Ebringen (Breisgau) is a municipality in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.
Geography Ebringen is located about 5 km (3 mi) south of Freiburg at the Schoenberg and belongs to the Freiburg metropolitan area.Ebringen There is also a village named Ebringen near Lake Constance, part of the municipality Gottmadingen and a village Ebring (German: Ebringen), part of the municipality Tenteling in Lorraine, France, which are sometimes confused especially by genealogists.
The entire area of Ebringen near Freiburg is located in the Schoenberg range, foothills of the Black Forest, which is geologically a part of the Rhine Rift Valley. The Schoenberg is characterized by a very diverse surface geology from the Triassic and Jurassic periods of the Mesozoic, Paleogene conglomerates and volcanism and glacial loess deposits.
The residential area is divided by a bypass road into the village Ebringen north of the road and the hamlet Talhausen south of the road. The hamlet Berghausen on the Schoenberg was abandoned in the 15th century. Today there is only a chapel at this place.
Ebringen extends from west to east with the neighbourhoods Herrengaerten (1970), Kaiserstuhl (1960), Gruben (1980), Hinterdorf (old), Unterdorf (old), Wiedenhut (2000), Mitteldorf (old), Siedlung (1937), Oberdorf (old), Dammen (1970), Rebstall (2000), Birkental (old), Jennetal (1995) and Tirol (old, formerly ''Beim Schlemmer'').
Talhausen extends from north to south with the neighbourhoods Baumgarten (1955/1985), Talhausen (old) and Gaishof (1980).
The figures in parentheses show the approximate year of formation.
Isolated dwellings near the Schoenberg summit are Unterer Schoenberghof and Oberer Schoenberghof.
Politics Local ordinance is the Gemeindeordnung of Baden-Wuerttemberg, which is based on the South German Council Code (Süddeutsche Ratsverfassung). The mayor is both chairman of the municipal council and head of the local administration. The municipal council currently consists of 13 members entitled to vote - the mayor and 12 councillors. While the mayor is elected for 8 years, the term of office of the municipal council is 5 years. The mayor as well as the local council are directly elected by the voting population. This consists of Ebringen resident EU citizens who are at least 16 years old.
Council List %2024 Seats2019 %2019 Seats2019 %2014 Seats2014 %2009 Seats2009 %2004 Seats2004 %1999 Seats1999 %1994 Seats1994 Notes CDU(Christ-Democratic Union of Germany) 22.9 3 18.2 2 21.3 3 27.1 3 27.5 3 30.2 4 33.2 4 Bürgerliste(Citizens' List) 30.6 3 21.7 3 18.9 2 23.5 3 24.7 3 32.4 4 30.4 4 Bürger für Ebringen(Citizens for Ebringen) 24.5 3 30.3 4 26.3 3 23,3 3 21.6 3 16.1 2 16.5 2 Frauenliste(Women's List) 22.0 3 29.8 3 21.6 3 17.2 2 18.2 2 14.3 2 7.8 1 Perspektive für Ebringen(Perspective for Ebringen) - - - - 12.0 1 8.9 1 8.0 1 - - - - A SPD(Socialdemocratic Party of Germany) - - - - - - - - - - 7,1 0 12.2 1
Notes
A: In the election of 2004 and 2009 as FDP/DVP. List merged in 2019 with Bürgerliste.
After the election in 2024 women's share in the council stayed at 50%, as it was since autumn 2017. After the election of 2014 women's share was at five councillors (42%), like in the election of 2009. Like 2013 and 2014 women's share climbed in autumn 2017 at 6 (50%), as a woman succeeded a retired male councillor. After the election of 1989 there's been only one woman in a council with ten seats.
Mayors since 2022 Hans-Peter Widmann 2006-2022 Rainer Mosbach 1990–2006 Hans-Joerg Thoma 1963–1990 Eugen Schueler 1947–1962 Otto Missbach 1945-1947 Max Alfons Zimmermann (again) 1942-1945 Alois Weißer 1933–1942 Josef Franz 19??-1933 Max Alfons Zimmermann 1904-19?? Josef Bechtold 1892–1904 Julius Schueler 18??-1892 Alois Linsenmeier 1877-1880 Johann Maenner 1860-18?? Sebastian Schueler 1825–1860 Aloys Mayer (title up to 1832 Vogt, ) ~1780-1794 Joseph Linsenmeier For the results of elections see Ebringen/elections
History Ebringen is known for the oldest recorded viticulture between Freiburg and Basel east of the Rhine River, although there is archaeological evidence for viticulture having been introduced in the region by the Romans sometime in the first century AD.
Ebringen is mentioned next to an Openwilare in a donation of vineyards and farmland to the Monastery of St Gall: "Propterea vernacula terra juris mei in loco qui dicitur Openwilare, Tradimus sancto Galloni viginti juchos, et in Eberingen unum Juchum de vinea." The document dates from a 16 January in the reign of the Frankish king Chilperic II, who reigned from June 715 to February 721. No year is given and only a ruling king Chilperic is mentioned. The reign of Chilperic I (561-584) can be ruled out, since at that time the monastery of St Gall did not exist. There have not been any more Chilperics, so the date can be limited to the period between 716 and 721. The political situation in Francia makes the assumption of an origin in the year 720 most likely.
The neighbouring villages Pfaffenweiler and Wolfenweiler both claim to be identical with Openwilare. That's not likely and current scientific consensus sees in Openwilare an abandoned hamlet in northern Schneckental halfway between Wolfenweiler and Pfaffenweiler.Ebringen, Herrschaft und Gemeinde, vol 1, Claus-Dieter Schott and Edmund Weeger, ed, - p. 4 (in German)
The donation of 720 is the first recorded donation of land to the Monastery of St Gall. So Ebringen marks both the beginning and the end of the Monastery of St Gall, as it was in 1805 also the abbey's last territory.
