/Ulm_Stadt.jpg)
Ulm is a university town in Baden-Württemberg on the Danube on
the southeastern edge of the Swabian Alb on the border with Bavaria.
The city has over 125,000 inhabitants (as of the end of 2019), forms
its own urban district and is the seat of the district office of the
neighboring Alb-Danube district. According to the Baden-Württemberg
State Development Plan, Ulm is one of a total of 14 regional centers
in the state and, together with Neu-Ulm, forms one of the
transnational dual centers in Germany with 183,323 inhabitants. Ulm
is the largest city in the administrative district of Tübingen and
in the Donau-Iller region, which also includes areas of the Bavarian
administrative district of Swabia.
The city is known for its
Gothic cathedral, whose church tower is the highest in the world at
161.53 meters. Also noteworthy is the long bourgeois tradition of
Ulm with the oldest constitution of a German city and a city
theater, the beginnings of which go back to 1641. In the past, Ulm
was the starting point for the emigration of the Danube Swabians,
who traveled to their new home countries in southeastern Europe in
so-called Ulmer boxes.
Ulm, first mentioned in a document on
July 22, 854, was a royal palace and free imperial city, Bavarian
from 1802, and since 1810 part of Württemberg. Since then, Ulm has
been separated from its former area to the right of the Danube,
which remained with Bavaria and on which the city of Neu-Ulm
developed.
Famous personalities include Albert Einstein
(1879–1955), who was born in Ulm, the resistance fighters Hans
(1918–1943) and Sophie Scholl (1921–1943), who grew up in Ulm from
1932, and the actress Hildegard Knef (1925–2002) , who was born in
Ulm, and the German designer and graphic designer Otl Aicher
(1922–1991), who was born and grew up in Ulm.
By plane
Ulm itself has no airport. The nearest are in Memmingen
(IATA: FMM), around 60 km), Stuttgart (IATA: STR), around 80 km),
Friedrichshafen (IATA: FDH), around 100 km) and Munich (IATA: MUC),
around 160 kilometers).
By train
Ulm is on the important
Stuttgart – Munich railway line. ICEs connect Ulm every hour with Munich
via Augsburg and Mannheim via Stuttgart. From Mannheim, the trains
continue every two hours to Frankfurt Airport and Cologne or Frankfurt,
Kassel and Berlin. There are other travel options with intercity trains,
e.g. to Salzburg and Karlsruhe.
There are also regional train
connections to Lake Constance (Friedrichshafen), to the Allgäu
(Memmingen, Kempten, Oberstdorf), along the Danube downstream towards
Donauwörth, Ingolstadt and Regensburg, along the Danube upstream towards
Sigmaringen and Tuttlingen and through the Brenztal to Heidenheim and
Aalen.
Ulm is the station of the French TGV, which serves the
Paris – Munich route once a day.
Ulm main station
Lockers
There are numerous lockers in the side corridor on the right side of the
station hall, far to the left on the left (past the DB travel center and
the bookshop). There are small compartments for 3 euros/day and larger
ones for 5 euros/day. You have to pay in advance to complete the
subject. The following coins are accepted: 2 euros, 1 euro and 50 cents.
There are a few more lockers on the platform of track 1 (on the left
when you come out of the hall).
By bus
There are several
long-distance bus connections to Ulm. The bus stop is in Ulm-Böfingen at
Eberhard-Finckh-Straße 4 (connection to the tram in the direction of the
main station). Among other things, Flixbus and Eurolines drive to Ulm.
In the street
In Ulm, environmental zones have been set up in
accordance with the Fine Dust Ordinance. If you don't have the
appropriate badge, you risk a fine of €100 when entering an
environmental zone. This also applies to foreign road users.
Entry ban for vehicles of pollutant groups 1+2+3 (Info Federal
Environment Agency)
Ulm is conveniently located on the Autobahns
7 and 8 and the federal highways 10 (Stuttgart - Augsburg), 19 (Eisenach
- Oberstdorf/Austrian border), 28 (to Kehl), 30 (to Friedrichshafen) and
311 (to Donaueschingen).
From January 1st, 2009, the
environmental zone includes all areas within the so-called tangent ring
(see picture).
By bicycle
Ulm is on the Danube Cycle Path and
the Danube-Lake Constance Cycle Path from Ulm to Langenargen. Another
long-distance cycle path is the Iller cycle path from Ulm to Oberstdorf.
Mobility in Ulm is not a problem thanks to the well-developed local
public transport system. Due to numerous major construction sites in the
city center, the parking space is currently significantly limited. It is
rather pointless for non-residents to look for free parking spaces by
car, since these are only available in small numbers and, on the other
hand, are usually already occupied by local vehicles.
Public
transportation
Ulm and its surroundings are easily accessible via
public transport. In the city itself, two tram lines and several bus
lines run from 5 a.m. in the morning to 1 a.m. at night every 10
(morning to early evening) to 30 minutes (early morning and late
evening). On the nights from Friday to Saturday, Saturday to Sunday and
before public holidays, there is an hourly night bus that serves the
city area from 01.30 a.m. for a one-time surcharge. Persons between the
ages of six and thirteen pay €1.40 for a single journey within the city
limits, persons aged 14 and over pay €2.40 (cash price) or €2.20 (mobile
phone ticket). Discounts are only available in the form of day (€4.40)
and weekly tickets (€21.30; prices for 2020). These cards can be
obtained at bus stops or at the central bus station, near the main train
station. Further information is available from the local transport
association DING.
There is also the UlmCard for €17.00 (1 day) or
€22.00 (2 days), which, in addition to using public transport, offers
many additional tourist services: Free entry to 8 museums, free entry to
climb the highest church tower in the world etc.
More of a
tourist attraction is the ship service on the Danube, where in the
summer months there is a motor ship, a solar boat and a ferry service
connecting the cities of Ulm and Neu-Ulm. Travel times and prices can be
obtained from the information board on the pier on the Danube, near the
Metzgerturm.
In the street
Ulm offers a good parking guidance
system. Parking garages are available in a central location. It is not
recommended to look for a free parking lot, as locals will already be
there and many areas are only accessible with a resident parking permit.
Motorcycle
A motorized two-wheeler is much easier to use in city
traffic than its four-wheeled counterpart. Free motorcycle parking
spaces are at the court and opposite the main train station (distinctive
point Volksbank) as well as in the fishing district at the Gasthaus
Wilder Mann, as well as south of the Wegenkirche (Wengengasse / corner
of Sedelhofgasse).
By bicycle
Certainly the best means of
private transport in the city. A well-developed cycle path network,
especially along the Danube, opens up the city and the surrounding area.
In the pedestrian zone, however, the following applies: push! Bike lanes
are on the way. The numerous one-way streets of the old town can be used
almost everywhere by bicycles in both directions. Between the town hall
and the city library is the Radhaus, a special bicycle parking garage
for safe storage.
Bike transport
Bicycles can be taken on all
local trains. · Bicycles can be taken on buses and trams at certain
times: Monday - Friday from 8.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. or from 7 p.m. until
the end of operations, on Saturdays from 12 p.m. and on Sundays all day.
Discovery ticket · The discovery ticket is valid on all Sundays and
public holidays from May 1st to October 18th, 2009 for one day for any
number of journeys in the entire DING area. It costs €10 for singles and
€20 for groups of up to 5 people. A bicycle is allowed instead of one
person.
In addition to the Minster, which already characterizes the cityscape
from afar, Ulm also has a number of other notable sacred buildings, such
as the Pauluskirche, which is one of the first German concrete churches.
Ulm Minster, Munsterplatz 21, 89073 Ulm. The Minster characterizes Ulm's
silhouette and has the highest church tower in the world (161.53
meters). Construction began in the 14th century and was not completed
until 1890 when the tower was completed. Despite the name Munster, this
place of worship was never more than a simple parish church. Inside the
minster are magnificent choir stalls by Jörg Syrlin the Elder from the
15th century. The tower can be climbed up to a height of around 140
meters (768 steps) and, when the weather is nice, offers a wide view
over Ulm and especially the southern surrounding area. On a clear day
you can see as far as the Alps. Although the tower is sandstone and
numerous sandstone carvings catch the eye, the masonry is predominantly
brick. With a volume of 190,000 m³ (after the Frauenkirche in Munich),
Ulm Minster is the second largest Gothic brick church north of the Alps.
Originally it was not supposed to be a five-aisled basilica with the
same width, but a three-aisled relay hall. With the decision made in the
Middle Ages for a very high tower, the central nave was built higher as
a visual counterweight, i.e. a basilica. The lateral forces of the wide
vaults at different heights pushed the stability of the pillars to their
limits. After a stone fell during a service, additional columns were
placed in the side aisles, so that one wide side aisle became two narrow
ones. At the eastern end of the north aisle, an imperial eagle that had
already been painted was covered by the vault that was added later.
Open: daily 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
There are several theaters in Ulm that work independently of each
other.
The Municipal Theater Ulm at Herbert-von-Karajan-Platz 1
is the largest theater in Ulm with 815 seats. It was founded in 1641 and
is therefore the oldest municipal theater in Germany, but the building
shown in the picture is a new building from the 20th century. Unusual
for the size of the city, the Ulm theater is a three-section house with
musical theatre, drama and ballet. Affiliated to the theater is the
Philharmonic Orchestra of the City of Ulm, which gives symphonic
concerts both in the theater itself and at other concert venues.
A children's and youth theater in Ulm is the Junge Ulmer Bühne (JUB),
based in the old theater in Ulm, as well as the Kuh 16 (Unterer Kuhberg
16).
Another theatre, the privately run Theater in der
Westentaschen, has been based in Ulm-Böfingen since 2012 (before that 40
years in Herrenkellergasse in Ulm's old town). The "smallest theater in
Germany" with 40 seats described itself as an exotic, experimental and
innovative stage.
In the Academy Theater on the Kuhberg, which
belongs to the Academy for Performing Arts (adk) (see below),
prospective directors and actors present their stage skills, with other
venues such as the Old Theater also being used.
The Ulüm Theater
is the only professional Turkish-language theater in southern Germany
with a regular schedule and a permanent venue in the Upper Danube
Bastion on Schillerstrasse. The Theaterwerkstatt Ulm is also based
there.
The first Ulmer Kasperletheater was founded in 2001 as a
professional children's theater. It has around 60 seats and offers five
performances a week.
The Ulm Museum is designed as a museum for art, archeology and urban
and cultural history. In addition to numerous, sometimes high-ranking
exhibits, information on the history of the city and well-known Ulm
personalities such as Albert Einstein is also presented. Among the
museum's collections and exhibits, the archaeological section with the
lion man deserves special attention as the oldest human-animal sculpture
in the world (dated to around 37,000 BC) and part of the UNESCO World
Heritage Site Caves and Ice Age Art of the Swabian Jura. Also worth
mentioning are the large cultural and urban history department with the
clothing and everyday life in the imperial city of the late 18th century
in detail depicting clay figures of the Rommel stove maker family and
the art and natural objects collection of the rich Ulm merchant
Christoph Weickmann from the 17th century some of the world's oldest
surviving African textiles, the extensive art collection with late
medieval works from the so-called Ulm School (including works by Jörg
Syrlin the Younger, Hans Multscher, Gregor & Michel Erhart, Bartholomäus
Zeitblom and Niklaus Weckmann) and numerous works of contemporary art
from the 20th century th century (by Joseph Beuys, Andy Warhol and Roy
Lichtenstein, among others) as well as the design exhibition with drafts
and works from the internationally renowned Ulm University of Design
(HfG).
As a modern building sculpture, designed by the New York
architect Richard Meier and opened in 1993, the Stadthaus Ulm
corresponds to the late Gothic Ulm Minster. The Stadthaus is above all a
place for contemporary issues, presented in temporary exhibitions and
events. The focus of the exhibition program is on contemporary
photography, architecture and outsider art. The roots of the Stadthaus
in the history of Ulm Cathedral Square are shown in a permanent
multimedia exhibition.
On November 24, 2007, the Kunsthalle
Weishaupt was opened in the Neue Mitte, in the immediate vicinity of the
Ulm Museum and directly connected to it by a glass bridge. It was
realized by the entrepreneur Siegfried Weishaupt with private funds and
built according to the plans of the Munich architect Wolfram Wöhr. The
collection includes several hundred large works and is one of the most
important private collections of contemporary art in Germany.
Together with the university's sculpture trail (including works by Niki
de Saint Phalle) and the archive of the internationally renowned Ulm
School of Design (HfG), Ulm has the status of an outstanding exhibition
venue for fine arts and design in southern Germany.
In addition
to the techniques and history(s) of bread-making, the Bread and Art
Museum also presents the extremely complex cultural and social history
of bread as a basic foodstuff and important cultural symbol, which is
unique in Germany.
The Ulm White Rose think tank reminds young
people in Ulm from 1933 to 1945 in its permanent exhibition entitled “We
wanted the other” in the foyer of the Ulm adult education center on
Kornhausplatz, on Ulm members of the White Rose resistance group, as
well as a number of other young people from Ulm who died during the time
resisted National Socialism.
The Ulm concentration camp memorial
in Fort Oberer Kuhberg commemorates the use of this part of the federal
fortress by the Nazi regime as a concentration camp. From November 1933
to July 1935, more than 600 political and ideological opponents from the
state of Württemberg-Hohenzollern were imprisoned under inhumane
conditions in Fort Oberer Kuhberg. Among them was Kurt Schumacher, who
re-founded the SPD in Germany after 1945. The former concentration camp
is now a memorial. In 1994 it was awarded the title of "exemplary local
history museum" by the regional council of Tübingen. The Oberer Kuhberg
concentration camp is the only concentration camp in southern Germany
that has retained its entire structural substance. These include the
underground dungeons in which the prisoners were housed, the outdoor
area with Kurt Schumacher's cell and the rooms of the concentration camp
headquarters.
The Fort Oberer Kuhberg Fortress Museum was founded
in 1974 by the Förderkreis Bundesfestung Ulm e. V. founded. The aim of
this association is the restoration, documentation and presentation of
the preserved buildings. Even before the association was founded in
1974, the first maintenance work began in Fort Oberer Kuhberg (part of
the federal fortress in Ulm). In the meantime it is the best preserved
fort and can be visited on guided tours. The association's activities
have expanded to other fortifications in recent years, which are also
presented to the public as part of guided tours.
In the
Danube-Swabian Central Museum (dzm), which is housed in part of the
Upper Danube Bastion (part of the federal fortress of Ulm), the history,
culture and fate of the so-called Danube-Swabians, German-born, mostly
Swabian emigrants who emigrated to south-eastern Europe in the 18th
century and their Descendants after the Second World War returned as
expellees, presented in changing exhibitions. The dzm is an institution
of European importance, financed jointly by the city of Ulm, the state
of Baden-Württemberg, the federal government and the EU.
The
natural history collections of the city of Ulm are also referred to as a
"living museum". The topics of mineralogy, geology, paleontology,
botany, zoology and ecology can be experienced not only cognitively, but
also sensually. This concept makes the museum particularly suitable for
families with children and people with mental or physical disabilities.
The museum has numerous information boards in Braille. Since March 2013,
the Natural History Education Center has been one of 26 information
points in the Swabian Alb UNESCO Geopark.
The Setra Museum in
Ulm's Fischerviertel (Fischergasse 23), which is not open to the public,
shows the history of the Setra brand (buses with a self-supporting body,
developed in the mid-20th century by the then Ulm company Karl
Kässbohrer GmbH). There is also an exhibition of bus models.
The socio-cultural center Roxy offers a wide range of events: music,
cabaret, readings, poetry and science slam parties. It was founded in
1989 by the Association for Democratic Education and Cultural Work e. V.
founded and supported, since 2000 it is a non-profit GmbH.
The
federal fortress houses two concert venues in the Courtine am
Gaisenberg: the Jazzkeller Sauschdall, founded in 1963, and the CAT.
The Ulmer Zelt has been Germany's longest cultural tent festival
since 1986 with a six-and-a-half-week program from mid-May to early
July. It takes place in the Friedrichsau with international top acts,
but also lesser-known artists of all genres as well as cabaret,
children's action meadow, children's theater and other events. The
organizer is the Association for the Promotion of Free Culture Ulm.
The Oratorienchor Ulm e. V. is a mixed concert choir that has been
directed by Thomas Kammel since 2014 and performs works of classical
church music and secular oratorios together with professional orchestras
and soloists, including at concerts in the Pauluskirche and as part of
the Oath Monday celebrations.
The youth wind orchestra Junge
Bläserphilharmonie Ulm, founded in 1961 as the Ulmer Knabenmusik, also
plays an important role in the city's musical life. In 2008 the ensemble
won first place in the B2 youth wind orchestra category at the German
Orchestra Competition in Wuppertal.
The Ulmer Spatzen Choir,
which is well known beyond Ulm, is a children's and youth choir that has
won several national awards in the 21st century.
The
Museumsgesellschaft Ulm e. V. organizes exhibitions as a cultural
citizens' initiative, offers meeting space for the artists' guild or the
Friends of the Ulm Theater (founded in 1979 to support the Ulm Theater)
and is active as a patron. Every year, it awards the Ulm Museum Society
prize, worth EUR 5,000, for the promotion of the humanities at Ulm
University. The museum society emerged from the oldest civil society in
Ulm, the reading society founded in 1789. In 1815 they moved into the
"Upper Room" opposite the town hall, after the house had belonged to the
"respectable society of the noble families" from 1548 to 1803. In
contrast to the lower room, where the merchants' guild met, the upper
room was the meeting place for the patriciate. Around 1900, the museum
society was the social center of the upper bourgeoisie. She had a
library (already built up by the reading society) to which only members
had access. This comprised around 30,000 volumes before it was
completely destroyed in the bombing raid on December 17, 1944, along
with most of Ulm's city centre. The Obere Stube was rebuilt at the
historic site, although the new building showed the eaves of the town
hall. In 2007, the museum society fundamentally remodeled the upper room
in contemporary architecture and with modern building materials (also in
response to three modern new buildings in the immediate vicinity, Ulm's
new center) and, based on the historical model, provided it with a
double gable pointing towards the town hall.
