Öhningen

Öhningen
Municipality
Coat of arms
Location of Öhningen within Konstanz district
Location of Öhningen
Öhningen Show map of Germany Öhningen Show map of Baden-Württemberg
Coordinates: 47°39′41″N8°53′19″E / 47.66139°N 8.88861°E / 47.66139; 8.88861
Country	Germany
State	Baden-Württemberg
Admin. region	Freiburg
District	Konstanz
Government
•  Mayor (2022–30)	Andreas Schmid [1] (CDU)
Area
• Total	28.18 km2 (10.88 sq mi)
Elevation	499 m (1,637 ft)
Population  (2023-12-31) [2]
• Total	3,644
• Density	129.3/km2 (334.9/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	78337
Dialling codes	07735
Vehicle registration	KN
Website	www.oehningen.de

Öhningen (German pronunciation: [ˈøːnɪŋən] ) is a municipality on the western edge of Lake Constance where it forms the border between Switzerland and the district of Konstanz (or Constance) in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.

World Heritage Site

It is home to one or more prehistoric pile-dwelling (or stilt house) settlements that are part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps UNESCO World Heritage Site. ^[3]

Palaeontology

The discovery of the fossil Andrias scheuchzeri in 1726 by the Zurich city physician Johann Jakob Scheuchzer in Öhningen placed this town firmly in the history annals of palaeontology because Scheuchzer interpreted his find as the skeletal remains of a child who suffered the biblical deluge, and which he referred to as Homo diluvii. Later in the 1770s it was determined to be a fossilized lizard. It was finally identified as the giant salamander in 1811 by George Cuvier after he hacked gently away at the specimen to reveal the limbs.

The site at Öhningen has also yielded a rich material of other fossils including many Miocene insects, of which the pioneer student was Oswald Heer.

Twin towns

Öhningen is twinned with:

• Mérinchal, France, since 1984

Transport

There are two landing stages, Öhningen and Wangen. Between spring and autumn, the URh offers regular boat services on the High Rhine and Untersee between Schaffhausen and Kreuzlingen, via Konstanz.

Notable people

• Florian Schneider, (1947–2020) co-founder of electronic band Kraftwerk ^[4]

References

1. Bürgermeisterwahl Öhningen 2022, Staatsanzeiger.
2. "Alle politisch selbständigen Gemeinden mit ausgewählten Merkmalen am 31.12.2023" (in German). Federal Statistical Office of Germany. 28 October 2024. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
3. UNESCO World Heritage Site - Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps
4. "Florian Schneider obituary". 7 May 2020.