Kempten im Allgäu

Kempten im Allgäu

Infobox German Location
type = Stadt
Name = Kempten
Wappen = Wappen_Kempten.pnglat_deg = 47 |lat_min = 44
lon_deg = 10 |lon_min = 19
Lageplan =
Bundesland = Bayern
Regierungsbezirk = Schwaben
Landkreis = Kreisfreie Stadt
Höhe = 674
Fläche = 63.29
Einwohner = 61480
Stand = 2006-12-31
PLZ = 87401–87439
Vorwahl = 0831
Kfz = KE
Website = [http://www.kempten.de/ www.kempten.de]
Bürgermeister = Ulrich Netzer
Bürgermeistertitel = Oberbürgermeister
Partei = CSU
Infobox Former Country
native_name = "Reichsfürststift (Freie Stadt) Kempten im Allgäu"
conventional_long_name = Imperial Ducal Abbey (Free City) of Kempten in the Allgäu
common_name = Kempten Abbey
continent = Europe
region = Rhine basin
country = Germany
era = Middle Ages
status = Abbey
empire = Holy Roman Empire
government_type = Theocracy
year_start = 1213
year_end = 1802
life_span = 1213 – 1802/3
event_pre = Abbey founded
date_pre = 747
event_start = Abbey rebuilt
date_start = 941
event1 = Abbey became "Reichsfrei"
spaces|4as a Duke-Abbey
date_event1 =
1213
event2 = Abbey property in city
spaces|4sold to become Free City
date_event2 =
1525
event_end = Mediatised to Bavaria
date_end = 1802/3
event_post = Cities united
date_post = 1819
p1 = Duchy of Franconia
image_p1 =
s1 = Electorate of Bavaria
flag_s1 = Flag of Bavaria (lozengy).svg


capital = Kempten Abbey
footnotes =
Infobox Former Country
native_name = "Reichstadt Kempten im Allgäu"
conventional_long_name = Imperial City of Kempten in the Allgäu
common_name = Kempten im Allgäu
continent = Europe
region = Rhine basin
country = Germany
era = Middle Ages
status = City-state
empire = Holy Roman Empire
government_type = Republic
year_start = 1289
year_end = 1802
life_span = 1289 – 1802/3
event_pre = City founded
date_pre = before 50 BC
event_start = City became "Reichsfrei"
spaces|4as an Imperial City
date_start =
1289
event1 = Abbey sold property
spaces|4within Imperial City
date_event1 =
1525
event2 = City converted
spaces|4to Protestantism

date_event2 =
1527
event_end = Mediatised to Bavaria
date_end = 1802/3
event_post = Cities united
date_post = 1819
p1 = Duchy of Franconia
image_p1 =
s1 = Electorate of Bavaria
flag_s1 = Flag of Bavaria (lozengy).svg



image_map_caption = A view of Kempten in 1650
capital = Kempten im Allgäu
footnotes =

Kempten im Allgäu is the largest city in Allgäu, a region in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. Population was c. 61,000 in 2006. The area was possibly settled originally by Celts, but was later overtaken by the Romans, who called the town "Cambodunum". Archaeologists consider Kempten one of the oldest urban settlements in Germany.

History

Pre-Roman

The Greek geographer Strabon mentions in 50 BC a town of the Celtic Estiones named "Kambodunon". This is considered the oldest written reference of any German city. So far no archaeological evidence could be found that this Celtic settlement really existed.

Roman era

In 15 BC Roman troops led by Nero Claudius Drusus and his brother Tiberius conquered and destroyed an existing Celtic city. Later the settlement was named "Cambodunum". In the following years the city was rebuilt on a classical Roman city plan with baths, forum and temples. Initially in wood, the city was later rebuilt in stone after a devastating fire that destroyed almost the entire city in the year AD 69. The city possibly served as provincial capital of Raetia during the first century before Augsburg took over this role. Extensive archeological excavations at the end of the 19th century and again during the 1950s at what were then the outskirts of Kempten unearthed the extensive structural foundations.

The city was again destroyed in AD 233 by the Alemanni, a Suebic tribe. The original site of Cambodunum was then abandoned and moved to a strategically safer location on the Burghalde hill overlooking the river Iller.

Only in 488 the last Roman troops left the area and the city was entirely overtaken by the Alemanni.

Middle Ages

After the Romans abandon the settlement was moved from the hill down to the plains located next to the river Iller. In written sources the town appears as "Cambidano". Being still predominantly Alemannic, the town once more was destroyed by the Franks in 683 as a consequence of the city’s support of an uprising against the Frankish kingdom.

Around 747 a first missionary cell was founded by the Irish monks Magnus and Theodore sent from Abbey of St. Gall in Switzerland to evangelize the area. In the following years a monastery — Kempten Abbey — was built, the first in the Allgäu region. Audogar was the first abbot of the new Benedictine monastery. Through the financial and lobbyist support of Charlemagne’s wife Hildegard, an Allemanic princess, the monastery managed to become one of the most privileged monasteries of the Frankish Empire.