Like many clubs, the
1950 Society was founded in 1950; (Founding) members were and are
well-known personalities from the (bourgeois) cultural scene, including
Otl Aicher, Kurt Fried, Wilhelm Geyer and Inge Scholl. However, the
leading role of the earlier years has been lost.
The Söflinger
Vorstadtverein (VVS) serves as the umbrella organization of the
Söflinger clubs and centrally manages the interests of the members in
order to be able to better represent them to the city of Ulm. Other
important tasks of the VVS are the promotion of art and culture,
coordination, support and advice for the clubs that have joined (a total
of 26 music, sports and singing clubs and many smaller societies) as
well as the protection of the landscape and monuments. The Catholic
Söflingen was only incorporated into the Protestant imperial city of Ulm
in 1903. With the founding of the VVS, Söflingen's independence was
strengthened on the one hand, and a hinge was formed on the other hand,
which serves to unite Ulm with the district. The VVS also acts as a
cooperating contact for the city administration. The work of the
association continued successfully in the new millennium, for example
with the preparations for the centenary celebrations in the suburb of
Söflingen in 2003 and the regular organization of other celebrations
that took place in the Söflinger monastery courtyard.
The Great
Carnival Society Ulm/Neu-Ulm e. V. (GKG U/NU) strives to maintain and
maintain the carnival activities in the Ulm region. It was founded in
1905 through the merger of the predecessor companies "Gesellschaft der
Elfen" and another carnival association founded in 1885. Part of the GKG
U/NU are the guards in their different age groups, clowns and the masked
group "Donauhexen".
Founded in 1889, the Ulm/Neu-Ulm local group
of the Schwäbischer Albverein was awarded the Eichendorff plaque in
2005.
Ulm is the seat of the Working Committee on Children's
Games and Toys e. V., which awards the spiel gut seal of quality for
special toys, and the Künstlergilde Ulm e. V., a non-profit art
association.
Up to the Second World War, the cityscape of Ulm was characterized by
a centuries-old imperial urban building culture with numerous monuments,
especially from the Gothic, Renaissance and Historicist styles and some
Baroque and Classicist buildings. The medieval old town of Ulm was one
of the largest and most important in southern Germany. This line of
tradition broke off abruptly towards the end of the Second World War
with the extensive destruction of Ulm by air raids on December 17, 1944.
The ensemble effect of the closed old town development was lost, less
than a fifth of the historic old town development remained. The western
inner city from the Minster to the main station was completely
destroyed, while in some other areas few, mostly incoherent remnants of
the old town survived (Fischerviertel, Donaufront, some streets in the
northern and north-eastern area of the Minster, "Auf dem Kreuz" quarter
east of Frauenstraße). Some important buildings, the interior of which
burned out in the firestorm, were rebuilt in their external form (e.g.
town hall, Schwörhaus, Kornhaus), while many others have completely
disappeared from the cityscape and from the consciousness of the
citizens of Ulm. After the Second World War, concepts were in demand as
to how the little that had survived could be meaningfully included in
the reconstruction of the city, but the rapid reconstruction of the city
center did not produce any special architectural works. The road network
was largely based on the road network of the pre-war period, but with
serious exceptions. In accordance with the idea of a car-friendly city,
a wide swath was cut through the city with the Neue Straße and the
historical architecture that was still preserved was demolished in favor
of this city motorway. At the beginning of the 21st century, the gap was
closed by the new center (see below), after other neighborhoods close to
the city center had already treated the surviving historical buildings
more sensitively during the 1980s. The careful renovation of some
historic buildings in the Fischerviertel and the quarter on the Kreuz by
the city's own renovation institute can be regarded as exemplary.
The new buildings of the new center between Münsterplatz and the
town hall, such as the town hall by the architect Richard Meier, the
house of the senses and the savings bank building, both by Stephan
Braunfels, as well as the Kunsthalle Weishaupt by the architect Wolfram
Wöhr, the new one built as a "glass pyramid". City library by Gottfried
Böhm and the new building of the Obere Stub (see above) with their
modern design language in the immediate vicinity of the Minster and the
rebuilt historic town hall rely on deliberate contrasts and breaks.
In summary, the cityscape of Ulm today is characterized by the
mixture of historical buildings and streets that have been preserved or
rebuilt (even if mostly only on the outside) on the one hand and modern
architecture on the other. The exciting result of the courageous urban
development caused a stir and was recognized by large sections of the
professional world, but was also viewed critically by sections of the
population.
The Gothic Minster with the highest church tower in the world
dominates the cityscape. The city skyline is also characterized by the
Trinity Church, built between 1617 and 1621, rebuilt after the fire in
1944 in a much different way and today used as a meeting place for
concerts, seminars, theater and lectures. Also striking are the towers
of the evangelical garrison church Pauluskirche, which was built in Art
Nouveau style by Theodor Fischer within two years (1908-1910). The
neo-Gothic St. George's Church, which was built in 1904 by Max Meckel as
a Catholic garrison church and later became a parish church, is also
visible from afar.
The two former city gates Gänsturm and
Metzgerturm characterize the banks of the Danube. Despite the bombing
raids of the Second World War, some buildings in the historic old town
have survived, including the town hall built in 1370. The stone house,
together with the Nikolaus chapel, is the oldest surviving building in
the city and dates from the Staufer period of the 12th to 13th
centuries. A half-timbered building with a late Gothic brick gable from
1485 is the Büchsenstadel, which houses the youth center in Mitte and
the non-commercial local radio station Radio freeFM. The Gasthof zur
Krone is an imposing building complex from the 16th century with parts
and structural additions from the 19th century. It was used as a
substitute palace for kings and emperors in the 15th and 16th centuries.
The granary is a Renaissance building from 1594 with rich sgraffito
decoration. The last surviving patrician building is the Kiechelhaus,
which today belongs to the building complex of the Ulm Museum. The New
Building, a brick building built between 1584 and 1593 as a warehouse
with an office and council chamber, is today the headquarters of the
police headquarters. A building extended by Ulrich Ehinger is the
Reichenauer Hof. Ulm's location on the Salzstraße led to the
construction of a salt barn in 1592. Since 1991 it has been the seat of
the Museum of Bread Culture.
The Ochsenhäuser Hof, originally
built as a care home for the Ochsenhausen monastery, was built around
1500. The former guild house of the shoemakers, the Schuhhaus, was built
in 1537 behind the choir of the Minster and houses the Ulm Art
Association, which uses it for art exhibitions. Every July, the
Schwörhaus is the focus of Ulm's Schwörmontag. It was built in 1612 and
given a baroque gable after a fire in 1785. Burned out again in 1944, it
was rebuilt by 1954 with modern interiors. Today it houses the city
archives.
Two buildings stand out from the recent history of Ulm
construction: the new central library, built in 2004 in the form of a
glass pyramid, about 23 meters high, located directly next to the
historic town hall, and the town hall on Münsterplatz, built in 1993
despite the majority rejection of the project in a referendum built
according to the design of the New York architect Richard Meier,
"walk-in sculpture", space for exhibitions, concerts, conferences,
lectures, etc. Also worth mentioning is the Kunsthalle Weishaupt,
directly adjacent to the museum and the town hall, in Ulm's "Neuer
Mitte". The otherwise unusual underground car park under this “New
Centre”, which was opened on March 11, 2006 and was equipped with an
exhibition on the history of Ulm, made it possible to make the market
square and the Judenhof car-free.
Two other church buildings are
worth mentioning: The Martin Luther Church, an important building in the
Expressionist style, built in 1928 by Theodor Veil and richly furnished
by the Neu-Ulm woodcarver Martin Scheible, and St. Michael zu den Wengen
(the Wengen Church) . The former baroque monastery church from 1399
burned down in 1944; in the church, which was newly built in 1954, there
is an altarpiece painted by Franz Martin Kuen in 1766 and in the baroque
chapel from 1629 there is a late Gothic Crucifixion group.
Ulm's
city wall, built around 1480 into the Danube (“in the middle of the
raging river”), later built by Hans Beham the Elder according to
Albrecht Dürer's ideas of fortress construction. Ä. (Nuremberg
builders), is now a 600 meter long promenade that ends upstream at the
Wilhelmshöhe - Bastion Lauseck, part of the city fortifications from the
16th-18th centuries. Century. This part of the old city wall also
includes the visually completely inconspicuous Adlerbastei, the place
from which Albrecht Berblinger (Der Schneider von Ulm) launched his
forced, failed attempt to fly over the Danube in 1811. The part of the
city wall on today's streets Neuer Graben, Frauengraben and Seelengraben
was built with soldiers' quarters from 1610, after the Dutchman
Valckenburgh had planned and implemented a new fortification for Ulm,
which practically took the old city wall into the city. Modernized, the
"Grabenhäusle" now form a residential area with its own flair. In the
area of the fishing district you will find the Staufermauer on the Blau,
built from about 1150, remains of the fortifications of the Ulm Royal
Palace and the oldest preserved buildings in the city.
The small
architectural features of Ulm include the peepholes, which are small
lookout towers on the roof ridges, pinnacle-like attachments on the
gable tips that carry the weathervane of a house, bricks on a gable wall
for symbolic documentation of an eaves right, chimneys in the streets,
around smoke from lower floors without a chimney to lead outside, and
wrought-iron locking hooks for attaching locking chains to make it
difficult for troops to enter.
In this quarter on the Danube tributary of the Blau, which was mainly populated by craftsmen in the Middle Ages, there are still many buildings dating back to this time and referring to them, such as the Garnsiede on the Blauinsel, the guild house of the shipmen (am historic Fischerplätzle located directly on the Danube, for example where the Danube Swabians, among others, embarked for the trip down the river to their new home countries of Hungary and Romania). Also worth mentioning are the Ulmer Münz, the Kässbohrersche Haus in Fischergasse 23, built around 1500, and, directly adjacent to the Ulmer Münz, the Leaning House in Schwörhausgasse 6, built in the 14th century, today a hotel that is considered the most crooked in the world. In the vicinity of the fishing district there were also three landing places for the Iller rafts, which transported wood from the Allgäu and Upper Swabia and goods of all kinds to Ulm and from there on to Vienna. As late as 1870, 3,000 rafts reached the landing sites on the Danube.
About half of the buildings in this medieval old town quarter, which has developed into a preferred residential area in the last 20 years because it is traffic-calmed and close to the center, date from before 1700. The Sebastian chapel can be counted among the more notable ones, first in 1415 in the city's history mentioned, now an exhibition room, also the Seelturm, which was built in the 14th century on the Ulm city wall and served as a pumping station from 1638, pumping the water into the adjacent - octagonal - fountain house and storing it there. The name Seelturm came from a Seelhaus directly opposite that was destroyed in the war. Also worth mentioning is the Zundeltor, which was built in 1870 below the Seelturm and still has a (neo)gothic style today (especially the roof truss). The name Zundeltor comes from the materials stored in the Seelturm, because tinder and powder were stored there. Also on the edge of this quarter is the arsenal, the former armory of the imperial city of Ulm, which was built in several stages from 1522. Large parts were destroyed in 1945. Changing exhibitions are held in the columned hall of the early baroque "Lion's Den" from 1667, which belongs to the complex and was undestroyed by all the wars.
The fortress was planned and built as a central southern German military base of the German Confederation from 1842 to 1859 under the Director of Fortifications and then Colonel Moritz von Prittwitz. Today it is one of Europe's largest fortifications. Up to 10,000 workers were involved in the construction. Today, numerous buildings throughout the city are preserved, including almost all forts, almost the entire city wall between Wallstrasse Bridge and Eythstrasse, as well as individual buildings on the city fronts and the concrete works from 1901/1914, as well as a number of infrastructure buildings within the inner ring of fortifications and on the Kuhberg.
Other buildings, some of which are striking, some of which are
noteworthy in terms of (architectural) history, should be briefly
mentioned here: the Daimler Research Center by architect Richard Meier;
the Donaustadion, with 19,500 seats and standing room, venue for the
home games of the soccer teams of the SSV Ulm 1846 as well as
international soccer games (women's national team) and athletics
competitions; the world's largest office building in the passive house
standard Energon, with 8000 m² and approx. 420 workplaces; the
Ulm-Ermingen telecommunications tower built in 1964; the grain silo
Schapfenmühle, completed in 2005, with a height of 125 m (including
antenna) the highest grain silo still in use in the world; and finally
some sacred buildings in the suburbs: the monastery church of St. Maria
in Söflingen, built in 1688 by Caspar Feichtmayr as the church of the
Clarisse monastery in the early Baroque style, with parts of the
monastery that were demolished at the beginning of the 19th century
still preserved, as well as those in the immediate vicinity at the
Söflinger cemetery located Leonhard's chapel with a baroque calvary; the
Wiblingen monastery, a former Benedictine monastery (founded in 1093,
dissolved in 1806) with the important late Baroque monastery church
(1772-1781) with early classical interior design; the Evangelical Church
of St. Mary in Lehr with notable late Gothic wall paintings.
Below the Wilhelmsburg on the Michelsberg is the König-Wilhelm-Turm,
built by the Schwäbischer Albverein in 1908, a 16 m high observation
tower from which there is a very good view over Ulm.
Ulm is the starting point of the Upper Swabian Baroque Route. The route is approximately 500 km long, starts at Ulm Minster, continues towards Lake Constance and consists of additional extension routes running through Austria and Switzerland. The Wiblingen monastery with its library hall in the city of Ulm is one of the main sights of the Baroque route.
In addition to the highest church tower in the world, Ulm also has the most crooked hotel in the world and the Botanical Garden stop near the Botanic Garden is the highest tram stop in Germany at 617.8 meters above sea level.
Friedrichsau
The Friedrichsau is considered the local recreation
area for Ulm. It can be reached by public transport (bus and tram), by
passenger ship across the Danube - or on foot. From Ulm city center you
can walk down the Danube in about 30 minutes to Friedrichsau with its
three social gardens, the fairground (for folk festivals, circus guest
performances and open air events as well as the six-week culture
festival "Ulmer Zelt") and the zoo .
The history of Friedrichsau
is remarkable. So they say in Ulm "Napoleon is to blame for everything".
In fact, the Steinhäule on the right bank of the Danube was no longer an
excursion area for the people of Ulm, since it was added to Bavaria
after the borders were redrawn in 1810. The former Elector Friedrich I,
who only rose to become king of Württemberg through Napoleon's grace,
was generous on his first visit to Ulm in 1811 and donated, among other
things, 2000 guilders for a new recreation area in Gänsholzle, which is
why Friedrichsau was named after him.
There, in the first half of
the 19th century, the Au societies emerged, among which the dog comedy
was the best known. They were mainly used for social purposes. Singers'
clubs such as the Liederkranz and the Teutonia also found their home in
Friedrichsau.
A popular local recreation area and excursion destination is the Ulm
Botanical Garden, a central facility of the University of Ulm. With 28
hectares it is one of the largest botanical gardens in Germany. Plant
collections, outdoor experimental areas and several greenhouses are
available for both student teaching and research as well as visitors. In
the Green Classroom, environmental education is offered to schools all
year round. Visitors can enter the outdoor area all year round and the
greenhouses at certain times. In 2001, the pharmaceutical company
ratiopharm opened the New Ulm Pharmacy Garden in cooperation with the
University of Ulm in the upper part of the open-air area of the
Botanical Garden. More than 200 medicinal and useful plants can be found
in the beds.
Other parks
Other recreation areas and park-like
facilities are the old cemetery, the banks of the Danube with walking
opportunities, the scent and touch garden with information for the
visually impaired, and in the future the planned but not yet realized
Oberer Eselsberg district park.
The Gerd-Walter lime tree is
visible in large parts of Ulm.
Ulm tent. A cultural attraction is the Ulm tent, which offers
international top acts and regional music bands for six weeks every year
between May and July, as well as cabaret and comedy, a children's
playground and a gastronomic offer. During the season, the Ulmer Tent
stands at the Volksfestplatz in Friedrichsau, Ulm's local recreation
park, which can be reached by walking or cycling down the Danube. The
tram has the Donauhallen as its terminus, which forms the other side of
the Au.
Nabada. The Nabada (Swabian for bathing down) is the
highlight of the Oath Week in July. The beginning is the light serenade
on the Saturday before Oath Monday, a light show on the Danube formed by
thousands of floating candles. Oath Monday commemorates the former
imperial city constitution (incidentally the oldest city constitution in
Germany) and is celebrated annually on the penultimate Monday in July.
The Nabada itself is a counterpart to the Shrove Monday parades in
Cologne or Düsseldorf. In addition, current regional or national
political issues are presented humorously on ships, which then drift
down the Danube from the railway bridge. Thousands of wild Nabaders with
self-made watercraft round off the spectacle. Throughout the day,
numerous street festivals and concerts take place in the old town and
the surrounding area.
City Library, Vestgasse 1, 89073 Ulm. Phone:
+49 (0)731 1614100, fax: +49 (0)731 1614103, email:
stadtbibliothek@ulm.de. Visit to the city library at the town hall. The
glass pyramid building has triggered controversial discussions about
architecture, but is now an integral part of the city. Here you can
browse to your heart's content even when the weather is bad and do
research on the internet, because here there are numerous free internet
access points on every level. In addition, you can read the daily
newspaper with a cappuccino on the 5th floor and have a 360° view of Ulm
and Neu-Ulm. On the 4th floor is a changing exhibition of valuable
treasures from the library. Open: Tue – Fri 10 a.m. – 7 p.m., Sat 10
a.m. – 2 p.m., closed Sun + Mon.
The Ulm area invites you to
guided kayak tours on the Iller and Danube. The Blautal with its
numerous rocks is a popular climbing area. The nearby Swabian Alb offers
numerous opportunities for hiking and cave tours.
