Zwiefalten is a municipality in the district of Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany located halfway between Stuttgart and Lake Constance. The former Zwiefalten Abbey dominates the town. The former monastery is considered one of the finest examples of late Baroque art.
The name derives from its location in the valleys of Zwiefalter Aach and the Kessel-Aach and was mentioned first as Zwivaltum in 904.
The following cities and towns are bordering to the municipality of Zwiefalten (listed clockwise from the north) and belong to the district of Reutlingen and the Alb-Donau-district¹ and district Biberach²: Hayingen, Emeringen¹, Riedlingen², Langenenslingen² and Pfronstetten.
The municipality Zwiefalten with the municipality parts Baach, Gauingen, Gossenzugen, Hochberg, Mörsingen, Sonderbuch, and Upflamör Zwiefalten include a total of seven villages, one hamlet (Attenhöfen) and three yards (Loretto, Bühlhof, Straubinger).
Zwiefalten owes its former value the Benedictine Zwiefalten Abbey, founded in 1089 by monks from Hirsau. Until the 15th century the convent succeeded to buy a large territory on the Swabian Jura. In 1525, during the German Peasants' War, peasants looted the monastery.
For area of the monastery Zwiefalten were the places
Ceiling painting in Münster At the secularisation of 1803 the monastery was forcibly dissolved. 1812 the royal Württemberg sanatorium was established in the monastery buildings.
As part of the Nazi euthanasia killings of Action T4, the State Hospital and Sanatorium Zwiefalten was an intermediate storage for the killing center Grafeneck Castle. At least 1 673 mentally ill women, men, teenagers and children were "relocated" 1939/40 on Zwiefalten in other public institutions or to Grafeneck. The so-called "gray buses" of the Gemeinnützige Krankentransport GmbH (Gekrat) were always in town in this period. The laid between patients and residents came from Ellwangen, Fußbach, Heggbach, Kaufbeuren, Konstanz, Kork, Krautheim, Liebenau, Maria Berg, Rastatt, Sinsheim and Stetten im Remstal. As part of the "euthanasia" -killing action T4, the first transport of 50 women left Zwiefalten on 2 April 1940. Until December 9, 1940 more than 1,000 patients were deported and killed in 22 transports from Zwiefalten to Grafeneck. However, the killing of patients in Zwiefalten was continued with morphine or trional syringe. In 1949 the former director Martha Fauser (Director 1940-1945) was sentenced to a prison term of only one year and six months for the "crime of manslaughter". A memorial stone in the cemetery commemorates this event. [3] Today the former monastery is the center of Psychiatry Clinic Münster Zwiefalten.
Incorporated 1938, (535 m above sea level; 260 inhabitants) Baach is on the road from Riedlingen to Aachtal. Attenhöfen is a hamlet of four farms on a hill above the right bank of Aach and the southernmost city in the district of Reutlingen.
Incorporated 1938, (545 m above sea level; 120 inhabitants) Gossenzugen is located northwest of Zwiefalten in the valley of Zwiefalter Aach.
Incorporated on 1 January 1975 (738 m above sea level; 140 inhabitants) Gauingen is on Hochalb on the road to Reutlingen (B 312). A street village that goes down from high surface in a side valley of Zwiefalter Aach.
Incorporated On 1 January 1975. (685 m above sea level; 80 inhabitants) Hochberg is five kilometers above Zwiefaltens westwards on the edge of the Tobeltal.
Incorporated on February 1, 1972 (661 m above sea level; 100 inhabitants) Mörsingen lies in a valley in the Swabian Jura, about 5 km southwest of Zwiefalten.
Incorporated on January 1, 1975 (674 m above sea level; 190 inhabitants) Sonderbuch is lying on the slope of a side valley northeast of Zwiefalten.
Incorporated on 1 January 1974 (740 m above sea level; 90 inhabitants) Upflamör is the highest hamlet and is located west of Zwiefalten. See also: Conquest Mountain
The population figures are census results (¹) or official updates the State Statistical Office (only primary residences).
The council of Zwiefalten has after the last election 15 members (2009: 14). The municipal election held on 25 May 2014 led to the following official results. The council consists of the elected honorary councilors and the mayor as chairman. The mayor is entitled to vote in the municipal council.
The mayor is elected for a term of eight years.
Blazon: "In Blue superimposed two interlocking silver rings that form three circle segments, in which seven (3: 1: 3). six-pointed golden stars appear" The colors of the emblem have been established with advice from the Archives Directorate Stuttgart in the council meeting on December 15, 1933. The Landratsamt Reutlingen has awarded the flag on March 9, 1982. [4] On a blue background there are two interlocking rings that symbolize the confluence of Zwiefalter-Aach and the Kessel-Aach. The seven golden stars are from the arms of the former counts of Achalm.
Zwiefalten is twinned with La Tessoualle, France, since August 12, 1973
Abbey Zwiefalten Zwiefalten is located on the Upper Swabian Baroque Route. [5]
Founded at the confluence of two rivers, Zwivaltum was mentioned for the first time in a document by King Ludwig IV dated 15 June 904, but the town's claim to fame is its former Benedictine monastery, the Zwiefalten Abbey, which was founded in 1089 by monks from Hirsau. Counts Luitold von Achalm and Kuno von Wülflingen gave extensive donations the monastery. There was also at one time a convent on the spot, but by the 14th century it was no longer there. Until the 15th century, the monastery was influential, but in 1525 the German Peasants' War resulted in the monastery being plundered.
