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Donaueschingen is a German
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 town in the Black Forest
Black Forest

The Black Forest is a forest mountain range in Baden-W?rttemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south....
 in the southwest of the federal state
States of Germany

Germany is a federation consisting of sixteen states, known in German language as L?nder . Since Land is the literal German word for "country", the term Bundesl?nder is commonly used colloquially, as it is more specific, though technically incorrect within the corpus of German law....
 of Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg

Baden-W?rttemberg is one of the 16 States of Germany of the Federal Republic of Germany. Baden-W?rttemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine?but one which has some of its major cities straddling the banks of the Neckar River ....
 in the Schwarzwald-Baar district (Kreis
Districts of Germany

German districts are administrative units used in Germany and the former state of Prussia. The districts are at an intermediate level of administration between the and the local / municipal levels ....
). It stands near the confluence of the two sources of the river Danube
Danube

The Danube is the longest river in the European Union and Europe's second longest river after the Volga.The river originates in the Black Forest in Germany as the much smaller Brigach and Breg River rivers which join at the eponymously named German town Donaueschingen, after which it is known as the Danube and flows eastwards for a distance...
 (in ,; the town's name is an eponym
Eponym

An eponym is a person, whether real or fictitious, after whom a particular toponym, ethnonym, regnal year, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named....
).

Donaueschingen stands in a basin
Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent of land where water from rain or snow melt drains downhill into a body of water, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea or ocean....
 within low mountainous terrain. It is located about south of Villingen-Schwenningen
Villingen-Schwenningen

Villingen-Schwenningen is the largest city of the Schwarzwald-Baar district located in the south of Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany. It has 81,520 inhabitants ....
, west of Tuttlingen
Tuttlingen

Tuttlingen is a town in Baden-W?rttemberg, capital of the Tuttlingen . The county includes several surrounding towns including Trossingen, Spaichingen, and M?hlheim....
, and about north of the Swiss town of Schaffhausen
Schaffhausen

Schaffhausen is a city in northern Switzerland and the capital of the Canton of Schaffhausen; it has an estimated population of 33,527 March 31, 2005....
. In 2003, the population was 21,300 making it the second largest town in the district (Kreis)
Districts of Germany

German districts are administrative units used in Germany and the former state of Prussia. The districts are at an intermediate level of administration between the and the local / municipal levels ....
 of Schwarzwald-Baar.






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Donaueschingen is a German
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 town in the Black Forest
Black Forest

The Black Forest is a forest mountain range in Baden-W?rttemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south....
 in the southwest of the federal state
States of Germany

Germany is a federation consisting of sixteen states, known in German language as L?nder . Since Land is the literal German word for "country", the term Bundesl?nder is commonly used colloquially, as it is more specific, though technically incorrect within the corpus of German law....
 of Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg

Baden-W?rttemberg is one of the 16 States of Germany of the Federal Republic of Germany. Baden-W?rttemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine?but one which has some of its major cities straddling the banks of the Neckar River ....
 in the Schwarzwald-Baar district (Kreis
Districts of Germany

German districts are administrative units used in Germany and the former state of Prussia. The districts are at an intermediate level of administration between the and the local / municipal levels ....
). It stands near the confluence of the two sources of the river Danube
Danube

The Danube is the longest river in the European Union and Europe's second longest river after the Volga.The river originates in the Black Forest in Germany as the much smaller Brigach and Breg River rivers which join at the eponymously named German town Donaueschingen, after which it is known as the Danube and flows eastwards for a distance...
 (in ,; the town's name is an eponym
Eponym

An eponym is a person, whether real or fictitious, after whom a particular toponym, ethnonym, regnal year, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named....
).

Donaueschingen stands in a basin
Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent of land where water from rain or snow melt drains downhill into a body of water, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea or ocean....
 within low mountainous terrain. It is located about south of Villingen-Schwenningen
Villingen-Schwenningen

Villingen-Schwenningen is the largest city of the Schwarzwald-Baar district located in the south of Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany. It has 81,520 inhabitants ....
, west of Tuttlingen
Tuttlingen

Tuttlingen is a town in Baden-W?rttemberg, capital of the Tuttlingen . The county includes several surrounding towns including Trossingen, Spaichingen, and M?hlheim....
, and about north of the Swiss town of Schaffhausen
Schaffhausen

Schaffhausen is a city in northern Switzerland and the capital of the Canton of Schaffhausen; it has an estimated population of 33,527 March 31, 2005....
. In 2003, the population was 21,300 making it the second largest town in the district (Kreis)
Districts of Germany

German districts are administrative units used in Germany and the former state of Prussia. The districts are at an intermediate level of administration between the and the local / municipal levels ....
 of Schwarzwald-Baar. The location of the town is favourable for its role as a regional rail hub.

