Waldkirch

Sister cities

• Sélestat
• Chavanay
• Montignies-sur-Sambre
• Liestal

History

The earliest known mention of Waldkirch is the foundation of the Saint Margaret convent, by the Swabian duke Buchard II around the year 918. The settlement was later under the rule of the Schwarzenbergs, who built the Kastelburg and the Schwarzenburg alongside the settlement in the 13th Century, also adding a city wall. Schwarzenberg governors gave city law to Waldkirch on the 8th of August 1300. The von Rechbergs inherited the territory in 1457, followed by Sebastian von Ehingen in 1546 and Hans Raphael of Reischach in 1560. In 1567 Archduke Ferdinand of Austria gained rule over Schwarzenberg with the city of Waldkirch and from 1805 onwards, Waldkirch was the official city of Further Austria. The city then fell to the Grand Duchy of Baden, and was the official city of the district of Baden until 1936. Since then it has belonged to the district of Emmendingen. After WW2, which the city survived largely undamaged, Waldkirch belonged to the federal state of (South) Baden and was made part of the newly built federal state of Baden-Württemberg in 1952. The present day city was reformed as part of the municipal reform on 1 January 1975. The reform was achieved through unification of the city of Waldkirch and the towns Buchholz and Kollnau. The city was renamed Waldkirch-Kollnau on the day of reform. On 1 July 1971 and 1 January 1973 respectively, Suggental and Siensbach were incorporated into Waldkirch. On 1 January 2009 Waldkirch was given the status of district capital. The arms of Waldkirch is in the canting arms style. The field of light blue has centered between supporters of lime (left) and oak (right) branches a silver church with a red roof and golden cross topping six hills in dark blue. The church refers to the name of the city. The six hills are based on the…

Geography

The town lays by the Elz River, in the south-western part of the Black Forest. The neighbouring municipalities in the Elz valley are Freiamt, Gutach im Breisgau and Simonswald, in the south-eastern branch of the Simonswälder valley. The district is bordered by Sankt Peter, Glottertal, Denzlingen and Sexau. Waldkirch is located directly at the foot of the Kandel mountain, which is 1241 m high. The lowest point of Waldkirch is 243 m high, the difference in altitude in the district is 998 m. Due to its location in the Upper Rhine Plain occasionally there are some small earthquakes. The last major earthquake with a magnitude of 5.4 on the Richter scale occurred on December 5, 2004, with the epicenter below the Kandel massif. The districts Buchholz, Kollnau, Siensbach including the road towards it ("Siensbacher Weg"), Suggental and Waldkirch belong to the town of Waldkirch. The boundaries of the districts are the same as those of the former independent municipalities. With the exception of the Waldkirch district, the official name of the districts is given by prefixing the name of the city and connecting it to the name of the respective district by a hyphen. The districts Buchholz, Kollnau, Siensbach as well as Suggental are localities ("Ortschaften") according to the Baden-Württemberg municipal regulations. The local councillor ("Ortschaftsrat") and the local head of town ("Ortsvorsteher") are directly elected by the eligible voters in local elections. In the villages there are administrative offices called "Stadt Waldkirch - Ortsverwaltung". The Buchholz district includes the village of Buchholz and the hamlet of Batzenhäusle. The Kollnau district includes the village of the same name and the farms Harnischwald, Kohlenbach and Übental. The Siensbach district,…

Most-observed species

• Zoropsid spider

  Zoropsis spinimana (Dufour, 1820) · Arachnida
  4,273
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,993
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,591
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,432
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,358
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,166
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,033
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,795

Most recent

• M 3.5 — 2024-06-27
  1 km SSW of Todtmoos, Germany
• 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
• M 4.1 — 2021-06-26
  2 km SE of Hœrdt, France
• M 3.1 — 2018-05-04
  2 km W of Schliengen, Germany