
Catholic troops in battles near Tuttlingen and Freiburg. Fighting in the
southwest continued until the end of the war.
In 1647, Bavaria,
Sweden and France signed an armistice agreement in Ulm, as a result of
which the Swedish and French troops that had invaded Bavaria withdrew to
Upper Swabia and Württemberg. In the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, Karl I
Ludwig regained the Palatinate and the electoral dignity that had been
lost in the Regensburg Reichstag in 1623, and Breisach became French.
As a result of the Thirty Years' War, the population had fallen by
more than half, regionally by two thirds, the livestock was almost
completely destroyed, and a third of the farmland lay fallow. The region
took a long time to recover from this.
After the end of the Dutch War in 1679, France annexed Freiburg im
Breisgau. The Austrian government moved its seat to Waldshut during the
French rule over Freiburg.
During the Palatinate War of
Succession, French troops led by General Ezéchiel de Mélac devastated
the north-western part of what is now Baden-Württemberg. Especially in
the years 1689 and 1693, Mélac systematically had defenses blown up
while retreating and villages and towns were set ablaze across the board
Marbach. After the end of the war, France had to return Freiburg and
Breisach am Rhein to Austria.
As a result, several of the
sovereign and church princes moved out of the old residence cities and
built new baroque residences based on the model of Versailles. This is
how baroque planned cities with large palaces in Karlsruhe, Ludwigsburg
and Rastatt, the Electoral Palatinate palace Mannheim Palace and summer
residence Palace Schwetzingen as well as Bruchsal Palace as the seat of
the Bishopric of Speyer came into being.
From 1703 to 1713, the
Upper Rhine plain between Freiburg and Heidelberg was the deployment
area for the imperial troops during the War of the Spanish Succession
and was often the scene of battles between them and those of France.
In the War of the Austrian Succession, French troops under the
personal command of Louis XV besieged and conquered. 1744 Fribourg.
1782 was in the front Austrian areas, i. H. in large parts of
today's southern part of the country, serfdom was abolished in the
course of the reforms of Emperor Joseph II.
At the beginning of the 19th century, around 300 states still held
territorial rights in the area of today's Baden-Württemberg, but after
the dissolution of the Old Kingdom their number was reduced to four.
Above all, the Kingdom of Württemberg and the Grand Duchy of Baden were
among the winners of the coalition wars. The two principalities of
Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen and Hohenzollern-Hechingen survived
mediatization due to their special relationship with Napoleon. In
addition, the city of Wimpfen was a Hessian exclave.
See also:
Territorial peculiarities in south-west Germany after 1810
In 1849
the Baden Revolution was crushed by Prussian intervention troops, the
Baden Army was dissolved and rebuilt under Prussian leadership. In 1850
the two Hohenzollern states became the Prussian province of
Hohenzollernsche Land. In the German War of 1866, Baden and Württemberg
sided with Austria and after the end of the war had to pay compensation
to the victorious Prussia and conclude secret military treaties with the
North German Confederation. This led to these states entering the
Franco-Prussian War in 1870. As a result of the war, Baden and
Württemberg joined the newly formed German Empire led by Prussia.
1918 to 1933
In 1919 the Republic of Baden and the People's State
of Württemberg gave each other democratic constitutions.
seizure of power and terror
In 1933, the independent state
governments were deprived of their power by means of co-ordination laws
in favor of National Socialist Gauleiters and Reichsstatthalter. The
seizure of power was accompanied and supported by terror against the
political opponents.
In Baden, Gauleiter Robert Wagner appointed
himself President on March 11, 1933. Reich President Hindenburg
subsequently legalized this self-appointment on May 5, 1933 by
appointing Wagner as Reich Governor. Walter Köhler took over the office
of Prime Minister of Baden. On March 15, 1933, the Württemberg state
parliament elected Wilhelm Murr as state president with the votes of the
NSDAP, DNVP and the farmers' association. On May 6, 1933, he was
appointed Reich Governor, while the office of Prime Minister passed to
Christian Mergenthaler. This duality in the exercise of power continued
until the end of the war.
The opponents of the regime, especially
communists and social democrats, were taken into “protective custody” by
the Gestapo in a wave of arrests from March 1933 and interned in the
Kislau (near Bad Schönborn), Ankenbuck (near Villingen) and Heuberg
(near Stetten am Kalten Markt) camps. Women critical of the regime were
held in the Gotteszell women's prison. The Baden SPD leadership was
deported from Karlsruhe to Kislau on May 16, 1933, and the deportation
was publicly staged.
After the reorganization of the state
parliaments in accordance with the results of the Reichstag elections of
March 5, 1933, the state parliaments passed state empowerment laws on
June 8, 1933 in Württemberg and on June 9, 1933 in Baden. The deputies
of the KPD, which had been banned in the meantime, were no longer
allowed to take part in the voting. The SPD deputies abstained in
Württemberg, while the five remaining in Baden openly voted "no". All
other MPs - in Württemberg these were the Center, DNVP, Farmers' Union,
CSVD and NSDAP - agreed to the self-disempowerment.
The Heuberg
camp was closed at the end of 1933 due to overcrowding. The inmates were
transferred to Fort Oberer Kuhberg in Ulm. Members of the Gestapo, SS
and SA murdered the leading Baden Social Democrat Ludwig Marum on March
29, 1934 in Kislau. In 1936 the Gestapo reported that they had broken up
the "illegal" structures of the SPD and KPD.
Persecution of the
Jews and other minorities
Approximately 12,000 Jews, a large number
of members of the Roma minority, 10,000 sick people and an unknown
number of regime opponents fell victim to the mass murder of the German
civilian population by the National Socialists in Baden and Württemberg.
By 1939, two thirds of the approximately 35,000 Jews who had lived
in Baden and Württemberg in 1933 had emigrated. On October 22, 1940, the
Baden Gauleiter Robert Wagner and Josef Bürckel, Gauleiter of the
Westmark, led the "Wagner-Bürckel Action", in which around 6,000 Baden
Jews were deported to the Gurs camp before the actual Holocaust. From
there, most of them were taken to German death camps in Eastern Europe
and murdered there. From November 1941, Jews from Württemberg were
deported in several direct trains, each with around 1,000 people, to
Riga, Izbica, Auschwitz and Theresienstadt, where they were killed.
In the Grafeneck killing center near Gomadingen, those in power
murdered more than 10,000 patients from psychiatric clinics in a gas
chamber as part of Operation T4. Roma, and among them many Sinti, were
z. Some were interned in local “Gypsy camps”, for example in the Gypsy
forced labor camp in Ravensburg, and deported to Poland in 1940 and to
the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp in 1943. Numerous inmates of
concentration camps in Baden-Württemberg died doing forced labor. For
example, in the Bisingen concentration camp near Hechingen, an attempt
to extract shale oil cost the lives of 1,000 people. Other prisoners
perished on the so-called death marches, with which the authorities
wanted to evacuate the concentration camps shortly before the end of the
war in the face of the advancing American troops.
Four of the best-known German resistance fighters have their roots in
Count von Stauffenberg, who grew up in Stuttgart, the Scholl siblings,
who spent their childhood in Forchtenberg, Ludwigsburg and Ulm, and the
Hitler assassin Georg Elser, who lived in the Ostalb and in Constance in
the southwest.
