Albstadt


Albstadt is the largest city in the district of Zollernalbkreis in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the Swabian Alb mountains, about halfway between Stuttgart and Lake of Constance.

Geography

Albstadt is spread across a variety of hills and valleys, its elevation ranges between above sea level and. One valley is the river Schmiecha, a left-hand tributary of the Danube, a second valley is the river of upper Eyach, a tributary of the Neckar.
To Albstadt belongs also the Raichberg hill in the north, on which there is the Raichberg Transmitter and an observation tower located. South of Albstadt is the Heuberg Military Training Area.

History

Settlement in the region dates back to at least the Iron Age. A Hallstatt cemetery in Albstadt was excavated by amateur archaeologists in the late nineteenth century and revealed a wide range of pottery and metal artefacts. Known as the 'Degerfeld Barrow' cemetery, a substantial collection was built up by the local antiquary Hyronimus Edelmann that was eventually deposited in the British Museum.

Mining

In former times iron ore was produced in Albstadt. Fidel Eppler was the name of the mine-inspector. The buttress wood was bought in Truchtelfingen and used from Lautlinger Knappen at the Hörnle area. From an old 3,5 km mine in a Doggererzflöz in Weilheim is wood in the Tuttlinger Fruchtkasten.
Steel was produced in Tuttlingen by the Schwäbische Hüttenwerke in Ludwigstal, today iron brakes.
The districts Ebingen, Laufen, Lautlingen, Pfeffingen und Tailfingen were first mentioned in 793 in a document of the abbey St. Gallen. Ebingen received city rights around 1250 from the Hohenberg ducal family.
Albstadt consists of the following urban districts, which had been independent towns and merged to form Albstadt in 1975:
Coat of Arms
DistrictEbingenTailfingen OnstmettingenTruchtelfingenPfeffingen Lautlingen Laufen MargrethausenBurgfelden
Population 19.61812.2345.3843.2292.1681.9981.7531.084345
Population 19.33912.0915.3143.2232.1311.9871.7531.087338
Population 19.26512.0725.2603.1892.1471.9881.7771.069346
Population 19.19611.8955.1943.2102.0741.9421.7641.046382
Population 18.71811.5225.0063.1012.1441.8331.7091.023364
Population 18.58411.5004.9573.1082.0481.8211.6991.025361
Population 18.47811.3294.9003.0281.9931.7711.699997314
Population 18.67511.2084.9033.0351.9821.8081.664967336

Economy

Most of the textiles industry is gone today, leaving some monuments, like Villa Haux. However, one of the world's biggest makers of industrial needles, Groz-Beckert, is still based in the town. Other prominent local companies include Mey, Mettler Toledo and a major part of Assa Abloy security systems. Ebingen also hosts the technical and computer science faculties of Albstadt-Sigmaringen University with about 3,000 students.

Number of inhabitants