Ulm game box. Theater for children and young people, near the Ehinger
Tor in the Old Theater.
sparrow meadow. This fresh-air activity
parcour is organized by the akademietheater ulm every year in late
spring and early summer and offers theater, painting, handicrafts and
climbing in Friedrichsau. Admission (except for the theatre, swing boat
and carousel) is free. If it rains, it may remain closed.
Playgrounds
can be found in Friedrichsau, here is also the Ulm animal park with a
large aquarium/terrarium area, a tropical house and an outdoor area,
further playgrounds are on Karlsplatz (between Olga and Karlstrasse), on
the Blau near Münsterplatz (south-western edge of Münsterplatz , going
down at the kiosk approx. 150 m) and behind the cathedral choir
(playground equipment and spatzenbad).
In some shops there are nice
children's areas such. B. Ikea with the Smaland; the traditional Abt
department store on Münsterplatz with toys and books in the toy
department, the Hugendubel bookshop on Hirschstrasse with a reading
corner.
City Library, Vestgasse 1, 89073 Ulm. Tel.: +49 (0)731 161
4100, fax: +49 (0)731 161 4103, e-mail: stadtbibliothek@ulm.de. The city
library at the town hall is ideal when it rains. Children of all ages
can browse to their heart's content in the children's book section.
Internet stations have also been set up here especially for children,
and games and play equipment complete the offer. There is also plenty of
seating for cuddling or breastfeeding. Thanks to the elevators, the pram
can also be easily taken along. Open: Tue + Fri 10 a.m. – 7 p.m., Sat 10
a.m. – 2 p.m., closed Sun + Mon.
Small brewery market: Annual event (initially in Neu-Ulm in 2005,
also in Ulm since 2007) held by small breweries on the southern
Münsterplatz, where beers are offered for tasting.
Württemberg State
Trombone Day: Every two years, on a weekend in May or June, the State
Trombone Day of the Evangelisches Jugendwerk in Württemberg takes place
in Ulm.
Ulmer Donaucup, the annual rowing regatta of the Ulm Rowing
Club. As part of this major event, different competitions are held on
the Danube: the classic rowing regatta with races in 37 boat classes and
the Dragon Cup for 64 leisure teams.
Day of the Fortress: On a Sunday
in June, numerous works from the Ulm Federal Fortification are presented
by the Förderkreis Bundesfestung Ulm e. V. open to the public for
viewing.
International Danube Festival: The festival of the Danube
countries with cultural, musical and culinary events on the Ulm and
Neu-Ulm banks of the Danube was first celebrated in 1998 and has taken
place every two years since then.
Oath Week: The festivities that
take place from the weekend before Oath Monday are called Oath Week. It
begins with the light serenade. On the morning of Oath Monday, the mayor
must give an account to the residents. The day commemorates the former
constitution of the imperial city, the great oath of 1397, and is
celebrated on the penultimate Monday in July. This Monday is treated
like a semi-holiday in Ulm and Neu-Ulm, which means that many shops and
public institutions are closed from around 10:30 a.m. to give everyone
in Ulm the opportunity to say the oath speech (traditionally around 11
a.m. from the balcony of the oath house read out on the Weinhof). The
end of the weekend is the Nabada. The jousting takes place every four
years. On special occasions, otherwise every 4 years, the traditional
binder dance is performed during the oath week. From mid-July, the Ulm
folk festival will also take place in Friedrichsau, ending with Oath
Monday.
Ulmer and Neu-Ulmer Kulturnacht, an annual event in September
since 2000, which reflects the entire cultural offer of the two cities
on the Danube. With 95 venues and over 450 participating artists, the
Kulturnacht in 2006 is one of the largest events of its kind in Germany.
The Einstein Marathon has been taking place in September since 2005 and
is one of the largest running events in Baden-Württemberg.
Wiblinger
Bachtage: Annual concert series, usually in autumn, centered on the
works of the Thomaskantor Johann Sebastian Bach. The concert series has
existed in Ulm and Neu-Ulm since 1985 and reached a total of 70,000
concert visitors in 2004.
The annual Ulm Christmas market is one of
the largest and most popular Christmas markets in southern Germany. It
usually begins on the Monday before the first weekend in Advent and
lasts until two days before Christmas Eve. For this purpose, the market
square in front of the main portal of the Minster will be transformed
into a "village of huts" (with its own street names).
In addition to numerous department stores, there are numerous
department stores in Ulm on Hirschstrasse, the Ulm shopping mile across
from the main train station and up to Münsterplatz. In the old town
dominate the small and more personal shops such as antiquarian
bookshops, small bookstores, tea shops, body shops, opticians, jewelry
and upscale interior design shops. These are flanked by pubs, cafés and
bistros. But fans of comics, model railways and fantasy will also find
what they are looking for here. There is also a large IKEA branch
(directly on the B 10 motorway feeder road/Blaubeurer Ring), which is
connected to other large Media Markt branches and a bicycle shop.
Further towards Blaubeuren is the mall, the covered one
Blautal
Center, Blaubeurer Str. 95, 89077 Ulm. Phone: +49 (0)731 9325430, email:
info@blautalcenterulm.de. A shopping center with numerous shops,
restaurants and cafes. It is usually quite crowded here and the noise
level is sometimes quite high due to the closed construction. Open: Mon
- Sat 9.30 a.m. - 8 p.m.
In addition to traditional Swabian cuisine, there are numerous pubs
and restaurants with international cuisine in Ulm. In addition, the
well-known fast-food chains McDonald's, Burger King (both at the main
train station and in Blaubeurer Straße) and Mr. Sub (Neue Straße and at
the end of Platzgasse, far from Münster, near the courthouse). Those who
like to cook for themselves will find what they are looking for at the
weekly market in Ulm every Wednesday and Saturday on Münsterplatz.
Cheap
1 Economy for the city of Heidenheim, Gaisenbergstraße 32,
89073 Ulm. Tel.: +49 (0)731 22885. Huge portions, some of which are
unbelievably cheap. Note daily specials, students get discount if asked
before ordering. Open: daily 5 p.m. – 2 a.m.
2 Zum Schatten,
Weihgasse 11, Söflingen district (near the terminus of line 1). Tel:
+49731 3886520. Incredible schnitzels. Very popular and often full.
Open: from 5 p.m.
Middle
3 Restaurant Zur Forelle,
Fischergasse 25. Tel.: +49 (0)731-63924, fax: +49 (0)731-69869, e-mail:
zurforelle@aol.com. Proven as a sign-posted restaurant since 1626, 3
rooms with 10 tables, summer terrace. Open: daily 11.30 a.m. – 3 p.m. +
from 5 p.m.
4 Cafe Einstein, Wichernstrasse 10, 89073 Ulm. Phone: +49
(0)731 25661, fax: +49 (0)731 92138022, email: info@cafeeinstein.de.
Cafe, bar and restaurant. In the Bastei Center, opposite Congress
Center/Maritime Hotel. In a cozy, modern ambience you will find one of
the largest breakfast selections in Europe, reservations recommended.
Large selection of international and Swabian dishes, salads, hamburgers,
steaks. Inexpensive lunch menus. All dishes are of top quality and
freshly prepared. Very large selection of drinks, 20m bar. Open: daily
from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
upscale
5 LAGO, Friedrichsau 50, 89073
Ulm (on the lake behind the Donauhalle). Email:
welcome@gastroevents-ulm.de. There is excellent cuisine at LAGO. In
addition, you can enjoy the excellent cocktail and spirits menu in
comfortable leather armchairs in the bar. There is also a wide selection
for cigar lovers.
cafes and ice cream parlors
6 Espresso 29,
Platzgasse 29, 89073 Ulm. At the lower end of the Platzgasse with
Italian flair (closed on Sundays), all kinds of illustrious people meet
here.
7 Capo's megalomania, Platzgasse 22, 89073 Ulm. Tel.: +49
(0)731 66275. Before Espresso 29, rocking/casual. Open: Mon – Thu 10
a.m. – 2 a.m., Fri + Sat 10 a.m. – 3 a.m., Sun 1 p.m. – midnight.
8
Henry's Coffee World, Hirschstrasse 5, 89073 Ulm. Phone: +49 (0)731
6031900, email: info@henrys-coffee.de. At the entrance to Hirschstrasse
with its own roastery and in the Blautal Center on Blaubeurer Strasse.
Kammerzelts Kaffeehäusle, Rabengasse (parallel alley to Platzgasse,
between Kohlgasse and Herrenkellergasse). A real insider tip, here you
can drink a large cappuccino for €2.50 in the stand-up café and buy
coffee from a wide variety of manufacturers and, if you want, even send
it with Hermes. The stools were banned by the public order office
despite the existing toilet. Open: Mon.-Fri. 08:30 - 18:30; Sat 08:30 -
16:00. Price: large cappuccino €2.50; Espresso €1.50.
As already mentioned, Ulm offers one of the highest concentrations of
pubs, cafés and restaurants in Germany. Especially in the old town of
Ulm, around the town hall and in the fishing district, there are
numerous modern cafés and traditional pubs and restaurants.
There
is a distinct club and pub scene, especially for young people and those
young at heart. Concerts or theme parties take place in many places.
Some well-known meeting places are the CAT Cafe, Sauschdall, Ulm's most
well-known jazz club, Club 15, the student café and Club Action, the
Donauturm and Club Schilli, all of which are run by volunteers. The
drink prices are around €1.00 to €1.50 for non-alcoholic drinks and
around €2.00 for beer. The CAT is a special contact point for the goth
scene but is open to everyone. On Thursdays in particular, however, the
audience is different and there are young people from all walks of life.
The alternative scene is particularly well represented on Thursdays.
Admission is free (on Thursdays) until 10 p.m. and costs €1 for those
who come later. Club Schilli offers concerts or discos on Fridays and
Club Action on Saturdays. The audience at Schilli tends to be made up of
the younger ones from the meeting scene, 16 to 20 years old. The action,
however, that of the older generation, from about 25 years and up. Club
15 and the student café also run open meetings, themed parties and
concerts on Fridays and Saturdays. Club 15 organizes a cocktail evening
on the second Saturday of every month (prices between €2.50 and €4).
Most clubs only charge admission for their concerts (often only UKB, in
the student café it is always free). The CAT and the Sauschdall can be
reached with bus line no. 7 in the direction of Kliniken Michelsberg.
Get off at the last stop (Kliniken Michelsberg) and walk down the hill
at the women's clinic and leave the parking lot on the left. Club 15 and
the student café are about 500m below CAT and Sauschdall. The Action can
be reached with lines 3 and 5 in the direction of Eselsberg, stop
Kienlesberg, then continue along to the old federal fortress (approx.
500 m) or the Lehrertal stop and then walk back about 500 m. The Schilli
is located at the Ehinger Tor, which is served by many lines. Then down
the street towards the Danube. Before the start of the large fortress
walls, turn right. The Roxy is also located there. The Danube Tower is
located east of the Gänstor Bridge directly on the Danube behind the
Maritim Hotel. The Danube Tower is open every second Friday from 10 p.m.
to 3 a.m. and during irregular events. The audience is mixed and on the
regular dates mostly party music as well as rock and alternative is
played.
Besitos Ulm, Neue Strasse 71, 89073 Ulm. Phone: +49 731 1847987,
email: ulm@besitos.de. Open: daily from 5 p.m.
Olgabar, Olgastrasse
126, 89073 Ulm. Living room atmosphere with a multicultural or artistic
touch. Open: Mon – Thu 8 p.m. – 3 a.m., Fri + Sat 8 p.m. – 5 a.m., Sun
closed
Home, Augsburger Strasse 34, Neu-Ulm. Gay bar, but of course
everyone is welcome.
Wild man. in the fishing district. Relatively
large bar and restaurant. Well frequented, with different rooms, each
offering a different atmosphere. Cheap and good food, beer garden.
Murphy's Law. Near the theatre. Irish pub with quizzes on Wednesdays and
occasional live bands. Typical pub atmosphere. Music contains a lot of
rock and punk.
Dolce Vita, Kronengasse 8, 89073 Ulm. Tel.: +49 (0)731
69740, e-mail: info@dolce-cocktailbar.de. At the city Hall. Cocktail bar
with lady specials and cocktail of the month (5 euros). Big cocktails.
Music: Pop/ R'n'B/ Black. Somewhat Mediterranean-inspired interior.
cultivated audience. Open: Thurs 7 p.m. – midnight, Fri + Sat 7 p.m. – 2
a.m.
Flea seller Abraham, Kronengasse 12a, 89073 Ulm. Tel.: +49
(0)731 14395864. At the town hall. Quaint basement pub. Often hot and
crowded, but always in a good mood. Music from 1970s, 1980s pop to
modern. The toilets are in extremely poor condition. Open: Tue + Wed 8
p.m. – 2 a.m., Thu 8 p.m. – 3 a.m., Fri + Sat 8 p.m. – 4 a.m., Sun + Mon
closed.
Barfusser Ulm, Neue Str. 87-89, 89073 Ulm (at Münsterplatz.
Tel.: +49 (0)731 60265615. Homebrewed beer. Karaoke on Tuesdays. Simple
but good food. Open: Sun – Thurs 11 a.m. – 11 p.m., Fri + Sat 11:00 a.m.
– 12:00 a.m.
Piano bar in the Maritim, Basteistraße 40, 89073 Ulm.
Open: Mon - Sat 6pm - 2am, Sun 6pm - 1am, Monday to Saturday with live
music.
Roxy, Schillerstrasse 1/12, 89077 Ulm. Tel.: +49 (0)731
968620. The largest of the socio-cultural meeting points in Ulm. It
offers concerts, cinema, art and cultural exhibitions, theme parties and
discos. Admission costs from €5 upwards, for exhibitions and concerts
correspondingly more. The drink prices are also more in line with those
of normal pubs and restaurants. Open: Wed – Fri 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Ulm offers appropriate accommodation in every price range. Everything
is represented, from youth hostels to upscale hotels.
Cheap
1
Youth Hostel, Grimmelfinger Weg 45, 89077 Ulm. Tel.: +49 731 384455,
fax: +49 731 384511, e-mail: info@jugendherberge-ulm.de. in the west of
Ulm.
Middle
2 LeoMar Flatrate Hotel, Blaubeurer Str. 35, 89077
Ulm. Tel.: +49 (0)731 93490. The hotel offers modern comfort at
reasonable prices. Numerous services are included in the price: WLAN,
breakfast, snacks and hot drinks around the clock, international
telephone calls, printer and Internet, etc.
3 Hotel Anker - Spanish
Wine Bar, Rabengasse 2, 89073 Ulm. Tel.: +49 (0)731 63297. Opposite the
cathedral (north side) with bicycle garage.
Upscale
4
Intercity Hotel, Bahnhofplatz 1, 89073 Ulm (at the main station). Phone:
+49 (0)731 96550.
5 Hotel Schiefes Haus, Schwörhausgasse 6, 89073
Ulm. Tel.: +49 (0)731 967930. in the fishing district. Unusual
accommodation in a totally crooked house (beds are straight! Verifiable
with spirit level).
6 Maritim Hotel Ulm, Basteistrasse 40, 89081 Ulm.
Tel.: +49 731 92 30, e-mail: info.ulm@maritim.de . 287 rooms, 2
restaurants. Right on the banks of the Danube. Feature: ★★★★.
Camping/ pitches
There are parking spaces for mobile homes at the
Friedrichsau with a maximum stay of three days. There is water, but no
electricity. To do this, follow the signs to the Donauhalle/ exhibition
center. Coming from the city center, the square is on the right after
the Donaustadion. The place is signposted (partly very small), the
entrance is in a curve. By the time you get to Hotel Lago, you've
already gone too far.
Both the university and the technical college offer open lectures and
talks. The Ulm adult education center is in the Einsteinhaus on
Kornhausplatz in the city center. There are also several language
schools in Ulm.
University, Helmholtzstrasse 16, 89081 Ulm.
Phone: +49 (0)731 5010.
University of Applied Sciences,
Prittwitzstrasse 10, 89075 Ulm. Phone: +49 (0)731 50208.
Ulm adult
education center, Kornhausplatz 5, 89073 Ulm. Phone: +49 (0)731 15300.
Numerous high-tech centers can be found in the Science Park at
Oberen Eselsberg. Companies like Siemens, Daimler and Cassidian can be
found here.
Overall, Ulm is a safe city. The usual safety rules apply as they
make sense for all cities worldwide.
Numerous institutions
participate in the Hansel and Gretel Foundation's Notinsel children's
program. The Notinsel logo is clearly visible on all participating
shops/facilities. Here children find a safe haven.
Ulm Police
Headquarters, Münsterplatz 47, 89073 Ulm. Tel.: +49 (0)731 1880. In
addition to the national emergency number, she can also be reached on
+49 731 188-0.
There are no particular health risks, but it should be noted that
southern Germany and the river valleys here are endemic areas for
tick-borne tick-borne encephalitis (TBE).
The surgical emergency
room of the university clinic has been located in the new building on
Oberen Eselsberg since 2012. The internal medicine emergency room of the
university clinic is also on the Oberen Eselsberg. The Bundeswehr
Hospital on the Oberen Eselsberg (north of the city) has an
interdisciplinary emergency room.
The joint panel doctor
emergency practice is located in the area of the emergency room of the
Bundeswehr Hospital in Ulm.
University Hospital Ulm, Albert-Einstein-Allee 23, 89081 Ulm. Phone:
+49 (0)731 500-0, Fax: +49 (0)731 500-43002.
University Hospital Ulm
- Michelsberg location, Eythstraße 24, 89075 Ulm.
Tourist Information Ulm/ Neu-Ulm, Stadthaus, Münsterplatz 50, 89073
Ulm. Phone: +49 (0)731 161 2830, Fax: +49 (0)731 161 1641 . Open:
Apr-Dec: Mon-Fri 09:30-18:00, Sat 09:30-18:00, Sun and public holidays:
11:00-15:00, Jan-Mar: Mon-Fri 09:30-18 :00, Sat 09:30 – 16:00.
