Waldshut-Tiengen (; ), commonly known as Waldshut, is a city in southwestern Baden-Württemberg right at the Swiss border. It is the district seat and at the same time the biggest city in Waldshut district and a "middle centre" in the area of the "high centre" Lörrach/Weil am Rhein to whose middle area most towns and communities in Waldshut district belong (with the exception of seven communities that belong to Bad Säckingen's area). There are furthermore complexities arising from cross-border traffic between this area and the Swiss cantons of Aargau, Schaffhausen and Zürich. This classification relates to Walter Christaller's Central Place Theory, however, and not to any official administrative scheme.
The city, which was newly created in the framework of the 1975 municipal reform, at that time passed the 20,000 mark in population. City council then applied to have the city raised to Große Kreisstadt, which the government of Baden-Württemberg granted on 1 July 1976. Waldshut-Tiengen is also in an "administrative community" (Verwaltungsgemeinschaft) with the communities of Dogern, Lauchringen and Weilheim.
Geography
Waldshut-Tiengen lies at the edge of the southern Black Forest, right on the Rhine river, along which runs the German-Swiss border. The Waldshut townsite lies about 2 km west of where the river Aar empties into the Rhine. Tiengen lies near where the river Wutach meets the Rhine, on the way into the Klettgau, a German-Swiss border region on the Rhine's north bank. Also within the town's municipal area are the rivers Steina and Schlücht, which both empty into the Wutach. From this arose Tiengen's former description as a Viertälerstadt (four-valley town).
Neighbouring towns The following towns all border on the town of Waldshut-Tiengen. The list runs clockwise, starting in the west: Dogern, Albbruck, Dachsberg, Weilheim, Ühlingen-Birkendorf, Wutöschingen, Lauchringen and Küssaberg (all in Waldshut district) and furthermore, across the Rhine, Koblenz, Leuggern and Full-Reuenthal (all in the canton of Aargau).
Parts of town The town's municipal area consists of the two townsites of Waldshut and Tiengen and the nine communities amalgamated with these two former towns in the municipal reform. These are Aichen (with Gutenburg), Breitenfeld, Detzeln, Eschbach, Gurtweil, Indlekofen, Krenkingen, Oberalpfen and Waldkirch (with Gaiß and Schmitzingen).
For all nine once independent communities as well as for the community of Schmitzingen, which was formerly part of Waldkirch, Ortschaften have been established in the sense in which this term refers to municipal organization in Baden-Württemberg. This means that they each have a community council chosen by the eligible voters at each municipal election, and each one with a chairperson. The Ortschaften bear the same names as these former communities, with a few anomalies (Aichen-Gutenberg for the former Aichen, Gaiß-Waldkirch for the two neighbourhoods in the former Waldkirch, and Schmitzingen, which was formerly part of Waldkirch). The size of these councils is limited to six, but Gurtweil is an exception with ten.
History
Until 1803, Waldshut belonged with the Hotzenwald to Further Austria. Tiengen/Hochrhein (until 2 September 1964 Tiengen (Oberrhein)) was the residence of the Landgraves of Klettgau who belonged in early modern times first to the Counts of Sulz, and after their line died out, to the Fürsten of Schwarzenberg. Gurtweil belonged first to the Abbey of St. Gall, and later to the Rheinau Monastery, but after the Thirty Years' War to Saint Blaise's Benedictine Monastery the St. Blaise Abbey, Black Forest.
In the Waldshut War of 1468 – a localized conflict over hegemony in the south Black Forest region – Tiengen was absorbed by the Old Swiss Confederacy, while the town of Waldshut was besieged and partly destroyed.
In 1805, Waldshut went to Baden and became the seat of an Amt, which over the years was changed many times, and in 1939 was turned into the Kreis (District) of Waldshut. In 1973, the district's area was increased under the municipal reform.