Other examples are Gertrud Luckner from Freiburg,
who supported Jews leaving the country, was arrested in 1943 and
survived the Ravensbrück concentration camp, Georg Lechleiter from
Mannheim, who led an underground organization of the KPD and was
executed in Stuttgart in 1942, as well as Reinhold Frank from Karlsruhe
and Fritz from Stuttgart Elsas and Eugen Bolz, who were executed in 1945
as members of the 20 July 1944 conspiracy.
The economists of the
Freiburg circle around Walter Eucken, the Rottenburg bishop Joannes
Sproll, who was expelled from his diocese in 1938 after he had not
participated in the referendum on the "Annexation" of Austria, and
Robert Bosch, the Jews and housed other persecuted people in his
company.
End of War and Consequences of War
In October 1944,
the government of the Vichy regime under Marshal Pétain was transferred
from Vichy to Sigmaringen on Hitler's orders. Sigmaringen Castle
remained the seat of what the National Socialists saw as the official
French government until the end of the war.
The Allied air raids
in World War II did not all hit the cities in south-west Germany
equally. During the air raid on Pforzheim on February 23, 1945, 17,600
people died within a few minutes. Stuttgart, Mannheim, Heilbronn,
Friedrichshafen, Freiburg and Ulm were also hit very hard. Karlsruhe,
Reutlingen, Böblingen, Sindelfingen, Offenburg and Göppingen suffered
severe damage. Other cities, e.g. B. Rottweil, Heidelberg, Baden-Baden,
Esslingen, Ludwigsburg, Tübingen, Villingen, Konstanz, Aalen or
Schwäbisch Gmünd remained almost intact and therefore still have intact
old towns.
In the spring of 1945, American and French ground
troops also defeated those of the Wehrmacht in Baden-Württemberg. The
Americans occupied Mannheim on March 29, 1945. Stuttgart was conquered
by French troops on April 22, 1945. Partly heavy fighting meant that
Crailsheim, Waldenburg, Bruchsal and Freudenstadt were destroyed in the
final weeks of the war.
After the Second World War, the northern parts of Baden and
Württemberg became part of the US occupation zone, while the southern
parts and Hohenzollern belonged to the French. The division took place
along the district borders, whereby all the districts through which the
Karlsruhe-Munich autobahn (today's A 8) ran were deliberately added to
the US American zone. In 1945/46, the military governments of the
occupation zones founded the states of Württemberg-Baden in the American
zone and Württemberg-Hohenzollern and Baden in the French zone. These
countries became part of the Federal Republic of Germany on May 23,
1949.
Article 29 of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of
Germany stipulates a reorganization of the federal territory with the
help of referendums. However, this article did not initially come into
force due to reservations by the occupying powers. Notwithstanding this,
Article 118 required the three countries in the south-west to settle a
reorganization by mutual agreement. This article was based on the
decision made on August 31, 1948 at the conference of prime ministers at
the Niederwald hunting lodge to create a south-western state, before the
start of deliberations on the Basic Law. In the event that such a
settlement did not materialize, a settlement was mandated by federal
law. The alternatives were either unification into a southwestern state
or the separate restoration of Baden and Württemberg (including
Hohenzollern) with the governments of Württemberg-Baden and
Württemberg-Hohenzollern advocating the former and that of Baden the
latter. An agreement between the governments on a referendum failed due
to the question of the voting method. The federal law then passed on May
4, 1951 provided for a division of the voting area into four zones
(North Württemberg, North Baden, South Württemberg-Hohenzollern, South
Baden). The unification of the countries should be considered accepted
if there was a majority in the entire voting area and in three of the
four zones. Since a majority in the two Württemberg zones and in
northern Baden was already foreseeable (trial votes were carried out for
this purpose), the supporters of unification favored this regulation.
The (South) Baden government filed a constitutional complaint against
the law, which was unsuccessful.
Before the referendum, which
took place on December 9, 1951, supporters and opponents of the planned
southwestern state fought each other. The leading representatives of the
pro side were the Prime Minister of Württemberg-Baden Reinhold Maier and
the President of Württemberg-Hohenzollern Gebhard Müller, the leader of
the opponents of the southwestern state was the President of Baden Leo
Wohleb. In the voting, voters in both parts of Württemberg voted 93% in
favor of the merger, in North Baden 57%, while in South Baden only 38%
were in favour. In three out of four voting districts there was a
majority for the formation of the southwest state, so that the formation
of a southwest state was decided. If the result had counted in Baden as
a whole, there would have been a majority of 52% for the restoration of
the (separate) state of Baden.
Note: The historical processes can
also be found in detail in the section The emergence of
Baden-Württemberg in the article Württemberg-Hohenzollern.
On March 9, 1952, the Constituent State Assembly was elected. At a
meeting on April 25, 1952, the first prime minister was elected. Thus
the state of Baden-Württemberg was founded.
“My honorable
deputies. In accordance with Section 14, Paragraph 4, Sentence 2, the
time of the formation of the provisional government is hereby
established as of the present moment, namely Friday, April 25, 1952,
12:30 p.m. With this declaration, the states of Baden, Württemberg-Baden
and Württemberg-Hohenzollern are united into one federal state in
accordance with § 11 of the second reorganization law. (...)"
–
Reinhold Maier: lpb-bw.de, founding of the state of Baden-Württemberg on
April 25, 1952
Reinhold Maier (FDP/DVP) was the first Prime
Minister to form a coalition of SPD, FDP/DVP and BHE. After the
constitution came into force, the Constituent State Assembly functioned
as the first state parliament in Baden-Württemberg until 1956.
The name of the country has been the subject of a lengthy dispute. The
name Baden-Württemberg mentioned in the Transition Act of May 15, 1952
was initially only intended as a transitional measure, but ultimately
prevailed because no other name was accepted by all sides. The state
constitution, which came into force on November 19, 1953, was only
passed by the constituent state assembly, but was not subsequently
confirmed by a referendum.
With his rapid formation of a
government in 1952, Reinhold Maier had excluded the CDU as the strongest
faction. This created resentment, both in the two southern parts of the
state of South Baden and South Württemberg-Hohenzollern, who felt that
they were not or only insufficiently represented in the new government,
and in Gebhard Müller, the new CDU parliamentary group leader, who felt
that the CDU's non-participation was a personal affront . In the
Bundestag elections of September 6, 1953, which Reinhold Maier had also
declared to be a plebiscite about his politics, the CDU won the absolute
majority of the votes in Baden-Württemberg. Reinhold Maier took the
consequences and resigned as prime minister. His successor was Gebhard
Müller, who formed a coalition of CDU, SPD, FDP/DVP and BHE. The same
constellation governed after the 1956 election (the KPD had not made it
into the state parliament, so the coalition became an all-party
government) and lasted until 1960. Müller's successor was Kurt Georg
Kiesinger in 1958 as the country's third prime minister.
Another
vote in Baden
The Baden unification opponents did not give up the
fight against the south-western state even after 1952. Organized in the
Heimatbund Badnerland, they continued to strive for the restoration of
Baden. Article 29(2) of the Basic Law provided that a referendum on the
reorganization was possible in areas whose state affiliation had been
changed after the end of the Second World War without a referendum.