In 1750 the abbey was granted the status of Reichsabtei , which meant that it had the status of an independent power subject only to the Imperial Crown and was free of the rule of Württemberg. By 1802, however, the monastery was dissolved as part of the German mediatization. Today it is part of the psychiatric hospital.
as Notre-Dame Cathedral, the church in 1806 secularized [8] abbey, considered a masterpiece of the German late Baroque. Construction was started in 1739 by brothers Joseph and Martin Schneider and completed by 1765 by Johann Michael Fischer. The rich interior of the church contains a late Gothic miraculous image of 1430 and baroque frescoed ceilings and an altarpiece by Franz Joseph Spiegler, frescoes by Andreas Meinrad von Au, stucco work by Johann Michael Feuchtmayer d. J., also sculptures and a choir of Johann Joseph Christian.
The Narrenzunft Raelle e. V. operates the Swabian-Alemannic Fastnacht in place.
Zwiefalten is located on the main road B 312. This connects the town to the north with Reutlingen and to the south with Riedlingen. The Public transport is ensured by the Verkehrsverbund Neckar-Alb-Donau (NALDO). The community is located in the comb 227.
Zwiefalten has the Münster Hospital Zwiefalten as a psychiatric center. The town was also the seat of the deanery Zwiefalten of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, which now belongs to the deanery Reutlingen-Zwiefalten headquartered in Reutlingen.
The Swabian Jura, sometimes also named Swabian Alps in English, is a mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, extending 220 km (140 mi) from southwest to northeast and 40 to 70 km in width. It is named after the region of Swabia. It is part of the Table Jura.
Sigmaringen is a town in southern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Situated on the upper Danube, it is the capital of the Sigmaringen district.
Reutlingen, nicknamed "The Gate to the Swabian Alb", is a Landkreis (district) in the middle of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The former free imperial city reached the limit of 100,000 residents in 1989. It is the ninth-largest city in Baden-Württemberg. Reutlingen district's neighboring districts are Esslingen, Göppingen, Alb-Donau, Biberach, Sigmaringen, Zollernalbkreis, Tübingen and Böblingen.
Weingarten is a town with a population of 25,000 in Württemberg, in the District of Ravensburg, in the valley of the Schussen River. Together with the southern neighbour cities of Ravensburg and Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance (Bodensee), it forms one of 14 medium-sized infrastructural centres in Baden-Württemberg. The town is seat of the University of Applied Sciences of Ravensburg-Weingarten and of the Teachers' College of Weingarten.
Reutlingen : is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the capital of the eponymous district of Reutlingen. As of June 2018, it has an estimated population of 116,456. Reutlingen has a university of applied sciences, which was founded in 1855, originally as a weavers' school. Today, Reutlingen is home to an established textile industry and also houses machinery, leather goods and steel manufacturing facilities. It has the narrowest street in the world, Spreuerhofstraße.
Riedlingen is a town in the district (Kreis) of Biberach, Baden-Württemberg, in the south-west of Germany. It is one of the destinations of the Upper Swabian Baroque Route. Riedlingen has approximately 11,000 inhabitants.
Engstingen is a municipality in the Tübingen administrative region (Regierungsbezirk) in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It lies in the Swabian Jura (plateau), about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south of Reutlingen.
Zwiefalten Abbey is a former Benedictine monastery situated at Zwiefalten near Reutlingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Zwiefalten is on the Upper Swabian Baroque Route.
Upper Swabia is a region in Germany in the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. The name refers to the area between the Swabian Jura, Lake Constance and the Lech. Its counterpart is Lower Swabia (Niederschwaben), the region around Heilbronn.
Pfullingen is a town in the district of Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 3 km southeast of Reutlingen at the foot of the Swabian Alb. With its almost 20,000 inhabitants it is famous for its Handball team, which in 2006 had to file for bankruptcy, the Schönbergturm and the People mover.
Eningen is a municipality in the district of Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated at the foot of the Swabian Alps and near the big cities of Reutlingen and Stuttgart. Although it has a considerable population with around 10,800 inhabitants, its structure is considered to be more the one of a village. The most important annual events include the Dorffest, the village festivity, the Krämerfest, and the Weihnachtsmarkt. Eningen is surrounded by free-standing hills of the Achalm and the Swabian Alps with landscape full of dark green forests and cliffs. This makes volksmarching, hiking and biking popular.
Schelklingen is a town in the district of Alb-Donau in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is situated 10 km north of Ehingen, and 20 km west of Ulm. Schelklingen and 82% of its territory form part of the Swabian Jura Biosphere Reserve.
Gomaringen is a municipality located about 10 km south of Tübingen in the German state of Baden-Württemberg.
Langenenslingen is a municipality in the district of Biberach in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It has a population close to 3,500.
Pliezhausen is a municipality in the district of Reutlingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.
Sonnenbühl is a municipality in the district of Reutlingen, state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
St. Johann is a municipality in the district of Reutlingen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. The seat of the municipal administration is Würtingen. Large parts of the area (44.2%) of St. Johann are part of the UNESCO Biosphere Swabian Alb.
Achalm Castle is a ruined castle located above the towns of Reutlingen and Pfullingen in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Situated on the top of a hill at the edge of the Swabian Alb the ruins of the 11th-century castle are topped by a look-out tower from 1838.
The Zwiefalter Aach or Zwiefalter Ach is a river in Reutlingen district and Biberach district in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is approximately 9 kilometres long and is a tributary of the Danube near Zwiefalten. The river is known for the Wimsener Höhle.
The Wimsener Höhle is Germany´s only water cave, which can be visited by boat. It is located in the municipal area of Hayingen on the Swabian Alb, about three kilometers north of Zwiefalten.