Tuttlingen Explained

Type:Town
Image Coa:DEU Tuttlingen COA.svg
Coordinates:47.985°N 8.8233°W
Image Plan:Tuttlingen in TUT.svg
State:Baden-Württemberg
Region:Freiburg
District:Tuttlingen
Elevation:645
Area:90.48
Postal Code:78501–78532
Area Code:07461
Licence:TUT
Gemeindeschlüssel:08 3 27 050
Website:www.tuttlingen.de
Mayor:Michael Beck[1]
Leader Term:2019 - 27
Bürgermeistertitel:Lord Mayor
Party:CDU

Tuttlingen (Alemannic: Duttlinga) is a town in Baden-Württemberg, capital of the district Tuttlingen. Nendingen, Möhringen and Eßlingen are three former municipalities that belong to Tuttlingen. Tuttlingen is located in Swabia east of the Black Forest region in the Swabian Jura.

Geography

The town lies in the valley of the Upper Danube on both sides of the stream, the source of which is located 30 km nearby in Donaueschingen. The early river flowed around the Honberg mountain, where ruins of a fortress built in the Middle Ages remain.

Climate

History

The name indicates Tuttlingen likely was a Celtic settlement long before the Romans erected a border castellum at the limes. Spurious archeological findings in 1874 support the theory, but due to its probable location under the foundations of houses in the town centre expansive excavations will not be done.

During the Middle Ages Tuttlingen was first mentioned in 797, and belonged to the monastery of Reichenau shortly thereafter.

The town received its town privileges before 1338 and belonged to Württemberg since 1376/77. Since that time the town was ruled by the "Twelve", consisting of the Mayor, the Sheriff (Schultheiss), and 10 other members of the judiciary/court.

Eberhard im Bart upgraded the citadel of Honberg around 1460 to a first-class border fortress.During the Thirty Years' War, Tuttlingen was constantly embattled as the southern outpost of the Duchy of Württemberg. A key event was the Battle of Tuttlingen on 24 November 1643 in which the entire French army was defeated by the united Imperial-Bavarian troupes under Franz von Mercy, Melchior Graf von Hatzfeldt, and Johann von Werth.

Tuttlingen was an administrative seat ("Obervogteiamt") early on, and in 1755 it became an administrative seat of Württemberg, which has morphed over time.

On 1 November 1803 a fire destroyed all of Tuttlingen within the town walls in a matter of hours, and only a small section of the original town remained. Starting in 1804 the town was rebuilt by master architect Carl Leonard von Uber according to classicist plans with right-angle streets and rectangular housing settlements.

Since 1822 the town has elected its council and mayor.In 1869 Tuttlingen was connected to the railway system, which was important for its industrial development. The original station was replaced in 1933.

During the NS (National Socialists or Nazi Party) regime Tuttlingen had prison camps and forced labor camps, whose inmates worked for the local industry. A total of 3,645 victims of the so-called „Euthanasia-campaign T4" were cremated in the cemetery of the town, including murdered inmates of regional concentration camps. In 1947 an obelisk was erected and plaques installed in their memory. In February and March 1945 Tuttlingen experienced 5 air raids, 4 of which were aimed at the station (Tuttlingen station). On 21 April 1945 Tuttlingen was occupied by parts of the French first army and became part of the "French Zone of Occupation". Railroad bridges were detonated and until 1952 the prison camp „Mühlau“ was the "Dépôt de transit N°2", a Transit and Exit encampment of the French Zone of Occupation for hundreds of thousands of German prisoners of war. In its location are the Immanuel-Kant-High School and the Otto-Hahn-High School today.

In 1945 Tuttlingen became part of Württemberg-Hohenzollern, and in 1952 part of the newly founded state Baden-Württemberg and the subsection of Südwürttemberg-Hohenzollern within it.

As its population had already grown beyond 20,000 in 1949, Tuttlingen was declared to be "Große Kreisstadt" as soon as the Baden-Württemberg council regulations were implemented on 1 April 1956.With the district reform of 1973 the district of Tuttlingen received its present-day extension, which increased its population by a third and its area 3 times. At the same time, Tuttlingen came under the administrative government of Freiburg.

Number of inhabitants

YearNumber of inhabitants
1622 1,560
1739 1,960
1803 3,560
1849 6,066
1 December 1900 13,530
17 May 1939 18,010
13 September 1950 21,271
27 May 1970 26,353
31 December 1980 31,531
31 December 1990 33,543
31 December 2000 34,707
31 December 2012 33,748
Sources: Census results or Statistical office

Mayors and Lord mayors

Economy

Tuttlingen has 1,900 businesses ranging from one-man to multinational companies.

It is the home of more than 600 surgical equipment companies. Fifty percent of the world's surgical equipment is manufactured in Tuttlingen. Tuttlingen's Medical technology firms are closely linked with the medical technology cluster in the Pakistani district Sialkot.

Up until recently Tuttlingen was also a center for shoe manufacturing, as historically many tanneries were located at the Danube.

List of important companies:

Cultural events

Each summer the festival "Honberg Sommer" attracts visitors to concerts with international bands, cabaret artists, and beer gardens.Tuttlingen's pedestrian precinct offers a market twice a week, a fountain, shops, and art displays.

The German poet Goethe wrote that the town and surrounding area has a strange and beautiful landscape, hilly with fields and patches of forest. He is said to have left his watch in the town.

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany. Tuttlingen is twinned with:[4]

Notable people

Sport

Notes and References

  1. https://www.staatsanzeiger.de/staatsanzeiger/wahlen/buergermeisterwahlen/ Aktuelle Wahlergebnisse
  2. Web site: Welcome to the world of endoscopy - KARL STORZ Endoskope. KARL STORZ. Endoskope. www.karlstorz.com. 23 April 2018.
  3. Web site: History. KLS Martin. 23 April 2018.
  4. Web site: Städtepartnerschaften. tuttlingen.de. Tuttlingen. de. 2021-03-17.