After this passage came into force as a result of the Germany Treaty in
1955, the Heimatbund submitted an application for a referendum to
restore the state of Baden to its 1945 borders come about. In the
subsequent lawsuit before the Federal Constitutional Court, the
Heimatbund was right in 1956. The court argued that the 1951 vote was
not a vote within the meaning of Article 29 of the Basic Law, since the
numerically stronger population of Württemberg and Hohenzollern was able
to outvote the numerically weaker population of Baden. The will of the
Baden population had been overplayed by the special nature of the
political-historical development, which is why a referendum under
Article 29 of the Basic Law is permissible.
In its judgment, the
Federal Constitutional Court did not set a deadline for the vote, which
is why it was repeatedly delayed. It required a further decision by the
Federal Constitutional Court in 1969, ordering voting by June 30, 1970
at the latest. This was carried out on June 7, 1970 and resulted in a
large approval of 81.9% for Baden to remain in the common state of
Baden-Württemberg. Voter turnout was 62.5%.
The rejection of the
referendum paved the way for an administrative reorganization of the
country. In 1971, a reform of the counties and administrative districts
was initiated, which came into force in 1973. Since then, the former
national borders can hardly be seen on the map.
In the south, Baden-Württemberg borders with the Klettgau and the
Hotzenwald on the High Rhine, in the Hegau and Linzgau on Lake Constance
and in the west with the Breisgau and the Markgräflerland on the Upper
Rhine. In the north, the state border runs across the Odenwald and
Tauberland, in the east across Frankenhöhe and Ries, along the Danube
and Iller and through the western Allgäu.
Neighboring German
states are Bavaria in the east and north-east, Hesse in the north and
Rhineland-Palatinate in the north-west. In the west, Baden-Württemberg
borders on the Alsatian departments of Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin in the
French region of Grand Est. The Swiss border in the south is formed by
the cantons of Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft, Aargau, Zurich,
Schaffhausen and Thurgau. The canton of St. Gallen is only connected via
Lake Constance. Baden-Württemberg is also connected to the Austrian
state of Vorarlberg via Lake Constance. It shares the nickname Ländle or
Alemannic Ländli, which is sometimes colloquially used, because the
Alemannic dialect is also spoken there.
The geographic center of
Baden-Württemberg at ♁48° 32′ 15.9″ N, 9° 2′ 28.21″ E is marked by a
monument in a wooded area in the district of Tübingen. This is the focal
point of the country. In contrast, the center of Baden-Württemberg was
determined from the extreme values (northernmost, southernmost,
easternmost and westernmost land point). The mean of the geographical
latitude of the northernmost and southernmost point and the mean of the
geographical longitude of the easternmost and westernmost point in the
WGS84 reference system is calculated as ♁48° 39′ 43″ N, 9° 0′ 14″ E.
These four extreme coordinates Baden -Württembergs are: to the north
♁49° 47′ 28.67″ N, 9° 38′ 55.59″ E in the town of Wertheim, to the south
♁47° 31′ 57″ N, 7° 41′ 32″ E in the municipality of Grenzach-Wyhlen, to
the west ♁47° 41′ 52″ N, 7° 30′ 42″ E in the municipality of
Efringen-Kirchen and to the east ♁48° 41′ 18″ N, 10° 29′ 45″ E in of the
municipality of Dischingen. The center of Baden-Württemberg is located
14.3 km north of the Tübingen focus in Böblingen in a small forest, the
Hörnleswald, on the Tübinger Straße from Böblingen to Holzgerlingen and
is marked with a stone pillar.
The highest elevation in the
country is the Feldberg in the Black Forest at 1493 m above sea level.
NHN. The lowest point is in the Ballauf-Wilhelmswörth nature reserve in
Mannheim on the banks of the Rhine and on the border with Hesse at 87 m
above sea level.
Within Baden-Württemberg, five large areas are distinguished
according to geological and geomorphological criteria:
The Upper
Rhine Plain is a rift valley filled with sediment. This also includes
the foothills between the plain and the Black Forest. In the lowlands
there are various salt deposits, healing springs and some volcanoes that
are now extinct, e.g. the Kaiserstuhl.
The Black Forest and Odenwald
mountain ranges consist of granite, gneiss and red sandstone. Their
north-south orientation makes them rain catchers, whose western waters
carry a lot of water and have cut comparatively deeply. The Feldberg,
located in the southern Black Forest, is 1,493 m above sea level.
The highest mountain in the German low
mountain range.
The south-west German strata consists of wide, hilly
land terraces that are separated from each other by several rock strata.
Towards the south-east they consist of younger and younger layers of
rock, with hard and soft layers alternating on top of one another.
Sub-areas are the Neckar and Tauber Gäu plateau (Baar, the Upper Gäu,
Stromberg, Kraichgau, Hohenlohe plain), the Keuper Uplands (Kleiner
Heuberg, Rammert, Schönbuch, Glemswald, Stromberg and Heuchelberg,
Schurwald, Swabian-Franconian Forest Mountains) and the Albvorland. The
Randen and its foothills in the Klettgau also belong to the Southwest
German strata.
As a closed low mountain range, the Swabian Alb is a
karst area with little water. It is traversed by typical karst forms
(e.g. sinkholes) and numerous small volcanic forms. On the eastern edge
lies the meteorite crater of Nördlingen (Nördlinger Ries).
The
foothills of the Alps, which include Upper Swabia and the Allgäu in
Württemberg, is a flat, undulating hill country in which Lake Constance
and former volcanic mountains in the Hegau lie. The strong influence of
Ice Age processes is reflected in numerous typical landscape forms such
as moraines, lakes and moors.
Due to its southern location, Baden-Württemberg has an advantage over other countries in terms of temperatures. The Upper Rhine lowlands have mean annual temperatures of 10 °C, making them one of the warmest areas in Germany. The Kraichgau, the Neckar Valley north of Stuttgart, the Lake Constance area, the High Rhine area and the Tauber Valley also have a favorable climate. The average temperature drops with increasing altitude, and the southern Black Forest is one of the coldest areas in Germany with an average of 4 °C. An exception to this rule is the inversion weather situation that occurs in winter, when higher elevations are warmer than lower ones because, when there is no wind, high-pressure weather, the cold air flowing down from the elevations collects in basin areas. Extreme cold values can therefore be observed on the Baar. Temperatures can drop below −30 °C here in winter.
The air masses transported by the westerly wind accumulate above all in the Black Forest and Odenwald, as well as in the Swabian Jura, the higher elevations of the Keuperwald mountains and the foothills of the Alps. That is why there is a lot of precipitation on the windward side (over 1000 mm per year, in the southern Black Forest over 2000 mm in places). Much less precipitation falls on the leeward side in the rain shadow. There are distinct dry areas here: in the northern Upper Rhine lowlands, the Freiburg Bay (leeward side of the Vosges) and the Taubergrund, about 600 mm fall, in the central Neckar area and the Danube lowlands near Ulm about 700 mm per year.
On behalf of the Baden-Württemberg state government, several studies on the regional consequences of global warming have been carried out since the late 1990s. According to a summary of these results from 2012, the annual average temperature in Baden-Württemberg rose by 1.0 °C in the period 1906 to 2005 (0.7 °C worldwide), from an average of 8 °C to 9 °C. The largest increase has occurred in the last 30 years. The number of maximum winter precipitation events and the number of flood events increased by 35% during this period, while the number of days with snow cover in lower-lying regions decreased by 30 to 40%. From 1953 to 2009, the number of ice days (maximum temperature below 0 °C) in Stuttgart fell from 25 to 15, while the number of summer days (maximum temperature at least 25 °C) increased from 25 to 45 (cf. also heat wave 2003). The probability of a pronounced dry growing season in summer has increased six-fold since 1985. Climate models predict a continuation of these trends. In July 2013, a climate protection law for Baden-Württemberg was passed.