Geography

Donaueschingen lies in the Baar Basin in the southern Black Forest
Black Forest

The Black Forest is a forest mountain range in Baden-W?rttemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south....
 at the confluence of the Brigach
Brigach

Brigach is a river in Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany. The shorter of the two streams that form the river Danube, Brigach has its source at 925 metres above sea level within Sankt Georgen in the Black Forest....
 and Breg
Breg River

The Breg is a river in Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany. It is the right-side and longer one of the two streams that form the river Danube. It springs at 1078 m above sea level in the Black Forest, near Furtwangen im Schwarzwald, 100 m away from the European Watershed....
 rivers— the two source tributaries of the Danube River— from which the town gets its name.

The town is close to Lake Titisee
Titisee

Titisee is a lake in the southern Black Forest in Baden-W?rttemberg. It is said it got its name from Roman Emperor Titus. It covers an area of 1.3 km? and has an average depth of 20 m....
 and less than an hour's drive from Switzerland
Switzerland

Switzerland is a landlocked Swiss Alps country of roughly 7.7 million people in Western Europe with an area of 41,285 km?. Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 states called Cantons of Switzerland....
 and France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
.

The nearby area is a favorite tourist spot in summer and winter. There are a number of nearby slopes for winter sports.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Donaueschingen.JPG

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Donaueschingen_Donauequelle_2.JPG

History


Donaueschingen was first mentioned as "Donaueschingen" in 889. In 1283, Rudolph von Habsburg
Rudolph I of Germany

Rudolph I, also known as Rudolph of Habsburg May 1, 1218 – July 15, 1291) was King of the Romans from 1273 until his death. He played a vital role in raising the Habsburg family to a leading position among the Germany feudal dynasties....
 granted the countship of Baar and Donaueschingen to Heinrich von Fürstenberg
Fürstenberg (state)

The County of F?rstenberg was a county of the Holy Roman Empire located in present-day southern Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany. The County emerged when the counts of Urach inherited parts of the Duchy of Z?hringen in 1218, and was originally called the County of Freiburg....
. The right to brew beer was also connected with this grant. This is the source of the Royal Fürstenberg Brewery. In 1488, possession was passed to the Count of Fürstenberg-Baar
Fürstenberg-Baar

F?rstenberg-Baar was a County of medieval Germany, located in southern Baden-W?rttemberg in the historical territory of Count of Baar. It was created as a partition of F?rstenberg-F?rstenberg in 1441....
. From the 18th Century it was the residence of the Princes of Fürstenberg
Fürstenberg-Fürstenberg

F?rstenberg-F?rstenberg was the name applied to two historical states in southern Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany. Both Counties were named after the state of F?rstenberg and the castle of the same name....
. In 1806, Donaueschingen came under the rulership of the Grand Duchy of Baden
Grand Duchy of Baden

The Grand Duchy of Baden was a historical state in the southwest of Germany, on the right bank of the Rhine. It existed between 1806 and 1918....
 and was granted township in 1810. A large part of the town was destroyed by fire in 1908. Donaueschingen has a tradition as a military garrison; since World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
 the French
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 military has maintained barracks in the town, and, until the early 1990s, the U.S. Air Force operated a contingency hospital there. Fortunately the hospital never received casualties on a large scale from military operations; it saw the most activity in 1989, when the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 offered the facility as temporary housing for refugees leaving from East Germany to the West.

Though the Princes of Fürstenberg were nominally secularized and dispossed as absolute ruler of the principality, they still own huge property in their former lands, including their palace with the surrounding parks and gardens. The Schlosspark (palace gardens) which used to be public and the only park accessible to the citizens of the town since 1806 recently became off-limits again. The Princes of Fürstenberg were also the owners of the only extant manuscript of the Nibelungenlied
Nibelungenlied

The Nibelungenlied, translated as The Song of the Nibelungs, is an epic poetry in Middle High German. The story tells of dragon-slayer Sigurd at the court of the Burgundians, how he was murdered, and of his wife Gudrun's revenge....
 until they sold it in 2001. The ancestral brewery has been sold as well.