Post
office (main post office), Bahnhofplatz 2, 89073 Ulm. There is a post
office with all postal services, DHL parcel service and postal bank
services on the station forecourt
Internet: There are numerous
internet cafés in the city, e.g. in the Platzgasse (pedestrian zone,
starting from Münsterplatz), there are free, albeit not so fast accesses
in the city library at the town hall.
A public laundry is located on
the Eselsberg, in Weinbergstrasse. Accessible with line 3.
Hirsch Pharmacy, Hirschstrasse 23, 89073 Ulm. Tel.: +49 (0)731 62006,
fax: +49 (0)731 9661710, e-mail: service@hirsch-apotheke-ulm.de. Open:
Mon - Sat 8 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Wengen Pharmacy, Walfischgasse 26, 89073
Ulm. Phone: +49 (0)731 619928, fax: +49 (0)731 68654, email:
info@wengen-apotheke.de. Open: Mon - Fri 8 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat 8.30 a.m.
- 1 p.m.
Virchow Pharmacy, Virchowstr. 1-3, 89075 Ulm. Tel.: +49
(0)731 554140, Fax: +49 (0)731 554142. Open: Mon – Fri 8.30 a.m. – 1.00
p.m. + 3.00 p.m. – 6.30 p.m., Sat 8.00 a.m. – 1.00 p.m.
Elisabethen
Pharmacy, Söflinger Str. 80, 89077 Ulm. Phone: +49 (0)731 30900, fax:
+49 (0)731 9317202, email: elisabethen-apo@t-online.de. Open: Mon – Fri
8:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. + 2:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m., Sat 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Klosterhof Pharmacy, Gemeindeplatz 2, 89077 Ulm. Phone: +49 (0)731
383244, fax: +49 (0)731 383237, email: info@klosterhof-apotheke-ulm.de.
Open: Mon – Fri 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. + 2 p.m. – 6.30 p.m., Sat 8.30 a.m. – 1
p.m.
Albert Einstein Pharmacy, Albert-Einstein-Platz 3/9, 89073 Ulm.
Phone: +49 (0)731 65950, fax: +49 (0)731 6021190, email:
kontakt@alberteinsteinapotheke.de. Open: Mon - Fri 8 a.m. - 7 p.m., Sat
9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
West Pharmacy, Söflinger Str. 168, 89077 Ulm. Tel.:
+49 (0)731 32228, Fax: +49 (0)731 36600. Open: Mon – Fri 8 a.m. – 7
p.m., Sat 8.30 a.m. – 1.30 p.m.
The city of Ulm is located at an average
altitude of 479 m above sea level. NN (measuring point: town hall).
The urban area is geographically rich and ranges from 459 m above
sea level. NN (Danube bank) up to 646 m above sea level NN
(Klingensteiner Forest). The historic city center is about two
kilometers below (east) the confluence of the Iller at the
confluence of the Blau and the Danube. The city lies on the southern
edge of the Ulmer Alb (part of the middle surface Alb) and the
plateau of the so-called "Hochsträß", separated from it to the south
by the former valley of the Urdonau (Blau, Ach and Schmiechtal). The
elevations of Hochsträß and Alb (from west to north to east:
Galgenberg, Kuhberg, Roter Berg (Hochsträß), Eselsberg, Kienlesberg,
Michelsberg, Safranberg (Ulmer Alb)) surrounded in the west, north
and east, separated by smaller or larger valleys the city center. In
the south this is limited by the course of the Danube.
The
urban area of Ulm extends largely north of the Danube, which forms
the border between the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and
Bavaria for a few kilometers with the Bavarian sister city of
Neu-Ulm on the southern bank of the Danube. In the west and north,
the urban area with the suburbs Harthausen, Grimmelfingen,
Einsingen, Ermingen, Allewind and Eggingen extends over the plateaus
of the Hochsträß, with Lehr, Mähringen and Jungingen over the
plateaus of the Ulmer Alb. West of the city center is the suburb of
Söflingen south of the Blau on the edge of the Hochstrasse. The
suburb of Böfingen connects to the northeast of the city center and
is located on the slopes of the Alb north of the Danube. Only above
the confluence of the Iller and the Danube does the urban area of
Ulm with the districts of Wiblingen, Gögglingen, Donaustetten and
Unterweiler extend to the floodplains and alluvial terraces of the
Danube and Iller southwest of the Danube and Iller.
There are significant finds from the
Paleolithic in the area around Ulm, on the one hand near neighboring
Blaubeuren and on the other a few kilometers north of Ulm in the
Lone Valley (for example in the Vogelherd cave). They point out that
the area on the edge of the Alb was an interesting habitat in the
times of hunters and gatherers. In the Neolithic the Hochsträß was
settled early (e.g. Ulm-Eggingen); from Ulm itself there are finds
from a more recent phase of the Neolithic. A role that should not be
underestimated for the development of the city of Ulm as a traffic
junction is played by the course of the Danube and Iller rivers and
the easily manageable transition between Ulm and Geislingen across
the Swabian Alb through the blue river valleys that cut far into the
Alb plateau from the south and north, Kleiner Lauter, Lone, Brenz,
Kocher and Fils.
The Römerstraße, which historians call
Donausüdstraße today, runs not far from the southern bank of the
Danube near Ulm between the Roman fort Unterkirchberg, the small
fort Burlafingen and the small fort Nersingen, the Roman path that
branches off northwards into Filstal to the Urspring fort (Fort Ad
Lunam) and the dense evidence of Roman sites and manors in the Ulm
area make the strategically important location of the Ulm area in
the hinterland of the militarized border line of the Limes up to the
Limes falls around the year 260 AD. From 15 BC BC to around 100 AD
and then again after the Limesfall from 260 AD to around 500 AD
(Danube-Iller-Rhein-Limes), the Danube bank opposite Ulm formed the
northern border of the Roman Empire. The state border between
Bavaria and Württemberg runs in the Ulm area exactly where the
border between the Roman Empire and the unoccupied Germania
(Germania Magna) ran more than 2000 years ago.
The burials of
the large grave field from the Merovingian period on the Kienlesberg
(immediately northwest of the city center) and the early medieval
royal palace of the Carolingians on the vineyard and in the area of
St. Geist Spitals (first mentioned in a document in 854) underline
the special importance of Ulm as a strategically important traffic
junction during the early Middle Ages.
Due to its location at the junction of several trade and
pilgrimage routes on land and water, Ulm developed as a free
imperial city into a leading trade and art center in southern
Germany during the High and Late Middle Ages. In the late Middle
Ages, merchants from Ulm maintained a dense network of trade
contacts that stretched from Scandinavia to North Africa, from Syria
to Ireland and beyond. One of the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de
Compostela to the grave of St. James, venerated by the Catholic
Church, the Way of St. James, which has been significant for
centuries, led via Ulm to north-west Spain and has been in the
interests of the city of Ulm since 1997 as a link between nations in
the sense of European unification of the state of Baden-Württemberg.
As the Franconian-Swabian Way of St. James, it stretches from the
north to the Minster and from there, well-marked as the Upper
Swabian Way of St. James, continues south to Switzerland.
From the late 17th century onwards, Ulm became the central
collection point for mostly (but not always) Swabian emigrants who
were settled in the newly conquered territories of the Habsburg and
Russian empires in southeast Europe and southern Russia. A first
wave of emigration reached the newly conquered lands of the Habsburg
Empire in southeastern Europe between the late 17th and mid-18th
centuries on Ulmer Schachteln. The ethnic groups of the Hungarian
Germans and / or Danube Swabians emerged in their new settlement
areas in today's Romania, Hungary and Serbia.
A second wave
of emigration followed at the beginning of the 19th century. From
1804 to 1818 thousands of emigrants came by water to the mouth of
the Danube (Dobruja) in what is now Bulgaria and Romania and to
Bessarabia (now the Republic of Moldova) on the northern Black Sea
(now South Ukraine) and from there to southern Russia, especially in
the area of the Caucasus. The mostly Swabian emigrants embarked in
Ulm on rafts and Ulmer boxes and drove down the Danube to its mouth
in the Black Sea near Ismajil. Travel stories tell of the greatest
exertion of the emigrants during the 2,500 kilometer journey.
Numerous accidents and illnesses that broke out in the crowded
confines of the mostly overcrowded boats after drinking polluted
river water and due to the poorest hygienic conditions resulted in
countless deaths. The result of this second major emigration
movement down the Danube were the ethnic groups of the Dobrudscha
Germans, Bessarabian Germans, Black Sea Germans, and Caucasian
Germans.
Through these waves of emigration, the close
contacts that Ulm merchant and boatmen families had in this area
before that time were sustainably strengthened. After the expulsion
of the Hungarian Germans and Danube Swabians from Serbia and Hungary
as a result of the Second World War and a wave of Danube Swabians
who emigrated from Romania after 1990, they often settled in the
former regions of origin of their ancestors. This has resulted in a
strong Danube Swabian community around Ulm since the late 1940s.
Today, several monuments erected in the urban area, which remind of
the history and expulsion of the Danube Swabians, testify to the
Danube Swabian Central Museum (DZM) opened in 2000 in the rooms of
the Upper Danube Bastion (Federal Fortress Ulm) and numerous town
partnerships and cooperation projects with communities and towns
along the Danube close connection between Ulm and the Danube
Swabians and Southeastern Europe.
The wide-ranging
intellectual and commercial connections in Ulm, which have grown
continuously since the Middle Ages, still play a central role in the
consciousness of many Ulm residents as the basis for current and
future-oriented thinking and action. They are very consciously
cultivated as part of their own history and identity. The
International Danube Festival, which has been taking place every two
years since 1998, with representatives from all the Danube bordering
countries, the recently founded European Danube Academy, the "living
Way of the Cross" of the large Italian community, and an annual
"French Wine Festival" underline the narrow and centuries-old Mutual
connections lived in everyday life.
The Bavarian district town of Neu-Ulm borders on the right (south-eastern) side of the Danube and Iller. On the left (north-western) side, Ulm is almost completely surrounded by the Alb-Danube district. The neighboring communities in Baden-Württemberg are here (from south to west to north): Illerkirchberg, Staig, Hüttisheim, Erbach (Danube), Blaubeuren, Blaustein, Dornstadt, Beimerstetten and Langenau as well as the Bavarian community of Elchingen in the east.
The urban area of Ulm is divided into 18 districts: Stadtmitte, Böfingen, Donautal, Eggingen, Einsingen, Ermingen, Eselsberg, Gögglingen-Donaustetten, Grimmelfingen, Jungingen, Lehr, Mähringen, Oststadt, Söflingen, Unterweiler, Weststadt and Wiblingen. Nine parts of the city that were incorporated in the course of the latest municipal reform in the 1970s (Eggingen, Einsingen, Ermingen, Gögglingen-Donaustetten, Jungingen, Lehr, Mähringen and Unterweiler) have their own local councils, which have an important advisory role for the city council as a whole carry out relevant matters. However, final decisions on measures can only be made by the city council of the entire city of Ulm.
With an average
temperature of 8.4 degrees Celsius (° C) and an average
precipitation of 749 millimeters (mm) per year, Ulm is - like almost
all of Germany - in the temperate climate zone. Compared to other
cities in Baden-Württemberg, the climate in Ulm is relatively cold.
The average temperature is well below the values in other places
in the southwest (for example Heidelberg 11.4 ° C, Stuttgart 11.3 °
C). The precipitation mean, however, hardly deviates from what is
usual in Baden-Württemberg (Heidelberg 745 mm, Stuttgart 664 mm).
From a humorous point of view, Ulm is sometimes referred to as
the “capital of the foggy realm”. The statistics of the German
Weather Service, however, show an average of 1,659 hours of sunshine
per year for Ulm, which is in the middle of all recorded weather
stations. However, until 2014 the relevant measuring station was on
the Kuhberg, one of the highest elevations in the city. It has now
been relocated to the Mähringen district, which is also higher up.
Due to the increased measuring locations, fog fields in the Danube
Valley, in which the city center of Ulm is located, were partially
not taken into account in the measurements.
Flooding is only
an occasional problem in Ulm. It usually only occurs when the Danube
and Iller both carry a lot of meltwater or rainwater with them.
However, sudden meltdowns in particular led to severe flooding
within half a day.
According to a study published in 2007,
Ulm is “Germany's healthiest city”. In addition to climate data,
other criteria such as air pollution, medical care or the number of
daycare places were decisive for the assessment.
In the Ulm area, the tertiary, clastic molasses sediments border on
the limestones of the Upper Jura. This is accompanied by the landscape
transition from the foothills of the Alps to the Swabian Jura. The
limestones of the Jura are overlain by the sediments of the foothills of
the Alps (molasse sediments) to the south (and to some extent also to
the north) of Ulm. In addition to the quaternary deposits along the
Blau, Iller and Donautal valleys, sediments from the brackish water
molasse (“Grimmelfinger and Kirchberger strata”), the Graupensandrinne,
the upper sea molasse, the lower freshwater molasse (“Ulm strata”) and
the Upper Jurassic (mass limestone, Cement marl of the Kimmeridgian) in
appearance. Quartz sands are mined near Eggingen (Ulm), among other
places.
In the district of Ulm-Ermingen is the Lower Miocene
"Erminger Turritellenplatte", which is characterized by its fossil
wealth. The deposit was formed around 18.5 million years ago (Lower
Ottnangian) under shallow coastal conditions (Upper Marine Molasse).
In the thermal water well of Neu-Ulm (Donautherme Neu-Ulm), the
Oberjura (Malm) was drilled down to a depth of 460 m. Below this are the
layers of the Middle Jurassic (Dogger) and the Lower Jurassic (Black
Jurassic). From about 700 m depth to 890 m the layers of the Upper
Triassic (Keuper) and up to about 1010 m of the Middle Triassic
(Muschelkalk) appear. Finally, below this is the crystalline bedrock
from which the thermal water is pumped.
The urban district of Ulm has 2 nature reserves:
Gronne: 45.0 ha;
since December 15, 1982
Lichtensee: 92.0 ha; since December 16, 2014
According to the protected area statistics of the Baden-Württemberg
State Institute for the Environment, Measurements and Nature
Conservation (LUBW), 137.05 hectares of the city area are under nature
protection, that is 1.15 percent.
Geotopes in the urban district
of Ulm
Kesselbrunnen, Jungingen district, Tertiary geological era,
geotope ID ND8421001
Abandoned quarry Steigäcker-Blattegert, district
of Mähringen, geological era Jura, geotope ID ND8421002
Abandoned
Hagener Tal quarry, Jungingen district, Jura geological era, geotope ID
ND8421003
Hülbe St. Moritz, district of Jungingen, Tertiary
geological era, geotope ID ND8421004
Stockert, Ermingen district,
Tertiary geological era, geotope ID ND8421005
Abandoned Eichhalde
quarry, district of Mähringen, Jura geological era, geotope ID 8421001
Sand quarry Käppelesberg, Eggingen district, Tertiary geological era,
geotope ID 8421002
The oldest proven settlement in the Ulm area dates from the early
Neolithic period, around 5000 BC. There is evidence of settlements from
this period, for example near Eggingen (excavations by the State
Monuments Office of Baden-Württemberg) and Lehr (finds found by various
collectors).
Numerous excavations as part of the city archeology
practiced since the 1960s (initially by the City History Research
Center, most recently by the State Monuments Office of
Baden-Württemberg) prove that the area of what later became Ulm was in
the form of the places "Westerlingen" and "Pfäfflingen" documented by
donation documents from the Reichenau monastery. settled before it was
first mentioned by name as "Ulm" (854). The oldest finds date from the
late Neolithic period (burial of the Bell Beaker culture on
Münsterplatz). As early as autumn 1857, a large, extremely richly
furnished Alamannic burial ground from the Merovingian period was
discovered north of the Ulm train station on the lower Kienlesberg,
which, despite inadequate excavation methods and find documentation,
contains important information for settlements of national importance on
the Weinhof and in the area of the Grüner Hof (possibly: Westerlingen
and Pfäfflingen) delivered.
As a result of research by the State
Monuments Office, a complete rewriting of Ulm's city history up to the
14th century was outlined. The main theses here are: The Palatinate was
located approximately at the level of today's
Spitalhofschule/Adlerbastei. The previously assumed location at Weinhof
is said to have been an Ottonian foundation. Accordingly, the core city
goes back to an Ottonian city foundation.
Given the current state
of excavation and discussion, however, the arguments put forward are not
entirely convincing, since the new model, which in some respects is
worth considering, does less justice to the archaeological findings in
the rest of the city than the previous ideas on which the following
chapters are based.
In May 2007, during excavation work at
Salemer Hof in the southeast of Ulm's old town, remains of Neolithic
settlements and a 5000-year-old skeleton were discovered.
Ulm in the High Middle Ages (800 to 1200)
In the early Middle
Ages, probably around 850, Ulm became a royal palace. The first
documented mention dates from July 22, 854. King Ludwig the German
sealed a document in "Hulma". The name is a Germanic or pre-Germanic
water name (Indo-European root *uel: turn, wind, roll or *el-/*ol-:
flow, stream, be damp, be musty), which is related to the confluence of
the Blau and the Danube points.
But there is also a new
interpretation that goes back to the ford across the Danube further
east, where the Palatinate has been located since the new archaeological
excavations:
“The associated center of power, the center of this
settlement, is located further east, in the immediate vicinity of the
former Danube ford in the area of the later medieval hospital. This
area, which has so far received little archaeological attention, became
the focus of our considerations for the first time as part of our
processing of the Neue Straße excavation results. The Indo-European root
of the place name, which explains Ulm with a rush of water or with the
properties 'turn, wind, roll' or 'flow, stream, be damp and musty',
confirms the original water location of the place. Here the center of
power could control the crossing point of the long-distance roads and
secure the Danube crossing, for which a ferry station can be assumed.
This clearly shows the economic function of the early seat of power,
which can be linked in time to the Palatinate of Ulma, mentioned in
854.”