Due to the mountainous topography, the rivers and their valleys
played and still play a significant role in the settlement,
transportation and history of the country. The main European watershed
between the Rhine and the Danube has its westernmost bulge in the Upper
Black Forest and runs over the Baar in the north along the Swabian Jura,
in the south through the foothills of the Alps. With around 14,000 km²,
the catchment area of the Rhine tributary Neckar takes up almost two
fifths of the state area.
The Rhine is the most water-rich river
in the country. With it, Baden-Württemberg is connected to one of the
most important waterways in the world. Its catchment area (excluding the
Neckar) in the state is around 11,000 km². In the 19th century, the
Upper Rhine was straightened based on the plans of the Baden engineer
Tulla. With a few exceptions, it forms the western state border with
France and Rhineland-Palatinate. The High Rhine, Seerhein and Lake
Constance form the largest part of the southern border with Switzerland.
The Neckar rises on the eastern edge of the Black Forest near
Villingen-Schwenningen and flows through the center of the country until
it flows into the Rhine in the north-west in Mannheim. It is regulated
by numerous locks and serves as a traffic route for the industrially
rich center of the country.
The Danube arises near Donaueschingen
from the source rivers Brigach and Breg coming from the Black Forest and
flows roughly east-northeast, bordering the Swabian Jura to the south
and Upper Swabia to the north, and flowing behind Ulm into Bavaria. It
drains about 9400 km² and thus more than a quarter of the country.
While the Rhine crosses the land near Mannheim at a height of about
90 m above sea level. NHN leaves, the Danube is still over 460 m above
sea level at the Bavarian border near Ulm. NHN high. The rivers draining
into the Rhine therefore have greater erosive power and, in the long
term, increase their catchment area at the expense of the Danube.
Among the remaining rivers, the longest are the twin rivers Kocher
and Jagst, which flow through the north-east of the country and flow
into the Neckar. The Tauber flows in the far north-east. Here the state
borders on the Main.
With Lake Constance, the state has a share
in the second largest lake on the edge of the Alps. Several million
inhabitants, especially in the central Neckar region, get their drinking
water from the Lake Constance water supply.
The coat of arms shows three striding lions on a golden background.
This is the coat of arms of the Staufers and Dukes of Swabia. Above the
large state coat of arms are the six coats of arms of the historical
landscapes from which or parts of which Baden-Württemberg was formed.
These are: Vorderösterreich (red-white-red divided shield), Kurpfalz
(rising lion), Württemberg (three deer poles), Baden (red diagonal bar),
Hohenzollern (white-black squared) and Franconia (three silver points on
a red background). The coats of arms of Baden and Württemberg are shown
somewhat larger. Shield holders are the Baden griffin and the
Württemberg deer. Instead, a crown of leaves rests on the small state
coat of arms.
The use of the state coat of arms is subject to
approval and is generally only permitted to the authorities in the state
of Baden-Württemberg.
Since the last change to the State Insignia
Act on November 4, 2020 (valid since November 14, 2020), the state
service flag with a large coat of arms has used the large state coat of
arms including the shield holder, which was previously dispensed with.
The national flag is black and gold; the state service flag also
bears the small state coat of arms.
Baden-Württemberg is politically bourgeois-conservative, the CDU and
the FDP/DVP are relatively strong in Baden-Württemberg and have formed
most of the state's governments. For this reason, the SPD always had a
difficult time there; their results have always been below the national
average. The CDU emerged as the strongest party in every election up to
2011, while the federal state is the only one for the FDP so far in
which it has never failed at the five percent hurdle in state elections.
Since the 1980s, Baden-Württemberg has also been a stronghold of the
Greens, founded in Karlsruhe, whose election results in the state have
always been above the national average; her first entry into the state
parliament in 1980 was also the first in a non-city state; since the
success in the state elections in 2011, the Greens have had their first
prime minister here. While the Prime Minister was always provided by the
CDU from 1953 to 2011, the FDP/DVP and the SPD (grand coalition) were
partly involved in the government. During the 1990s, the Republicans in
the state legislature (10.9 percent in 1992 and 9.1 percent in 1996) had
their strongest support in that state. Between 1968 and 1972, the NPD
also sat in the state parliament with 9.8 percent of the vote. In 2016,
the AfD entered the state parliament with 15.1 percent. In no other of
the old (West German) states did parties to the right of the CDU and CSU
achieve such high election results.
In all elections between 1972
and 1988, the CDU achieved an absolute majority in the state parliament.
Due to Ulrich Maurer, a member of the state parliament, leaving the SPD
on June 27, 2005 and joining the WASG on July 1, the latter was
represented in the state parliament. Stefan Mappus was elected Prime
Minister on February 10, 2010, but lost his black and yellow government
majority after the 2011 state elections. The CDU itself had the
second-worst election result in the history of the state party with 39.0
percent, the FDP only just managed the leap in the state parliament (5.3
percent). The Greens, on the other hand, achieved the party's best
result at state level at the time with 24.2 percent. With 23.1 percent,
the SPD achieved its worst election result in Baden-Württemberg and
entered as a junior partner in a green-red coalition under Prime
Minister Winfried Kretschmann. The trend continued in the 2016 state
elections: both the CDU and the SPD fell back to their worst results in
the state up to that point, while the Greens continued to gain ground.
The newly joined AfD was able to achieve 15.1 percent of the votes. As a
result, the Greens formed a coalition with the CDU under Prime Minister
Kretschmann (Cabinet Kretschmann II). In the 2021 state elections, the
Greens were again able to gain shares of votes when the CDU lost. The
FDP was able to improve its result, while the SPD and AfD suffered
losses. The formation of the government led again to the formation of a
green-black government (Cabinet Kretschmann III).
The state
maintains two state representations outside of Baden-Württemberg. The
representation of the state of Baden-Württemberg to the federal
government has existed since 1954, which had its seat in the federal
city of Bonn until the federal government moved and is now located in
the federal capital of Berlin. In 1987, the representation of the state
of Baden-Württemberg to the European Union was added, which acts as a
link between the federal state of Baden-Württemberg and the European
Union. In addition, the BW-UK Office, the foreign representation of
Baden-Württemberg in the United Kingdom, has been in existence since
November 2021.
Baden-Württemberg and the Japanese prefecture of
Kanagawa have maintained a bilateral partnership since 1989. Within
Europe, Baden-Württemberg, together with the regions of Catalonia,
Lombardy and Rhône-Alpes, forms the multilateral working group Four
Motors for Europe.
With service-bw, citizens have an e-government
platform at their disposal. Current measurement results for air quality,
Lake Constance, storm warnings, geographic information and an
information system for water, pollution control, soil, waste and
occupational safety can be accessed in the state-owned environmental
information system of Baden-Württemberg.
Baden-Württemberg is one of the economically strongest and most
competitive regions in Europe. Baden-Württemberg is considered the most
innovative region in the European Union, especially in the area of
industrial high technology and research and development. The research
strength is reflected in the expenditure on research and development,
which was 4.2 percent of the gross domestic product in 2005, the highest
value among the EU regions (NUTS 1).