Tiengen likewise went to Baden in 1806 and belonged to the Amt of Klettgau, and in 1812 to the regional Amt of Tiengen, which was abolished in 1819. Thereafter the town belonged to the regional Amt of Waldshut.
Amalgamation Waldshut-Tiengen's municipal area developed as follows: On 1 January 1971 the communities of Breitenfeld and Detzeln were amalgamated into the town of Tiengen/Hochrhein. They were followed on 1 July 1974 by the communities of Aichen and Krenkingen. On 1 July 1971, the communities of Eschbach, Indlekofen, Oberalpfen and Waldkirch (with the communities of Gaiß and Schmitzingen, amalgamated in 1935) were amalgamated into the town of Waldshut. On 1 January 1975, both towns, Waldshut and Tiengen/Hochrhein, along with the community of Gurtweil, were amalgamated to form the new town of Waldshut-Tiengen.
Population development Population figures are for respective municipal areas at the times to which the figures apply. Until 1974, the figures for the town of Waldshut are given. The figures are either census results (¹) or official extrapolations.
Year Population figure 1400 ≈1,000 1650 ≈400 1811 1,111 1834 1,263 1852 1,435 1 December 1871 2,130 1 December 1880 ¹ 2,468 1 December 1900 ¹ 3,587 1 December 1910 ¹ 4,270 16 June 1925 ¹ 5,226 16 June 1933 ¹ 6,460 Year Population figure 17 May 1939 ¹ 6,554 13 September 1950 ¹ 8,255 6 June 1961 ¹ 10,883 27 May 1970 ¹ 10,669 31 December 1975 22,046 31 December 1980 21,410 27 May 1987 ¹ 21,264 31 December 1990 21,913 31 December 1995 22,140 31 December 2000 22,139 31 March 2005 22,578 ¹ Census figures
Religion Waldshut first belonged to the Bishopric of Konstanz. In 1524, Dr. Balthasar Hubmaier wanted to introduce the Reformation. This, however, could not be achieved. As a result of belonging to Further Austria, Waldshut and its environs remained overwhelmingly Catholic until the 19th century. The town had even been the deaconry seat since the 12th century. The neighbouring town of Tiengen and its environs also remained overwhelmingly Catholic, albeit with a few of Hubmaier's followers who believed in his Anabaptist teachings. As of 1821, the Catholic communities in today's Waldshut-Tiengen belonged to the Archbishopric of Freiburg, and indeed to the two deaconries of Waldshut and Wutachtal. These have been merged into three pastoral units (divisions consisting of several parishes). The pastoral unit of Maria Bronnen includes the parishes of St. Marien Waldkirch, St. Sebastian Aichen and St. Simon und Judas Gurtweil as well as the neighbouring parishes of St. Peter und Paul Weilheim, St. Stephan Weilheim-Nöggenschwiel, St. Pankratius Berau and St. Laurentius Brenden (both in the community of Ühlingen-Birkendorf). The pastoral unit of Waldshut includes the Liebfrauengemeinde and the neighbouring parish of St. Klemens in Dogern. In the Deaconry of Wutachtal, the two parishes of Mariä Himmelfahrt Tiengen and St. Nikolaus Krenkingen together with the neighbouring parish of Herz Jesu Lauchringen-Unterlauchringen belong to the pastoral unit of Tiengen.
In the 19th century, Protestants also came to Waldshut and Tiengen. Waldshut's Protestants were at first under Säckingen's care, but in 1870, Waldshut got its own minister, and in 1890, an affiliated parish was established. In 1921, the community became a full-fledged parish in its own right. To this parish also nowadays belong the Protestants in the communities of Eschbach, Indlekofen and Waldkirch, along with a few other neighbouring communities. A Protestant community also developed in Tiengen in 1871, which at first was affiliated with Kadelburg. The Christuskirche (church) was built in 1905. There has been a full-fledged parish there since 1926. To this Evangelical parish also nowadays belong the Protestants in the communities of Aichen, Breitenfeld, Detzeln, Gurtweil and Krenkingen along with a few other neighbouring communities. The Protestants in the community of Oberalpfen belong to the Hochrhein church region of the Evangelical State Church in Baden.
