Gengenbach

Gengenbach

Coat of arms
Gengenbach

Coordinates: 48°24′N 8°01′E / 48.400°N 8.017°E / 48.400; 8.017Coordinates: 48°24′N 8°01′E / 48.400°N 8.017°E / 48.400; 8.017
Country Germany
State Baden-Württemberg
Admin. region Freiburg
District Ortenaukreis
Government
  Mayor Thorsten Erny
Area
  Total 61.91 km2 (23.90 sq mi)
Population (2013-12-31)[1]
  Total 10,666
  Density 170/km2 (450/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 77723
Dialling codes 07803
Vehicle registration OG
Website www.stadt-gengenbach.de

Gengenbach is a town in the district of Ortenau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany and a popular tourist destination on the western edge of the Black Forest with about 11,000 inhabitants. Gengenbach is well known for its traditional Alemanic "fasnacht", ("Fasend"), a kind of historically influenced celebration of carnival, where tradition is followed, from wearing costumes with carved wooden masks to clapping with a "Ratsche" (a traditional-classic wooden "sound-producing" toy). Gengenbach also boasts a picturesque, traditional, medieval town centre ("Altstadt"). The traditional town Gengenbach is the proud owner of the world's biggest advent calendar. The 24 windows of the 18th century town hall represent the 24 "windows" of an Advent calendar. The town also hosts a department of The Graduate School of Offenburg University of Applied Sciences, part of the University of Applied Sciences Offenburg. The nearest cities in the region are Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Baden-Baden and Strasbourg/France. Gengenbach is twinned with the town of Obernai, Alsace, France.

History

Gengenbach was founded in the 13th century and became an Imperial Free City in 1360.

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References

External links


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, June 21, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.