In terms of gross domestic
product, which amounted to around 536 billion euros in 2021,
Baden-Württemberg is one of the more prosperous regions in the EU with
an index of 144 (EU-28: 100, Germany: 126) (2014). After Hamburg and
Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg took third place in the purchasing power
comparison in 2016 with EUR 23,368 per inhabitant. The average gross
wages per employee in 2020 varied between 32,000 and over 50,200 euros
depending on the rural or urban district. The district of Böblingen has
the highest average earnings in 2020 at EUR 50,244 per employee,
followed by the urban districts of Stuttgart (EUR 49,375) and Karlsruhe
(EUR 43,514). The unemployment rate was 3.7% (May 2023). It is
traditionally lower in the more rural regions than in the cities. The
unemployment rate in March 2023 was just 2.4 percent in the Biberach
district, 2.5 percent in the Alb-Donau district and 2.7 percent in the
Ravensburg district, while it was 5.8 percent in the urban districts of
Baden-Baden, Pforzheim with 5.9 percent and Mannheim with 7.1 percent
was significantly higher. Around 50,000 people from Baden-Württemberg
work as cross-border commuters in Switzerland.
Family businesses
are characteristic of the country's economy. Of the 1,000 largest family
businesses in Germany, 190 are in Baden-Württemberg, which ranks third
in a federal state comparison. In relation to the number of inhabitants,
the state can thus boast the third most family businesses in Germany.
The family business in Baden-Württemberg with the highest turnover is
the Schwarz Group, followed by Robert Bosch GmbH and the Merckle Group.
From 1999, the state government advertised with the motto "We can do
everything. Except High German.” for Baden-Württemberg as a business
location and living environment. The aim of the campaign, which the
state government rated as extremely successful, was to make the state's
economic performance better known and to associate it with the cultural,
scenic and gastronomic advantages. The motto was invented by an
advertising agency and initially offered to the Free State of Saxony,
which, however, refused to use it. It became a dictum. Another motto,
also designed by the agency, is “Nice here. But have you ever been to
Baden-Württemberg?”. Since 2021, the state government has been
advertising with the name The Länd (own spelling in majuscules), which
was created by another advertising agency.
The country has very different natural conditions for agriculture
(see Geography section). On balance, the lower-lying valley and basin
areas of the state, such as the Upper Rhine lowlands and the Neckar
valley or the Lake Constance region, are decidedly favorable areas for
agriculture. In addition to arable farming, there are also intensive
crops such as B. Orchards and viticulture with the wine-growing regions
of Baden and Württemberg. In the state capital of Stuttgart - unusual
for a large city - wine is cultivated on a relatively large scale (see
viticulture in Stuttgart). Most of the country has medium altitudes,
which are favorable for grain cultivation, which occurs in various
combinations with grassland and forage cultivation. Unfavorable growth
climates can be found in the high altitude areas of the Black Forest and
the Swabian Jura as well as in the Baar, where fodder production and
animal husbandry on grassland or forestry predominate. Organic farming
increased to 9,290 farms (11 percent of farms) and 197,751 hectares of
organic land (14 percent of agricultural land) in 2018.
The
general structural change in agriculture, its operational concentration
and the intensification of production, is ultimately taking place at the
same speed in Baden-Württemberg due to its smaller-scale agriculture.
the decline in farm numbers: in 1971 there were 215,430 farms, in
2007 there were only 57,049;
the growth in the average farm size: in
1949 it was 4.9 hectares, in 2005 23.9 hectares (the lowest number among
the large-area states on the national average);
the reversal of the
relationship between main and part-time farms: in 1949 there were
251,000 main and 141,000 part-time farms, in 2005 there were 19,900
full-time farms and 35,400 part-time farms;
the decline in the number
of people employed in agriculture: their absolute number increased in
Baden-Württemberg until 1925 and then fell slowly at first, then rapidly
from the 1950s onwards.
Industry and commerce employed a good 1.2 million people in 8,600
companies in 2005, which represents 38.3 percent of employees subject to
social security contributions. This makes Baden-Württemberg the German
federal state with the highest proportion of industrial employees and
the highest proportion of industry in gross domestic product. The
internationally high competitiveness of the state's industrial sectors
is significantly favored by the high research performance of the
companies (economic share in research and development: 3.4 percent of
the gross domestic product).
The three most important sectors in
terms of number of employees are
the mechanical engineering industry,
with many companies based in Baden-Württemberg (e.g. Trumpf,
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen, Festo, Voith, Liebherr, Putzmeister, SEW);
Vehicle construction: Baden-Württemberg is a center of the automotive
industry (Daimler AG, Porsche, Robert Bosch GmbH, Audi, Smart, Iveco
Magirus, ZF Friedrichshafen, LuK, Rheinmetall Automotive, Mahle Kolben,
BBS) with locations in Stuttgart, Sindelfingen, Neckarsulm, Mannheim,
Rastatt, Gaggenau, Bühl (Baden), Ulm, Friedrichshafen and Weissach;
the manufacture of metal products (e.g. Wieland-Werke AG in Ulm).
Precision mechanics used to be very important in the Black Forest,
especially the clock industry and later entertainment electronics
(Junghans, Kienzle, SABA, Dual).
The textile industry (with Hugo
Boss, Trigema and Steiff) was and is mainly important in the Swabian
Alb.
The mineral oil refinery Oberrhein in Karlsruhe is the
second largest mineral oil refinery in Germany.
The largest
European software company SAP has its headquarters in Walldorf. The
well-known programs VirtualBox, TeamSpeak and TeamViewer come from
Baden-Württemberg. With Lexware, another software developer is based in
Baden-Württemberg and is primarily known for commercial software
solutions.
The Neckarwestheim nuclear power plant was shut down in April 2023 as
one of the last three in Germany, the Philippsburg nuclear power plant
in 2019 and the Obrigheim nuclear power plant in 2005. In 2011, the
oldest blocks of the Neckarwestheim and Philippsburg nuclear power
plants were shut down.
The country's rivers have numerous
run-of-river power plants. The Iffezheim power plant on the Rhine was
built in the mid-1970s. It was expanded in 2013 and since then has been
the largest of its kind in Germany with 148 MW.
As of the end of
2015, 515 wind turbines with a total output of 880 megawatts were
installed in Baden-Württemberg, of which 186 megawatts were installed in
the first half of 2016. The number of systems increased to 720 by 2018,
the output to 1,534 megawatts. However, Baden-Württemberg still has the
lowest installed wind energy capacity of all German non-city states with
the exception of Saarland. As of August 2020, the Harthäuser Wald wind
farm with 18 turbines and 54.9 megawatts is the largest and most
powerful wind farm in the country.
In Baden-Württemberg, almost 50 newspaper publishers produce more
than 220 different daily newspapers with a circulation of more than two
million copies. In the newspaper sector, there are 17 regional
newspapers. The most circulated (at least 80,000 copies) are the Südwest
Presse, the Stuttgarter Nachrichten, the Schwäbische Zeitung, the
Mannheimer Morgen, the Badische Zeitung, the Badische Latest News, the
Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, the Heilbronner Voice and the Stuttgarter Zeitung.
Most local newspapers get their jacket from a regional newspaper.
Over 500 publishers in Baden-Württemberg produce over 10,000 new
publications every year. Many traditional companies such as Ernst Klett
Verlag, the Georg von Holtzbrinck publishing group or the Hüthig Jehle
Rehm publishing group have their headquarters in the state. Hubert Burda
Media, one of the largest publishing and media groups in Germany, which
is also important on the international market, is also based in
Offenburg.