– Dumitrache, Legant: The Long Walk to the City. 2006
Over the next 50 years, Ulm was an important Palatine town, which was
reflected in the numerous royal visits. In the Hungarian storms, the
Palatinate was probably expanded into a refuge. Based on the
excavations, the following further development is assumed:
"Since Ulm
was on royal or imperial property, only the king and, based on the
dating information, only Otto I can come into question as the founder.
Otto I must have recognized the strategic and central importance of Ulm
on the Danube and immediately after the victory over the Hungarians in
955, which secured the imperial borders, initiated the founding of a
city with a city castle on the outskirts. The area of the Ottonian city
is identical to that of the Staufer city, a name introduced in
specialist literature for the old city center of Ulm. The associated
castle was built on the site of what later became known as the Weinhof.”
– Dumitrache, Legant: The Long Walk to the City. 2006
The Weinhof
probably only became the place for a castle in Ottonian times. A tower
was later built there, a Luginsland. It can be assumed that Otto I
probably took the first step towards founding the city.
According
to the findings of the archaeological investigations in the Neue Straße,
Ulm's path from the royal palace to the free imperial city took the
following development steps:
Carolingian Palatinate at the Danube
crossing from the middle of the 9th century;
fortification and
expansion into a refuge in the first half of the 10th century;
Relocation of the seat of power from the lowlands to the back of the
city in the early Ottonian period - associated with the foundation of a
new castle and city;
Transition from wood to stone construction in
the Salic period;
Reconstruction of the city destroyed in 1134 and
city expansion in the early Swabian period;
Internal growth and
construction of the city wall over the centuries combined with the
development of a municipal city administration.
Ulm lost its
importance as a place where kings stayed during the time of the Saxon
kings in the 10th and 11th centuries. Only under the Salians - beginning
with the court of Conrad II in 1027 - were royal stays increasingly
documented. In 1079 Friedrich von Staufen was enfeoffed with the Duchy
of Swabia. After consolidating their power in this area, the Staufers
were able to expand Ulm into one of their main bases. The extinction of
the Salians led to fighting over the imperial estates from this legacy,
as a result of which Ulm's surrounding area was burned down in 1131, and
in 1134 the entire city was also affected.
Under the Staufers,
the Ulm Palatinate was rebuilt from 1140 and the settlement was further
expanded as a result. A bridge over the Danube was first mentioned in a
document in 1174. In 1181 Ulm was elevated to the status of a city and
in 1184 to a free imperial city. Around 100 years later, Ulm seems to
have been completely fortified, since it was able to withstand a siege
by the anti-king Heinrich Raspe in the winter of 1246. Ulm developed
into one of the main areas of rule for the Staufer kings and emperors.
Little is known about the development of the constitution in the early
phase of Ulm. "A document about the elevation of Ulm to the city has not
survived". The city development seems to have taken place in stages
since the 11th century, but without leaving any written records. The
granting of Esslinger city rights by Rudolf von Habsburg in 1274 was
probably more "a makeshift solution to fill a [...] gap".
With the end of the Hohenstaufen rule, Ulm managed to remain a royal
town, which may have been due to the fact that the lines of the Counts
of Dillingen, who held the imperial bailiwick, died out almost
simultaneously and Count Ulrich von Württemberg, as the new bailiwick
owner, had no ambitions regarding Ulm. At the end of the 13th century, a
municipal bailiff can be traced who was elected annually by the
citizens.
Then, in the 14th century, the urban area quadrupled to
66.5 hectares, which was to remain the size of the city until the 19th
century. The expansion was accompanied by the refortification of the
city, which may be related to an unsuccessful attack by Ludwig the
Bavarian in 1316. The first half of the 14th century was marked by civil
war-like unrest in the inner city, which was related to disputes between
the guilds and the urban patriciate, which had largely emerged from
former imperial bailiffs and exercised the rule. In 1345 there was an
interim solution in the form of the Small Oath Letter, which
provisionally led to a pacification of the situation by allowing the
guilds a decisive say in political and legal matters for the first time.
Under the leadership of Ulm, the Swabian League of Towns was founded
in 1376 as an alliance of 14 Swabian imperial towns. Ulm was chosen as
the "suburb" (i.e. the main place for federal meetings) and received the
title "main and ornamental Swabia". On June 30, 1377, the construction
of the Ulm Minster began, since the old church was outside the city
walls and the inhabitants could not go to the church during a siege by
Emperor Charles IV. After the defeat in the First Cities War in 1388,
the Swabian League of Cities fell apart. As a result, Ulm lost its
influence on the other Swabian cities, but remained so influential both
economically and politically that it maintained numerous, largely
independent branches in almost all important commercial centers in
Europe (e.g. Venice, Vienna, Antwerp/Amsterdam, Constantinople/
Istanbul). In 1396, Geislingen with Helfenstein Castle, Altenstadt,
Amstetten, Aufhausen and other places came to the city when the Count of
Helfenstein had to settle his debts to the city.
The Great Letter
of Oath, the Ulm constitution, came into force in 1397 after the
compromise of the Little Letter of Oath “became more and more
unsatisfactory”. He regulated the distribution of power and the tasks of
the mayor. The guilds now had 30, the patricians only 10 council seats.
At the same time, the patricians were denied the right to vote. The
mayor was accountable to the residents. Oath Monday (the penultimate
Monday in July) has been a public holiday in Ulm ever since.
In
1480 a new city wall was erected in the middle of "the torrential
river". It stretched from the Herdbruckertor, built in 1348, to the
Fischertor, which is located on today's Wilhelmshöhe. This city wall
along the Danube, which still exists today, replaced the old wall, only
parts of which are left, which ran from the Fischerturm over the
Schweinemarkt and the two Blauarme (remains in today's Häuslesbrücke) at
an almost right angle to the mounded ashlar wall of the Staufer
Palatinate pushed and then followed it in an easterly direction. The
medieval wall was then built in 1527 according to Albrecht Dürer's
attachment theory (published in Nuremberg in the same year under the
title Etliche lessons/to attach the Stett/Schlosz/und flecken) by the
Nuremberg master builder Hans Beham the Elder. Ä. rebuilt.
Dürer's ideas were implemented by Beham as follows: The wall-wall moat
defense that replaced the wall was intended to withstand the fire of the
then modern firearms better and also enable the defender to better
position his own artillery. Ramps were also built on the city side for
the artillery. On the outside, a parapet with large loopholes was built.
Dürer's ideas for fortifications were further implemented by radically
demolishing the towers of the city gates, which were particularly
endangered by artillery fire due to their height, and providing them
with low octagonal storeys. In addition, Dürer's system provided for
round bastions to be placed in front of the wall, from where the ditch
could be flanked by fire. The city fortifications at the Glöcklertor,
Neuen Tor and Frauentor were then modernized accordingly. The
Italian-style bastion fortifications built by Gideon Bacher at the
beginning of the 17th century, which pushed the defense lines far out in
front, changed the cityscape even more decisively than Beham's
modifications. And immediately afterwards (from 1617 to 1622) the Dutch
engineer Johan van Valckenburgh and various successors set new standards
with their conversions and new buildings according to the Dutch system,
which was considered the ultimate in fortress architecture at the time.
What remains of their activity is essentially the Wilhelmshöhe/Promenade
area. This new work cost around two million guilders, which had to be
raised through taxes.
Between 1484 and 1500 the well-travelled
Dominican Felix Fabri, who worked in Ulm, published his Tractatus de
civitate Ulmensi (Treatise on the City of Ulm). It is considered to be
the oldest surviving chronicle of the city of Ulm. In it, Fabri not only
describes what the city was like at the time, but also tries to present
its history as comprehensively as possible. The autograph of this work,
written in Latin, is in the Ulm city archive.
Urban development reached its economic and cultural peak around 1500:
After Nuremberg, Ulm had the second largest imperial city territory in
what is now the Federal Republic of Germany. Three towns (Geislingen,
Albeck and Leipheim) and 55 villages belonged to the area. The city was
an important trading center for iron, textile goods, salt, wood and
wine. At the same time, Ulm developed into one of the most important art
centers in southern Germany from the middle of the 15th century. Works
of art produced in Ulm (especially elaborately designed sculptures and
winged altars) became “export hits” far beyond the city limits and were
traded as far away as Vienna, Sterzing (South Tyrol) and the
Netherlands. The rhyme that underpinned the position of the city in the
world of that time also dates from this period:
venetian power,
Augsburg splendor,
Nuremberg joke,
Strasbourg gun,
and Ulm
money
rule the world.
In addition to the coins minted in Ulm
and widely used by Ulm merchants and bankers, the Ulm money in verse
also refers to what constituted the actual wealth of Ulm – the bavarian,
a mixed fabric made of cotton and linen. The Barchent, which was awarded
the Ulm seal after the most rigorous testing, guaranteed such
exceptionally high quality that it was as good as money because it was
coveted throughout Europe.
Due to its economic and political
importance, Ulm also became the main town, i. H. to the meeting place
and administrative headquarters of the Swabian Union. This federation,
founded in 1488, served to unify the Swabian imperial estates, secured
lasting peace and was an essential element of the imperial reform.
Although the Swabian League broke up again as early as 1534 as a result
of the Reformation, its importance in this alliance made Ulm not only an
important political center, but also the actual administrative center in
Swabia.
With the founding of the Swabian Imperial Circle as one
of a total of 10 imperial circles, with which Emperor Maximilian I
reorganized the administration of the Holy Roman Empire in 1500 and
1512, Ulm was once again able to build on its supremacy among the
Swabian cities and imperial estates. The city became the main and
meeting place of the newly formed Swabian Empire. The Reichskreistage
(i.e. the decision-making meetings of the imperial estates combined in
the Swabian Reichkreis) took place in the Gothic town hall until the end
of the imperial city period. Between 1583 and 1593, Hans Fischer and
Matthäus Gaiser erected the New Building in the late Renaissance style
of Ulm as an alternative quarters for the city administration during the
imperial district days. As a multi-purpose building, it served as the
town hall and oath house, courtroom, prison and municipal warehouse for
salt, wine and grain.
From 1694 onwards, the Swabian imperial
circle maintained a standing army, the administration and materials of
which were largely housed in the Ulm armory.
The discovery of
America (1492) and the sea route to India (1497), but also the strong
local competition in the chard business from the Fuggers, who at the
beginning of the 16th century increasingly "redirected" the lucrative
charcoal trade to their newly acquired properties in the lower Iller
Valley , Ulm's prosperity and influence quickly faded soon after 1500.
The emergence of new trading centers and the shift of the most important
trade routes towards the Atlantic led to a gradual economic decline in
the city. Religious tensions also contributed to this. In 1529, the city
belonged to the representatives of the Protestant estates (Protestation)
at the Speyer Reichstag. Their citizenry demanded the unhindered spread
of the evangelical faith. In 1531 the city joined the Protestant faith
by vote of the citizens. The iconoclasm that followed, as a result of
which more than 30 churches and chapels were demolished or profaned and
well over 100 altars (over 60 in the cathedral alone) destroyed or
removed, also meant the abrupt end of Ulm as an art center. Up to 1546
(Schmalkaldic War), conflicts with the emperor and other imperial
estates meant that Ulm lost 35 of its villages through plundering or
arson and ultimately had to submit to the Catholic Emperor Charles V,
who in 1546 had the municipal constitution that had been in force until
then (Great Letter of Oath ) from 1397 and gave the urban nobility
(patriciate) the sole decision-making power in the city through the
so-called Hasenrat.
Over the next few centuries, the city's
former wealth was reduced by further wars, especially during the Thirty
Years' War and the War of Spanish Succession, by devastating plagues,
reparation payments and blackmail by various besiegers and occupiers, so
that the city was bankrupt around 1770 and for other reasons ( Lordship
Wain) had to sell. In 1786 the Ulm area still included the following
administrations: Obervogteiamt Geislingen, Oberämter Langenau, Albeck
and Leipheim as well as the offices of Süßen, Stötten, Böhringen,
Nellingen, Weidenstetten, Lonsee, Stubersheim, Bermaringen and Pfuhl.
The reorganization of Europe by Napoleon also affected Ulm. In 1802, even before the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1803 was announced, the city lost its independence and was incorporated into the Electorate of Bavaria. Following on from Ulm's leading role within the dissolved Swabian imperial circle, Ulm became the seat of the state administration of the "Baierische Province of Swabia" (predecessor of today's government of Swabia). On October 14, 1805, a decisive battle of the Napoleonic Wars (Battle of Elchingen) took place near the city, which led to the Battle of Ulm on October 16-19, from which Napoleon emerged victorious. After the French Marshal Ney had crushed the Austrians (he was made Duke of Elchingen for this), they withdrew to Ulm, where they were besieged and shortly thereafter surrendered. This cleared the way for Napoleon to the east for the decisive battle against the Russians and Austrians at Austerlitz. In 1810, Ulm passed from the Kingdom of Bavaria to the Kingdom of Württemberg through a Bavarian-Württemberg territorial exchange, which was regulated in the corresponding border treaty.
For Ulm, the transition to Württemberg had serious consequences that
continue to this day. Although the by far larger part of the former
imperial city territory north of the Danube came with Ulm to
Württemberg, it was no longer subject to direct Ulm administration, but
was added to other offices and higher offices (above all Geislingen,
which itself had previously belonged to the Ulm area). The smaller, but
economically more important, southern part of the former Ulm territory
remained Bavarian, became "foreign" and formed the basis of the future
city of Neu-Ulm. Ulm had thus become a border town.
What the loss
of its hinterland south of the Danube meant for Ulm can be illustrated
by the fact that important Ulm supply and waste disposal facilities were
located south of the Danube. The Iller rafts landed from the central
Herd Bridge upstream to the mouth of the Iller, most of which headed for
Ulm as their terminus, but occasionally went as far as Vienna. They were
mostly pure tree rafts, but there were also so-called bathing rafts,
which consisted of boards that had already been prepared. The raftsmen
not only brought lumber for the city, but also firewood, salt and
delicacies such as cheese (from Switzerland and the Allgäu), snails,
wine (from the cultivation areas on Lake Constance or from Italy) and
kirsch. Between today's railway bridge and the Gänstorbrücke, on the
southern bank of the Danube, there was a timber yard, a timber trading
yard and another timber magazine yard for storing and selling
construction timber and firewood, which was of national importance.
Furthermore, there were several shipyards south of the Danube in the
immediate vicinity of the Herd Bridge at the so-called
"Schiffbauerplatz", in which the so-called "Ulmer Schachteln" were built
for the Danube shipping that started here. After their completion, they
were loaded with goods on the so-called "Schwal" and lowered into the
water. A little further down the river, the gardeners' guild maintained
a fertilizer site, which was particularly important for the impressive
number of tree, orchard and pleasure gardens also to the south. The
facilities for the disposal of animal carcasses, which were under the
administration of the imperial city executioner, were located near the
Steinhäule. This was at the same time Wasenmeister (disposer, flayer,
clover master).
The Reichsstadt Schützenhaus was also located
south of the Danube. There the rifle club used to hold target practice
several times a week. At the same time, the southern bank of the Danube
was also the preferred local recreation area for the people of Ulm,
where people went for walks, promenades and stopped off in the taverns.
When the Danube then became a border river as a result of the Napoleonic
wars and territorial shifts between the new kingdoms of Württemberg and
Bavaria, passers-by were suddenly required to pass, including those from
Ulm who had their jobs across the Danube.
With the connection to
Württemberg, Ulm became the seat of an initially very small Oberamt, the
Ulm Oberamt. A year later, the city received the designation "Our good
city" and thus the right to its own member of the state parliament.
In 1811, Albrecht Ludwig Berblinger, "the tailor from Ulm", was
supposed to demonstrate the aircraft he had designed on the occasion of
the King of Württemberg's inaugural visit to the city. According to
eyewitnesses, Berblinger successfully completed several gliding flights
of several dozen meters "over meadows and gardens" in the area of the
upper Michelsberg with his aircraft. Unfortunately, Berblinger was not
supposed to present his flying skills there, but on the high bank of the
Adlerbastei near the Herdbrücke. Berblinger shied away from the
demonstration because he correctly assessed the thermals there as
extremely unfavorable for flight tests. The next day, the king was no
longer present, but his son was, and the aviation pioneer from Ulm was
back at the start. According to an ondit, the still hesitant Berblinger
was pushed off the Adlerbastei and ended up in the Danube instead of on
the Bavarian bank. Modern flight competitions have also shown that the
location chosen for Berblinger's flight demonstration in any case offers
very problematic conditions for gliding over with non-motorized
aircraft. The failed flight demonstration had devastating consequences
for Albrecht Berblinger. Far beyond Ulm, he became a ridiculous figure
of fun and was vulnerable to the ridicule of his contemporaries. He
himself gave up his experiments in bitterness, withdrew and died
unrecognized and impoverished. In the meantime (not only in Ulm)
Berblinger's honor has been restored with regard to his assessment as an
aviation pioneer. In addition to contemporary reports, modern replicas
of and tests with Berblinger's aircraft have clearly proven that it was
actually airworthy and that considerable distances can be covered with
good thermals.
In 1819 Ulm became the seat of the Württemberg
Danube district (roughly comparable to a government district) and was
able to significantly expand the area of responsibility of the Oberamt
Ulm by incorporating the short-lived Oberamt Albeck.
The opening
of the first continuous stretch of the Württemberg railway network from
Heilbronn to Friedrichshafen on June 1, 1850, as well as the massive
construction work on the construction of the federal fortress and the
completion of the Ulm Minster, which had been started since the middle
of the 19th century, brought new life to what had meanwhile become the
“provincial nest with 12,000 inhabitants” which has become Ulm. In the
wake of the erection of the federal fortress with 53 fortifications
around Ulm and Neu-Ulm and the completion of the Minster, as a result of
which Ulm received what is still the highest church tower in the world
since 1885 (the inauguration of the new west tower was on May 31, 1890),
prosperity returned.
