Bad Buchau
Encyclopedia
Bad Buchau is a small town in the district of Biberach
Biberach (district)
Biberach is a district in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Ravensburg, Sigmaringen, Reutlingen and Alb-Donau, and the Bavarian districts Neu-Ulm, Unterallgäu and the district-free city Memmingen...

, Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 with about 4,000 inhabitants. It is situated near the Federsee
Federsee
Federsee is a lake located just north of Bad Buchau in the region of Upper Swabia in Southern Germany. It is surrounded by moorland, partially overgrown with reeds. With a size of 33 km² , the area is one of the largest, groundwater fed, connected moorlands in Southern Germany. At its deepest...

, which is separated from the town by a wide reed belt.

Bad Buchau incorporates the nine villages of Allmannsweiler, Dürnau, Kanzach, Betzenweiler, Moosburg, Alleshausen, Seekirch, Tiefenbach and Oggelshausen.

The official language is German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

, day-to-day conversations by the majority of its inhabitants are in Swabian dialect
Swabian German
Swabian is one of the Alemannic dialects of High German. It is spoken in Swabia, a region which covers much of Germany's southwestern state Baden-Württemberg, including its capital Stuttgart, the rural area known as the Swabian Alb, and Bavaria...

.

History

  • Buchau Abbey
    Buchau Abbey
    Buchau Abbey or the Imperial Abbey of Buchau was a nunnery, and later collegiate foundation, in the present town of Bad Buchau in Baden-Württemberg, Germany....

     was founded in 770AD by the Frankish Count Warin and his wife Adelindis, from whom the present "Adelindisfest" takes its name. The church still serves as the parish church.
  • 819 and 857 Grants for the Abbey are received from the Frankish Kings Louis the Pious
    Louis the Pious
    Louis the Pious , also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of Aquitaine from 781. He was also King of the Franks and co-Emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813...

     and Louis the German
    Louis the German
    Louis the German , also known as Louis II or Louis the Bavarian, was a grandson of Charlemagne and the third son of the succeeding Frankish Emperor Louis the Pious and his first wife, Ermengarde of Hesbaye.He received the appellation 'Germanicus' shortly after his death in recognition of the fact...

     respectively.
  • 902 The three sons of countess Adelindis, Gerhard, Beringer and Reginolf, are killed when attempting to abduct their sister, the Abbess Adelindis, from Buchau's Abbey in order to get her married. Countess Adelindis joins the Abbey in order to atone for their deed and is to this day admired as a great Benefactrix and Saint of the people. She rests together with her slain sons in the crypt of the collegiate church.
  • 1014 or 1022 A mint and market is mentioned by the Abbey. Buchau appears for the first time as a "Freie Reichsstadt" (Free Imperial City).
  • 1417 The Abbey is declared a secular convent and accepts daughters of aristocrats, mostly from Swabian Duchies.
  • 1577 The Free Imperial City incorporated a Jewish Community, which quickly gains prominence under the protection of the city.
  • 1650 A Jewish Cemetery is constructed, where c. 1000 departed rest today.
  • 1730 and 1837 Erection of a synagogue for the growing Jewish community.
  • 1774 - 1776 The collegiate church is transformed from a gothic style to that of French classicism for the Ladies of the Abbey.
  • 1787 and 1808 the Federsee
    Federsee
    Federsee is a lake located just north of Bad Buchau in the region of Upper Swabia in Southern Germany. It is surrounded by moorland, partially overgrown with reeds. With a size of 33 km² , the area is one of the largest, groundwater fed, connected moorlands in Southern Germany. At its deepest...

    's level is lowered, yet hopes to gain farm land in this manner are dashed. However, the construction of roads is now possible.
  • 1802/1803 The Freedom of the 'Free City' and the convent ends. Both become the property of the Baron of Thurn and Taxis by decree of the Regensburg parliament "Reichstag von Regensburg".
  • 1806 Buchau becomes a township of the kingdom of Württemberg
    Württemberg
    Württemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg or Wurtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....

    .
  • 1807 The Jewish community receive the right to acquire goods.
  • 1828 The Jewish community receive their civil liberties.
  • 1847 "Hermann Einstein"http://einstein-website.de/biographies/einsteinhermann.html, father of Albert Einstein, is born.
  • 1896 - 1917 The narrow-gauge railway Schussenried - Buchau - Riedlingen
    Riedlingen
    Riedlingen is a town in the district of Biberach, Baden-Württemberg, in the south-west of Germany. It is one of the destinations of the Upper Swabian Baroque Route. There are ca. 10,000 inhabitants.- Geography :...

     is being built as a feeder line to and from the main railroad line.
  • 1911 The boardwalk is installed, which leads to the Federsee by intersecting a wide reed belt. Buchau and the Federsee area are quickly becoming well known through archaeological digs in the moor. Noteworthy is the unearthing of the Waterfortress Buchau "Wasserburg Buchau", a settlement from the late Bronze Age (1100-800 BC). Establishment of the Wildlife Preserve Federsee, which today presents the largest turf moor wildlife preserve in Baden-Wuerttemberg.
  • 1938 The Synagogue is demolished, the Jewish community destroyed.
  • 1949 Opening of the civic spa.
  • 1963 Buchau receives the title of "Bad" ("Spa") and is henceforth known as Bad Buchau
  • 1968 Opening of the new Federseemuseum. The "Federseemuseum" http://www.federseemuseum.de has extraordinary exhibits relating to the Stone Age
    Stone Age
    The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...

     and Bronze Age
    Bronze Age
    The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

    . The area is extremely rich in archaeological artifacts from this era.
  • 1969 The narrow-gauge railroad line is ultimately retired.
  • 1963 - 1998 Expansion of Bad Buchau's Spa with a thermal spring and large spa gardens.

World heritage site

The prehistoric settlement at Siedlung Forschner is part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps
Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps
Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps is a series of prehistoric pile-dwelling settlements in and around the Alps built from around 5000 to 500 B.C. on the edges of lakes, rivers or wetlands...

 a UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 World Heritage Site.

Other

The most well-known company is "Franz Kessler GmbH"http://www.franz-kessler.de/EN/index.htm, based in Bad Buchau's light industrial area of Kappel.

External links

Town Website German Wiki for Bad Buchau AmFedersee.de
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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