The most important academic libraries in
Baden-Württemberg are the Württemberg State Library and the Baden State
Library. Around 16 million media are kept available in the country's 800
public libraries under municipal sponsorship. In addition, there are
several hundred libraries in church sponsorship.
Public
broadcasting is operated by Südwestrundfunk, which also maintains
orchestras that are among the leading in Europe: the SWR
Symphonieorchester, the SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart and the SWR Big Band
Stuttgart.
In private radio there are 13 local stations, three
regional stations (Radio Regenbogen, Antenne 1, Radio 7) and one
nationwide station mainly for young people (bigFM). Twelve
non-commercial private radio broadcasters, such as Bermudafunk, Querfunk
or radioaktiv, and five educational radio stations complete the offer.
The broadcasters BWeins, HD Campus TV and Baden TV offer a private
television program. There are also 14 regional television stations such
as Rhein-Neckar Fernsehen, Regio TV Schwaben or RTF.1 Neckar-Alb. Eight
private nationwide broadcasters are broadcasting from Baden-Württemberg.
Around 49 million overnight stays are counted in the tourism industry
in Baden-Württemberg every year. The tourism industry, which is
characterized by medium-sized companies, contributes around five percent
to the gross domestic product. Tourism offers around 200,000 jobs and
8,000 apprenticeships. Since the jobs are location-based, they are
considered relatively safe.
The Black Forest is the most
important recreational region in Baden-Württemberg and the most visited
holiday destination among the German low mountain ranges. It is known in
particular for its romantic valleys, gorges, mills and typical farms and
as the place of origin of the cuckoo clock. It is also a popular hiking
area because of its good network of long-distance hiking trails such as
the Westweg. Winter sports have a long tradition around the Feldberg
(1493 m), the highest mountain in the Black Forest, as well as in many
other places in the Black Forest.
Lake Constance with the Alps in
the background is also a well-visited travel destination and also a
local recreation destination for city dwellers; Here you can find
evidence of a wide variety of eras with the stilt houses in
Unteruhldingen and the monastery island of Reichenau, which is a UNESCO
World Heritage Site. On the lake, the flower island of Mainau and the
old towns of Constance and Meersburg have the highest visitor numbers.
Not far from the region around Lake Constance are the Danube valley and
Upper Swabia with the old imperial towns of Biberach an der Riss and
Ravensburg. The Upper Swabian Baroque Route leads through this baroque
center north of the Alps.
The Württemberg Allgäu attracts with
its landscape and many hiking opportunities, as does the
Swabian-Franconian Forest Nature Park further north.
The Swabian
Alb is known for its small romantic towns (e.g. Bad Urach), the
heathland, the extensive forests, the caves, castles and palaces
(Hohenzollern Castle, Lichtenstein Castle, Sigmaringen Castle).
Baden-Württemberg has around 60 spas and health resorts, particularly in
the Black Forest and in Upper Swabia.
Attractions for city
travelers are also the spa town of Baden-Baden with its famous casino,
the old university towns of Heidelberg (Heidelberg Palace and Old Town),
which are characterized by their academic population, Freiburg im
Breisgau (Münster and "Bächle" in the old town) and Tübingen (on the
edge of the idyllic Schönbuch forest, also known for its punts on the
Neckar), the old imperial cities of Esslingen am Neckar, Reutlingen and
Ulm and the centrally located state capital Stuttgart with the Wilhelma
zoological and botanical gardens, the State Gallery and the automobile
museums (Mercedes-Benz, Porsche ). In addition to the Wilhelma, there
are other botanical gardens in Freiburg, Heidelberg, Hohenheim,
Karlsruhe, Constance, Tübingen, and in Ulm, the city with the highest
church tower in the world.
Europa-Park in Rust, southern Baden,
is Germany's largest amusement park with over five million visitors a
year. The Tripsdrill amusement park near Cleebronn, the first amusement
park in Germany, is also very well known.
Baden and Swabian
gastronomy as well as Baden and Württemberg wines are also popular. The
Black Forest town of Baiersbronn has two restaurants, the
Schwarzwaldstube and the Restaurant Bareiss, which have been awarded
three stars by the Michelin Guide. There are a total of 74 starred
restaurants in Baden-Württemberg.
road traffic
The most important autobahns in the south-north
direction are the A 5 (from Basel via Karlsruhe to Weinheim and on
towards Frankfurt am Main) and the A 81 (from Singen am Hohentwiel via
Stuttgart to Würzburg). Further east, the A 7 represents another
south-north connection, although it only runs for a short section
between Ulm and Ellwangen through Baden-Württemberg.
In the
west-east direction, the A 6 (coming from Saarbrücken via Mannheim and
Heilbronn to Crailsheim and on to Nuremberg) and the A 8 (from Karlsruhe
via Stuttgart to Ulm and on to Munich) are the most important. A
particular road construction challenge was and is the Albaufstieg, which
overcomes a difference in altitude of around 380 m over a distance of 16
km from the foothills of the Alb to the Alb plateau.
Both
west-east highways are largely in the northern half of the country,
while there is no continuous west-east highway in the mountainous
southern half. The traffic in these directions is taken up here by
federal roads, such as e.g. B. by the B 31, which runs through the
southern Black Forest and along the northern shore of Lake Constance,
thereby connecting the A5, 81 and 96 motorways. The latter opens up the
extreme south-east of the country. A new autobahn, the A 98, is only
gradually being built on the edge of the High Rhine, some sections of
which already exist.
Especially the motorways around the major
cities of Baden-Württemberg are subject to heavy traffic, especially
during rush hours. Traffic jams over 25 kilometers long are not
uncommon, even outside of holiday periods.
The most frequented
junction in Baden-Württemberg is the Stuttgart-Degerloch junction, known
as the Echterdinger Ei, which forms the intersection of the A 8 with the
B 27, which has been developed to resemble a motorway. It is located a
few kilometers east of the Stuttgart motorway junction and is used by
170,000 to 180,000 vehicles every day.
The length of highways in
the country is 1039 km, the length of federal roads is 4410 kilometers.
The state roads are 9,893 kilometers long, the district roads 12,074
kilometers. (as of 2007)
rail transport
The rail network of DB
Netz AG in the state covers 3,400 kilometers of track, on which 6,400
kilometers of tracks have been laid and 9,500 switches have been
installed. There are around 1400 level crossings. 6,500 train journeys
take place every day on this network, covering a distance of 310,000
kilometers.
Other routes are operated by other railway
infrastructure companies; the most important are the Württemberg Railway
Company, the SWEG Südwestdeutsche Landesverkehrs-GmbH, the
Hohenzollerische Landesbahn, which has belonged to SWEG since 2018, and
the Karlsruher Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft. The Baden-Württemberg local
transport company orders local rail passenger transport in
Baden-Württemberg on behalf of the state. The Karlsruhe model as an
innovation technologically combines the railway and tram systems and is
imitated in many places worldwide.