The result of this revival was a sharp
increase in the number of inhabitants and the founding of numerous
commercial and industrial companies. The Ulm pharmacist Gustav Ernst
Leube rediscovered the art of cement production, which had been
forgotten since late antiquity, and founded Germany's first cement
factory in 1838 with his brothers, Wilhelm and Julius Leube. Conrad
Dietrich Magirus, commander of the Ulm volunteer fire brigade, worked on
the construction of firefighting equipment. He is credited with
inventing the mobile fire escape. In 1864, Magirus became a limited
partner in the newly founded Gebr. Eberhardt general partnership, which
manufactured and sold firefighting equipment. After disagreements
between Magirus and the Eberhardt brothers, Magirus then founded his own
company in 1866, which he called the fire brigade props factory C. D.
Magirus. In 1893, Karl Heinrich Kässbohrer, scion of an old Ulm
fisherman and boatman dynasty, founded the Kässbohrer wagon factory.
From 1910, bodies for passenger car chassis were mass-produced there for
the first time. The company also received the first patent for a
combined bus body for passenger and goods transport. In 1922 Kässbohrer
developed the first truck trailer. Against the background of the
important national function of the Ulm commander Magirus, the 1st German
Fire Brigade Day took place in Ulm in 1854.
The troops stationed
in the federal fortress from the middle of the 19th century also played
an important role in the development of Ulm and Neu-Ulm. In 1913, Ulm
had 60,000 inhabitants, including over 10,000 soldiers. In 1938, shortly
before the outbreak of the Second World War, the double city of
Ulm/Neu-Ulm was the largest garrison in the German Reich with more than
20,000 soldiers. The tolerant, rich-city people of Ulm were not
particularly fond of acts of war and the military. Rarely in the city's
history had war brought good. The aversion of the people of Ulm to
everything that was too military was shown e.g. B. that the imperial
city left large parts of the city's defense to foreign mercenaries very
early on, for whom the so-called "moat houses" were specially built
along the city wall. Ulm also always tried to settle territorial
disputes with its neighbors diplomatically, if necessary by paying
exorbitant amounts of money. Large parts of the former imperial city
territory had come into the hands of the people of Ulm through purchase
or debt redemption, not through military means. The introduction of
general conscription after the involuntary annexation to Bavaria and
Württemberg also met with bitter and long-lasting resistance in Ulm. All
in all, Ulm was repeatedly the object of various desires in the course
of its history, which were mostly pursued with military means to the
detriment of the city. As the capital of the Swabian League of Towns or
the Swabian Reichskreis, the city was always shaped by its own or
foreign military.
In 1918/19, the democracy of the Weimar Republic also took effect in
Ulm through the People's State of Württemberg. In 1919, active and
passive democratic voting rights were introduced for all people with the
Württemberg municipal law. A representative democracy with city councils
was created. Parties were founded, which organized themselves into
factions in the city council and controlled the administration with the
democratically elected mayor. However, the parties that wanted to
abolish this democracy, above all the National Socialists, became
stronger and stronger.[30] The First World War and the global economic
crisis that followed had hit Ulm particularly hard, as the city's
business enterprises were heavily export-oriented and, as former
armaments companies, were directly affected by reparation claims and
production restrictions imposed by the Versailles Treaty. The radical
reduction in the number of military stationed in Ulm due to the defeat
in World War I also had an extremely negative impact on the local
economy. In addition, the currency was destroyed by the inflation of
1922/1923, which briefly led to its own regional currency, the Wära
brand money.
The National Socialists and their allies, who
rejected democracy, succeeded in blaming the parties that supported the
Weimar Republic for the reparation obligations, the poor economic
situation and also for the dismantling of the military, combined with a
high proportion of anti-Semitism: The Jews were considered the
originators of all negative events in the Weimar Republic. In addition,
there was the fight against the communists, who rejected the Weimar
Republic itself. Since the late 1920s, the National Socialists have had
a large share of the vote in Ulm.
In the Ulm Reichswehr trial in
October 1930, three officers of the 5th Artillery Regiment stationed in
Ulm were accused of preparing for high treason and finally sentenced to
18 months in prison for distributing political (NSDAP) propaganda. Adolf
Hitler was personally questioned as a witness, used this for a
propaganda appearance, but also assured during his questioning by the
judge that he would only strive for political changes in accordance with
the constitution.
Immediately after the National Socialists took
power on January 30, 1933, the persecution of the Weimar Democrats,
Communists and Jews began. This was initially carried out by the SA and
SS on behalf of the NSDAP, later by the police authorities. Many of the
victims of this persecution were imprisoned and mistreated from 1933 to
1935 in the Oberer Kuhberg concentration camp, one of the fortifications
of the federal fortress of Ulm, without trial. The remaining prisoners
were later transferred to the Dachau concentration camp. Among them was
Kurt Schumacher. At the same time, democratic bodies and the democratic
rule of law were abolished. From 1933, the true rulers of Ulm were the
NSDAP district leader Eugen Maier and his superiors in the NSDAP
district of Württemberg-Hohenzollern.
In 1933, the Württemberg
political police set up a branch office in the new building, which
functioned as a branch of the Secret State Police from 1936 until the
end of the war.
From 1933 to 1935 there was the Oberer Kuhberg
concentration camp with mainly political prisoners in the fort of the
same name in the federal fortress of Ulm.
On April 22, 1934,
opposition representatives of the Evangelical Church from all over
Germany (German Reich) made the Ulm Declaration in the Ulm Minster, in
which they opposed efforts to subordinate the independence of the
Evangelical Church to the National Socialist state.
Due to the
administrative reforms during the Nazi era in Württemberg, the city of
Ulm became independent in 1938 and also became the seat of the Ulm
district, which had emerged from the old Oberamt.
During the
so-called Reichspogromnacht (November 9/10, 1938), the synagogue at Am
Weinhof 2 in Ulm, consecrated in 1873, was set on fire by an Ulm SA
group. In addition, members of the Jewish community were mistreated, in
which other Ulm citizens also participated. 56 men were imprisoned in
the Dachau concentration camp for several months. Two arrested people
from Ulm did not survive the torture there. The municipal fire brigade
quickly put out the fire in the synagogue, not to prevent the fire in
the shrine of the Jewish community, but because they wanted to prevent
the fire from spreading to neighboring buildings. To complete the Nazi
pogrom, the city administration ordered the building to be demolished a
few days later, forcing the Jewish community to finance it themselves.
After the "Reichskristallnacht" the remaining people of Jewish faith
living in Ulm were forcibly quartered in so-called Jewish houses. From
1941 to 1942, the remaining Ulm Jews were transported to the
extermination camps in the East to be murdered there. Only a few of the
deported Ulm Jews survived. From 1990 until the construction of the new
synagogue on the Weinhof opposite in 2012, a commemorative plaque on the
staircase of the Sparkasse Neue Straße 66 commemorated the 122 Ulm Jews
who were persecuted and murdered in the Shoah and their place of
worship. The memorial book of the Federal Archives for the victims of
the Nazi persecution of the Jews in Germany (1933-1945) lists 157 Jewish
residents of Ulm who were deported and mostly murdered.
There was
also isolated resistance to the National Socialist state. In 1942, a
group of high school graduates led by Hans and Susanne Hirzel and Franz
J. Müller formed the Ulm branch of the well-known Munich resistance
group, the Weiße Rose, in which the two Ulm residents Hans and Sophie
Scholl were active. Both resistance groups were arrested in 1943. Some
of its members were sentenced to death, some to prison terms.
In
1944 heavy air raids on Ulm began. At the end of the war - especially as
a result of the major attack on December 17, 1944 - 81% of the historic
old town was destroyed, but the cathedral was largely spared.
In
1945, the Dachau concentration camp maintained the Ulm SS labor camp in
the Söflingen district with 30 to 40 prisoners to build submarine parts
at Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz.
On April 24, 1945, Ulm was occupied
by US troops. Elsewhere in Germany, the war continued until early May.
The war finally ended on May 8th with the unconditional surrender of the
Wehrmacht.
Ulm was part of the American occupation zone and thus belonged to the
newly founded state of Württemberg-Baden since 1945, which was merged
into the current state of Baden-Württemberg in 1952.
The inner
city of Ulm, which was largely destroyed, was rebuilt in the decades
after the end of the war. The question of whether the reconstruction
should be historical or modern led to heated arguments. Most of the city
was rebuilt in the style of the 1950s and 1960s. In order to realize
large transport projects such as the "Neue Straße" as an east-west
thoroughfare, even the preserved historical building fabric was
sacrificed. However, there were also reconstructions of individual
buildings that were important for the history of the city, and numerous
modern buildings were more or less based on historical forms, e.g. the
pointed gables typical of Ulm. (See also Culture and Sights - Buildings
- Cityscape)
However, the reconstruction was not limited to the
old inner city of Ulm. The newly designated industrial area in the
Danube valley (1951) was of great importance for the further economic
development of the city. In the new Eselsberg district, numerous
displaced persons could be taken in, which quickly increased the number
of inhabitants to the level before the war and beyond.
After Ulm
had already hosted the 1st German Fire Brigade Day in 1854, the 22nd
German Fire Brigade Day also took place there from May 29th to 31st,
1953. It was the first after Nazi rule and World War II.
In 1953
the history of the School of Design, which was influential in the 1950s
and 1960s but has since closed, began. An engineering school opened its
teaching operations in 1960 and in 1972 it was incorporated into the
University of Applied Sciences for Economics and Technology. An
important impetus for the city was the founding of the University of Ulm
(1967), which was joined in 1982 by the University Hospital, which had
previously been city hospitals.
On January 1, 1973, the district
reform in Baden-Württemberg came into effect. Ulm became the seat of the
newly formed Alb-Donau-Kreis, but itself remained independent of a
district. In 1980 Ulm exceeded 100,000 inhabitants for the first time
and thus became a big city. In the same year, Ulm hosted the first state
garden show in Baden-Württemberg, in which the neighboring Bavarian town
of Neu-Ulm also took part.
The overcoming of the economic crisis
in the early 1980s also turned the former industrial city into a service
and science center, which in 1987, with a population of 104,000, was
able to boast the impressive number of 84,000 jobs.
In 2004 the city celebrated several important events: on the one hand
the 1150th anniversary of the first mention of Ulm, on the other hand
the 125th birthday of Albert Einstein, who was born on March 14, 1879 in
today's Bahnhofstraße. (However, the family moved to Munich shortly
after Albert's birth in 1880. Today there is a sculpture in honor of the
city's prominent Jewish son, who was expatriated by the Nazi
authorities, on the site of his birthplace.) Another major event was the
95th birthday of Albert. German Catholic Day from June 16th to 20th,
2004 under the motto "Life from God's power", in which about 30,000
believers took part.
In 2015, Ulm was awarded the honorary title
of "European City of Reformation" by the Community of Evangelical
Churches in Europe.
Between 1890 (36,000 inhabitants) and 1939 (75,000 inhabitants) the
city's population doubled. Due to the effects of the Second World War,
Ulm lost around 30 percent (20,000) of its residents by 1945. By 1951
the population had returned to pre-war levels. In 1980, the city's
population exceeded 100,000 for the first time, making it a major city.
This status was temporarily lost in the 1980s, but since the 1987 census
the population has consistently been over 100,000. According to the 2011
census, the number as of May 9, 2011 was 116,761 inhabitants and was
therefore lower than previously assumed (according to the Federal
Statistical Office, Ulm had over 120,000 inhabitants at the end of
2010). According to the Baden-Württemberg State Statistical Office,
126,790 people had their main residence at the end of December 2019, and
the number of inhabitants reached a new historic high for the fourth
year in a row. As of December 31, 2004, 19,570 residents (16.3 percent)
held a foreign passport (over 100 nations). 14.4 percent of the
residents were under 15 years old, 17.5 percent 65 years old or older.
Like other German cities, Ulm has a relatively low birth rate, but the
number of inhabitants is still increasing by 0.5 percent annually due to
immigration.
According to a report by the Baden-Württemberg State
Statistical Office, the city or urban district of Ulm will be the
youngest district in Baden-Württemberg in 2025. The average age of the
city will increase from the current 41.3 years to 44.5 years, which is
still well below the average age of other urban and rural districts in
the state. According to statistical projections, around 141,000 to
151,000 inhabitants are expected in Ulm for the year 2040. That would
mean an increase of around 11.5 to 19.5% compared to 2020.
The
metropolitan region of Ulm, with the adjoining districts of
Alb-Donau-Kreis and district of Neu-Ulm, has around 500,000 inhabitants.
According to the 2011 census, 25.9% of the residents were Protestant,
35.6% Roman Catholic and 38.5% were non-denominational, belonged to
another religious community or made no statement. The number of
Protestants and Catholics has since fallen. At the end of 2019, Ulm had
127,508 inhabitants, 30.6% were Catholic, 21.5% were Protestant and
47.9% had either another religion or no religion at all. In the previous
year 2018, 22.0% of the residents were Protestant and 31.4% Catholic.
The proportion of residents who “belong to a different faith or do not
specify” was 46.6%.
Figures for other religious communities were
last collected in the 2011 census. At that time, 3.3% of the population
were Orthodox Christians, 1.1% were members of a Protestant free church
and a further 4.1% belonged to other public religious communities
recognized in Baden-Württemberg (including the Old Catholic Church and
the Witnesses Jehovah's). According to calculations based on the figures
from the 2011 census, the proportion of the Muslim population in Ulm was
8.2%.
In 1529 Ulm joined the Protestant Imperial Estates at the Reichstag
in Speyer. In a vote from November 3 to 8, 1530, 1,621 out of 1,865
eligible voters opted for the Reformation. In 1531 the Reformation in
the Zwingl direction was introduced by the Constance reformer Ambrosius
Blarer, but Martin Luther soon approached this when the city received a
Lutheran church order in 1533. Thus, Ulm was a Protestant city for
centuries. Mayor Hans Ehinger von Balzheim († 1583) signed the Lutheran
Formula of Concord of 1577 for the City Council of Ulm. At the turn of
the 16th and 17th centuries, the proportion of Catholics in the
population of Ulm (around 20,000) fell to one percent (200 to 250 in
1624). This number remained constant until the middle of the 18th
century. The remaining priests were not allowed to preach, and Catholic
baptisms were only allowed to take place in private homes. For the
bridal mass, the celebration of which was forbidden in Ulm, the few
couples went to the Catholic Söflingen, where there had been a Clarissa
convent since 1258, which was dissolved in 1803. From the mid-17th
century, Catholics were barred from citizenship. The strongest groups
among the Catholics were the patricians and above all the journeymen,
servants and day laborers. At the beginning of the 19th century there
was a strong Catholic community again, and in 1805 the first Catholic
city parish after the Reformation.
After the transition to
Württemberg (1810), Ulm became the seat of a generalate (today the
prelature) within the Evangelical Church in Württemberg, to which the
Evangelical church members belong unless they are members of an
evangelical free church. There is also a deanery in Ulm at the
Adlerbastei - in addition to the evangelical prelature - whose post
holder presides over the evangelical church district of Ulm with a total
of 55,408 Protestants (as of 2005). The evangelical church community in
Ulm is the successor to the historic, independent Ulm Reichsstadtkirche
and currently forms a network of six church communities:
Auferstehungskirche, Christuskirche, Lukaskirche, Martin-Luther-Kirche,
Münster, Paul-Gerhardt-Kirche (was demolished in 2007 and gave way to
condominiums) and Pauluskirche . The elected representatives of these
six parishes form the Ulm parish council. This represents 21,561 church
members (as of 2006) and is responsible for the evangelical church life
in the city.
The Catholics in the city initially belonged to the
Diocese of Constance, later to the Diocese of Augsburg and from 1817 to
the General Vicariate of Rottenburg, from which later the Diocese of
Rottenburg and then the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, which still
exists today, emerged.
With the incorporation of surrounding
Catholic towns, the balance between Protestant and Catholic Christians
changed. Today, the proportion of Catholics in the total population is
35.0%, the Protestant faith is 25.5% (as of 2012).
Since the end
of the Iron Curtain, Ulm has seen a large immigration of Eastern
European populations, a large proportion of whom belong to various
Orthodox churches. The Russian-Orthodox community in Ulm, which has
grown significantly in recent years, uses not only the Valentinskapelle
(“Schmalzhäusle”) on the southern Münsterplatz for its services, but
also the former Baptist community center at the Judenhof, which it took
over in 2007.
There are also a number of United Methodist
Christians; In 2012, the two Methodist congregations in Ulm merged to
form the "EmK Ulm". The Evangelical Free Church community in Ulm has its
community center in Neu-Ulm. Furthermore, in Ulm there are Ecclesia and
Volksmission congregations belonging to the Federation of Free Church
Pentecostal Congregations, a Free Evangelical Congregation, an Adventist
Congregation and an assembly of the South German Community Association.
The Apostolic Community uses a former cemetery chapel in the city
center. The New Apostolic Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints and Jehovah's Witnesses are also represented with
their own congregations and places of worship in Ulm. The members of the
Old Catholic Church belong to the Augsburg congregation and hold their
services in Send.
The Jewish community in Ulm has a long and checkered history. Since
the Middle Ages there has been a Jewish community in Ulm (first
documented in 1241/42) with a synagogue in the Judenhof. During the
plague of 1349, the Jews were persecuted and their community almost
destroyed. In the second half of the 14th century, Jews settled again,
who were of great economic importance for the city, but were expelled
from the city in 1499. Only from 1806 could Jews move in again. A
separate Israelite community had existed since 1854. From 1871 to 1873 a
synagogue was built at Weinhof, which was destroyed on November 9, 1938.
Ulm had been the seat of a rabbinate since 1889. The highest number was
reached around 1880 with 694 Jewish believers. In 1933 around 530 Jews
lived in Ulm. These were largely forced to emigrate through
expropriation and other persecution by city institutions and fellow
citizens. 141 fellow citizens, the rest of the Jewish residents, were
forced by the city authorities to be transported (deported) to the
extermination camps. 121 Jewish fellow citizens were murdered there.
After the end of the war there was no more Jewish life in Ulm.
Only since 1990 did more and more Jews move to Ulm with the resettlers
from Eastern Europe, and since 1999 they have again been cared for by a
rabbi. Today, the Jewish community comprises around 450 citizens of Ulm.
