Ettlingen | |
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 Flag  Coat of arms | |
Location of Ettlingen within Karlsruhe district  | |
  Ettlingen  Ettlingen | |
| Coordinates:48°56′N8°24′E / 48.933°N 8.400°E /48.933; 8.400 | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Baden-Württemberg |
| Admin. region | Karlsruhe |
| District | Karlsruhe |
| Subdivisions | 7 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2019–27) | Johannes Arnold[1] (Ind.) |
| Area | |
• Total | 56.74 km2 (21.91 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 133 m (436 ft) |
| Population (2022-12-31)[2] | |
• Total | 39,699 |
| • Density | 700/km2 (1,800/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Postal codes | 76275 |
| Dialling codes | 07243 |
| Vehicle registration | KA |
| Website | www.ettlingen.de |
Ettlingen (German pronunciation:[ˈɛtlɪŋən]ⓘ;South Franconian:Eddlinge) is a town inBaden-Württemberg,Germany, about 8 kilometres (5 mi) south of the city ofKarlsruhe and approximately 15 kilometres (9 mi) from theborder withLauterbourg, inFrance'sBas-Rhin department. Ettlingen is the second largest town in thedistrict of Karlsruhe, afterBruchsal.
Ettlingen is situated at the northern edge of theBlack Forest on theUpper Rhine Plain. TheAlb River arises in the hills of the Black Forest and flows through Ettlingen before emptying into theRhine atEggenstein-Leopoldshafen, making Ettlingen a central feature of theAlbtal, the Alb Valley. Central Ettlingen and its largest constituent communities (Bruchhausen, Ettlingenweier, Oberweier) lie on the plain itself, but some of the villages (Spessart, Schöllbronn, and Schluttenbach) are nestled among the northernmost foothills of the Black Forest.
The municipality of Ettlingen is bordered by the following communities, clockwise from the north:Karlsruhe,Waldbronn,Karlsbad (Baden),Marxzell,Malsch, andRheinstetten, all of which belong to thedistrict of Karlsruhe, except for theindependent city of Karlsruhe itself.
Since the major communal reforms enacted by Baden-Württemberg in the early 1970s, the municipality of Ettlingen has consisted of the town of Ettlingen itself and the communities of Bruchhausen, Ettlingenweier, Oberweier, Schluttenbach, Schöllbronn, and Spessart.
Ettlingen was an important crossroads during Roman times, when the region was part of the province ofGermania Superior. This is demonstrated by the many artifacts found in the area, including the "Neptune Stone," which commemorates a flood of the Rhine, and the remains of a Roman bath excavated beneath St. Martin's Church. The town was first mentioned in 788 as "Ediningom" in a deed of donation belonging toWeissenburg Abbey inAlsace (now inFrance). In 965, the village of Ettlingen ("Ediningom") receivedmarket rights (Marktrecht) from EmperorOtto the Great. In 1192, EmperorHenry VI, one ofFrederick Barbarossa's sons. MargraveHerman V of Baden-Baden became Ettlingen's feudal lord in 1219. In the following centuries, Ettlingen developed into an important administrative centre within theMargraviate of Baden-Baden.
Ettlingen gave its name to a line of defensive earthworks known as theEttlingen Line built to deter French aggression.During theNine Years' War the town was nearly completely burned to the ground by the troops ofLouis XIV, but was nevertheless rebuilt in the following decades underMargravine Sibylle Auguste. After theCatholic line of Baden-Baden died out in 1771, Ettlingen passed to theProtestantMargraviate of Baden-Durlach, which would become the reunited Margraviate of Baden. During theFrench Revolutionary Wars, Ettlingen was the site of abattle between elements of the FrenchArmy of the Rhine and Moselle and the HabsburgArmy of the Upper Rhine on 9 July 1796.[3] In the period ofNapoleon's activities in Germany,Margrave Karl Friedrich of Baden was madeElector in 1806 andGrand Duke in 1806.
Ettlingen remained an independent town until 1937, when it was incorporated into the administrative unit that would become thedistrict of Karlsruhe in 1939. Ettlingen and its surrounding villages and land continue to be part of this district.
In 1966, Ettlingen passed the 20,000 population mark and raised to the status ofGroße Kreisstadt by the state government of Baden-Württemberg. During the communal reforms of the early 1970s, several smaller communities were incorporated into Ettlingen, raising the population to over 30,000. Ettlingen's renowned open-air theater series, theSchlossfestspiele first took the stage in theBaroque inner courtyard ofEttlingen Palace in 1979.
