Gaggenau
Gaggenau is a town in the district of Rastatt, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located some 8 km northeast of Baden-Baden.
History
Gaggenau was first mentioned in local records in 1243 under the name "Gaggenaw". The present district of Bad Rotenfels is even older, having been mentioned in a royal donation letter in 1041. Gaggenau remained a small village until the 19th century: Originally part of the Ufgau, it came under the jurisdiction of the marquisate of Baden in the 13th century, and was included in the territory claimed by the Margrave of Baden-Baden in 1535, which held it until 1689. At that time, it was placed under the jurisdiction of the Kuppenheim district of the Bishopric of Speyer. It was eventually assigned to the jurisdiction of the Rastatt Office of the State of Baden, which later became the District of Rastatt.In 1691, the area was at the heart of the Palatinate War of Succession and was almost completely destroyed by the French forces. In 1772, Anton Rindeschwender established a successful glassworks factory below the village, and along with it a number of new residences and supporting businesses in the area.
The real industrial boom began in 1873 with the establishment of the Michael Flürscheims Ironworks, which resurrected an iron smelter originally established by the Margrave of Baden in the late 18th century. In 1895 the factory built the 5-hp automobile Orient Express and entered the new industry of automobile manufacture. In 1905 they renamed themselves the Gaggenau South German Automobile Factory GmbH. In 1907 the company was taken over by the company Benz & Cie of Mannheim until the merger of Daimler-Benz AG in 1926.
Thus, the settlement grew, and Gaggenau was eventually raised to the status of a town on 15 September 1922 because of its economic prosperity.
In September 1944, the Nazis built a detention camp in the Bad Rotenfels district. Six barracks were built to house about 1,600 men and women, mostly French prisoners, who were used as forced labour in the Daimler-Benz plants. About 500 of them were killed. A memorial plaque has been raised in the meadow where the barracks were located. Another memorial was raised in the Bad Rotenfels cemetery commemorating the murder of 27 of those prisoners by their Nazi captors.
In World War II, about 70% of the town was destroyed. On 10 September 1944, 140 B-17 bombers from the 8th battalion of the US Air Force bombed the automobile factory complex. Another battalion of 139 B-24 bombers bombed the area a second time on 3 October. The town and surrounding area was rebuilt after the war, and was completed with the construction of Gaggenau's town hall in 1958.
In 1969, in response to an effort to aggregate and consolidate municipal governments into districts of 20,000 or more, the state government of Baden-Württemberg approved a petition by the town of Gaggenau to annex six of its surrounding communities, thereby doubling Gaggenau's population and increasing its area fivefold. Among the areas annexed was the former municipality of Rotenfels and the large swath of forest that ran along the Murg River between the two municipalities. The annexations were performed over a period of six years.
Annexations
The following communities were annexed into the town of Gaggenau on the following dates. They were all administered under the office or district of Rastatt:- 1935: Ottenau
- 1 January 1970: Bad Rotenfels, with the hamlet of Winkel
- 1 April 1970: Selbach
- 1 September 1971: Freiolsheim with the hamlet of Moosbronn and the village of Mittelberg
- 1 April 1972: Oberweier with the villages of Upper and Lower Weier
- 1 April 1973: Sulzbach
- 1 January 1975: Hörden and Michelbach
Population development
Population figures for the respective territorial status. The figures are census results or official updates of the respective statistical offices :¹ Census results ReligionGaggenau belonged to the Diocese of Speyer and was assigned to the Kuppenheim District under that Diocese. The Reformation arrived in 1555, and over the next three and a half centuries, under a variety of rulers, the majority denomination of Gaggenau changed six times between Catholic and Evangelical Lutheran before finally settling to become a Catholic majority.Until 1891, the only Catholic parish church for the entire region was the St. Lawrence parish church in Rotenfels. The present church dates from the Baroque era in the 17th century, with the interior dating from the 18th century. In 1891, the St. Wendelin chapel was consecrated in Gaggenau. Gaggenau received its own parish church of St. Joseph in 1899. The Catholic churches in the other districts of Gaggenau date to earlier times. All of the area parishes came under the newly founded Archdiocese of Freiburg in 1821/1827 and assigned to the Murgtal Office of the Dean. Today, the town of Gaggenau includes the following Catholic parishes: St. Joseph ; Gaggenau; St. Mary; Mary Help ; St. Johann Nepomuk ; St. Michael ; St. John the Baptist ; St. Lawrence ; St. Nicholas ; St. Anne ; and St. Jodocus. The Evangelical Lutherans were driven out in the 18th century but moved back in again to Gaggenau in the 19th century. They formed their own community and built their own church in 1891. This church was destroyed in the Second World War but rebuilt in 1953. The community, including all of the Protestants in the modern districts of Gaggenau and in Rastatt, belong to the Evangelical Church district of Baden-Baden. Besides the two major churches above, other Christian communities exist in Gaggenau, including the New Apostolic Church and Jehovah's Witnesses. Over 1,100 Muslims, mainly Turkish, also live in Gaggenau. The Sultan Ahmet Mosque is located in the Bad Rotenfels district and has over 200 members. GeographyGaggenau lies on both sides of the Murg River in an extension of the Murg Valley at the Rastatt-Freudenstadt federal highway Bundesstraße 462.The highest point in the urban area is 750 m above sea level; the lowest point is 134 m above sea level. The urban area extends 10.6 km north to south and 10.3 km east to west, or approximately 109 square kilometres. Neighboring municipalitiesThe following boroughs and municipalities border the town of Gaggenau : Malsch, Marxzell, Bad Herrenalb, Loffenau und Gernsbach, Baden-Baden, and Kuppenheim, Bischweier and Muggensturm.Town administrationThe town of Gaggenau today comprises the town of Gaggenau itself and the eight subdivisions of Bad Rotenfels, Freiolsheim, Hörden, Michelbach, Oberweier, Ottenau, Selbach and Sulzbach. Except for the main town and the villages of Bad Rotenfels and Ottenau, which have been combined into a single residential area for purposes of representation within Baden-Württemberg's municipal structure, each district has its own area council and mayor / chairman. For each district, the area council is elected by the district residents and consists of eight to ten members, with the chairperson of the council serving as mayor. The area councils hear and adjudicate on matters concerning their district.The district of Freiolsheim includes the original town of Freiolsheim, the village of Mittelberg and the hamlet of Moosbronn. The core area of Gaggenau includes the town of Gaggenau, the village Ottenau, and the hamlet Amalienberg. The Oberweier district includes the villages of Oberweier and Niederweier. The Bad Rotenfels district includes the original village of Bad Rotenfels and the hamlet of Winkel. The original villages of Hörden, Michelbach, Selbach and Sulzbach were retained as separate districts. PoliticsMunicipalThe council of the town of Gaggenau is made up of 26 seats.
MayorWhen local government was established in the 16th century, a judge-advocate was appointed for life by the Margraviate Overseer to protect the Margrave's interests. By the end of the century, this judge-advocate had expanded to six people to govern the town. At that time, the Margrave of Baden or his representative appointed the jury magistrates as life appointments. In 1809, the office of Vogt was created, appointed by the Margrave. In 1832, a new state law transformed local government. The citizens of the community were to elect a Mayor, which replaced the Vogt; and a Council of 5-6 members.In 1933, the Nazi policy of Gleichschaltung effectively abolished local and state government and put all German territory under national administrative control. After the demise of the Nazi regime in 1945, state and local governments were re-established. In 1971, the office of Deputy Mayor was established. Stewards and mayors
He was reelected in March 2015 with 95,13 % of the votes. He was the only candidate. |