According to the Executive Board of the IRGW (May 2008), an influx of
Jewish migrants to Ulm will result from an increased assignment of
Jewish new immigrants. In 2002, the Jewish community was re-established
as a branch of Stuttgart and on May 5 of the same year a new Jewish
community center with a prayer room was inaugurated, the first since the
synagogue was destroyed in 1938. On December 2, 2012, the new synagogue
was dedicated to the Jewish community in Ulm inaugurated in almost the
same place as the old synagogue, which was destroyed in 1938. In
addition to the closed old Jewish cemetery, which has been commemorated
by a memorial stone since 1987, there is a Jewish section in the city
cemetery in Ulm.
There are several mosques in Ulm, including a newly built one in
Weststadt with a prayer room for 400 men and 30 places for women on a
gallery, as well as a meeting room for 600 people, as well as a minaret
and domes.
In 2007 there was a stir because of a fundamentalist,
radicalized group of Muslims in Ulm who were close to the Islamic
Information Center (IIZ). Its board included two men who fought with
arms in Chechnya and were killed; one of the three men arrested in
September 2007 for plotting terrorist attacks in Germany was a member of
the IIZ. In addition, other fundamentalist activists have been linked to
the IIZ, leading to a raid there. The IIZ forestalled a planned ban and
dissolved itself in October 2007. Khaled al-Masri also frequented the
IIZ. On September 11, 2009, he attacked and beat the mayor of Neu-Ulm,
Gerold Noerenberg, in his office, so that Noerenberg then had to receive
medical treatment.
Salah Abdeslam, the main suspect in the
terrorist attacks of November 13, 2015 in Paris, was in Ulm on the night
of October 2-3, 2015. His rented car was spotted at a refugee shelter.
There he picked up three alleged accomplices.
The city of Ulm was initially headed by the mayor and the city
council. Since the 13th century there has been a mayor as managing
director of the council in addition to the mayor, who from 1345 took
over the presidency of the council and the management of the city. From
1325, after civil war-like turmoil, the guilds were given more say in
the Small Oath Letter alongside the urban patricians, who until then had
been the only ones to determine politics. Between 1397 and 1547, the
Great Letter of Oath as the constitution of the imperial city secured
the guilds a majority in the council and access to high municipal
offices. In 1547 the rights of the guilds, which were guaranteed in the
Great Letter of Oath, were abolished by Emperor Charles V and the
majority was again granted to the urban nobility (patriciate). From then
on, access to higher municipal offices was hardly possible for
non-nobles. Ulm became a de facto aristocratic republic. From then on,
originally 17 patrician families elected the mayor and the high civil
servants from among their ranks. As a result, almost all higher state
offices were held by the urban patriciate, on an honorary basis and
limited to one or two years. After their term of office, a kind of
blocking period applied to the former incumbents (particularly the
mayors), so that, with a few exceptions, they could not be elected to
the same office twice in succession, but could hold another office. In
1802 the imperial city constitution was repealed. Today the council has
40 members.
The Lord Mayor is directly elected for a term of
eight years. At the age of 68, he automatically resigns from office. The
last election to date took place on November 29, 2015. Gunter Czisch
(CDU) prevailed against six other candidates with 52.9% of the votes.
Czisch took office on February 29, 2016.
The best-known club in Ulm is SSV Ulm 1846, which played in the
Bundesliga with its football department in the 1999/2000 season. Today,
the department, which has been outsourced since January 2009, plays in
the 3rd soccer league. The volleyball women of SSV Ulm 1846 were German
champions and cup winners in 2003 and are currently playing in the
regional league south. With 9,500 members, SSV Ulm 1846 is the second
largest sports club in Baden-Württemberg. In basketball, the Bundesliga
club Ratiopharm Ulm is currently the most successful sports club in Ulm.
He has been playing in the 1st Basketball Bundesliga since 2006, won the
German Cup in 1996 and the German Championship in 2023. After SSV Ulm
1846, TSG Söflingen is the sports club with the most members in Ulm. It
is particularly successful in the gymnastics and handball section, but
also produces successful athletes in so-called niche sports such as
cycle ball and wheelchair basketball. With around 700 members, the ESC
Ulm is represented in the city with eight departments in the sports of
bowling, football, tennis, table tennis, gymnastics, taekwondo, fishing
and marksmanship. The bowlers in particular have played in the 1st and
2nd Bundesliga in the past. The Post SV Ulm e. V. was founded in 1952
and consists of six departments. The most successful department is the
chess department, which temporarily played in the Bundesliga. With Klaus
Bischoff, the club's most successful athlete also comes from her. The
association operates a tennis hall in Ulm.
The 1971 founded scuba
diving club Scuba Diving Group Ulm/Neu-Ulm e. V. is one of the largest
diving clubs in Baden-Württemberg with over 250 members. One of the
largest rowing clubs in Baden-Württemberg is the Ulmer Ruderclub Donau
e. V. With Urs Kauferer, who was world champion in the Germany Eights
2009 and participant at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, and Kerstin
Hartmann, some rowers from Ulm are in the national teams of their
respective age groups. In addition, the Ulm Rowing Club Donau e. V.
about some, partly reigning state and federal champions. The most
successful rowers from Ulm were Maximilian Reinelt in the eighth and
Raimund Hörmann senior. with Dieter Wiedenmann in a foursome. The latter
were twice vice world champions (1979 and 1982) and once world champion
(1983) and Olympic champion (1984).
The Ulmer Paddler Canoe Club
was founded in 1925 and operates a training course in the Iller Canal.
The Ulmer Kanufahrer e. V., which was also founded in 1925. The Ulm
Sparrows, who play American football, were founded in 1984 and are now a
sub-group of VfB Ulm. The baseball department of VfB Ulm played as the
Ulm Falcons in the Baseball Bundesliga from 2018 to 2022.
Ulm has
repeatedly been the venue for international sporting events. As part of
the 1972 Summer Olympics, four preliminary round games of the Olympic
handball tournament were held in Ulm's Donauhalle. Among other things,
the final of the 2001 European Football Championship for women took
place in Ulm's Donaustadion.
In 2016, Ulm, within the city limits, had a gross domestic product
(GDP) of €9.253 billion, ranking 38th among German cities by economic
output. In the same year, GDP per capita was €75,044 (Baden-Württemberg:
€43,632, Germany €38,180) and is thus well above the regional and
national average. In 2016, the city's economic output recorded nominal
growth of 2.8%. In 2016 there were around 122,400 employed people in the
city. The unemployment rate was 3.2% in December 2018, making it one of
the lowest among major German cities.
In the 2016 Atlas of the
Future, the independent city of Ulm was ranked 17th out of 402 rural
districts and independent cities in Germany, making it one of the
regions with “very good prospects for the future”.
Ulm has had a sustainable property and building policy since 1889. As a result, by 2021 it already has 45 km² of land (corresponds to approx. 38% of the city area, of 118.68 km²) and thus - in connection with corresponding social allocation and pricing policies for building plots - a decisive influence on the real estate market in the city area.
Ulm is the seat of a Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) (chamber
district: City of Ulm, Alb-Donau-Kreis and district of Biberach) and a
Chamber of Crafts (Chamber district: City of Ulm, Alb-Donau-Kreis,
district of Biberach, Bodenseekreis, district of Heidenheim, Ostalbkreis
and district of Ravensburg).
Ulm is an important location for
companies in the electronics industry and weapons manufacturing.
Ulm is also a traditional location for the commercial vehicle industry.
As early as 1866, the Ulm fire brigade commander Conrad Dietrich Magirus
founded a factory for the manufacture of firefighting equipment (see:
Magirus). The first turntable ladder was built there in 1892, the first
self-propelled steam fire engine in 1903, trucks from 1916 and buses
from 1919. In 1935/36 the Magirus company was taken over by
Klöckner-Deutz from Cologne. After the Second World War, the commercial
vehicle brand Magirus-Deutz, which was established on the market after
this merger, rose to become Germany's second-largest truck and bus
manufacturer and the German and European market leader for fire-fighting
vehicles. Between 1975 and 1983, the Magirus-Deutz brand with the Ulm
commercial vehicle plant was absorbed by Iveco, which belongs to the
Italian Fiat group, and which discontinued the Magirus-Deutz brand name,
but not production in Ulm. While firefighting vehicles continued to be
manufactured, truck (Iveco Stralis) manufacture was moved to Madrid in
2012, leaving only the development center in Ulm. The former parent
company of Magirus-Deutz (now Deutz AG) still builds engines in Ulm. The
Deutz plant in Ulm was expanded to become the company's internal center
for air-cooled diesel engines.
The Ulm-based company Kässbohrer,
which from 1951 built self-supporting buses under the Setra brand name,
dates back to 1893 and the initiative of Karl Heinrich Kässbohrer. At
the end of the 1960s, Kässbohrer was Germany's largest manufacturer of
buses and truck trailers. From 1993 the company was divided into today's
Kässbohrer Transport Technik, Kässbohrer Geländefahrzeug AG and the bus
division, which was taken over by Daimler-Benz and still manufactures
buses with the Setra name today under the name EvoBus, but since 2009
theirs location entirely in Neu-Ulm.
In addition to Daimler AG
with the research center built by Richard Meier on the Oberen Eselsberg,
Audi AG and BMW with their own research departments in Science Park II
are also represented from the automotive sector in Ulm.
The book
manufacturer Ebner & Spiegel GmbH, based in Ulm, produces more than 70
million books a year with around 500 employees. Ebner & Spiegel emerged
in 2002 from J. Ebner Graphische Betriebs GmbH & Co. KG, founded in
1817, and Franz Spiegel Buch GmbH, founded in 1930 by Franz Xaver
Spiegel. After the merger of the two traditional companies, the
internationally active group CPI from Paris invested 13 million euros in
the modernization of rotary printing and the bindery in the Ulm plant.
AEG Identification Systems GmbH (AEG ID): Identification electronics
(transponders, readers, antennas)
Airbus Defense and Space: Defense
and Security Systems
J. G. Anschütz GmbH & Co. KG: hunting and
sporting guns (e.g. for biathlon)
Atmel Germany GmbH: Semiconductors
Audi AG: Research and Development
Axians: IT management and service,
public software
Beiselen GmbH: wholesale in the agricultural sector
Beurer GmbH: Electrical devices for health and well-being (e.g. heating
pads, blood pressure and blood sugar monitors, clinical thermometers)
Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft (BMW AG): Research and
development
BMG MIS GmbH (formerly AEG MIS): liquid crystal displays
(LCD) for information systems of all kinds (focus: multimedia
applications in the mobile and stationary sector, both for indoor and
outdoor use)
Brewery Gold Ochsen: beer, beverage sales
CE Noerpel
GmbH: Transport and logistics service provider
Continental AG:
Research Center for Driver Assistance Systems
Daimler AG: Research
and Development
Daimler TSS GmbH: IT services
Deutsche Telekom AG:
Network Operation Center (Internet control center of the group)
Deutz
AG: Diesel engines
Ebner & Spiegel GmbH: Printing works
Elektrobit
Automotive GmbH: Automotive software
euro engineering AG: research,
development, construction, engineering services
Gardena GmbH: garden
equipment belonging to the Swedish company Husqvarna
Harman Becker
Automotive Systems GmbH (formerly TEMIC SDS GmbH): automotive supplier
(car radios, voice control, navigation devices)
Hensoldt: Defense and
Security Systems
H. Krieghoff GmbH: hunting and sporting guns (since
1886)
Iveco S.p.A.: commercial vehicle manufacturing (delivery and
customer center only, no more production since 2012)
Liqui Moly GmbH:
Additives, oils, car care products
Magirus GmbH (formerly Iveco
Magirus Brandschutztechnik GmbH): firefighting vehicles and equipment
MairDumont GmbH & Co. KG: the logistics center of the publishing house
(travel guides, atlases, city maps)
Mayser GmbH & Co. KG: tactile
sensors for safety technology
Mueller Holding Ltd. & Co. KG: Trade
(drugstore chain)
Nokia Networks B.V.[92] (formerly Nokia Solutions
and Networks and Nokia Siemens Networks): Telecommunications (research
and development)
Nuance Communications Inc.: Artificial Intelligence
(Research)
ratiopharm GmbH: patent-free pharmaceutical products
Schwenk Putztechnik GmbH & Co. KG: Factory dry mortar and thermal
insulation composite systems
Schwenk Cement KG: cement, concrete
Seeberger KG: Dried fruits, nut kernels and coffee
Seifert Logistics
Group: transport and logistics company
Joyson Safety Systems (Former
Takata KK: Manufacturer of occupant protection systems for automobiles)
(e.g. airbags, seat belt pretensioners)
Teva Pharmaceutical
Industries Ltd.: pharmaceuticals
Thales S.A.: military, aerospace,
security
Uzin Utz AG: Building chemicals
Carl Walther GmbH Sports
Weapons: Firearms and sports weapons
Wieland-Werke AG: semi-finished
products, tubes and sliding elements
Zwick Roell AG: testing machines
Emud: radio manufacturer (until 1972)
Britax Römer
Kindersicherheit GmbH: car and bicycle child seats, prams (until autumn
2016, move to Leipheim)
car2go GmbH: car sharing (until December 31,
2014)
Fritz & Macziol Group: IT system house
Manufactory Ulmer
Keramik (UK): Tableware, tiles, ceramic promotional items (until March
31, 1991)
Nokia: Telecom (Research and Development) (until December
31, 2012)
In the northeast of the city are the Donauhalle and the exhibition center with several halls that can also be used independently of one another. In addition, congresses and events take place in the Congress Centrum Ulm (CCU) and in the Kornhaus, including the annual Mail Order Booksellers Conference, organized by the German Book Trade Association. Numerous prefabricated house manufacturers have set up exhibition houses in the prefabricated house exhibition at the exhibition center. Furthermore, trade fairs and major events also take place in the Ratiopharm Arena event center, which is in the Neu-Ulm area but is used jointly with the neighboring city.
FUG GmbH (Fernwärme Ulm) operates one of the largest biomass cogeneration plants in Germany (60 MW installed capacity) in Ulm Weststadt (see also: List of power plants in Germany). In addition, in recent years Ulm has regularly taken one of the top spots in the big city category in the solar federal league and, along with Ingolstadt, is the German city in which the most solar power per inhabitant is produced. The world shop founded in Ulm in 1976 is one of the oldest and today the largest world shops in Germany. In 2007 and 2011, the city of Ulm received the European Energy Award for its exemplary municipal energy management and its services to climate protection. Since January 2008, the Ulm Minster has been completely supplied with renewable energy and since April 2008 the KfW 40 energy standard has been prescribed for new buildings in Ulm. In February 2010, the Alliance for 100% Renewable Energies was founded, which aims to achieve a conversion of the Ulm/Neu-Ulm region to 100% renewable energies by 2030 with all the key players in the Ulm/Neu-Ulm region.
In May 2013, the Ulm municipal council decided to draw up a climate protection concept. On November 24, 2015, the climate protection concept in the version of October 16, 2015 was adopted. The city of Ulm has set itself the goal of reducing municipal per capita greenhouse gas emissions by 20% every 10 years compared to the reference year 2010 (10 tons of CO2 per inhabitant and year) and thus savings of 80% by 2050 (target value: 2 tons CO2 per inhabitant and year).
Measurements in 2006 and 2007 showed that the permitted limit values for particulate matter and NO2 were clearly exceeded. The biggest cause of both pollutants is motorized road traffic. As a result, a clean air plan with various measures was adopted for the first time in 2008, e.g. the introduction of an environmental zone.
In the modal split of the choice of transport mode, the proportion of
motorized individual traffic is 49.8%, pedestrian traffic 23.3%, public
transport 15.5% and bicycle traffic 11.4% of the total traffic in the
city (as of 2008).
In 2011, the "Bike in Ulm" action alliance was
launched with the aim of increasing the proportion of bicycles in
traffic to 20% by 2020. Some points of the recommendations for action
drawn up at that time had already been implemented by 2014, including
the appointment of a bicycle officer, joining the AGFK-BW and the
"shards telephone".
Several motorways and federal roads, some of which are similar to
motorways, run through Ulm and past Ulm, which connect the city well to
the surrounding area and to cities further afield:
A 7:
Flensburg-Hamburg-Hanover-Kassel-Fulda-Würzburg-Ulm-Memmingen-Kempten-Füssen/Reutte
(Tyrol)
A 8: Karlsruhe-Stuttgart-Ulm-Augsburg-Munich-Salzburg
B
10: Pirmasens-Karlsruhe-Stuttgart-Ulm-Augsburg
B 28:
Strasbourg-Freudenstadt-Tübingen-Reutlingen-Ulm
B 30: Ulm–Biberach
(Riss)–Ravensburg–Friedrichshafen
B 311:
Ulm-Ehingen-Tuttlingen-Geisingen(-Donaueschingen)
There has been
an environmental zone in Ulm since January 1, 2009; since January 1,
2013, entry is only permitted with a green particulate matter sticker.
The environmental zone does not extend to the entire city area, but
mainly to the core city, and is essentially defined to the north and
west by the Berliner Ring, Kurt-Schumacher-Ring and Kuhbergring
(so-called north and west tangents) and to the south and east bordered
by the Danube.[108] Initially, the federal highway 10 running
north-south through the urban area was still excluded from the
environmental zone. However, this exemption was lifted on January 1,
2013 – at the same time as entry was restricted to green particulate
matter stickers and the introduction of new speed limits.
There
is an extensive pedestrian zone in the city center.
The total
street length in Ulm is 450 km. In addition, there are 20 km of pure
cycle paths.
A dense network of charging stations is available
for electric vehicles with 136 publicly accessible charging points (as
of June 2017).