Ettlingen was originally a part of the ancientDiocese of Speyer and was under the pastoral care of theArchdeacon of St. German and Moritz inSpeyer. The town originally belonged to thedeanery of Durlach but was itself made archdeaconate in the 16th century. TheProtestant Reformation made gains in Ettlingen as early as 1520, but the town remained mostly Catholic, and the town's Catholic majority was supported by theCatholic line ofBaden-Baden; later, starting in 1624, theJesuits played an active role in converting many of the town's inhabitants back to the Catholic faith. By the beginning of the 19th century, Protestants were a small minority.
During the period ofsecularization following the dissolution of theHoly Roman Empire, Ettlingen was part of theordinariate ofBruchsal. In 1821, it became part of the newly foundedArchdiocese of Freiburg, and the town was made the seat of a deanery, which included not only the parishes within Ettlingen proper, but also those in surrounding villages and neighboring municipalities. Today, Ettlingen belongs to the deanery ofKarlsruhe, with the various parishes organized into pastoral units (Seelsorgeeinheiten). These include Ettlingen Stadt, with the parishes Herz Jesu (Sacred Heart), Liebfrauen (Our Lady), and St. Martin's, the town's oldest church; Ettlingen South, with St. Dionysius' in Ettlingenweier, St. Wendelin's in Oberweier, and St. Joseph's in Bruchhausen; and Ettlingen Heights, with St. George's in Völkersbach, St. Boniface's in Schöllbronn, and St. Anthony's in Spessart, although Völkersbach belongs politically to the municipality ofMalsch.
Jewish families lived in Ettlingen since at least the 14th century.[4] They lived primarily in Färbergasse ('Dyers' Alley), which was formerly known as "Judengasse" (Jews' Alley). The Jews of Ettlingen paid a protection tax of 16 florins in the 18th century, which was reduced to 8 florins in 1812. Ettlingen's firstsynagogue was built on Albstraße in 1849, only to be torn down again when a new synagogue was built on Pforzheimerstraße and dedicated in 1889. The "New Synagogue" was itself destroyed during the infamousKristallnacht pogrom of November 1938. About two thirds of the remaining Jewish citizens of Ettlingen emigrated during the Nazi era and the rest were deported to concentration camps.[5]
Protestants (Lutherans), most of whom had moved to Ettlingen since the early 19th century, were first administered fromRüppurr, but in 1848 they received their own clergyman, and in 1869 their own parish (Johannesgemeinde - Congregation of St. John), which soon got its own church, the oldest Protestant church in Ettlingen. TheJohannesgemeinde belonged to the city deanery of Karlsruhe at first, but was later transferred over to the deanery of Alb-Pfinz with its seat inPfinztal. The congregation continued to grow and was eventually divided in 1951, creating thePaulusgemeinde (Congregation of St. Paul). ThePaulusgemeinde had a parish hall built in 1953, adding a bell tower in 1965. ThePaulusgemeinde was split up in 1972 to create theLuthergemeinde (Luther Congregation), which caters to the Protestants of Ettlingen West, Bruchhausen, Ettlingenweier, and Oberweier. From 1969 to 2003, Ettlingen was the seat of theEvangelical (Lutheran) Church in Baden's district of Central Baden. However, in the wake of efforts to save money, this district was dissolved and Ettlingen incorporated into the district of North Baden.
Alongside the two major churches, there are also a fewfree churches and congregations, including aFree Evangelical congregation and theLiebenzell Congregation. TheJehovah's Witnesses, theNew Apostolic Church, and a small Jewish community are also represented in Ettlingen.
Ettlingen is the location of Rheinland Kaserne. Formerly a German Army base, for many years after World War II Rheinland Kaserne was the home of several U.S. Army units and many Americans. In the mid-nineties, the U.S. Army handed the barracks back to Germany. It is now home to a private school, medical offices, a vehicle registration centre, new housing and theKulisse movie theatre.
Among the U.S. Army units based in Rheinland Kaserne were the 78th Engineer Battalion and 44th Signal Battalion.
Trains on lines S1 and S11 of theStadtbahn Karlsruhe call at the stops Ettlingen Erbprinz/Schloss, Ettlingen Wasen and Ettlingen Stadt. These lines operate over theAlb Valley Railway, an electric railway that linksKarlsruhe toBad Herrenalb (S1) andIttersbach (S11).[6] The town is also served by several buses run by the Karlsruher Verkehrsverbund, with routes serving various neighbourhoods of Ettlingen, as well as more distant destinations likeDurlach.
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