After several ravages by the Magyars, Ulrich of Augsburg, bishop of Augsburg and also abbot of Kempten, began the rebuilding of the monastery and the city in 941.

In 1213, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II declared the abbots members of the Reichstag and granted the abbot the right to bear the title of Duke. However in 1289, King Rudolf of Habsburg also granted special privileges to the urban settlement in the river valley, making it an Imperial City. In 1525 the last property rights of the abbots in the Imperial City were sold in the so-called “Great Purchase”, marking the start of the co-existence of two independent cities bearing the same name next to each other. More conflict arose after the Imperial City converted to Protestantism in direct opposition to the Catholic monastery (and "Free" City) in 1527.

Renaissance and Baroque to Modern Age

During the turmoil of the Thirty Years' War (1632–33), both the cities were destroyed with by the imperial forces and the Swedish troops respectively.

Only shortly after the war the Duke-Abbot Roman Giel of Gielsberg commissioned the two architects Michael Beer and Johann Serro from Graubünden to build a new parish church and monastery church including a representative Residence for the Duke-Abbots. This church is acknowledged as the first major church construction in Germany after the Thirty Years' War.

During the Napoleonic Wars the Duke-Abbey and Imperial City came under Bavarian rule (1802–03). Finally, in 1819, the two rivalling cities were united into a single communal entity.

The city was the location of a subcamp of the Dachau concentration camp during World War II. [ [http://www.glosk.com/GM/Linde/17283/pages/List_of_subcamps_of_Dachau/84737_en.htm List of subcamps of Dachau] , Glosk.com]

Main sights

* The St. Lorenz Basilica minor
* The St. Mang Church
* The Burghalde Castle
* The Duke-Abbots' Residence
* The Archaeological Park Cambodunum
* The City Hall and Square
* The medieval Keck Chapel

Transportation

Kempten is well connected with the region through the A 7 autobahn (WürzburgUlmFüssen). Bundesstraßen B 12 (partly as A 980 autobahn), B 19 and B 309 are also intersecting in Kempten.

The city has been connected to the national rail network since 1852 and currently boasts good Intercity and Eurocity rail connections.

Education

The University of Applied Sciences Kempten (Hochschule Kempten) started in the winter semester of 1978–79 with 89 students and since then expanded and now accommodates more than 2800 students in eight degree courses:
* Business Administration
* Computer Science
* Electrical Engineering
* Industrial Engineering – Electronic and Information Technology
* Industrial Engineering – Mechanical Engineering with Distribution Management or Information Technology
* Mechanical Engineering
* Social Management
* Tourism and Hospitality Management

There are also three Grammar Schools (Allgäu-Gymnasium, Hildegardis-Gymnasium, Carl-von-Linde-Gymnasium) offering education to the entire region of the Allgäu.

Famous people

Famous people from Kempten include:
* Claudius Dornier, Plane Constructo
* Ernst Mayr, Biologist
* Friedrich Ferdinand Schnitzer, famous U.S. architect
* Heide Schmidt, Austrian politician
* Ignaz Kiechle, Politician
* İlhan Mansız, Turkish footballer

Partner cities

* Bad Dürkheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, since 2001
* Quiberon, Morbihan, France, since 1971 (initially with the municipality St. Mang)
* Sligo, County Sligo, Ireland, since 1990
* Sopron, Győr-Moson-Sopron, Hungary, since 1987
* Trento, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, Italy, since 1987

References

External links

* [http://www.kempten.de/ Official website]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Kempten Im Allgäu — L hôtel de ville et la place du marché de Kempten Kempten est la principale ville de l Allgäu, une région de la Souabe dans le sud ouest de la Bavière …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Kempten im Allgau — Kempten im Allgäu L hôtel de ville et la place du marché de Kempten Kempten est la principale ville de l Allgäu, une région de la Souabe dans le sud ouest de la Bavière …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Kempten im Allgäu — L hôtel de ville et la place du marché de Kempten Kempten est la principale ville de l Allgäu, une région de la Souabe dans le sud ouest de la Bavière …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Kempten im allgäu — L hôtel de ville et la place du marché de Kempten Kempten est la principale ville de l Allgäu, une région de la Souabe dans le sud ouest de la Bavière …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Kempten im Allgäu — Wappen Deutschlandkarte …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Kempten — im Allgäu L hôtel de ville et la place du marché de Kempten Kempten est la principale ville de l Allgäu, une région de la Souabe dans le sud ouest de la Bavière …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Kempten — im Allgäu Kempten Bandera …   Wikipedia Español

  • Kempten — can refer to:* Kempten im Allgäu, a town in Bavaria, Germany * Kempten ZH, a district of the town of Wetzikon in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland * Kempton Park, Gauteng, a city in South Africa which was named after Kempten in Bavaria …   Wikipedia

  • Kempten — Wappen Deutschlandkarte …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Kempten (Allgäu) — Wappen Deutschlandkarte …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”