Before 720 The oldest traces of settlement in Ebringen have been found on the summit plateau of the (Mount) Schönberg. These are dated to the Neolithic Age (approx. 3000 BC).
No archaeological remains are known from the Celtic period.
In the first decades of the first century, the region became part of the Roman Empire. From these times, the remains of an estate have been found in Ebringen's territory with evidence of viticulture. In Talhausen, the remains of a building dated in the Roman period were discovered during construction work in the 2010s.
After 260 the Alamanni invaded the region, which however remained under Roman influence until the end of the 5th century.
The origins of Ebringen go back to this time. On the one hand because of the ending -ingen in the place name. Ebringen means "place of the Ebro". On the other hand, the Alamanni created a cemetery of row graves in the area of today's industrial area in the southwest of the town. This cemetery was used until around 700, the time when Ebringen was first mentioned in writing.
8th century – 1349: first St Gall rule From the first mention about 720 Ebringen was under influence of the abbey of Saint Gall in today's Switzerland.
In a record of 817 Talhausen is mentioned for the first time.
About 868 St Gall got the full direct secular rule over Ebringen, while the abbey St Trudpert in nearby Muenstertal maintained ecclesiastical rule for a couple of decades.
In a record of 968 Berghausen is mentioned for the first time.
While Berghausen and Talhausen have been integrated into the secular St Gall rule over Ebringen, they remained under the ecclesiastical rule of St Trudpert. On the other hand, St Gall got sometime after 900 also the ecclesiastical rule over Ebringen.
In 1207 St. Gall became an independent (immediate) principality, over which the abbots ruled as territorial sovereigns ranking as Princes (prince-abbots) of the Holy Roman Empire.
In the first half of the 13th century Ebringen became the centre of the St Gall administration in the Breisgau region. Before then, St Gall's administration of its Breisgau possessions had been located in Wittnau, 5 km (3 miles) east of Ebringen in the Hexental between Schoenberg and the Black Forest. But in the 13th century the influence of the abbey in the Breisgau declined. Direct rule was replaced by fiefs in the hands of aristocrats, leaving only Ebringen under the direct rule of the abbey in the 14th century.
In 1312 the Schneeburg (Schneeberg Castle) on the western summit of the Schoenberg is mentioned for the first time, owned by the Lords of Hornberg. At this time the castle's territory on the Schoenberg was independent from Ebringen.
1349–1621: aristocratic rule, Ebringen as a fief of St Gall Today's Ebringen territory was split before 1349 into the villages of Ebringen, Talhausen, Berghausen and the (Mount) Schoenberg with the Schneeberg, all with unclear borders. During the aristocratic rule those territories became united and the borders were defined.
In the summer of 1349 - when the Black Death reached both St Gall and the Breisgau - about 25 - 50% of all people died. The casualties in Ebringen were not reported or the records were lost. As in the middle of the 14th century the financial situation of the abbey St Gall was strained, from time to time abbot Hermann von Bonstetten sold estates, benefices and properties of the abbey. In this context on 9 November 1349 the provostship of Ebringen was transformed into a fief of St Gall, ruled by an aristocrat. Werner von Hornberg donated his property Schneeburg Castle and Schoenberg to the abbey St Gall. In return, the abbey gave it back to him as a fief, together with direct rule over Ebringen, Talhausen and Berghausen. So the main part of the Schoenberg became part of Ebringen's territory.Schott/Weeger: Ebringen, Herrschaft und Gemeinde, Volume 1, p.69 The fief also included the abbey's other easements and properties in the Breisgau, so the contract with Werner von Hornberg marks the end of St Gall's direct rule in the Breisgau. It was a contract to their mutual benefit. Werner von Hornberg needed an ally against the claims of Freiburg's nobility on the Schoenberg. St Gall wasn't able to maintain direct rule in a distant territory any longer and needed the support of a local noble family.Schott/Weeger: Ebringen, Herrschaft und Gemeinde, Volume 1, p.71
In the second half of the 14th century, the House of Habsburg, the Austrian dynasty originating in the region, appeared as territorial suzerain in the Breisgau. This means that probably sometime in the late 14th century Ebringen became a mediate Austrian territory.
In 1430 the municipal border between Wolfenweiler and Ebringen was decided by arbitration, except for the (Mount) Hohfirst. However, only very few landmarks have been set, so the exact boundary remained disputed in many places.Ildefons von Arx, Geschichte der Herrschaft Ebringen, p.26
About 1450 the hamlet Berghausen was abandoned except for some isolated dwellings which may have existed there until the Thirty Years' War.Schott/Weeger: Ebringen, Herrschaft und Gemeinde, Volume 1, p.114
Based on a document of 1331 and urged by his Pfaffenweiler subjects, in 1457 the Lord of Staufen claimed Talhausen and Berghausen for Pfaffenweiler from Konrad von Hornberg. Pfaffenweiler had only a very small territory. As Berghausen's church once belonged to the monastery St Trudpert - from which the Lord of Staufen was the protector - Pfaffenweiler saw the opportunity to expand its territory. Being Talhausen and Berghausen part of Pfaffenweiler's territory, the Mount Hohfirst with its forest and meadows would have been also in most parts in Pfaffenweiler's possession. But the Austrian bailiff Peter von Moersberg ruled in favour of Konrad von Hornberg.
In 1469 Ebringen's Lord Hans von Ems (Ebs) is mentioned as a knight of the Austrian Breisgau.