The state of Baden-Württemberg
promotes the realization of railway projects that fall under the
responsibility of the federal government. By 2017, subsidies totaling
2.4 billion euros had been granted, which was more than the sum of the
subsidies from all other federal states. The projects funded included
Stuttgart 21, the new Wendlingen–Ulm line, the upgraded and new
Karlsruhe–Basel line and the Southern Railway.
shipping
The
Rhine has the status of federal waterways up to Basel and the Neckar up
to Plochingen. At the confluence in Mannheim lies the port of Mannheim,
one of the most important inland ports in Europe. Other large ports are
the Rhine ports of Karlsruhe with the largest inland oil port in Europe,
the port of Heilbronn and the port of Kehl. On the rivers, passenger
shipping is also operated for excursions and leisure traffic. The car
ferries, passenger ships and excursion boats of the White Fleet operate
on Lake Constance.
air traffic
Baden-Württemberg has four
commercial airports. Stuttgart International Airport is the sixth
largest in Germany. The Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden Airport near Rastatt
experienced a boom due to offers from low-cost airlines and is the
second largest in the state. Another regional airport is in
Friedrichshafen. The Upper Rhine and Hochrhein-Lake Constance regions
also benefit from the border airports Basel-Mulhouse Airport, Strasbourg
Airport and Zurich Airport. Lahr Airport is a cargo airport; in
passenger air traffic it also has the license as a feeder airport for
the Europapark Rust. With Mannheim City Airport, Mannheim has an
important airfield.
With the monastery island of Reichenau in Lake Constance, the
Cistercian abbey of Maulbronn Monastery and the caves with the oldest
Ice Age art, three UNESCO World Heritage sites are located entirely in
Baden-Württemberg. The state has a stake in four other world heritage
sites: the prehistoric pile dwellings around the Alps with sites mainly
around Lake Constance and Lake Federsee; on the Upper Germanic-Raetian
Limes in the north and east of the country; two houses in Stuttgart's
Weißenhofsiedlung were inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2016 as
part of Le Corbusier's architectural work; Baden-Baden received World
Heritage status in 2021 as one of the major spa towns in Europe.
Edition C of the Nibelungenlied is kept in the Baden State Library in
Karlsruhe. In July 2009, the three complete manuscripts from the 13th
century were jointly inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World
Register.
The Barbara tunnel is a disused supply tunnel near
Oberried near Freiburg im Breisgau. The Barbarastollen is the only
object in Germany that is subject to special protection under the rules
of the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the
Event of Armed Conflicts. Since 1975 it has served as the Federal
Republic of Germany's central collection point for the storage of
photographically archived documents with high national or
cultural-historical significance. It is the largest archive for
long-term archiving in Europe. Since 1978, the rescue site has also been
entered in the International Register of Objects under Special
Protection at UNESCO in Paris.
The cities of Heidelberg (UNESCO
City of Literature), Karlsruhe (UNESCO City of Media Arts) and Mannheim
(UNESCO City of Music) are represented in the Creative Cities Network of
UNESCO.
In the south and along the Rhine, the Swabian-Alemannic
Fastnacht is celebrated. The Cannstatter Volksfest is the second largest
folk festival in the world after the Oktoberfest in Munich. The
Baden-Württemberg Homeland Days have been held in the state since 1978.
While in 2001 74 percent still belonged to one of the two major denominations, in 2019 it was still 60 percent and in 2022 only 57 percent. As everywhere in Germany, the number of people who do not belong to any religion or belong to other religions (e.g. Islam) is increasing.
The official and lingua franca is German. Numerous other languages
and dialects are spoken by those who come from other language or dialect
regions or have a corresponding migration background.
The
ancestral dialects are grouped by linguists into Upper German and
Central German dialects:
Middle German: Rheinfränkisch (sometimes
also called Kurpfälzisch or Palatinate) is spoken around Mannheim and
Heidelberg
Upper German: In about the southern two-thirds, different
shades of Swabian (especially in Württemberg) as well as Low, Middle and
High Alemannic (especially in Baden) are spoken. South Franconian is
spoken around Karlsruhe and Heilbronn, and East Franconian in the east
of the northern third of Baden-Württemberg.
There are transition
areas between the dialect areas that cannot be clearly assigned to any
of the areas. There are mainly southern Franconian-Swabian (including
around Calw, around Pforzheim, Strohgäu, Zabergäu), southern
Franconian-Lower Alemannic (around Baden-Baden and Rastatt) and
Swabian-Lower Alemannic (Upper Swabia) transition areas. Especially in
these areas, the fuzziness of the Germanic dialect classification
becomes clear. More recent developments are the penetration of Swabian
dialect characteristics to Heilbronn and Schwäbisch Hall.
The
country is also associated with (mainly Swabian) dialect speakers
outside the state borders, for example in the clichéd identification of
Swabians in Berlin. The state government under Erwin Teufel took up this
in 1999 by using the advertising slogan “We can do everything. Except
High German.” Well-known dialect artists are the poets and writers
Thaddäus Troll and Harald Hurst, the folk actor and comedian Willy
Reichert, the actor Walter Schultheiss and the cabaret artist Christoph
Sonntag. There are TV programs in dialect such as B. Hannes and the
mayor. The cinema film and the television series The Church Stays in the
Village were also filmed in dialect. However, writing down the dialect
as in Luxembourg is out of the question.
The umbrella organizations for sports in Baden-Württemberg are the
three state sports federations: Württemberg State Sports Federation
(WLSB), Badischer Sportbund Freiburg (BSB) and Badischer Sportbund Nord
(BSB Nord). The superordinate association is the State Sports
Association of Baden-Württemberg (LSV), which is also a member of the
German Olympic Sports Confederation.
football
Stuttgart was
the venue for the soccer World Cup in 1974 and 2006. Three clubs from
Baden-Württemberg play in the Bundesliga: five-time German champions and
three-time cup winners VfB Stuttgart, SC Freiburg and TSG 1899
Hoffenheim. 1. FC Heidenheim, Karlsruher SC and SV Sandhausen play in
the 2nd Bundesliga. SV Waldhof Mannheim and the second team of SC
Freiburg are active in the 3rd division. The former Bundesliga clubs SSV
Ulm 1846 and Stuttgarter Kickers currently play in the Regionalliga
Südwest and Oberliga Baden-Württemberg. The former German champions
Freiburger FC (1907), FC Phönix Karlsruhe (1909), Karlsruher FV (1910)
and VfR Mannheim (1949) also come from today's Baden-Württemberg. SC
Freiburg and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim play in the women's Bundesliga. Former
Bundesliga clubs are: SC Sand, VfL Sindelfingen, TSV Crailsheim, SC
Klinge Seckach, TSV Ludwigsburg, TuS Binzen and VfL Ulm/Neu-Ulm.
