Meßstetten

Sister cities

• Luynes
• Savigné-sur-Lathan

History

The area of today's Meßstetten was already settled in the Neolithic era. There are finds from the hohlen Fels ("hollow rock" in the Heuberg Training Area. The reason for this could be the very old trade route, the Bschorner Weg ("Bschorn Road"), which led from the Schmiecha valley via Meßstetten Castle into the Danube valley. The earliest of the established settlements was on the Lochen and dates from the 9th century BC, when Celts increasingly populated the Swabian Jura. Celtic burial mounds have been excavated on the terrain of Weichenwang, Wangen, Frankenreis and Hofen. As a result of the Roman conquests in the south of today's Germany, which began in 15 BC, the Celts were subjugated by the Romans. Several finds are documented from this period, including the Celtic Gräbelesberg Castle and road structures. Meßstetten was part of the Roman Empire in the hinterland of the Alb Limes protected by Lautlingen Castle. In the area of the town of Meßstetten, pastor Alfred Ludwig Oetinger (from 1856 to 1868 pastor in Meßstetten and Hossingen) initially had extensive excavations carried out on his own account and later on behalf of the State Collection of Patriotic Antiquities. The extensive finds of grave goods indicate an early settlement of the region by the Celts. According to this, there was a settlement of wooden houses that were terraced on the rocks. Such a settlement could have been near Schreifels. Also the Heuneburg and a source in Egesheim provide rich finds. A Hunnish metal mirror was made from an unusual metal alloy (59% copper, 40% tin, 1% lead). Corresponding workshops have been found on the Gräbelesberg and the Meßstetter Talbach in Lautlingen. Meßstetten was first mentioned in AD 854 in a deed of gift from a high Franconian nobleman named…

Geography

Meßstetten lies in the Swabian Jura on the Heuberg mountain at an elevation of 737 to 988 metres. Lying within the borough of Meßstetten, (917 m) Heinstetten is the highest village in the Swabian Alb. Measured by the elevation of the parish churches, the town is higher than Furtwangen im Schwarzwald, which claims to be the "highest town in Baden-Württemberg". Meßstetten is content with the statement, "one of the highest cities in the Federal Republic of Germany". The formerly independent municipalities of Hartheim, Heinstetten, Hossingen, Oberdigisheim, Tieringen and Unterdigisheim and Meßstetten itself were merged to form the municipal subdivisions of the town. The urban centre of Meßstetten and 19 other villages, hamlets, farms and (individual) houses are divided among the seven districts. The former military base of Bueloch for example has a primary school, gym, kindergarten and a church house, As such the former quartering patch, however, is not an official district, but only one of the city's 18 residential areas. With the exception of the district of Meßstetten, all six other districts have the status of Ortschaften ("civil parishes") within the meaning of the Baden-Württemberg Gemeindeordnung each with their own local council (Ortschaftsrat) and council chair (Ortsvorsteher) as its chairman. With the town borough there are several abandoned, now non-existent, villages. In the east of the district of Hossingen was the Riedhof, built around 1800 and demolished in 1918. In the district of Meßstetten there was a castle with a farmyard in the military training area on the Schlossberg. In the military training area there is an historical storage area for travelling traders, carters and craftsmen at the Dreibannmarke. With finesse it was possible to profit from the…

Most-observed species

• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  898
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  803
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  770
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  769
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  738
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  629
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  531
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  503

Most recent

• M 3.5 — 2024-06-27
  1 km SSW of Todtmoos, Germany
• M 3.4 — 2022-10-16
  Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany
• M 4 — 2022-07-09
  2 km NNE of Grosselfingen, Germany
• M 3.6 — 2013-07-20
  3 km ESE of Andwil, Switzerland
• M 3.1 — 2008-12-25
  3 km NNW of Saulgau, Germany
• M 2.5 — 2008-12-16
  2 km S of Niederbüren, Switzerland