Government

The results of the 2004 local elections are as follows:

CDU
Christian Democratic Union (Germany)

The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a christian democracy and conservatism political party in Germany.Along with its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union of Bavaria, the CDU forms the CDU/CSU faction in the Bundestag....
 		 : 16 Seats
FDP/FW : 7 Seats
SPD : 7 Seats
Independents : 5 Seats
Bündnis 90/Die Grünen : 4 Seats


Economy

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

Injection molding is a manufacturing process for producing parts from both thermoplastic and thermosetting plastic materials. Material is fed into a heated barrel, mixed, and forced into a mold cavity where it cools and hardens to the configuration of the mold cavity....
, magnetics, dyes, and shoe manufacturing.

Transportation

Donaueschingen is a regional rail hub; four rail lines join in the town. It sits on the Schwarzwaldbahn line from Offenburg
Offenburg

Offenburg is a city located in the state of Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany. With over 50,000 inhabitants, it is the largest city, and also the capital of the Ortenaukreis....
 to Konstanz
Konstanz

Konstanz is a University of Konstanz town of around 80,000 inhabitants at the western end of Lake Constance in the south-west corner of Germany, bordering Switzerland....
 and it is the start of the Höllentalbahn from Donaueschingen to Freiburg im Breisgau. Both of these lines are uniquely constructed because of the rough Black Forest terrain they cover. Donaueschingen is also the starting point for the Donautalbahn and the Bregtalbahn which run to Ulm and Bräunlingen respectively. The town is part of the Schwarzwald-Baar public transport system.

The town is on the A 864, a spur of the A 81 to Stuttgart
Stuttgart

Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-W?rttemberg in southern Germany. The list of cities in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 590,429 while the metropolitan area referred to as Stuttgart Region has a population of 2.7 million ....
. Three Federal Highways cross each other near Donaueschingen: the B 27 from Stuttgart to Schaffhausen; the B 31 from Freiburg im Breisgau to Lindau and the B 33 from Offenburg to Konstanz.

The long-distance Danube Cycle Trail begins in Donaueschingen and follows the course of the Danube. It is one of the most well-known and longest bicycle trails in Europe.

Education

The town has four secondary schools: the Fürstenberg-Gymnasium and the Wirtschaftsgymnasium, one Realschule, and one Hauptschule. There are four elementary schools associated with these schools: Eichendorffschule, Erich-Kästner-Schule, Grundschule Pfohren, and the Grundschule Wolterdingen. There are two special-needs schools: the Heinrich-Feuerstein-Schule and the Karl-Wacker-Schule.

There are two professional training schools: the Donaueschingen Commercial School and the Business and Home Economics Schools. There is also the Nursing College and the College for Agriculture. The Academy for Continuing Education and Personal Development is located in the former district hospital.

Cultural Events

The Donaueschingen Festival
Donaueschingen Festival

The Donaueschingen Festival is a new music festival that takes place every October in the small town of Donaueschingen. Founded in 1921, it is the oldest and most traditional festival for contemporary music in the world....
 for contemporary music("Donaueschinger Musiktage). Founded in 1921, the world's oldest festival for New music
New music

The term "New music" has referred to various classes of music, including*contemporary classical music of the more experimental music or Downtown music variety, pursuant to the success of the 1979 "New Music New York" festival and the New Music America festival that succeeded it every year through 1990...
 takes place every year in October. Guest composers include Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg

Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian and later American composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School....
, Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez

Pierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music and Conducting....
, Elliott Carter
Elliott Carter

Elliott Cook Carter, Jr. is a two-time Pulitzer Prize for Music-winning American composer born and living in New York City. He studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris in the 1930s, and then returned to the United States....
, John Cage
John Cage

John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer. A pioneer of Aleatoric music, electronic music and Extended technique, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde and, in the opinion of many, the most influential American composer of the 20th century....
 and György Ligeti
György Ligeti

Gy?rgy S?ndor Ligeti was a composer, born in a Hungarian History of the Jews in Romania family in Transylvania, Romania. He briefly lived in Hungary before later becoming an Austrian citizen....
.

Partner Cities

Donaueschingen has partnerships with the following cities:
  • Kaminoyama, Japan (since 1995)
  • Saverne
    Saverne

    Saverne is a town and communes of France of France in the Regions of France of Alsace, situated on the Rhine-Marne canal at the foot of a Mountain pass over the Vosges Mountains, and 45 km N.W....
    , France (since 1964)
  • Vác
    VAC

    VAC may stand for:* VAC, the radio call sign for a radio station on the west coast of Canada at Comox, British Columbia, operated by the Canadian Coast Guard...
    , Hungary (since 1993)


External links