Baden-Württemberg football is organized by three regional state
associations: Baden Football Association (BFV), South Baden Football
Association (SBFV) and Württemberg Football Association (WFV).
handball
Frisch Auf Göppingen won the European Cup in 1960 and 1962,
the German Championship nine times between 1954 and 1972 and the EHF Cup
four times in the 2010s. The Rhein-Neckar Löwen were German champions in
2016 and 2017 and cup winners in 2018. TVB 1898 Stuttgart also plays in
the men's national handball league. Four teams are represented in the
women's Bundesliga: SG BBM Bietigheim (German champion 2017, 2019 and
2022, runner-up 2018 and 2020), TuS Metzingen (runner-up 2016),
Sport-Union Neckarsulm and VfL Waiblingen.
basketball
The
basketball Bundesliga is home to the MHP giants Ludwigsburg, Ratiopharm
Ulm, the Crailsheim Merlins and the MLP Academics Heidelberg. The
Kirchheim Knights, the PS Karlsruhe Lions, the Wiha Panthers
Schwenningen and the Ehingen Urspring team play in the ProA (second
national basketball league).
volleyball
The men's team of VfB
Friedrichshafen won the Volleyball Champions League in 2007 and was
German champion 13 times and winner of the cup 17 times. The women's
team from Allianz MTV Stuttgart was German champion in 2019 and 2022 and
runner-up from 2015 to 2018 and 2021. She also won the DVV Cup four
times. CJD Feuerbach won the German women's championship from 1989 to
1991 and was cup winner four times.
ice Hockey
The eight-time
German champions Adler Mannheim, the Schwenninger Wild Wings and the
Bietigheim Steelers play in the German Ice Hockey League. The Ravensburg
Towerstars, the Heilbronner Falken and the EHC Freiburg are represented
in the DEL2.
winter sports
International ski jumping
competitions are held on the Hochfirstschanze in Titisee-Neustadt and in
the Adler Ski Stadium in Hinterzarten. A traditional event in Nordic
combined is the Black Forest Cup in Schonach. Olympic champions and
world champions in Nordic disciplines such as Georg Thoma, Dieter Thoma
and Martin Schmitt come from the Black Forest. Alpine ski competitions
are held in the Feldberg area near Todtnau-Fahl, home of Germany's
oldest ski club, Skiclub Todtnau 1891.
tennis
Two
internationally important tennis tournaments take place in Stuttgart:
The men's MercedesCup at the TC Weissenhof facility is part of the ATP
Tour 250. The women's Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in the Porsche Arena is
part of the WTA Tour.
The men's team of TK Grün-Weiss Mannheim
plays in the 1st Bundesliga. The women's team at TEC Waldau Stuttgart
won the Bundesliga in 2005, and that at TC Weissenhof was German team
champion four times between 1975 and 1989. The TC Rüppurr from Karlsruhe
belonged to the 1st men's and currently the 1st women's Bundesliga for a
long time.
The former world number ones Steffi Graf and Boris
Becker come from the North Baden part of the country.
athletics
Stuttgart was the venue for the European Athletics Championships in 1986
and the World Championships in 1993. From 2006 to 2008 the World Finals
in Athletics took place here. After that, the Mercedes-Benz Arena was
converted into a pure football stadium. The International High Jump
Meeting Eberstadt was held annually from 1979 to 2018.
Motorsports
The Hockenheimring is one of the most important
motorsport racetracks in Germany. Until 2019, it was one of the venues
for the Formula 1 German Grand Prix and is the scene of the opening race
and the finale of the DTM.
Motocross World Championship races
took place in Holzgerlingen, Gaildorf and Reutlingen. World Championship
races with sidecars are held in Rudersberg. In Berghaupten and Hertingen
races for the long track world and European championships took place.
Other sports
The most successful hockey club is the HTC
Stuttgarter Kickers, which won the German championship in 2005 and the
European champions' cup in 2006. Mannheimer HC currently plays for both
women and men in the field hockey Bundesliga, as well as TSV Mannheim
for women. In the German Water Polo League are the SV Cannstatt (German
Champion 2006), the SSV Esslingen and the SV Ludwigsburg 08. The women
of the TSG Backnang 1920 Heavy Athletics were 2017 and 2018 German Judo
Team Champion. In the men's category, KSV Esslingen has finished second
six times since 2011.
The German record champions Mannheim
Tornados, the four-time German champions Heidenheim Heideköpfe, the
Stuttgart Reds and the Ulm Falcons play in the South Baseball League. In
American football, the Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns won the German Bowl in
2011, 2012, 2017 and 2018. The Stuttgart Scorpions also play in the
German Football League. Along with Hanover, Heidelberg is the center of
rugby in Germany. The local clubs Heidelberger RK, RG Heidelberg and SC
Neuenheim won a total of 18 German championships in the Bundesliga. In
chess, the OSG Baden-Baden won the German championship twelve times from
2006 to 2015 as well as in 2017 and 2018. Baden-Württemberg is also
represented in the Bundesliga with SV 1930 Hockenheim, SF Deizisau and
SK Schwäbisch Hall. Horse races have been held at the Iffezheim
racecourse near Baden-Baden since 1858.
In Baden, the forerunner of the modern school system was developed with the Mannheim school system. Today, in Baden-Württemberg, after the four-year elementary school, there is a multi-tiered school system with a secondary school and a secondary school, a junior high school, a grammar school and a community school. Pupils with and without disabilities are brought up and taught together (including pedagogy). The special educational advice, support and education takes place in the general schools, as far as pupils who are entitled to a corresponding educational offer do not visit a special educational educational and advisory center. In the whole of Baden-Württemberg there are only three integrated comprehensive schools in Freiburg, Heidelberg and Mannheim, which have received special approval as schools of a special kind in the Baden-Württemberg Schools Act. Furthermore, Baden-Württemberg is the only state in Germany to offer the special form of the "six-year commercial high school", which is the only vocational high school in Germany that starts with the middle school level. Attendance begins in the eighth grade and ends in grade 13 with the general higher education entrance qualification. After the change of government in 2011, the state government (Cabinet Kretschmann I) introduced the community school as a new type of school in Baden-Württemberg, which was mostly formed from former Hauptschule (or Werkrealschule) and occasionally from Realschule. In the 2013/14 school year there were 129 community schools in the state, with a further 81 to follow in 2014.
Baden-Württemberg pursues a decentralized education, university and
research infrastructure. The universities are spread all over the
country. Overall, more than a quarter of all university locations are in
rural areas.
In Baden-Württemberg there are nine state
universities, six teacher training colleges (equivalent to universities)
as well as the private Zeppelin University and 73 state and private
universities.
The Baden-Württemberg universities are among the
most renowned in Germany. In a university placement by the magazine
Focus (2005), six Baden-Württemberg universities were ranked among the
top ten. The oldest university in Germany is located in Heidelberg;
there are also universities in Freiburg, Constance, Mannheim, Stuttgart,
Tübingen, Stuttgart-Hohenheim, Ulm, the successor to the University of
Karlsruhe is the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the private
Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen. In 2006, the former University
of Karlsruhe was selected as one of three universities to be funded
nationwide with "future concepts" in the Excellence Initiative of the
federal and state governments. In the second round of the Excellence
Initiative in 2007, the Universities of Heidelberg, Konstanz and
Freiburg followed suit as universities to be funded, so that at times
four of the nine German universities funded by the Excellence Initiative
in all three funding lines were located in Baden-Württemberg. In the
course of the third round of the Excellence Initiative in 2012, the
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the University of Freiburg lost
this status, while the University of Tübingen received this award for
the first time. In 2019, four universities in Baden-Württemberg were
able to achieve the title "University of Excellence" (which was awarded
a total of eleven times) as part of the federal and state excellence
strategy, which is significantly more than in any other federal state.
The awarded universities are the University of Heidelberg, the Karlsruhe
Institute of Technology, the University of Konstanz and the University
of Tübingen. Two others – the universities in Freiburg and Stuttgart –
also reached the final of the Excellence Strategy.
The state
universities of applied sciences in Baden-Württemberg have held the
title of university since 2006. In addition to a large number of other
universities, such as art and music colleges or pedagogical colleges,
the tertiary education sector is supplemented by the Baden-Württemberg
Cooperative State University. The Baden-Württemberg Pop Academy is
unique in Germany. The renowned Film Academy Baden-Württemberg is
located in Ludwigsburg.