Blumberg

Sister cities

• Valdoie
• Kunszentmiklós

History

The town of Blumberg is in the region where the source of the Danube is situated, the glacial valley between Eichberg and Buchberg. The town's official origins date from the 13th century, with the Masters of Blumberg first mentioned in 1260. However, one of the oldest settlements, the Steppacher Hof, was already documented in the 12th century, and the town itself is believed to have originated long before that time, as archaeological finds have shown the area was inhabited during the Stone Age. The Wutach is a tributary of the Rhine that changes name twice as it passes through the southern Black Forest. Blumberg was established in the Wutach valley near the Wutach Gorge. Built above the town in the Middle Ages, Blumberg Castle contributed significantly to the development of the surrounding settlements, and while ruled by the princely Fuerstenberg family, who owned a brewery from 1283 until 2004. Blumberg was elevated from a town () to a city in 1559. During the Thirty Years' War from 1618 to 1648, the castle was destroyed. Thanks to its Doggererz iron ore reserves, the town experienced a short-lived expansion after the war's end. The Doggererz mine was reopened, and the ore was extracted once again from 1934 to 1942 under Nazi Germany Many of these workers were forced labourers, as the practice was widespread at the time in Germany and German-occupied Europe. Blumberg has a memorial honoring these workers. As it shed its status as a primarily agricultural town, Blumberg's population increased rapidly, from 700 in 1935 to 7,000 in 1945. During World War II, Sophie Scholl, one of the founders of the anti-Nazi White Rose group, spent time in Blumberg. In her memory, the Sophie Scholl Kindergarten was opened on February 28, 1992. When World War II ended in 1945, the…

Geography

The municipality of Blumberg is made up of the districts of Blumberg Achdorf, Blumberg, Epfenhofen, Fützen, Hondingen, Kommingen, Nordhalden, Riedböhringen and Riedöschingen, and with the exception of Blumberg itself, each of these has its own district council, which is the custom in Baden-Württemberg. The village of Achdorf is the only one remaining of the original settlements alongside the river Wutach.

Most-observed species

• Meadow Brown

  Maniola jurtina (Linnaeus, 1758) · Insecta
  1,488
• Marbled White

  Melanargia galathea Linnaeus, 1758 · Insecta
  1,333
• Lesser Glowworm

  Lamprohiza splendidula (Linnaeus, 1767) · Insecta
  1,104
• Common Blue

  Polyommatus icarus (von Rottemburg, 1775) · Insecta
  1,103
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,082
• Red Kite

  Milvus milvus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,074
• Common Carpet

  Epirrhoe alternata (Müller, 1764) · Insecta
  992
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  988

Most recent

• M 4.2 — 2026-04-26
  4 km NNW of Quarten, Switzerland
• M 3.5 — 2024-06-27
  1 km SSW of Todtmoos, Germany
• M 4.2 — 2024-06-04
  2 km NNW of Unteriberg, Switzerland
• M 3.4 — 2022-10-16
  Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany
• M 3.9 — 2022-09-10
  1 km WSW of Zimmersheim, France
• M 4 — 2022-07-09
  2 km NNE of Grosselfingen, Germany