Ulm is served by ICE and other European high-speed trains and is on
the main line for Europe Paris-Budapest, both cities can be reached
without changing trains. Since the Wendlingen–Ulm high-speed line went
into operation on December 11, 2022, Ulm has also been directly
connected to a high-speed line. It is part of the new and upgraded
Stuttgart–Augsburg line, which is intended to reduce travel time to
Stuttgart from the current 45 to 30 minutes. For the route from Ulm to
Augsburg, the aim is to reduce travel time from around 40 to 27 minutes.
The decision on finding the route is not expected before 2025. With the
Neu-Ulm 21 project, the Ulm–Neu-Ulm railway bridge was extended to four
tracks. Since the southern runway was electrified in December 2021,
Friedrichshafen and Friedrichshafen Airport can also be reached in less
than 60 minutes.
With twelve platform tracks, five of which are
stub tracks, Ulm Central Station is the city's most important transport
hub. There are other stations in the west (Ulm-Söflingen train station)
and east (Ulm Ost stop) as well as in the Donautal industrial area
(Ulm-Donautal stop).
In detail, the following railway lines meet
in Ulm:
Wendlingen–Ulm high-speed line: Ulm – Merklingen – Wendlingen
am Neckar
Filstalbahn: Ulm - Geislingen - Göppingen - Plochingen -
Stuttgart
Augsburg–Ulm railway line: Ulm–Augsburg
Railway line
Ulm-Friedrichshafen: Ulm - Biberach an der Riss - Aulendorf - Ravensburg
- Friedrichshafen
Ulm–Sigmaringen railway line: Ulm–Ehingen
(Donau)–Sigmaringen
Brenz Railway: Ulm - Heidenheim - Aalen
With the Regio-S-Bahn Donau-Iller, there is an S-Bahn network integrated
into the Donau-Iller local transport network (DING) in the greater Ulm
area. Lines S 7 (Ulm–Memmingen) and S 71 (Ulm–Weißenhorn) have been in
operation in Bavaria since the end of 2020. In December 2021, five more
lines went into operation with the endpoints of Munderkingen, Aulendorf
and Aalen. In the long term, eight lines are planned with Ulm Central
Station as a hub between the regional S-Bahn, regional and long-distance
traffic.
22 lines of the Stadtwerke Ulm/Neu-Ulm GmbH (SWU) serve the city
area, including two tram lines and 20 bus lines as well as more than 35
lines of other transport companies. The construction of the second tram
line began in the summer of 2015, and on December 8, 2018, the
approximately nine-kilometer route was put into operation with a
ceremony. Thus, all parts of the city and the nearby surrounding area
are connected.
At the end of 2005, the SWU introduced eight night
lines on the weekends, which also serve all parts of Ulm and the
surrounding area every hour after midnight. When the timetable changed
in December 2006, the city introduced a number of additional buses after
midnight for towns and communities outside of Ulm where no night lines
previously operated. All companies travel at the same price within the
Donau-Iller local transport network (DING).
More and more long-distance bus companies are now traveling to Ulm from all over Germany, with connections from Berlin, Mannheim, Nuremberg, Oberstdorf etc. The long-distance bus stop is in Ulm-Böfingen on Eberhard-Finckh-Straße with a direct connection to the tram in the direction of the main station.
Ulm is located on the Danube Cycle Path, which leads from the source
of the Danube via Passau, Vienna and Budapest to the mouth of the Black
Sea.
The Iller cycle path, which leads from Oberstdorf via
Memmingen to Ulm, also ends in Ulm.
Another important
long-distance tourist route is the Danube-Lake Constance cycle path,
which connects the city with the Lake Constance area.
The
Alb-Neckar cycle path begins in Ulm and leads across the Swabian Jura to
Heilbronn.
The Hohenlohe-Ostalb-Weg leads from Rothenburg ob der
Tauber over the Ostalb into the city.
As a hiking club, the Schwäbische Albverein looks after a well-developed network of long-distance hiking trails through southern Germany that touch Ulm. The Schwäbische-Alb-Südrand-Weg (HW 2) and the Main-Donau-Bodensee-Weg (HW 4), which cross in the city area, are important. Both paths in turn have numerous access paths from the surrounding area in the Ulm city area.
The nearest major airports are in Stuttgart (approx. 80 km) and in
Munich (approx. 160 km), travel time by train approx. 120 minutes. With
the completion of the high-speed line to Stuttgart, Stuttgart Airport
can be reached in less than 30 minutes. There are also long-distance bus
connections to Munich and Stuttgart airports.
The nearest
regional airports are in Memmingen, about 50 km away (Memmingen
Airport). This can be reached by train and bus in about 75 minutes.
Friedrichshafen (Friedrichshafen Airport), which is about 100 km away
and also flies to national destinations, can be reached by train in 75
minutes. Since the summer of 2005, no scheduled flights have been
offered from Augsburg Airport, which is about 80 km away. The nearest
airfield is the Erbach (Donau) (ICAO:EDNE) sports airfield, 10 km from
Ulm, with a 630 m × 30 m grass runway, suitable for powered aircraft up
to 2 t MPW, powered gliders, helicopters, ultralight aircraft, gliders
(towing & winch launch possible) and balloons.
The Südwest Presse has the largest share of subscribers. Competitors
are the Schwäbische Zeitung and the "Neu-Ulmer Zeitung", a regional
edition of the Augsburger Allgemeine with a local section for Ulm. The
range of e-media is broader: there is a regional studio (TV and radio)
of the SWR, the private radio stations Radio 7 and Donau 3 FM, the free
radio freeFM, the journalistic and news-oriented, non-commercial
Internet portal ulmnews, which is accessible to everyone , the online
magazine Team-Ulm, which is operated on a voluntary basis, and a number
of other Internet portals that also offer their users (rather cultural)
information from the region, but mostly targeted (leisure) offers and
opportunities for use. In addition, there is a local radio station, the
hit radio MS One.
Since September 22, 2005, a TV station called
Regio TV Schwaben has been based in Ulm. This broadcasts from Monday to
Friday between 6 p.m. and midnight a daily, half-hourly repeating
program that reports on Ulm, the Alb-Donau-Kreis, the Neu-Ulm district
and Biberach.
Ulm is the seat of a district court and a regional court, a labor
court, a social court and a police headquarters. Furthermore, Ulm has a
tax office, a main customs office and an employment agency, to which
branch offices in Biberach and Ehingen are attached. The Ulm and
Alb-Donau job centers are also located in the city of Ulm.
The
city is the seat of the Ulm Prelature and the church district of Ulm of
the Evangelical Church in Württemberg and the Ehingen-Ulm Deanery
Association of the Rottenburg-Stuttgart Diocese.
The University Hospital Ulm is one of the five university hospitals in Baden-Württemberg. On the one hand, it is a maximum care hospital and is responsible for the service area of Ostwuerttemberg, Donau-Iller and Bodensee-Oberschwaben. On the other hand, within the medical faculty of the University of Ulm, it is involved in the practical training of the subjects human medicine and dentistry. The clinic has a total of 1,264 inpatient beds (as of March 2014). Almost 6,400 employees – including around 850 doctors – are available for around 192,000 cases per quarter. The various clinics and institutes of the overall clinic are mainly spread over three locations in the city: Oberer Eselsberg/Wissenschaftsstadt, Michelsberg and Safranberg.
Ulm is the location of one of the five German Bundeswehr hospitals. It is located in the immediate vicinity of the university hospital on the Oberen Eselsberg and has a total of 496 inpatient beds, of which 323 are intended for the treatment of civilian patients in the hospital plan of the state of Baden-Württemberg. With the exception of the missing departments for gynecology and paediatrics, the Bundeswehr hospital, like the university hospital, is also a maximum-care hospital. The BWK is also the location of the rescue helicopter Christoph 22 stationed in Ulm.
The RKU - University and Rehabilitation Clinics Ulm was originally founded in 1984 as a rehabilitation hospital in Ulm. The hospital specializes in neurology, orthopaedics, medical and occupational rehabilitation and has a total of 232 beds in the clinical area and 81 beds in the rehabilitation area. Due to joint sponsorship by Sana Kliniken AG and the University Hospital Ulm, the neurological and orthopedic clinics of the RKU are also part of the University Hospital. Like the Bundeswehr Hospital and the University Hospital, the RKU is also based on the Oberen Eselsberg.
The main cemetery in Ulm on Stuttgarter Strasse north of the center
was built in the 1890s after the cemeteries in individual parts of the
city were no longer sufficient for burials. It also has a large number
of graves of prominent citizens of Ulm.
In this cemetery there
are also numerous graves of soldiers of the Red Army as prisoners of war
and forced labourers. In addition, next to the cemetery hall, a memorial
stone commemorates the many hundreds of Ulm citizens who became victims
of the Nazi regime of violence.
Due to its strategically important location, Ulm has often been
fought over in its history. The stationing of military units in Ulm
therefore has a long tradition: Ulm has been a garrison town since 1666;
in the meantime there were up to 18 barracks in the city. Since the
1950s, Ulm has been the seat of numerous associations and high-ranking
staffs of the German Armed Forces. The still great importance of the
location Ulm for the Bundeswehr is also reflected in the fact that until
a few years ago there were only three barracks in Ulm: the Wilhelmsburg
barracks on the Michelsberg, the Hindenburg barracks on the Eselsberg
and the Bleidorn- barracks on the Kuhberg; there is also the Rommel
barracks in the neighboring community of Dornstadt. Ulm is also the
location of one of the remaining five Bundeswehr hospitals in Germany,
the Bundeswehr Hospital Ulm.
Today's Wilhelmsburg barracks were
built in 1969 north of the citadel of the former federal fortress in Ulm
- the Wilhelmsburg - by merging several barracks and fortress buildings
(including the former Flanders barracks and Fort Prittwitz) into one
barracks complex. The first units stationed in the approximately
40-hectare barracks were the Pioneer Material Company 201 and the
Topography Battery 201. In the meantime (until it moved to the
Bundeswehr hospital), the first Ulm rescue helicopter SAR 75 was also
based in the Wilhelmsburg barracks. The main users of the barracks today
include the Multinational Operational Command Command (which emerged in
2013 from the Operational Command Intervention Forces Command, which is
also stationed in Ulm), the Ulm Army Music Corps and the Feldjäger. The
site has a total of around 1,000 soldiers and civilian employees.
The Hindenburg barracks were built between 1934 and 1936 as part of
the build-up of the Wehrmacht on the lower Eselsberg. After the Second
World War, the facility was first used as accommodation for displaced
persons and later by the US Army. After the German armed forces were
re-established in 1955, various Bundeswehr units were stationed in the
Hindenburg barracks, most recently three companies (around 360 soldiers)
of the 41st Hospital Regiment. After the last soldiers left on October
1, 2014, the barracks became temporary during the 2015 refugee crisis
used as accommodation for up to 200 asylum seekers. In the early 2020s,
the barracks area is to be completely redesigned and used as a
residential and commercial area.
The lead thorn barracks were
also created in 1934 by expanding an artillery barracks in Fort Unterer
Kuhberg. Similar to the Hindenburg barracks, the Bleidorn barracks were
initially used as a DP camp in the post-war period before soldiers were
housed in the buildings again: among other things, from 1958 the staff
of the former Pioneer Command 2 and until 2012 the district military
replacement office in Ulm. Between October 2015 and September 2016,
refugees were housed on the site as well as in the Hindenburg barracks.
Today, only the Bundeswehr Service Center Ulm and the Ulm Careers Advice
Office are housed in the Bleidorn Barracks as a branch of the Bundeswehr
Careers Center Stuttgart. According to the 2011 stationing concept, the
final closure of the Bleidorn barracks was originally planned for 2018,
but the time has since been postponed to probably 2025.
Despite its status as a big city, Ulm does not have a professional fire brigade. Instead, the Ulm fire brigade is organized as a volunteer fire brigade with full-time employees and is divided into the department of fire officers (with its 63 full-time fire fighters) and 15 departments of the volunteer fire brigade with around 500 volunteer fire fighters. The permanently manned main fire station of the Ulm fire brigade is located on Keplerstraße in the Stadtmitte district.
The University of Ulm was founded in 1967 as a medical and scientific
university. The range of subjects today includes natural sciences,
medicine, engineering, mathematics, economics and computer science.
Currently (winter semester 2022/23) 10,316 students are enrolled.
Ulm has a university (before 2006 Ulm University of Applied
Sciences), which was founded in 1960 as a "state engineering school".
The Neu-Ulm University of Applied Sciences, which is based in the sister
city of Neu-Ulm, has an influence on the Ulm university landscape
through close cooperation with the Ulm University of Applied Sciences
(including joint courses).
In 1953, Inge Aicher-Scholl, Otl
Aicher and Max Bill founded the Ulm School of Design (HfG Ulm), which
stood in the tradition of the Bauhaus and was of international
importance. It was closed in 1968 after the state government of
Baden-Württemberg stopped funding.
Since 2014, Ulm has also been
the location of the private University of Communication and Design
(HfK+G*).
The Academy for Performing Arts (adk) is an acting school. It was
founded in 1996 and has 16 teaching and training rooms in Fort Unterer
Kuhberg with a total area of 1200 m². The Ulm Academy Theater (see
above), the Ulm Chamber Opera (a music theater ensemble made up of
adk-ulm lecturers and guests) and a puppet theater are connected to the
adk-Ulm. the FiThea. All facilities have a regular schedule.
The
Academy for Health Professions is part of the University Hospital. This
has specialized in the training and further education of therapeutic,
nursing and technical-medical professions. It was founded over 35 years
ago and is based in the Wiblingen monastery. The academy's nine
vocational schools have over 700 training places.
Ulm has 21 elementary schools, five primary and secondary schools, eight secondary schools, seven general secondary schools (Humboldt-Gymnasium (the oldest school in Ulm), Kepler-Gymnasium, Schubart-Gymnasium, St. Hildegard-Gymnasium (Catholic free school for girls) , Anna-Essinger-Gymnasium, Albert-Einstein-Gymnasium (one of four in the country with a course for the gifted) and Hans and Sophie Scholl-Gymnasium), four specialist grammar schools (technical grammar school of the Robert-Bosch School, commercial grammar school of the Friedrich-List School, vocational Gymnasium of the Valckenburg School, Technical Gymnasium of the Ferdinand-von-Steinbeis-School) as well as 12 special education and counseling centers. There are also 6 vocational schools (including an additional special vocational school), 21 vocational schools, 1 free evangelical elementary school, 1 evening high school with evening secondary school, 5 technical schools, 13 vocational colleges, 2 Waldorf schools and other private general and vocational schools. There are a total of around 70 general and vocational schools in Ulm (some with several branches of school). With the Elly-Heuss-Realschule, the city of Ulm has the only secondary school in the country with a pure art profile. Several of these schools belong to the Kuhberg Education Center.
In Ulm there is a wide range of extracurricular educational
opportunities. The largest provider is the Ulm Adult Education Center
(vh), which trains more than 20,000 people every year in over 3,000
courses, lectures and other events. The vh also offers special offers
for target groups – e.g. B. in the women's academy or her culture
workshop and youth art school kontiki.
In addition to private
providers and the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, denominational
further education institutions such as the House of Encounters, the
Evangelische Kreisbildungswerk, the Familien-Bildungsstätte (ev.), the
Catholic Bildungswerk and the Kolping Bildungswerk (cath.) also offer a
wide range of educational opportunities. The Center for General
Scientific Continuing Education (ZAWiW) places a special focus on senior
citizen education. The Music School of the City of Ulm and the City
Youth Council Ulm offer a wide range of educational opportunities for
young people.
With a stock of more than 560,000 media (2009), the Ulm City Library is one of the largest public libraries in Germany. As a scientific library, the University Library Ulm has more than 910,000 books, the library of the University of Ulm more than 50,000.
As a reaction to the economic structural crisis at the beginning of the 1980s, which affected not only many classic industrial locations but also Ulm, the concept of the science city was developed in 1987 with the significant participation of the then Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg, Lothar Späth. One of the guiding principles of the concept is to better dovetail university and industrial research and thus create new jobs. The centerpiece of the Science City (Science Park) located on the Oberen Eselsberg near the university campus are the affiliated institutes, which conduct application-oriented research in close cooperation with the university, university hospital, colleges and industry. The first such institute was founded in 1985: the ILM – Institute for Laser Technologies in Medicine. Furthermore, research centers of large international corporations (e.g. Daimler, Nokia, Siemens) have also settled here. After the area of the Science City had to be expanded in the 1990s due to high demand (Science Park II), the city is planning another expansion from the end of the 2010s (Science Park III).
IDT – Institute for Diabetes Technology
IKT – Institute for
Clinical Transfusion Medicine and Immunogenetics
IMM – Institute for
Media Research and Media Development
HIU – Helmholtz Institute Ulm
ILM – Institute for Laser Technologies in Medicine and Measurement
Technology
ZSW – Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research
IQST – Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technologies (main
location of the first German quantum computer)
DASU – Transfer Center
for Digitization, Analytics and Data Science
IFA – Institute for
Finance and Actuarial Sciences / Institute for Insurance Sciences
Institute for Quantum Technologies (German Aerospace Center)
The main part of the city has the area code 0731. There are
exceptions
Ermingen with the number 07304,
Eggingen, Einsingen,
Donaustetten and Gögglingen with the number 07305 and
Unterweiler
with the number 07346.
In addition to a number of personalities who were granted honorary citizenship by the city of Ulm, numerous personalities were born in Ulm, spent part of their lives in the city or died here. Due to the large number of these personalities, a separate article was created.
"In Ulm, around Ulm and around Ulm."
– well-known tongue twister
(the tongue twister was also used in the hit song of the same name by
Gus Backus and was the title of a 1964 happening by Wolf Vostell that
took place in Ulm)
"Ulm money rules the world."
– medieval
figure of speech
“The city of birth clings to life as something
as unique as coming from one's birth mother. We also owe a part of our
character to our birthplace. So I think of Ulm with gratitude, as it
combines noble artistic tradition with a simple and healthy nature.”
- Albert Einstein
"If I had the power of Venice and the splendor
of Augsburg, Nuremberg jokes and Strasbourg rifles and Ulm money, I
would be the richest person in the world."
- Saying