Alongside the two big churches, there are also communities belonging to free churches, among which are an Evangelical Free Church community (Baptists) with their Balthasar Hubmaier Church, the New Apostolic Church, and the Old Catholic Church.
Politics Waldshut-Tiengen's municipal council consists of 26 unpaid city councillors whose chairperson is the mayor (Oberbürgermeister). The last municipal election on 13 June 2004 yielded the following division of seats:
Party Seats CDU 13 SPD 6 Free Voters (citizens' coalition) 3 Greens 2 FDP 2 Total 26
Mayors Previously, a Schultheiß (village head) stood at the lead of the town of Waldshut, including an eight-person council. Both were directly elected. In 1527, the Schultheiß was temporarily appointed by the lords (Landesherren). Besides this, there were also Ratsherren ("Council Lords") ("Inner Council") consisting of four "old" and four "new" advisers. The first was the governor of the Schultheiß's office, and thereby the town's actual mayor. For the towsfolk's representation, there was an "Outer Council" with guild masters. In the 16th century, the Inner Council had a different organization. To this belonged the Schultheiß, the governor of the Schultheiß's office, the town clerk and five advisers. The Outer Council then had six members. By 1789, there was a Bürgermeister instead of a governor of the Schultheiß's office.
In Tiengen there was first a Schultheiß and six advisers, then as of 1422 an elected Schultheiß and the advisers as well as a reeve (Vogt) appointed by the lord. The bylaws were then changed many times. In 1703, the town head bore the title Stadtvogt ("town reeve")
Since the town of Waldshut-Tiengen was raised to Große Kreisstadt in 1976, the town head has borne the official title Oberbürgermeister. The Oberbürgermeister is directly elected by eligible voters for a term of eight years and is head of the municipal council. The second-in-command is the first councillor, who bears the title Bürgermeister.
Bürgermeister of Waldshut -1810: Karl Josef Haitz 1810-1817: Ignaz Straubhaar 1817-1819: Martin Bähr 1819-1830: Johann Jakob Soder 1830-1834: Anton Bähr 1834-1840: Balthasar Merzler 1840-1865: Vinzenz Bürgi 1865-1878: Gustav Straubhaar 1878-1885: Karl Frowin Mayer 1885-1894: Alois Lang 1894-1910: Leopold Büchele 1910-1923: Leopold Kupferschmid 1924-1931: Dr. Paul Horster 1932-1942: Albert Wild 1942-1945: August Birkenmeier 1945-1957: Hermann Dietsche 1965-1975: Dr. Friedrich Wilhelm Utsch
Bürgermeister of Tiengen -1824: Melchior Rutschmann 1824-1838: Xaver Kaiser 1839-1861: Franz Xaver Rutschmann 1861-1873: Ludwig Thoma 1873-1879: Franz Joseph Seeger 1879-1885: Joseph Bindert 1885-1907: Heinrich Maier 1907-1917: Karl Pfister 1919-1927: Wilhelm Haiß 1927-1934: Dr. Josef Frantzen 1935-1945: Wilhelm Gutmann, NSDAP 1945: Ernst Herion 1945-1946: Alois Multerer 1946-1948: Alfons Kirchgäßner (1947-48 suspended, affairs taken over by Josef Hürst) 1948-1951: Josef Hürst 1951-1961: Georg Möllmann 1961-1975: Franz Schmidt
Bürgermeister of Waldshut-Tiengen since 1975 1975-1994: Franz-Joseph Dresen, Bürgermeister, as of 1976 Oberbürgermeister 1994-2015: Martin Albers, Oberbürgermeister 2015-today: Philipp Frank, Oberbürgermeister
Coat of arms