Albstadt

Albstadt is the largest city in the district of Zollernalbkreis in Baden Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the Swabian Jura mountains, about halfway between Stuttgart and Lake Constance.

Albstadt is spread across a variety of hills and valleys, its elevation ranges between above sea level and One valley is the river Schmiecha, a left hand tributary of the Danube, a second valley is the river of upper Eyach, a tributary of the Neckar. To Albstadt belongs also the Raichberg hill in the north, on which there is the Raichberg Transmitter and an observation tower located. South of Albstadt is the Heuberg Military Training Area.

Settlement in the region dates back to at least the Iron Age. A Hallstatt cemetery in Albstadt was excavated by amateur archaeologists in the late nineteenth century and revealed a wide range of pottery and metal artefacts. Known as the 'Degerfeld Barrow' cemetery, a substantial collection was built up by the local antiquary Hyronimus Edelmann that was eventually deposited in the British Museum. On November 16, 1911, Albstadt was hit by a 6.1 earthquake, particularly affecting the areas of Tailfingen, Lautlingen and Margrethausen. There was high property damage, but there were no fatalities. Thousands of buildings, including landmarks, were damaged, some of them irreparably. The earthquake also resulted in landslides, which caused additional property damage. It is the second most powerful earthquake recorded in Germany, after the 1756 Düren earthquake. On May 28, 1943, Albstadt was hit by a 5.6 earthquake, again affecting the areas of Tailfingen, Lautlingen and Margrethausen. There was again high property damage on thousands of buildings, but there were no fatalities. During World War II, a heavy bombing raid was carried out on Albstadt on July 11, 1944, which killed 65 people and another one on February 20, 1945, which killed 19 people. In April 1945, the French moved in, and Albstadt, as part of the newly created state of Württemberg Hohenzollern, was subsequently part of their occupation zone until 1949. On September 3, 1978, Albstadt was hit by a 5.7 earthquake (de), which caused high property damage but no fatalities. 6850 buildings were damaged, some of them irreparably. The cost of the damage amounted to 275 million Deutsche Mark, which is the costliest earthquake in Germany to date.

Most of the textiles industry (among them Hasana J. Hakenmüller) is gone today, leaving some monuments, like Villa Haux. However, one of the world's biggest makers of industrial needles, Groz Beckert, is still based in the town. Other prominent local companies include Mey (knitwear), Mettler Toledo (weighing systems) and a major part of Assa Abloy security systems (Eff Eff Brand). Ebingen also hosts the technical and computer science faculties of Albstadt Sigmaringen University with about 3,000 students (2014).

Albstadt presides over its own modern school system, with elementary through high school provided all within the same city, including Kindergartens and boarding schools for the mentally and physically challenged. Also, the city library offers free internet access to residents.

The university was founded in 1971 and has two campus locations, Albstadt and Sigmaringen.

In former times iron ore was produced in Albstadt. Fidel Eppler was the name of the mine inspector. The buttress wood was bought in Truchtelfingen and used from Lautlinger Knappen at the Hörnle area From an old 3,5 km mine in a Doggererzflöz in Weilheim is wood in the Tuttlinger Fruchtkasten Steel was produced in Tuttlingen by the Schwäbische Hüttenwerke in Ludwigstal, today iron brakes.

In the city of Ebingen and Tailfingen, there is a Soccer stadium complex. The YMCA do Handball, indiaca, Soccer, and natural sports in Halls and the Sportgelände Markenberg YMCA.